Mark Waid, Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor

[Vordan]

"Lex has come to Superman with a real problem, Lex has contracted a fatal disease that even he can't crack, he's gonna die," Waid says. "He asks Superman to help save him. And he does this knowing full well that Superman is going to hate doing it, and that it's going to torture him."

"But Superman can't say no, he cannot stand back and let Luthor die," he continues. "Unfortunately for Superman, if you took a straw poll of the DC Universe, 94% of the people on the planet Earth would say just 'Let him die.' And so for the first time, Superman is working against the wishes of his adopted planet, and working against public sentiment to do something that he thinks is right."

https://www.gamesradar.com/mark-waid...new-dc-titles/

[Vordan]

In terms of his approach to the story, Waid calls back to his and artist Leinil Francis Yu's retelling of Superman's origin in the 2004 limited series Superman: Birthright and its core take on the characters of Superman's world.

"It's very much a spiritual sequel to Superman: Birthright," Waid explains. "It is very much a spiritual sequel to Birthright in that if you read Birthright, you'll be very familiar with the versions of these characters that we're using in The Last Days of Lex Luthor."

Speculation time: This is a “spiritual” sequel rather than a direct one because Birthright was Waid making allowances to what he knew was the general preference (living Kents, CEO Lex) whereas this is going to be Waid going full throttle with what his preferences are for the character. I expect the Kents will be dead and Lex will be a mad scientist rather than a CEO this time.

[Frontier]

Speculation time: This is a “spiritual” sequel rather than a direct one because Birthright was Waid making allowances to what he knew was the general preference (living Kents, CEO Lex) whereas this is going to be Waid going full throttle with what his preferences are for the character. I expect the Kents will be dead and Lex will be a mad scientist rather than a CEO this time.

Or Birthright after a long time jump.

[Mantis-Ray]

Cool to finally have this announced and Hitch's art looks pretty good from the previews. Hopefully he's spent a lot of time working and refining on this.

Also serves as a reminder I should read Birthright.

[Kuwagaton]

It's jarring for me to see this classic looking Superman and think of Birthright. But speaking of aesthetics, bonus points for the pre crisis sized shield.

[The Frog Bros]

I guess my first thought was a tad bit of disappointment that its a Lex story, but the twist on the dynamic sounds pretty cool. I think what I'm looking forward to most is some cool Phantom Zone ****. Especially with Hitch, the art looks flippin' amazing. I really dig his smirking Lex. Will be great for the oversize BL format, that's for sure.

Guess it's time to break out my copy of Birthright again for some homework.

[CosmeticSkull]

So, does this mean Waid is going with the angle of Clark and Lex being friends in Smallville before they were enemies?

[Frontier]

So, does this mean Waid is going with the angle of Clark and Lex being friends in Smallville before they were enemies?

I would assume that's the main Birthright tether.

[Mantis-Ray]

Other than the most basic premise of “one of the two is dying” I don’t think they’ll be similar at all. Highly doubt Waid is going to kill off Birthright Lex in the second book, especially since I think he wants to keep the Birthrightverse as his private fiefdom where he can write *his* Superman the way he wants to for as long as DC will let him.

Heh Birthrightverse, I like that

Hey if Sean Murphy (of the Batman: White Knight universe) can have an entire universe where he can pump out an endless deluge of Joker titles, no reason why Waid can't have his own Superman setting.

[Vordan]

I meant in the sense that it's centered around a character death but using that as a story vehicle to basically show off Superman and his mythos.

Ok after seeing you lay out like that, and comparing the Hitch cover in the OP to the iconic Quietly one:



I’ll admit you probably hit the nail on the head. Hell it kinda seems like Waid is trying to mimic All-Star’s structure but he’s going to touch on the cornerstones of the Super-Mythos that Morrison didn’t: The Legion of Superheroes, the Phantom Zone, Atlantis (it is tied to Superman through Lori I guess), etc. And that may end up being good news for me because the two big Superman Rogues that Morrison didn’t touch on in All-Star were Zod and Brainiac. Maybe Waid will use them here and we might actually get to see the “Big 3” Superman villains all in one story. Don’t think that’s happened since New Krypton.

[The Frog Bros]

So, does this mean Waid is going with the angle of Clark and Lex being friends in Smallville before they were enemies?

While I def do really like Birthright, Lex in Smallville is something I never really warmed up to.

[bat39]

Well, I loved Birthright, so I'll definitely try to check this out. I do hope this leads to more stories set in this 'Birthright-verse'

The concept is interesting. Funnily enough, I've long had a general idea for a Batman story at the back of my mind which is somewhat similar - except the idea there is that some random civilian whose wife and kids the Joker murdered ends up killing the Joker and is then arrested and put on trial, with the people of Gotham supporting him and calling for his acquittal....and Batman sort of has to deal with this situation and the fact that the public hails this guy as the real hero and blame him and the GCPD for not putting an end to the Joker's reign of terror years ago.

I actually do think, in the world we live in, that its pretty plausible that the vast majority of the public would want Superman to let Luthor die. Hell, if we lived in the DCU, most of us on this thread would probably want him to die as well, and hate on Superman for trying to save him. So it'll be an interesting story on multiple levels.

The CW's Flash show actually tackled a pretty similar storyline with the Reverse-Flash last season...though they resolved it in a pretty ham-fisted and stupid manner IMO. I'm sure Waid will do wonders in comparison!

[Vordan]

While I def do really like Birthright, Lex in Smallville is something I never really warmed up to.

It’s a concept I’m not committed for or against. Do think that the current set up in the mainline of Lex knowing Clark’s identity is better off for them having that Smallville history however. Actually that raises an interesting question, Will Waid have Lex know the secret identity here? This isn’t in canon and normally Waid prefers the “classic” take, but if this is actually meant to be Lex’s final days I could see Waid opting to have Lex finally learn that Clark and Superman are one and the same.

[Frontier]

It’s a concept I’m not committed for or against. Do think that the current set up in the mainline of Lex knowing Clark’s identity is better off for them having that Smallville history however. Actually that raises an interesting question, Will Waid have Lex know the secret identity here? This isn’t in canon and normally Waid prefers the “classic” take, but if this is actually meant to be Lex’s final days I could see Waid opting to have Lex finally learn that Clark and Superman are one and the same.

I mean, it's Lex, 9 times out of 10 I can see him irrationally refusing to acknowledge Clark Kent is Superman.

[Vordan]

I mean, it's Lex, 9 times out of 10 I can see him irrationally refusing to acknowledge Clark Kent is Superman.

Normally that’s probably how Waid would play it I’m sure, but since this has Lex and Superman as co-leads I could see a case for Waid clueing in Lex. If this is actually meant to be the kickoff for Waid’s personal pocket universe Superman then Lex won’t figure it out I’m sure. Too divergent from the “classic” status quo Waid thinks is best for the character.