Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #3 – Mark Waid, Writer; Bryan Hitch, Penciller; Kevin Nowlan, Inker; Brad Anderson, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s been a long time waiting for the conclusion of this Black Label series, which saw Lex Luthor’s life drawing to a close as the result of his many experiments. Superman was determined to save his former friend, no matter the cost – even including his reputation on Earth. Last issue took him across the universe and the past and future, only to discover the hidden hand behind it all – Brainiac, who had been orchestrated the entire plot as a way to get closer to Earth and deal the final blow. Brainiac has always been the most powerful and dangerous of Superman’s villains in a vacuum, and this issue shows that off in terrifying fashion – as he tries to assimilate Earth, there are some truly disturbing scenes as we see what his plans for humanity are. And just like that, Lex Luthor’s last days become even more uncertain and he has to come up with one more plan.
Superman and Luthor have always been at odds based on their ethics, and when Luthor’s plan to stop Brainiac involves his own sacrifice, we see that there is some humanity left in him – but it’s the one thing Superman could never agree to, of course. This leads Superman to make the ultimate risky move, one that involves a plot right out of the Silver Age – and puts all of humanity’s fate in the balance by trusting in Lex’s better nature. This issue has an enormous amount of plot to release in a short period, with something like a year of stories packed into forty pages. That makes it a little clumsier in places than past issues, but it also delivers some major emotional punches in the last act. The ending is nicely ambiguous, and puts a neat bow on the story, but also makes clear that this is very much an alternate reality. Waid is so good with Superman and the related characters that his style works in just about any format.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
