...okay, how does the device in question allow for the various powers we've seen SN exhibit?

I can see SOME of them, kind of, if he's picked up one of the newer gimmicks of his Marvel Universe counterpart, but not all of'em.
 

well, there is a relationship between the emission of light and change in the mass of some elements...given the application of comic book deus ex Silver Age Machina...the powers ALL make perfect sense!!

Devon is the MAN.
 

I still think he's Blackrock. I mean, c'mon, he's wearing the GBS logo on his chest. :)
 

uh...Isn't Blackrock a busty chick in a bikini?
 

Not the original Blackrocks...

from wikipedia:

Pre-Crisis Blackrock was the creation of Dr. Peter Silverstone in an attempt to increase ratings for the United Broadcasting television network. Silverstone hypnotized UB President Sam Tanner and later Tanner's nephew, Les Vegas, to fill the role.
 

He shrinks away the objects, and himself to make it look like he disappears. He's always been able to fly and he more than likely noticed the satellite surveillance from the way he travels over electronic impulses.

I kind of thought it was Warp, especially with the package from France, but Atom works, too. I hope we get a post-52 Supernova if it is Palmer.
 

How is Superman being out of the picutre key? And why the focus on the word key?

I like the theory, don't get me wrong. I miss Ray. But still.
 

The Key may be a too easy shot. So, we have some considerations:
- The Atom: The current Atom flys hangin' to a small antigrav bar remote controlled, but Supernova seems to fly almost unaided. He may "shrink" things very small and say he teleported them away
- Alternate Gold: His costume does exactly the gimmicks of Supernova ones, except the teleporting
- Dr.Light: A villain turned hero to put shame on Booster? Too easy, alas for poor Gold he did all by himself.
Or maybe the gal... wasn't Ronin a very pretty kunoichi (female ninja) dressed as a male in such a way that they keep calling her "Daredevil"?
- Lar Gand, aka Valor aka M'Onel.
He has just resurfaced into the DCU, courtesy by Legionnaires. He has superstrengh, he can fly unaided and he has a "magic item" very useful: a Phantom Ray Projector to use on scary monsters, rampaging tanks an surveillance cams.
Plus, there's a "Dead by Lead" mark in the Rip Hunter blackboard, and Supernova became a "Sighting myth" One Year Later. One thousand and one year later Saturn Girl heard Lar whining about his living alone for at least 1000 years.
 

One of the two keys could be the Cosmic Key that would allow anybody to show the teletransportation powers...
 

Wait, so he's not Hawkeye?
 

Yeah, from the white star emblem to the abilities that all could be attributed to mass control to his familiarity with Ralph and unfamiliarity with Cassie, Ray Palmer seemed like a damn good choice.

Although someone suggested the Eradicator, which fit with "the device," as well as with Superman being out of the picture, and might even explain why Clark seems to be in league with him.

I feel pretty safe in saying that it's not Mon-El, though.
 

Excellent guess. Probably the best one I've seen so far...and a great way to bring Ray back into the fold without simply picking up where he left off.

Still.....you'd think the tension between Ray and Ralph would have surfaced more than it did in the scene. I mean, come on....the guy's ex killed his wife. Not that Ralph blames Ray....but there's still an association there that's hard to deny.
 

Snapper Carr
 

I think Devon's explanation best matches the available evidence..has the strongest explanatory power. Mon-el and all of these other notions just don't have the same fit.

i'm betting its Palmer.
 

Wait, it's not Ray Palmer's Belt...

'Cause Ray is still using it! Hmmmm, I like this idea the more I think about it.
 

It's obvious that Supernova is a mannequin that is operated by the tens of shrunken Kryptonians that make up the Superman Emergency Squad. Van-Zee is in the head telling Nor-Ran and Don-El to work the arms.
 

david, that would just be the best thing ever if it were true :)

My only problem with the Atom being Supernova is that Ray Palmer has played no part in the story so far. My money's still on a version of Booster being Rip Hunter & Supernova, and using time travel to simulate teleportation.
 

Only thing wrong with the alternate Booster Gold theory is that Ralph would have no connection to him and would have no reason to keep any of his secrets. Mon-El wouldn't need any device to simulate the powers Supernova has shown, wouldn't have any connection to Ralph and wouldn't need to wear a mask. And Booster punched Supernova once and Supernova was dazed. Neither a Kryptonian nor Daxamite would be fazed by a hit from Booster.

Superman would be able to see through the mask.
 

Ralph would have no connection to an alternate reality Booster.
 

But Ray Palmer hadn't internalized his shrinking powers once ago? The Rip Hunter/Booster connection intrigates me, but if Rip was really Booster, he should have known all from the start... so, I'm still thinking at Supernova like a "gadget" hero. The shrinking belt alone though doesn't convince me. A really light Ray could float, but not fly on his own volition, neither carring a charred corpse. I now agree that Valor could't be punched in the face by Booster alone... but we forgot that Booster's future costume, the 25th, gave him the strengh to resist a punch from Doomsday, and he had his shield raised when punched Supernova, and a Phantom Zone projector could explain all the "I teleported it somewhere".
Or maybe a Portable Zeta Ray Unit, but Adam Strange is blind and in space, Captain Comet at time was really dead, and when he resurrected wasn't so strong, and no Omega Man could ever be Supernova.
So, for Occam Razor's sake, removing all the heroes that _cannot_ be Supernova, we're left with the heroes that _could_ be Supernova.
The key is "Superman has disappeared". Well, Superman wasn't a Leaguer during Legends, and Booster was there. But also the Eradicator claimed to be Superman's replacement, and was recently seen in a full cowled costume. But the Eradicator suffers from light sensivity and snow-blindess...
 

