Carl Draper

Carl Draper is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Pre-Crisis

Carl Draper grew up in Smallville where he was in love with Lana Lang, who had eyes only for Superboy, much to Draper's resentment. At the prodding of Carl "Moosie" Draper, Superboy creates a robot named Kator as a sparring adversary (and gives the "safety cutoff switch" to Jonathan Kent). Kator, however, developed an artificial intelligence, and almost killed the Boy of Steel before being destroyed. However, the robot apparently gave Draper its identity and powers before being destroyed. Draper then engages Superboy in combat. However, Jonathan Kent presses the safety switch on the "cutoff" device, which removes "Kator's" super-powers from Draper, and Superboy removes the memory of Draper ever being Kator.

As an adult, Draper became an expert locksmith and architect, designing an inescapable prison for super-villains. Impressed by the achievement, Superman augmented the prison's security by placing it on an antigravity platform. Initially dubbed "Draper's Island," it was informally renamed "Superman Island" by the adult Lana – with whom Draper remained smitten, just as she remained lovestruck by Superman – and it was the latter name, plus the novelty of the floating platform, that caught public attention, diverting recognition from Draper himself. This proved the final straw for Draper, who snapped and became the costumed super-villain Master Jailer. He attacked Superman and kidnapped Lana under the name the Master Jailer. Superman defeated him, and he was sent to his own prison.

Post-Crisis

When Superman was suspected of being an imposter after his body was found still in his tomb, Draper was hired by S.T.A.R. Labs to design a holding cell for Conduit, when his daughter, Carla, asked him if he could build a prison that could hold Superman. Draper initially designed a trap that only the real Superman could escape from, explaining this to Superman by way of a hologram of a costumed figure named Deathtrap. However, when Superman escaped the trap, Draper became obsessed with proving he could capture the real thing. Draper made several other attempts to capture Superman, often programming the Deathtrap hologram in advance so he could be publicly elsewhere. On one occasion, in Superman: The Man of Steel #43 (Apr 1995), he programmed Deathtrap to appear during a Draper Security press conference, and display how Draper's devices were being "subverted", this both removing suspicion and acting as an advertisement.

The Master Jailer was one of the villains controlled by Manchester Black.

At some point, Checkmate discovered his multiple identities, and used this to force him into becoming a security consultant, protecting Checkmate itself from attack. In the issue, he prevents numerous assaults on Checkmate headquarters and is promoted to head of security, with the title Castellan. Although he has not told his superiors, he strongly suspects Carla is involved in the attacks.

Notes

• Carl Draper was created by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte where he made his first appearance in Superman v1 #331 (January, 1979).

Appearances

• Superman v1:

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