Paul Westfield is a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. He first appeared in ''Superman'' (vol. 2) #58 (August 1991) and was created by

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...

Publication history

The executive director of

Project Cadmus This is a list of teams and organizations that appear in various DC Comics publications. Note: Please check :DC Comics superhero teams before adding any redundant entries for superhero teams to the page. 0-9 100 1,000 2000 Committee A ...

, the post-''

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

'' version of

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

's DNA Project, Westfield was revealed to be in charge of the project in ''Superman'' (vol. 2) #58. An unscrupulous director ironically hired for his ethics, he appeared in issues of ''Superman'', ''Superman: The Man of Steel'', ''The Adventures of Superman'' and ''Superboy'' (vol. 4). A noteworthy story was his plan on creating a clone to take Superman's place during multiple issues of the ''

Funeral for a Friend Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, Wales, Bridgend, formed in 2001. The band's members are Kris Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, vocals), Darran Smith (guitar), Richard Boucher (bass), an ...

'' storyline after '' The Death of Superman'' event. This led to the debut of

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

(Conner Kent) in the following '' Reign of the Supermen!'' crossover event.

Fictional character biography

Project: Bloodhound

After a career in the United States military as a soldier, Westfield becomes the executive director of

, a secret government agency based outside of

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

. When the Guardian, head of security at Cadmus, battles the vigilante Gangbuster (who was revealed to be an entranced

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

), he reports his encounter to Westfield. Westfield feels that Superman is a potential threat to Earth and begins the early phase of a counter measure called Project: Bloodhound and monitored Superman for months. After incidents involving the Krypton Man, Westfield is convinced that Superman's mental state is deteriorating and sends the "dogs" of the project - Mac, Blood, and Tracker - to capture him. While captured, Superman's mind is probed by

Dubbilex Beatriz Da Costa Reep Daggle Dagon Dan the Dyna-Mite Dan the Dyna-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Danny Dunbar was the star pupil of Thomas N. Thomas, a high school chemistry and phys ...

and his thoughts transferred to a computer. After Superman is rescued by the Hairies - advanced humanoid creations of Cadmus - Westfield, Guardian, and Dubbilex learn that Superman reluctantly killed three

Kryptonians Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to ref ...

(

General Zod General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), was ...

, Zaora, and Quex-Ul) who killed every being on a pocket universe Earth. When Westfield threatens to court-martial Guardian, the Guardian and Dubbilex threaten to publicly reveal that Westfield killed his mentally unstable commander to save his unit during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, which causes him to relent.

Death and return of Superman

Westfield wants Cadmus to create a cloned replacement for

, who had been killed during " The Death of Superman" storyline. However, the plan to clone Superman is unsuccessful. Cadmus instead creates a human who resembles Superman and possesses a telekinetic aura that can replicate Kryptonian abilities, with Westfield providing genetic material. After twelve failed attempts, the thirteenth clone known as Experiment 13 is created and artificially aged into a teenager. Experiment 13 escapes from Cadmus and assumes the alias Superman, refusing to be called "

Battle for Metropolis

In the "Battle of Metropolis" story arc, a clone plague erupts into open warfare in the streets of Metropolis between Cadmus and

LexCorp Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

when Lex Luthor contracts the clone virus and accuses Cadmus of infecting him. The Underworlders, exiled creations of Cadmus led by Clawster, take advantage of the conflict between the two forces to attack Cadmus troops and civilians. Westfield tries to exterminate the Underworlders with a missile, which is destroyed by Superman. Dabney Donovan, the creator of the Underworlders and the mastermind behind the clone virus, murders Westfield and cuts off his ear as a trophy.''The Adventures of Superman'' #513 (June 1994)

In other media

Paul Westfield appears in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio drama adaptation of "The Death of Superman", "Funeral For a Friend", and "Reign of the Supermen!" storylines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfield, Paul Characters created by Dan Jurgens Comics characters introduced in 1991 DC Comics male characters DC Comics military personnel Fictional Vietnam War veterans