Booster actually didn't join the League during 'Legends'. He didn't join until early on in the actual 'Justice League' run.
 

Wikipedia:

The exact nature of Supernova's powers was unclear as of his debut, but he has been shown to fly and emit powerfully bright flashes of light

Dr. Light II can do this, among many other people.

He can remove matter with energy beams coming from his eyes.

Why his eyes? Maybe this is an internal power. Or he is wearing super goggles.

It was not apparent if the matter is disintegrated or removed by other means. At one point, when asked what happened to an object he removed, he remarked "I sent it away." He also appears to teleport in bright flashes of light. He is able to sense and "remove" a surveillance satellite trained on him from hundreds of miles away.

I think all these powers are not what they appear to be. But Ray Palmer's belt can't do all of them, especially the flying and the emitting light trick. Since when can Ray shrink items thousands of miles away?

Let's see what Wikipedia has to say on the powers of the Cosmic Rod:

The Cosmic Staff, sometimes called the Cosmic Rod, offered Jack powers including rapid flight and manipulation of energy. The staff absorbed stellar energy, which could be manipulated into defensive force fields, and offensive energy blasts of incredible power. Jack could use both powers at once, to protect himself from atmospheric damage in high velocity flight. Another power of the rod, seen late in the series, was that it was capable of receiving commands from a distance merely by Jack's thinking them. This was a feature of the device, an ability to 'attune itself to the user', and not a power of Jack's. At present, the staff is attuned to its current wielder, Stargirl, and it seems difficult to quickly change the staff's affiliation.

Any of this sound familiar? Maybe one rod is attuned to Courtney. Who says there is ONLY one?

In issue 31 of 52, Ralph Dibny states that "one device could tie [Supernova's Superpowers] all together".

Yeah, the Cosmic Rod/Staff. Which can be tinkered with, modified, and miniturized. Or turned into goggles or a belt. It can do all kinds of crazy stuff. It can do pretty much anything, as long as you know how to construct it. There can also be more than one.

Supernova is Jack Knight.

And Ralph certainly knows Jack Knight and the Cosmic Staff very, very well, doesn't he?

Also from Wikipedia, in the Starman article:

According to Dan DiDio, Jack will make an appearance in 52, the weekly series that bridges the gap between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later.

He sure will!
 

I'm thinkin' it might be more likely that Booster's ancestor becomes Rip Hunter, but that's still pretty cool.

Rereading Week 31 of 52, it dawned on me that Ray Palmer must be Supernova.

My take on Ralph's "key" comment: "Superman being missing is a key, but Ray Palmer's also missing. That would be the second key."

Just a thought.
 

The new 52 editor (can't recall his name right now, too lazy to look it up) hinted in the latest Newsarama piece that Supernova could actually be more than one person.

In any event, it seems like Clark Kent is in cahoots with him in some form or fashion.

No, I don't have an answer, but Ray Palmer for some reason seems more "right" than Jack Knight.
 

It's Ray Palmer using the Star Tsar costume, originally given to Snapper Carr by the Key.
 

With all this discussion about which device is capable of what, is it not the case that Booster Gold's costume is cobbled together from a bunch of different superhero gadgets?

Just sayin'.
 

I still think it's Dial H for HERO.
 

As one more for the "Jack Knight" column...What is a "burnt out" Starman but a Supernova?

Hmmm?
 

Jack Knight could tie it all, or the "new" Starman altogher, who's clearly "a superpowered citizen of Opal City who became mad".
This new Starman hasn't a "Cosmic Rod" like Stargirl's one, the "witchy broom", or a miniaturized cosmic broom, only the costume able to do all tricks. And apparently during the last year saw something that took away his sanity.
So Supernova could be Starman, or viceversa. Or Jack Knight, retiring for good, gave his "trademark" to the nutcase.
If it's not Jack, I'll stick with Kimiko or Booster. Ray has never teleported anything in his career, Kimiko could always burn things to very small cinders and lie, and Booster could steal some telepoting units.
Ted Kord is too dead for doing anything useful.
 

It's General Glory, I tells ya, General Glory!
 

The Star Tsar... fits. Like read on a forum outta there, and rembered in early days, The Key designed Star Tsar uniform and powers, and Mark Shaw gave it to Snapper Carr.
But Snapper knew well Cassie, and Supernova claims to know Ralph, and to be unfamiliar with Wonder Girl.
So, he may be lying, 'cause he literally grew young Cassie, and a blonde cutie all mewling and purring on him may seem like incest, or we can stick to the old "multiple man in the single suit".

