Justin Gaines, aka The Pickup Artist, was a former student of Smallville High School and a metahuman.
Physical Appearance
Justin is a rather tall, slender kid, with brown eyes and short dark-brown curly hair.
Personality
Justin loved art, and as such, he enjoyed drawing, sketching, and doodling. He also had a crush on Chloe Sullivan. Sometime after the accident, after learning that he lost the use of his hands, Justin's perception became altered, and he became driven by rage and revenge, going far to claim justice for his condition.
Powers and Abilities
- Telekinesis: Justin can influence the movement of objects and people with his mind, being able to affect the course by which they move, and he can also control the speed and momentum of the object. [1]
Biography
Early life
Justin Gaines was an aspiring cartoonist at Smallville High who wrote a comic for the Torch called Flaming Crows Feet. [1]
He was hit by a car driven by Danny Kwan. Because of the accident, he lost the use of his hands, but somehow developed the power of telekinesis to compensate for the loss of the motor skills in his hands. [1]
Season One
Having caused the doctor who had treated him to lose his hands in an elevator accident, he then became the boyfriend of Chloe Sullivan after she had a fight with Clark Kent regarding his exclusion of her to focus on his new friendships with Lana Lang and Lex Luthor. After finding out that it was Principal Kwan's car was responsible for damaging him, he murdered Kwan, unaware that Kwan had simply concealed the truth about the accident to protect his son. [1]
Justin goes after Chloe.
After discovering a newspaper article about the doctor's accident in Justin's bag, Clark had his suspicions about Justin, but even after learning about Justin's powers- when he levitated various small objects in the Torch offices as they kissed- Chloe didn't believe he would ever hurt anyone, only realizing the truth after she examined his sketchbook and saw pictures of Kwan and the doctor being attacked. She called Clark for help, but Justin subsequently attacked her in Clark's barn, only to be defeated by Clark when Clark's abilities proved more than a match for his. At the end of "Crush" Chloe states that Justin's parents said that he was admitted into a psychiatric ward. [1]
Alternate Realities
Season Eleven (Earth-2)
See: Justin Gaines
Appearances
- Season One: Crush
- Season Three: Extinction (Mentioned only)
- Smallville The Comic: Raptor (Mentioned only)
Notes
- There are significant similarities between Justin and later meteor freak Seth Nelson; both manifested meteor powers after an accident, subsequently pursued a relationship with at least one of the girls in Clark's life – Chloe in Justin's case and Lana in Seth's – and each told their girl about their abilities (Although it is suggested that Seth's relationship with Lana was based on him manipulating her mind where Justin and Chloe's bond had a more genuine affection behind it even if he was insane).
- Justin was the first super-powered foe Clark faced where it was never explicitly established that his powers were the result of kryptonite exposure, although the timing and circumstances of the accident create the possibility that kryptonite was responsible, and Chloe and Lana also later acknowledge him as a meteor freak in Extinction.
- Adam Brody (Justin) also played the part of Seth Cohen in The O.C. He is the first of three O.C. alumni to appear on Smallville. The other two are Chris Carmack (Geoff Johns), Johnny Lewis (Gabriel Duncan) and Michael Cassidy (Grant Gabriel) and Paul Wesley (Lucas Luthor).
- Justin was mentioned in Extinction.
- His profile name was shown in Vengeance Chronicles and Fade.
- It seems that Justin is from a wealthy family, as he was shown to live in a beautiful manor and be served by a butler.