Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch present the first book of Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor! This is published under DC’s Black Label which presents mature subject matter and is not bound to regular DC continuity. Waid currently writes the Batman/Superman World’s Finest series. Hitch worked with Waid on the tabloid size JLA: Heaven’s Ladder #1 (2011). Kevin Nowlan inks and is the artist of one of the variant covers. The magazine size of the Black Label graphic novels has the large panels that can contain the cinematic visuals of Hitch. Book One has a cover by Hitch of Superman arms spread out in flight with the sun shining behind him. We begin with the Daily Planet building at sundown with Hob’s River in the background. Clark Kent is alone in the dark newsroom with only the light of his computer screen to illuminate him. We shift to the younger Clark shouting for Lex Luthor to open a sealed, metal door.
The older Clark removes his glasses and rubs his eye at the memory. He strikes the door and in a closeup, we see the growling face of Luthor through a portal window, aflame! I like the hint that this accident may have caused Luthor’s hair loss. Hitch is powerful with his character work, individual characters and strong expressions. We see Clark typing and the text, “The Last Days of Lex Luthor by Clark Kent.” This is similar to the graphic novel, Superman: Under a Yellow Sun (1994). Great beginning that ties the two lifelong foes to the past and present. This goes to the command room of a tanker off of Bangladesh. A closeup shot of the crew before we get the tsunami about to overtake the ship! It is actually the appearance of a giant, purple tech form like a mecha. The crew takes pictures of it with their cell phones. The Daily Planet newsroom is a buzz at the saving of the tanker. Perry White calls for Clark, but we only see his glasses at his desk. This is the best change of costume for Superman.
This goes to the island of Meghwip off of Bangladesh with a clawed Mecha like a hand with a glowing circle at its center. The mecha, colored purple and green, the signature colors of Lex Luthor’s Warsuit. The text explains that the island is six feet above the sea level, the Mecha powers up, and then slams into the island! The island is low enough to have the impact flood its fault lines, sinking it! We see the giant robot slamming into the island sending dust clouds throughout a city. Citizens fall next to boulder-shaped debris like the Kryptonians during the planet’s destruction in Superman the Movie (1978). Then, streaks of red and blue race through the rubble. Shattered glass is about to fall on other citizens and then we see a blast of red, this makes me think of the scene in Superman Returns (2006) where Superman turns as he flies and vaporizes glass with his heat vision.
The waves start to flood the streets with people of Meghwip trying to run from it. Then, we see the waves turned into icy shards above the citizens. There is green x-ray vision of trapped people. A shadowy, flying figure frees them. The rescued people look up smiling with hope. There is an image of the machine almost filling two pages. Long panels at the bottom has the impact clouds at one end of the city and the mecha at the other side. Closeup of hands starting to rend the machine. Then, a splash page of the towering figure of Superman, the first time we have seen him in full above the head of Lex Luthor in shadow! An impressive panel by Hitch, Nowlan, and colorist David Baron. Superman senses something is wrong with his rival, but flies above the island to study the problem. We see Superman flying, his eyes ablaze with heat vision, and his fist out in powerful foreshortening!
He starts to plow into the island several “echo chambers” to counter the tremors. He sees Luthor saying he wanted Superman’s attention. Lurthor seems to find the situation amusing and Superman works out that there was a “combat machine” developed in India and we see that a control room of its operators were killed by Luthor and we see his smirking face. He slams Luthor back into the wall and is told to look at him with microscopic vision. Superman sees his lungs, deeper into Luthor’s celluar structure, and finds green particles. Luthor casually says it is from Kryptonite, we see a large panel of a laboratory with Luthor looking at a meteor fragment of Kryptonite. It exploded and bathed Luthor with its radiation. He is tested and explains to his counterpart that the radiation has faded so Superman is in no danger, only his life is in danger. A great premise!
Lex Luthor only has a few days left and has turned to his greatest enemy. Luthor’s genius has failed at any cure. Then we get a splash page of the various times Superman helped people against Luthor’s schemes. We get the smiling face of Luthor realizing that Superman will save everyone including himself! Superman carefully scans Luthor. He doesn’t believe it, but Luthor has come to value his life. Luthor notes that Superman’s help comes with a surrender for his crimes. We see that Superman agrees to save Luthor as a bargain between them. Then, he starts hearing his name in many languages, around the world. There is many faces of people and we see on a cellphone with text asking if Superman is a villain sympathizer! Superman is not omnipotent, his attention was focused on saving people, then focusing on checking Lex Luthor to not see that Luthor was recording the conversation!
