DC Has a Brand-New Lex Luthor Who is Deadlier Than Ever

The Lex Luthor fans know best is making one of DC's most terrifying comebacks.

While the titular hero of Superman #24 is busy trying to wrap his head around the current goings-on within Supercorp, formerly Lexcorp, his beloved Lois Lane is embarking upon her first mission as a member of the Justice League. Tragically, this mission quickly reveals the existence of powerful, high-tech weapons bearing the Supercorp insignia, a development that is overtly anathema to everything Superman represents. Even worse, Lex Luthor's longtime confidant Mercy Graves has been preparing for just this moment, not just by safeguarding herself against the Man of Steel and his allies, but by crafting a version of Lex who is still every bit the villain that the original is not.

Superman #24

• Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
• Art by EDDY BARROWS & EBER FERREIRA
• Colors by ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ
• Letters by ARIANA MAHER
• Main cover art by DAN MORA
• Variant covers by DAVID NAKAYAMA, RAFAEL GRASSETTI, LEONARDO ROMERO, GUILLEM MARCH, FERNANDO PASARIN, and OCLAIR ALBERT & LUIS GUERRERO

Originally introduced as Alexei Luthor back in Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's opening story from 1940's Action Comics #23, "Superman: Europe at War (Part II)," this Golden Age iteration of the character helped establish the foundation for what is now one of pop culture's great supervillain archetypes. Across nearly every single version of the DC Universe to date, some variant of Lex Luthor has been present, almost always in the role of one of the world's most cunning and ruthless villains, not to mention one of its wealthiest business magnates.

At the outset of DC Comics' current Superman series, Luthor was imprisoned for his many crimes, leaving Mercy Graves to run his corporation in his stead. At least, that was until Lexcorp was rebranded as Supercorp and the reins of the company were handed over to Luthor's longtime nemesis. As surprising as this was, Superman was forced to concede that Supercorp did have the capacity to do genuine good in the world, especially after Lex and Mercy lent its resources to helping take down some of the biggest threats Metropolis has ever known.

Throughout Superman's time working with Supercorp, he has seen Lex come around to play less and less of a villainous role. In fact, Lex stepped up like no one else could during the fight against Brainiac, which was won thanks to Luthor sacrificing his own memories.

Since then, he has been nothing but a benevolent figure, one so far removed from his former self that he has struggled to even accept the person he used to be. Unfortunately, yet another near-cataclysmic disaster in recent months forced Lex to dig deep within and begin uncovering those lost memories, presumably bringing at least some amount of his former self to the surface along with them.

Superman #24 is available now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics