Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: David Baldeon
Colorist: Rox Lokus
Cover Artist: Jamal Campbell
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Last time, Superman had been caught up in a battle between the villainous Graft and the enigmatic Marlyn Moonlight, which would send the two caped heroes back in time. To the original time period of Moonlight. After this misadventure, the two found a way to travel back to the present-day Metropolis, where Superman found an empty SuperCorp building. The only occupant a frightened Lena Luthor telling him to run, but she was too late. Read Superman #11 to see what the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad have in store for the Man of Steel.
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read the Superman #11 Review.
Review:
Alright, so it’s the debut of the newly formed Lex Luthor Revenge Squad, and I have to say…they’re pretty underwhelming. But I’ll get into the finer details in a little bit. Right off the top, the biggest issue with this comic is all the new information that’s being thrown into readers’ faces that’s supposed to have an impact, possibly stir an emotional reaction with utter shock. But in reality, this issue is more likely to have readers scratching their heads and go, “Wait, what? Really?” And feel like they needed more time with some of these characters before this issue. Fair warning, there will be SPOILERS in this review.
So, the comic starts where it left off in the last issue before immediately going back a few hours earlier before the SuperCorp tower was attacked. It starts with Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor’s “daughter”, asking his hologram advisor to reveal what his database says about her. Afterward there’s a bit of a conversation between her and her grandma, Leticia Luthor, before it quickly escalates into a full-blown attack where one by one, Mercy, Lois, and Lena are incapacitated or captured by the villains. And it’s here where the story picks up with the villainous brothers Dr. Pharm and Graft (the guy who can’t shut up), the newly freed Chained, and a mech-suit wearing villain all capture Superman and prepare to execute their diabolical plot.
The plot has multiple phases to it, but the first phase is really dumb as highlighted by Luthor later. They try to use synthetic Red Kryptonite on Superman to enrage him enough to want to kill Lex Luthor, so much he even takes him from Strykers Prison and brings him back to SuperCorp, but right before Graft can start monologuing, Lex points out the obvious flaw in this plan: An enraged Superman will go after anyone who made him mad, including Graft and Pharm. Which he does, and it’s thanks to Lex’s quick wit and resourcefulness that he calms down Superman. But the evil brother’s plan doesn’t stop there as we’ll see pay off in the next issue.
First, I’ll talk about some of the good, then ease into the flaws of this comic because they’re pretty big and make things a lot more confusing and underwhelming. The dialogue writing and pacing in this comic is good. It’s certainly more entertaining than the last issue, as there were more stakes involved considering the danger of an enraged Superman going berserk. The art by David Baldeon is good as he captures facial expressions, environments, and dynamic action pretty good too.
Now, the flaws. First off, while the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad sounds good, and it is a good idea in concept, the problem is this iteration isn’t that exciting or menacing. It’s literally just four new characters created by Joshua Williamson. This should be a crew comprised of Superman villains, or just villains, who have a big ax to grind with Lex Luthor, whether they’re A-tier or C-tier villains, they should be formidable and hate Lex Luthor with a passion. Characters who had previously been screwed over by Lex in recent stories, or even characters who frequently get screwed over by Lex on average, like Metallo, Parasite, or anyone else who got a bad deal with Lex. But no, we get four villains who can barely handle Superman in a fight, and their only real advantage is they got a bunch of custom Kryptonite weapons.
Then there’s the second issue. Joshua Williamson’s forced surprise reveals for the Luthors. The reintroduction of Lena Luthor was always a problem, since the character was originally Lex’s crippled younger sister in the New 52 era, and this persisted into the Rebirth era as well, when writers remembered she existed. But not only did Williamson retcon her as Lex’s “daughter” without context, but we also got her with Lex’s mother, Leticia Luthor, as a package deal. A character who we’ve never seen in comics for over a decade, and they both show up for two issues just to throw snark at Lex and do nothing else. Admittedly, Williamson is able to give them some personality whenever they’re on page, but that’s because they’re written as archetypes not characters. We barely know them and the problems don’t stop there.
See, we finally get Lena’s retconned history but it’s all delivered in an info-dump in one page, that name drops key characters but with absolutely no context, no comics to reference, nothing. Readers are expected to just roll with it. And then there’s Leticia. See, on top of finding out that Lex’s mother is alive and well, this issue reveals that, surprise, surprise, Leticia is the mech-suit villain and is working with Pharm and Graft. Why? Because she wants revenge against Lex for stealing her company from her. That’s right. Apparently, she started LexCorp, or the company it originally was, and Lex stole it from her. And this is all supposed to be a big reveal. But here’s the thing: I feel nothing for any of this, since we haven’t gotten to know either Lena or Leticia all that well. It also doesn’t help that I know Lena is clearly being setup to be transformed into DC’s next “big villain” the Brainiac Queen. Ugh. Now, it’s not a terrible comic, but it’s not that great either. It’s worth buying with the other issues but not by itself.
Final Thoughts:
Superman #11 brings the Man of Steel in conflict with the newly formed Lex Luthor Revenge Squad. Based on first impressions, this villain team needs some work. Their membership is a little lacking, and they don’t seem all that menacing or formidable against Superman since their only edge is kryptonite weapons. Then there’s the big reveals with Lena and Leticia Luthor in this comic. They don’t hit like they could because we were just introduced to them a couple issues ago and barely got anything with them, so the reveals fall flat without proper build up and character interaction. However, the art and action were still good, and the next phase of Pharm and Graft’s plan is far more interesting than the first half, so next issue should be more exciting.