Superhero

Lex Luthor | Man of Steel

Gearing up to the forthcoming movie, DC seems to be pulling ALL the stops with regards to Superman and his little Universe. They’ve gone and made me excited about a Lex Luthor comic for the love of god. So what makes this 5 issue mini-series a special treat? I’ve got two names for you, Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo.

These two fine gentlemen where last seen on the exceptional Batman/Deathblow mini-series (Lee was lurking before then on the Gen13/Superman crossover, which I reviewed a short while back). This time round they’ve turned their concentration on the other ‘Big Gun’ of the DC Universe. As you’d expect with something by Azzarello he’s opted to talk about the perverbial bad guy.

Ah for you see for the first 4 issues you don’t think, nay you can’t believe that Lex is one of the bad guys. Azzarello does such a terrific job of making him the star of the show you actually forget that he’s meant to be the ultimate manipulator, the ultimate bad guy.

What makes Brian a very clever writer is that he uses his artist’s strengths to tell his story. Thinking about this, Brian makes use of his artists exceptionally well, in all the isntances I’ve come across, notably in his sublime 100 Bullets series but we’re not here to talk about that series, we’re here to talk about Lex Luthor | Man of Steel.

It’s a five issue mini-series that centres around the title character. In this case however he is the star of the show, he is the hero. The bad guy is Superman, because putting it simply we have to ACCEPT that he’s here for the greater good. We’ve got to accept that he’ll always be protecting us, we’ve got to accept that he’s NOT going to turn on us. Yes, you can shake a slew of arguements against this, but that’s what makes Azzarello’s books so brilliant. They make you question and second guess the sitation and they leave you thinking about what just happened after you’ve closed the book. The fact of the matter is not everyone subscribes to this thought, however Lex does. He doesn’t trust him because he has no choice in the matter.

So begins the explosive little series as Lex sets up all his pawns, and puts everything into motion to meet his goal. He is obsessed and until the end you have no idea whether or not he’s doing this for good or not.

One trick that Brian does employ to demonize Superman is by showing him in a different light. Showing him, angry, showing him tearing things apart. Showing him with glowing red eyes. Showing him like a beast. And throughout the entire book, Superman says only a few words. This adds to the atmosphere that Brian built.

Talking about atmosphere, Lee Bermejo is a new MASTER. I say this without reservation. While the man has only got a couple of books under his belt, they’ve all been character defining moments. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM. When he drew the Gen13 kids he gave them a specific spin, rather than copying what came before. When he drew Batman, he drew him in a way that hadn’t been done before; and now drawing Lex and Superman again, he’s given them extra depth. See while most superhero artists cut corners, Lee actually starts THINK about how these people would go about their superhero business if they actually existed. What are the practical elements of their clothes that would need to be considered. What about their shoes? Most comic book artists draw a triangle and accept that the spandex just goes over their shoes, which is completely retarded. No Lee doesn’t accept anything that doesn’t teeter on realistic.

Dave Stewart provides the colouring and is in tune with what was previously established as how Lee likes his work to be coloured. That is to say this water colour dirty gritty feel to it that looks wonderful to look at. It’s got an exceptional graytone feel to the work, which is appearing less and less unfortunately.

Who’s the star of the show? I’m going to say Lee, simply because his work is a pure joy to behold every single time. While I enjoyed many elements of Brian’s script and thought he brought his ideas in a way I’d not seen in the same way, he falters in several areas with regards to why certain things happen. I couldn’t for example understand why Batman and Supes duke it out in the middle of the 3 issue. It doesn’t make sense to me, unless I’m missing something from the main comic book series (which I haven’t bought in over 10 years). Whatever the case it’s not very clear to me and that I guess is the fault of the writer.

Definitely buy this book, and anything with the names Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, you’ll be in for a treat.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo
Inkers: Mick Gray, Karl Story, Jason Martin
Colourist: Dave Stewart
Publisher: DC Comics