Action Comics #23.3 Lex Luthor

"No one will blame me for failing to try."


Yes, this was the Lex Luthor story I've been waiting for since the New 52 started. With his military assistant role in Action Comics and ruthless business man in Forever Evil #1, I felt we only got a glimpse of the Machiavellian mastermind that Lex is.


Taking inspiration from Luthor:Man of Steel, this story goes to great lengths to show how much Lex Luthor should be feared. He offers his prison jacket to a guard so that he can fund his children's education but the catch is the guard should come to him. Not surprisingly, the guard doesn't even take a step.

The first page reminded me of Two-Face, which isn't surprising because this issue also takes time to show both sides to Lex: Luthor the inspiration and Luthor the maniac. Through the eyes of his new secretary, Casey, we see that Luthor is a very very smart indiviual, a brilliant businessman and a game-changer.

When he initiates Project Ghost Town, a contingency plan to see whether Superman rushes to the aid of a failing shuttle owned by Lexcorp, Casey expects him to swoop in and save them at the last moment, cementing that Lex is a hero.

But we know better.

From the inner monologues which prove his vanity (Superman should have been tracking his release from prison, thinking to ways to hurt him....more of the same) to the cold-blooded way in which he threatens a businessman who is trying to buy a failing sector of Lexcorp, to the final horrifying reveal, we see the true Lex.

He literally lets the shuttle crash on top of the above-mentioned business's apartment (thereby hinting he wanted it to crash) and when his star-struck assistant finally sees him for the snake he is and tries to call the police station, he drops her from the balcony.

If anything this portrays him as too evil, instead of balanced veering towards the anti-social. So, that's my only problem with him, as I expect Johns to portray him as the leader of the resistance to the Crime Syndicate in the coming months.

But when all is said and done, it is another good day in the life of Lex Luthor.

As an extra, they also touch briefly on Bizarro, and that's always a plus.

So, I give this 8.5 out of 10.