Malcolm Barnes was an employee of LuthorCorp and the main antagonist of the 2-parter Smallville comic book story "Chimera".
Biography
Early life
Malcolm Barnes was a classmate of Lex Luthor as both attended the same prep school Excelsior Academy, but Malcolm could only attend through a scholarship.
Malcolm was a mathematician major and after graduating, had financial difficulties. Lex would later give him a job studying hieroglyphics from the Kawatche Caves.
Chimera, Part 1
After the recent shooting of Lionel, Lex heads to Metropolis to visit with his prep school friend, Malcolm. To his shock, he arrives to find Malcolm has been murdered, on the floor, with one of Lex's knives in his chest and some letters were planted to frame him for the murder.
The SWAT team blew through the window and surround them, taking Lex.
In the van, men claiming to be government agents asked him why he killed one of their agents. They beat Lex soundly, but Lex knows nothing. They asked him why his bank account was empty. Clark managed to rescue Lex and he went to confront his father.
Chimera, Part 2
Lex held a gun to Lionel believing that he emptied his Swiss bank account. Lionel insists that he had nothing to do with the death of his friend. He was shortly escorted out after discovering that his account is only now being emptied while speaking to his father.
Outside, Lex figures out that the security guards were actually a part of the thugs that killed his friends. He fought his way out, and as the van chases him, it flips and wrecks. Lex returned to the crime scene to find his murdered friend Malcolm Barnes alive brandishing a gun realizing he was double-crossed.
Malcolm revealed he pretended to be Lex's friend in hopes of financial benefits. Malcolm continued to reveal the truth about his associate, a man who he didn't know but had a British accent, secretly Dominic Sanatori.
Together, they plotted to gain the contents of Lex's Swiss bank account, with Dominic in turn gaining control of LuthorCorp. Malcolm set up his own murder, and leaving behind fake letters implying that Lex killed him. He then hired actors posing as FBI agents who would insist that Lex used money from his account for terrorist purposes.
Malcolm tired to fire on Lex only to realize the gun was empty. Lex left Malcolm to confront Dominic. Afterwards, Malcolm is arrested, and the stolen money was returned to Lex.
