Mild Mannered Reviews – Justice League #52

c-review-2016Mild Mannered Reviews – Justice League #52

Scheduled to arrive in stores: June 22, 2016

Cover date: August 2016

“That Which You Manifest is Before You”

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Tom Grummet
Inker: Danny Miki, Mark Morales, & Scott Hanna
Cover: Paul Pelletier, Tony Kordos and Adriano Lucas

Reviewed by: T.A. Ewart (aka liheibao)

The fascination with Lex Luthor as a hero is perplexing. He’s such an excellent villain, perhaps the only one who can justify an emotional reaction from Superman, and one who is almost Iagoesque in his hatred of Superman. Luthor’s hatred of Superman stems from his existence. Full stop. There’s no other true reason. However, the thought that Luthor would be a better man if Superman had never appeared should be immediately countered with the fact that he has never been that man. In every age, Luthor is a villain, only it’s the common man who bore the brunt of his villainy. Superman is merely a focus for it. Superman cannot be bribed, fired, coerced, threatened, or manipulated in the matter of a layman. Superman requires all of Luthor’s faculties, just to attempt to beat him… and that never happens. Een here, Luthor does not want to be a better Luthor, but replace Superman with his own image. I’ve heard from time to time from other readers how much they would love to see Luthor complete the hero’s journey and be the better man they believe his I. Issue like this foment that notion. I rather see Luthor be what he is most excellent at being: an unrepentant foe who could care less about heroism or self-sacrifice, who is so obsessed with himself, that they mere thought of Superman’s existence riles him because Superman is an idea he could never imagine, and so, logically, he must be done away with.

Click here to read the complete review of Justice League #52.

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Kel
Kel
July 6, 2016 9:43 pm

” I rather see Luthor be what he is most excellent at being: an unrepentant foe who could care less about heroism or self-sacrifice, who is so obsessed with himself, that they mere thought of Superman’s existence riles him because Superman is an idea he could never imagine, and so, logically, he must be done away with.” PERFECTLY said! I’ve never liked this Luthor as a “pseudo hero” take, I prefer Lex as just a straight up bad guy, a brute disguised with “sophistication” (a la how Bruce Timm described him), who hates Superman because he gets in the way… Read more »

Adekis
Adekis
July 7, 2016 3:09 am

I LOVE the heroic Luthor. A couple years ago on Radio KAL Live there was an interview with Elliot Maggin, and I had the good fortune to be able to ask him what he thought Luthor would have done with his life if he’d been unable to waste it fighting Superman. After all, Maggin was my favorite Luthor author, and I knew his answer wouldn’t be “evil businessman” like Byrne or Wolfman’s. He said it was easy: Luthor was only a villain because his ego was so fragile that he never thought he could compete with Superman as a hero.… Read more »

liheibao
liheibao
July 7, 2016 6:30 am

“I LOVE the heroic Luthor.”

Case in point.

Adekis
Adekis
July 7, 2016 4:04 pm
Reply to  liheibao

I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.

What case specifically?

liheibao
liheibao
July 8, 2016 10:05 pm
Reply to  Adekis

Some, like I stated, like a “heroic” Lex Lutthor.

lcmcbain
lcmcbain
July 7, 2016 9:23 am

Couldn’t agree more T.A. Have no desire to see a heroic Luthor..let him be who he has always really been.

MattComics
MattComics
July 8, 2016 8:33 pm

The idea of a possible redemption for Lex Luthor might be ok as a way of ending a particular Superman series and thus resolving that conflict for that version of the story but it should be followed by the words “The End” and not as any sort of regular on-going thing let alone how the character is defined for years to come. Heroic Luthor, evil Superman lazy ways for writers to not have to play ball with actual concepts and characters.

liheibao
liheibao
July 8, 2016 10:03 pm
Reply to  MattComics

Lazy is the word.

Kal L
Kal L
July 9, 2016 9:40 am

“Art – 3: Grumett has a strong, almost voluptuous line, but it still can’t stand under the traded inking chores it is submitted to here.”

I’m sorry, but surely more can be written about the art in this book than simply this…
Even misspelled the Grummett…