Four Panel Folly Comic museings.

Best Comic I Read This Week: Action Comics #890

This man used to be the President!

Lex Luthor, when done a certain way, is one of my favorite super-villains. I love the idea that the dude, though aware of his evil tenancies, honestly believes he's going to make the world better. So naturally I'm really excited about the possibilities of Action Comics now. The series where Lex Luthor himself now stars.

Luthor's personality comes out not just through Paul Cornell's writing but through Pete Woods lines. Woods captures a side of Luthor we don't get to see very much. A very smiley side. Basically, he always has a grin on his face. I suppose most people who think they are future rulers of mankind and have the smarts to back it up would be cheerful for most of the day. The expressions of Luthor by Woods aren't exclusive to those of the happy variety. He is a bad guy after all, but it's really cool to see Luthor surprise himself with the answer to a problem and see the look “This is so much fun” on his face.

That fun is through out the book. Cornell writes this series with a gleeful weirdness. Lady robots, people who talk by starting each sentence with the type of sentence it is (“Example: Just Like this.”), and maps of extra dimensions are all in this issue alone. Luthor skips about these items while chuckling to himself, never for once doubting his ability to overcome and surpass.

Oh crap! Lex Luthor is the evil Doctor Who!

The presence of Superman is at one point mentioned in Action Comics #890, during a fantasy of Luthor's, but for the most part he isn't in this issue. This is Luthor's show. I definitely hope it stays this way, since Superman will inevitably be a kill joy.

A robot named “Lois” also accompanies Luthor through what looks to be his entire journey during this story. Lois, who looks exactly like her namesake, was built by Luthor to challenge his ideas and force him to look from another perspective. The dude's got so many yes-men he has to construct someone to say “Why you gonna kill all those people, Lex?” Kind of a bad office atmosphere if you ask me.

Though the Lex Luthor of Action Comics #890 is the protagonist he is most definitely not the hero. His ultimate goal is to regain the power he experienced during Blackest Night and take over the planet. Granted, he thinks he'll make things a utopia for everyone and it's debatable on whether this is true, but he wants to conqure the gosh darn planet. That's pretty high on the list of “Things to do which are evil” (It's right above making a car that runs on babies). Also, he ordered a dude to be shot dead pretty flippantly in this issue. So let's cheer him on but hope he doesn't hurt to many people.

I love all the pieces of this comic, and I'm really excited to see where it goes. I'm pretty sure we all know Luthor isn't going to be starring in this title forever, but until then I'm totally on board with DC's number on villain having his monthly time in the spotlight.