Lex Luthor is dying. And now, he insists that the Man of Steel save his life. Your Major Spoilers review of Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 from DC Comics awaits!

SUPERMAN: THE LAST DAYS OF LEX LUTHOR #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Penciler: Bryan Hitch
Inker: Kevin Nowlan
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Tyler Smith of Comicraft
Editor: Andrew Marino
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $6.99
Release Date: July 25, 2023

Previously in Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor: Superman learns Lex Luthor is dying, and he wants the Man of Steel to help him find the cure for whatever is causing his rapid decline. While the world wants to say good riddance to Luthor, Superman will go to the ends of the universe, through different dimensions, and across time to save his foe. But just why does he want to save the person who’s spent his life trying to destroy him?

And will he even be able to find the solution?

“SUPERMAN WON’T LET ME DIE…”

Superman: The Last Days of Lext Luthor #1 begins in the newsroom of the Daily Planet, as a somber Clark Kent sits down to write his latest story, The Last Days of Lex Luthor. As he types, we find Superman intervening as a giant robot attacks a small city near Bangladesh. The ominously green-and-purple automaton is on target to flood the city when the Man of Tomorrow intervenes and brings it to the ground. Inside, he finds Lex Luthor, who has a shocking admission – he is dying. An experiment with Kryptonite has irradiated his cells, causing his very DNA to decompose, and he has come to Superman for help. Superman reluctantly agrees, only to discover that Lex has broadcast their conversation worldwide, meaning that everyone with a screen or a device has seen him promise to help a complete monster. And most of them? Not happy. Though Lex’s condition is beyond Earthly science, Superman has more than one option for unearthly science. First up? The Bottle City of Kandor!

EVEN THE ZONE REJECTS LUTHOR!

Mark Waid is one of the writers that I trust implicitly with a Superman story, and this issue is a perfect example why. The transition from Clark’s story to Superman’s internal narrative is excellent, taking us right into a classic Superman/Luthor conflict. This Superman has sworn to protect all life, and Lex’s cunning allows him to take advantage of that fact. Though there are elements of the Earth-1 reality here (including Lex’s past uniforms and their childhood as boys in Smallville), this reality isn’t exactly analogous to any previous stories. Best of all, Bryan Hitch’s pencils are perfectly complimented by Nowlan’s inking, making for a modern Superman that still echoes Plastino and Curt Swan. The trademark wide-screen design work of Hitch is on full display here, from the opening “disaster” to the empty wastes of The Phantom Zone, and the issue’s most shocking moment (a head-to-head match between Luthor and General Zod) works both as a set piece and to heighten the tension, revealing that even Kryptonian technology can’t save Luthor from his own hubris.

BOTTOM LINE: IMPRESSIVE

Even with the hefty price tag, Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 is a really good comic book, using the Black Label imprint like a classic Imaginary Story and handing us an amazing story and beautiful art, earning a dead-solid 5 out of 5 stars overall. This one’s a goody.

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