You know, I haven’t been reading much of Superman or his villains this month, so let’s correct that! Written by the guy who will be behind Superman/Wonder Woman, here’s Lex Luthor’s own special issue! Is it good?
Action Comics #23.3 (DC Comics)
Lex Luthor has just gotten out of prison and is ready to get back to the daily grind of running Lexcorp. However, something is wrong! Superman is nowhere to be seen at all and that troubles the bald headed egotist. However, he has a plan to get his attention and while he waits for it to work, he has plenty of things to do to occupy himself.
Like wiping out a small business in a single afternoon.
I have to say that this is a great issue and really gets the character of Lex Luthor down to a T. Everything Lex does in this issue and his behavior is something I would really see him do, like destroying his own space shuttle after Superman does not show up, or how he thinks Superman is only concerned and cares about what he does. Fans of the character are really going to want to get check this out.
The rest of the comic is just as good. The dialogue and exchanges are solid, with how the characters play off each other and Lex himself. The story moves at a good pace and nothing feels overly padded. The ending is great with how it leads into Forever Evil in a way. I will say I called a twist early on since it seemed obvious, so you might not get anything real surprising out of this comic.
And for the fun of it, I won’t tell you what fourteen ways. Got to keep you guys on your toes, after all.
The artwork is probably the weakest point of the comic. It’s not that the artist is bad or anything, it’s just that it is rather average looking in a way. Everyone looks fine and nothing is poorly drawn (I mean, the space shuttle and the scene where Lex is trying out his armor is well drawn and detailed), it’s just that there is nothing that really jumps out at you.
And now, a scene by J.J. Abrams.
- Lex Luthor is portrayed perfectly here.
- A very good and enjoyable look at Lex during his regular day.
- The writing is good all around.
- The art is kind of boring.
- You can kind of call what’ll happen in plot quickly.
Is It Good?
I definitely would say so. This is a great one-shot focusing on Lex Luthor that really nails the character perfectly and tells an interesting tale of what he does when Superman is nowhere to be found. Fans of the character and who are just looking for something decent to read this Villains Month should give this a try.
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