So Snapper Carr, having regained his teleport Metagene, talked some guys into put on the Star Tsar costume, repainted it, went out for some missions, than left the gear to a squad composed from various low-level heroes with useful powers, eventually claiming the suit when the need arises.
 

"Only thing wrong with the alternate Booster Gold theory is that Ralph would have no connection to him and would have no reason to keep any of his secrets."

I think that fact that Booster was 6 foot 5 is another thing wrong.

Supernova is not that large.
 

It's gotta be Dial H For Hero.
The "device", the random inexplicable powers, the obvious theme... it all adds up.
Also, Dial H For Hero is Immortal Bald Man In Armor.
That would just make sense.
 

I think there's something to the "alternate Booster Gold" thing.

But I think everyone has it backwards.

IF there's a Booster Gold behind Supernova's mask, it's OUR Booster.

The one who couldn't reconcile his records with our timeline and who met his demise so ignonimously was the ALTERNATE Booster. He was a Booster Reboot from another Earth -- showing up right after a Crisis is part of the Booster Origin.

That's why it seemed like the writer was ignoring all the development and growth BG's undergone since his beginnings. This was a Booster who'd NEVER DONE THAT.
 

As everyone thought at the Replicant? The Flash Rogue able to steal all superpowers from the other rogues, like the _Angle_ Man Angler, and so on. He went to the Batcave to steal something useful to use, he cobbled togheter lots of gimmicks and Gizmos, and tried to be useful and good.
 

Let me just remain everybody that Ryan Choi is using a shrink belt in the new Atom series to create light and that quantum telepotation of light is something we can do in real life. Just tossing those in there to point out that the theory it's Ray Palmer is pretty strong.
 

For everyone who thinks it's Jack Knight having tinkered with the cosmic rod,

Jack Knight is not a scientist. He's a pawn shop owner. He has no interest or proficiency in science and would not be able to assemble or modify a cosmic rod.
 

While I think the Ray Palmer theory is good, I'm leaning towards Booster. And like Serpent said, OUR Booster. He left to go back to the future and become a better hero - worthy of Ted Kord's respect. Yet when we saw him again, he was a selfish rehash of his original persona. While that could be a poor editorial decision, I'll go with the SuperNova identity - someone trying to prove themself as a real hero.
 

Jack Knight is not a scientist. He's a pawn shop owner. He has no interest or proficiency in science and would not be able to assemble or modify a cosmic rod

Who said Jack Knight modified it himself? Lots of hints being dropped Supernova is "more than one person".

Not too hard to imagine a scenario where one guy wears the suit, one guy builds/repairs the suit, and maybe another guy scouts out trouble locations.

Some other thoughts:

- Ralph said "one device". Are there any devices that make it LOOK like you have powers but don't give powers? Said illusion device could also make a female person appear to be a male.

- Neither Jack Knight, Booster Gold, nor Ray Palmer are part of the Superman Family. Yet, Ralph is sure that Superman SPECIFICALLY being gone is an important part of the key.

- Is there any reason why Lois Lane can't be Supernova? It would explain the GBS symbol, why Clark Kent is so into Supernova and trusts him immediately, a direct connection with Superman that Ralph knows about but is highly specialized information, and an excellent motivation for Supernova to go into service (the world needs a Superman). Lois presumably would also have access to Kryptonian tech, Legion of Super Heroes gear through Supergirl, and the services of John Henry Irons, STAR Labs, and Cadmus. She knows Clark hides his identity by pretending to be a nebbish. Maybe she hides her identity by pretending to be a man.

- "Two keys if you want to be cute about it". Superman is gone = key #1. Superman's wife fills in = key #2. Only Ralph could figure this out because he is one of very few people who knows who Superman is (we know this from Identity Crisis).

- Lois falling/jumping out of a window and being rescued by Superman is a classic, classic trope. How did Clark and Supernova meet, again? Which is more iconic....Superman/Lois doing this or Superman/Booster doing this?

-A Clark Kent story about Supernova lends him instant legitimacy. Odd how Clark isn't as interested in any other new heroes.

- Supernova loves to pose in front of Luthor JUST LIKE SUPERMAN to annoy him. Why? Who would know that this happens in the first place, this is oddly specific information only known to Superman. Like something a husband tells a wife. "Honey, Luthor hates it whan I do the crossed arms thing. If you want to piss him off, fly by his window and try it".

- Why does a brand new hero care so much about Luthor? Booster, Knight, and Ray Palmer all have other standard rogues to pick on.

- Lex Luthor is 100% convinced Supernova is Superman or Superman-connected. No way this is a throwaway comment.

- Lots of big rumors this year that Lois will say three important words that will change her life forever. Everyone assumes it is "I am pregnant". It could also be "I am Supernova".

Don't mock me. Prove me wrong.
 

Devon guessed it? Damn! Now we have to change it to Hawk.
 

I was, at first, convinced by the Lois Lane theory, but, right after Clark pulls a Lois with Supernova, he goes home and tells her, and she gets all angry that he jumped. ::shrug:: So unless he doesn't know and she's acting...