With allies like the intrepid reporter Lois Lane or Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, the Man of Steel has some of the most popular supporting characters in the DC Universe. From the Daily Planet to Metropolis’ Special Crimes Unit, Superman has no shortage of allies to turn to when he needs a helping hand. But during Final Crisis by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, and Doug Mahnke, one of Superman’s most loyal allies became one of his worst foes when detective Dan Turpin became the human host for the Lord of Apokolips.
Dan “Terrible” Turpin was a prominent cop in Metropolis’ Special Crimes Unit. Working closely with his partner Maggie Sawyer, Turpin was a hard-edged detective and loyal ally of the Man of Steel for years. First appearing in a short story by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon in Detective Comics #64, he didn’t appear under his own name until New Gods #5 by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.
Raised in Brooklyn, Turpin grew into the role of detective in Metropolis. His first encounter with the Fourth World came when his investigations led to him aiding Darkseid’s son, Orion, against his half-brother Kalibak. Working his way to Lieutenant Inspector of Special Crimes, Turpin later spent time in Hawaii dealing with New Gods yet again in Superboy by Karl Kessel, Tom Grummet, and Doug Hazelwood.
At the beginning of Final Crisis, Turpin comes across the dying Orion, murdered by a bullet fired in the future back through the past. Before he dies, Orion tells Turpin that Darkseid is in all of them, and admonishes him to fight until his last breath.
As Turpin investigates the disappearances of multiple children, Renee Montoya, in her guise as the Question, points the detective to the Dark Side Club. There he finds the children in the clutches of Boss Dark Side, Darkseid’s human guise. Held under his sway by the Anti-Life Equation, the children turn on Turpin, subduing him for their master. The detective somehow escapes with no memory of how he has done so and stays on the trail of the children. Tracking down and interrogating the Mad Hatter, Turpin brutally beats the villain for the location of the children until he is pointed toward the ruins of Bludhaven.
In the desolation, Turpin investigates a bunker as he is guided by Glorious Godfrey, the mouthpiece of Darkseid. The bunker turns out to be the hidden base for the evil New Gods’ operations, a so-called Evil Factory where they conduct their experiments on dozens of unwilling subjects, including Batman. Seeing such horror, Turpin becomes overwhelmed by another voice in his head, and it’s revealed that he has become the new host body for Darkseid after the death of Boss Dark Side. While Turpin fights for control of himself, his will breaks, giving the God of Apokolips total control.
The world falls into chaos alongside Turpin’s descent, with the Anti-Life Equation spreading far and wide, subjugating much of the Earth’s population, including its heroes. Using Turpin, Darkseid launches all-out attacks on the remaining pockets of resistance, using the Equation to directly manipulate and work through the three billion humans under his control. A desperate Batman manages to escape his confinement, shooting Darkseid with the same bullet that killed Orion and mortally wounding the Lord of Apokolips, but not before the villain uses his Omega Effect to send the Caped Crusader backwards through time.
He is finally confronted by Superman who hesitates when he sees that his old ally Turpin is Darkseid’s new host, knowing that a physical confrontation with the monster would do more harm to Turpin and the other people infected than to Darkseid himself. As Superman falters, Darkseid fires the bullet that killed Orion back through time, simultaneously completing the cycle and beginning it anew.
Turpin is finally freed from Darkseid’s thrall when the Flashes—Wally West and a newly returned Barry Allen—lead the Black Racer to him. With Batman’s shot hitting its mark, the otherworldly reaper claims Darkseid, leaving a wounded but purified Turpin behind to witness the horror he unwittingly wrought.
While Dan Turpin may be a lesser-known character, he was not only one of Superman’s staunchest allies but also one of DC’s greatest threats. Although he’s not the first hero to be possessed by an evil force, he was certainly one of the most dangerous.
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