Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor by Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch Review
Lex is dying of something mysterious - can Superman help him find a cure before it’s too late?
Pretty basic premise and obvious from the title. But was it entertaining - could a story of Lex slowly dying and Superman carting him through a round robin of familiar Superman locales be? No and probably no - at least not in Mark Waid’s hands.
Nothing much happens for the first two of the three bumper-sized issues beyond the premise. Superman and Lex go to the Phantom Zone, the 31st century to see the Legion of Superheroes, and so on. No-one has a cure. Numerous flashbacks to Smallville when Clark and Lex were kids sort of being mates ensue to no effect. Then the finale. The story is simply repetitive and unexciting. If this is meant to be a character study book, nothing new is being said.
DC’s Black Label continues to perplex. There’s nowt risque in this comic - no swearing, gory violence, nudity, or overly complex ideas being explored - so why does this get lumped into DC’s “adult” line of comics? No clue. Right again, DC!
Bryan Hitch’s art is pretty and Waid gets these characters, writing their voices perfectly well. But is there anything compelling, surprising or remotely engaging? Nope. It’s a dull, dull read. Except for that ending which is the one actually interesting part of the whole book. Then again, this is non-canon (maybe that’s why it’s “Black Label” - is this line non-canon stuff like Elseworlds?) so it’s not going to stick either. Ho hum.
Not sure who The Last Days of Lex Luthor is for but certainly not for anyone after a fun Superman book.