People who frequent this site know that I look to themes in current comics to help me decide older comics to review. I never wanted this to be an index review site for Supergirl comics. I wanted it to be dynamic and related to current books.
So which current plot to take a look back at? I was torn between two and may end up doing both. One is Lex Luthor turning over a new leaf and trying to become a force for good. Joshua Williamson has been doing that over in Superman since he took over. The other was a look at Amazo given the android being both part of Absolute Power and My Adventures With Superman.
Somehow I landed on the Lex plot. (But the Amazo story I have in mind is too fun so keep your eyes peeled.)
Action Comics #510 starts a three part story where Lex decides to stop trying to kill Superman. Instead he will become a good man. And the reason for this new lot in life? Well, it's hard to believe! It is the surprise ending so I don't want to spoil it here.
The cover by Ross Andru is certainly eye-catching but doesn't have much to do with the story on the inside. Superman letting Lex be killed would be an interesting plot ... but that isn't here.
"Luthor's Last Stand" was written by Cary Bates with art by Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte.
I miss opening splashes like this with a quick origin at the top. I also love that the text boxes are actual dialogue from Lana Lang doing a news report.
But this is hardly opening with Lex declaring he will be a force of good. Instead, Lex is going to go to the Metropolis financial district on Tall Street and do something so catastrophic that it would cripple the world's economy.
Get it? Tall Street ... not Wall Street.
But the threat is so big that the stock exchange has been locked tight. No trading? That alone might shake up the market.
Classic Swan splash. Superman is ultra-smooth.
I thought there would be some sort of fancy Luthor attack to upset the economy. But instead he unleashes some sort of nesting 'Russian doll' style egg-shaped weapon. It blasts vibrations which seem to shake the buildings, even collapsing one of the more historic sites.
Will destroying the buildings destroy the economy?? I thought the plot might be more ...intelligent? Technological?
It's easy enough for Superman to toss the weapon into space.
The truth is, it might have been a feint.
Lex slinks out, onto Tall Street, wielding a gun that he swears will kill Superman. Superman was too distracted to notice.
But before Lex can pull the trigger, he witnesses Superman fly into the supposedly vacated fallen building and fly out with a young woman.
Despite this being the moment Lex has been waiting for ... he is frozen. He can't pull the trigger.
I have to say, this grabbed my attention as a reader. Surely he has been waiting his whole life for this chance. Why the delay?
The girl, Angela Blake, is cared for briefly in an ER and asks to be released.
Lex seems obsessed with her, needing to learn more. Could she have caused him not to strike?
He sneaks into her apartment in a meterman disguise and scans her. Is she a robot? A clone? A cyborg or alien? The answer is no. She is a simple woman.
He sneaks into her apartment in a meterman disguise and scans her. Is she a robot? A clone? A cyborg or alien? The answer is no. She is a simple woman.
Even Lex's robot aide wonders why he is obsessed. Have you guessed why?
I have to admit, first time I read it, I wondered if this was Lena under an assumed name. Maybe Lex didn't know it? This was 2 years before Lena learned she was a Luthor in Superman Family #214.
How funny that 'clone' needs to be defined for the audience.
And the set up to this scene is too funny with the robots buffing Lex's head and him donning a curly wig and fake mustache.
How far does the obsession go?
Lex has his robots kidnap Blake.
Lex has his robots kidnap Blake.
And then we learn more. Blake is dying.
But this doesn't feel like Lex is imprisoning her. In fact the 'bio-lab' sign makes it feel downright medical.
Still, no sign of Lex being good. I know. Bates is doing a great job here.
Luthor sets up an auction to sell off the weapon he was going to use to kill Superman. He invites the heads of the various crime families to his lair to bid.
Two things to note.
The first is that the weapon Lex shows them is a sort of mini-cannon, not the rifle he was touting earlier. That stood out.
Next, I love that Lex basically admits that he hatred of Superman was so intense that it interfered with his ability to actualize the killing blow. In my experience, it is highly highly unusual for Lex to admit any sort of weakness, especially some sort of emotional instability.
Hmmm ...
The cannon puts a force bubble around the crooks. Another crook arrives, a different mob boss. This late arrival, 'Big' Wade Farrell, is going to take advantage of the whole scene.
He'll kill Lex. He'll kill the other mob bosses, consolidating power with him. And then he'll use the weapon to kill Superman.
But there is more than meets the eye here.
The weapon is hardly a weapon. It doesn't do anything when it is jacked up.
One of the mob bosses is Superman in disguise who bursts out of the bubble and takes out Farrell.
And Lex? He turns out not to be Lex but one of the robot assistants.
This whole thing was a set-up by Lex to hand-deliver these mob bosses to Superman.
And so it goes. Superman has no choice but tell the Planet that Luthor has gone good. Nice byline by Clark Kent!
But why?
What has happened to Luthor to make him do all this?
What has happened to Luthor to make him do all this?
Have you guessed it?
The reason? Love.
Lex was overcome with love at first sight when he saw Angela.
He figured out she was dying. She had fainted in that Tall Street building because of disease progression. She is wearing a wig because she has gone bald from it. And so he kidnapped her and cured her of her DXS disease (??) and using his 'electro-spinal' technique.
Angela Blake is the woman who was born to be loved by Lex. With romance in the air, Lex has decided to put evil behind him and fight for good.
What an ending!!!
Lex is so in love that even his hatred of Superman is quashed. He will be a good man for Angela.
Somehow her being bald is just perfect. Lex felt only hate because he lost his hair. Now he loves someone despite it.
Where will this go? I may end up finishing this arc. But this was a crackling issue. I had no idea where Bates was going as I read the issue which made it delicious to a grizzled comic veteran like me. Swan's art is spot on and classic. He even gives Lex a sympathetic look.
Worth the $1 if you see it in the bins.
Overall grade: B+
4 comments:
Ah, I didn’t realise you’d never read this arc when I suggested that you do this rather than Amazo… yes, you have to read this rest, even if you don’t review it. It’s Bates at his best! Nice review!
You know Mart, I have read the last 2 parts! But this was the first time for me reading this issue. It was only when I looked at the next two issue covers that I realized this was 'that' story!
This story was Cary Bates' last hurrah as a regular Superman writer and he definitely went out in style. I read this when it came out and never saw the ending-which genuinely deserves to be called shocking-coming.
I don’t know if it could have ended any other way though- definitely one of those stories that would have changed everything if it didn’t happen when and where it did. And this is coming from someone who’s not much of a Luthor fan.
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