If you haven’t read Justice League #41 just yet, there are spoilers ahead! If you have, read on.
[dropcap size=small]F[/dropcap]or nearly as long as Superman has existed, 77 years this month to be precise, Lex Luthor has existed beside him. One man is one of the smartest people to have lived, probably one of the richest, and hellbent on Superman’s demise (until last year at least).
The other is a Kryptonian man who lives on Earth, and posses strong moral values and superhuman abilities that he uses for the benefit of humanity. Without one of them, things just wouldn’t be the same.
Well, things are never going to be the same. Maybe. Last year, Lex Luthor decided to give up on his quest to kill Superman/world domination and decided to fight the good fight. He joined the Justice League after the events of Forever Evil and even stopped the spread of the Amazo Virus in addition to the Doom Patrol. Sounds like the man has found his happily ever after, right? Unfortunately, no.
During the first chapter of Darkseid War, created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Jason Fabok, Lex Luthor was shot by his very own sister, Lena. The whole issue has been incredibly well done, with many shocking events playing out. But the most shocking event thus far has been Luthor being shot in cold blood by Lena. As the man slowly bleeds out in Superman’s arms, the man of steel asks Lena why she would do such a thing. With completely straight face Lex’s sister replies that Superman shouldn’t be surprised, everyone hated Luthor. Not exactly the best answer, right?
No one has the slightest idea why Lena would shoot her own flesh and blood, and it’s rather odd that Lena would do such a thing. In the Amazo Virus when Lena was introduced, she was seen wheelchair-bound, and Lex Luthor had vowed to find her a cure so that she may be healthy again. You would think Lena would be the last person to do shoot her brother after he vowed to save her. However, several panels later in the Darkseid War she is seen holding a Mother Box. The Mother Box is a piece of Apokoliptian technology, and with it she tells the box to send her brother and Superman “to their end” for Darkseid, the merciless tyrant with unparalleled strength and power. After telling the Mother Box to send Lex Luthor and Superman to their doom the two men are teleported away, destination and fate unknown.
So did Geoff Johns just decided to kill Lex Luthor off? Apparently not. Geoff Johns had planned for this event to play out for quite some time now. He had this to say about Lena’s surprising act:
“When I first mentioned Lena in Forever Evil and brought her into Justice League almost a year ago, I always knew she was going to be the one that shot Lex in this moment,. We wanted to get her on stage, and have her as a presence in the book. She’ll be a key player in the storyline too.”
Is Lex Luthor dead? No one is sure. An image was recently released for Batman/Superman #21 and the image shows Lex Luthor wearing a whole new costume. Since Darkseid War seems takes place before other story lines in DC’s other comic books that means Lex Luthor won’t kick the bucket.
To be honest, if Lex Luthor actually is dead it probably won’t be for very long. Every comic book reader knows that a superhero or a supervillian is hardly ever dead forever, especially in DC Comics.
