Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #3
Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 23, 2025
Cover date: June 2025
“Book Three”
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Brian Hitch
Cover: Brian Hitch
Variant Cover: Chris Samnee and Declan Shalvey
Reviewed by: JP Rocha
In the last issue, Superman reveals himself to Luthor as he finds no possible cure for Lex’s condition. The Man of Steel then finds that he is losing his power. Automatically, he credits Lex with blame, saying that the illness was all a ruse to strip Superman of his powers. The issue ends with the reveal that it was not Luthor but Brainiac who is to blame for both Lex’s and Superman’s condition.
This issue picks up where the last issue ends. Brainiac reveals that he planned to kill two birds with one stone, infecting Lex to use him to strip Superman of all his powers. With Superman now helpless to stop Brainiac, the Earth will fall to him. The Man of Tomorrow grabs a Legion Flight Ring and escapes with Lex, who also grabbed some things from the Fortress of Solitude. Lex believes he can assemble an anti-brainiac weapon with the things he took.
After a failed initial attempt to bring down Brainiac, Lex takes Superman to his lab under the Metro Dam. Luthor has a plan to build something to defeat Brainiac, but he is too weak, so he dictates instructions to Superman. Once completed, Luthor explains that they created a genetic transference machine. Luthor designed the machine to create a cure for Superman’s power loss, but at his own sacrifice. However, Superman could never let Lex die if he could prevent it. Lex is unaware that Superman reversed the flow of the machine to rewrite Luthor’s cellular structure to match his. This results in curing Lex but also giving him Kryptonian powers.
Superman now has only the power from the yellow sun radiation left in his cells; he will be powerless once that radiation is exhausted. Using the Legion flight ring, he joins Lex in defeating Brainiac.
Story – 5: It can be argued that this is the greatest Superman story ever told. While the main villain is Brainiac, the Last Son of Krypton not only saves his greatest foe literally, but he also finally rehabilitates Lex. Waid does everything to confirm that Superman is the best of us. That said, the hero of this story is Lex Luthor, who finally stops Brainiac.
Art – 4: Thank you, Bryan Hitch. This is Hitch at his pinnacle. From the cover to the last page, Hitch is unmatched. The hope is we will see Bryan Hitch back in DC at some point, but if we do not, this is a great final DC effort. It is also essential to give a tip of the cap to the other artists who make this art great. The great Kevin Nowlan on inks with colors by David Baron.Cover Art – 4: This cover is a secret identity reveal. Clark is removing his glasses. In the background is the Daily Planet globe. We can also see what must be part of Superman’s costume underneath a loose tie and a slightly unbuttoned dress shirt. This is a great image that recalls historic costume changes. Issue one was a Superman coming down from the heavens. Issue two was an inspiring image of Superman flying through the streets of Metropolis. This issue is Superman as one of us in his Clark Kent persona.
There are two variant covers: a Chris Samnee and a Declan Shalveyl cover. Samnee’s cover features Superman, Lois, and Jimmy surrounded by rubble, looking towards something outside of the cover. It is a nice image, but it is not tied into the story, and the monotone coloring does little to make this cover pop. The Shalveyl cover features Superman flying over Metropolis, with Lex taking up two-thirds of the background, looking over his shoulder at Superman.
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