The Daily Planet is in chaos at the news! Luthor has transmitted their conversation to the world and thinks the world will hate him saving the villain. The selfish thinking of the world's people reflecting Lex's thinking. Superman has saved them countless times, it looks like they never understood his principle of saving everyone no matter who they are, including Luthor. He says he hated Superman the moment he saw him. Clark thinks back to Smallville meeting the bullied, red-haired Lex Luthor. Lex wears a green jacket like his later armor. Clark's narration looks back on their friendship. The bullies corner Lex and Clark raises his glasses with his heat vision eyes glowing! The latches to an overhang dumps snow on them so Lex can escape. He has contempt for Clark as a farm boy, calling him "MacDonald", casually standing with his blue jacket. Lex confides that the townspeople think he is a freak.
The contempt of the small town, even with back in the days, also shows their selfishness. In the case of Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang Theory, also arrogant, he is looked down by others. For the same reason that Clark later explains, Lex doesn't have emotional intelligence. Clark explains he had detention arguing with Mrs. Rosebury. Lex looks at the test paper and sees that the question was wrong and Clark was right. It is interesting to see over and over that Smallville has good people, but with narrow thinking. Both characters need the open thinking of Metropolis and the world. I like this origin of Lex Luthor meeting Clark Kent. This and other events may have made this story Black Label, but it is also a classic Superman story. Lex says Clark should get out as soon as he can, he's right, but Clark likes the town. I think there is sentimentality as a flaw for Clark. He would not meet Lois, Jimmy, Perry, and so many others outside of Smallville. Clark recognizes that Lex's intelligence is "once every hundred years", not an exaggeration, he has studied humankind.
Lex works on a farmer's tractor, Mr. Hubbard, who is annoyed he was working on it without his permission. He was trying to convert the engine to solar power, but there are people who don't care about innovation. Clark's narration notes that Lex was obsessed with extraterrestrial life, but did not realize there was a living example is right next to him. This blind spot to each other's flaws is a great parallel to Lex and Clark's characters. Clark points out the comet "this side of Canis Major", the brightest star in sky. Lex looks into a bulky, reflector telescope and is stunned that Clark has found a comet when one wasn't expected for three years! We see Clark in flashback flying past the comet. He confides that no one else would care, again the Smallville thinking. Clark tells Lex that he talked to Mr. Hubbard and found out about the leak, but says Lex should apologize. This angers Lex who stomps off, again his arrogance, I think there are geniuses who see a problem and just fix it because it's there.
Clark returns through the windw of his room and the narration says that he can hear electromagnetic waves and other wonders, but couldn't explain them to Ma and Pa Kent. He wants to share his secrets with anyone, but made the promise to his parents. He looks at a drive-in with a Warner Brothers picture, could it be a film by Richard Donner? Next we get Jonathan and Martha Kent at the dinner table with Clark, it is washed with purple like an old time Hollywood film. Clark is distracted using his telescopic vision in green to watch Lex at work on a machine. Jonathan has warned him about spying, but Clark is worried about Lex spending weeks in his lab. He says Lex has been getting deliveries from around the world. He sees Lex with safety glasses holding a "weird rock"! Then, we have an awesome splash page of Superman carrying Lex over the Arctic with the night sky around them. It is like the ending of Superman II (1980).
Lex is babbling while Superman's thoughts are on other things. He mentions "Mr. and Mrs. Metropolis" and we see Lois looking like she is praying in the Daily Planet offices. Superman takes Lex to the Fortress of Solitude, it is a mountain range with multi-colored crystalline towers like shars around it, great design! A two page splash shows the statues of Jor-El and Lara holding Krypton, a Tyrannosaurus rex (like the Batcave?), Superman warsuit, a Titanic-like ship, and a room long Bottle City of Kandor. Bottle City of Kandor first appeared in Action Comics #242 (1958) created by Otto Binder. Superman puts a suit on Lex to de-contaminate Kandor, translate the language, handy, and keep its gravity from crushing him! They are on a platform to tsake them into Krypton and Superman tells Lex that his friends haven't visited Kandor.
Superman says that the "wisest scientist in the galaxy" might have cure. Also, that he has been trying to restore Kandor and failed. The Kandorians notice Kal-El and cheer him on. Superman doesn't want such praise, Lex sees this, and wants them to rise. He shows Lex his battle with Brainiac who had trapped the Kryptonians in the bottle city. Lex notes that the simulated red sun has made Superman like himself. He says he could kill Superman who casually says he could try. Lex says that Superman could go to the bottle city if he was homesick, but his rival says their praising him as the liberator gets in the way to learn Kryptonian culture. Superman tells him that they had the Kryptonians loved cold science that they lost their compassion. We see Clark trying to get Lex to understand how science, his way, could lead to dangerous circumstances. Waid is able to get into the character differences, their flaws and strengths in Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor through a trip through Superman's world!
Five Kryptonite Cells out of Five!
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