Rating ****
Wow! That’s all I have to say about Geoff Johns’ final issue of Adventure Comics. It’s too bad Geoff is leaving this book because in the short time he was been on this title, I’ve really come to like the character of Superboy. There is a genuineness to the character of Superboy aka Conner Kent aka Kon-El. Johns really writes this character as a teenage boy who like all teen boys can be insecure, have girl troubles, go to school, and have trouble with their families. Now none of us have the trouble he’s going through, but no matter how old you are, you can definitely relate and feel for this kid. However, I think this issue is really more about the character of Lex Luthor than it is about Conner.

I think if I met someone who were new to comic books and wanted to know something about the character of Lex Luthor, I wouldn’t send them to Wikipedia to read up on who Lex Luthor is - I would hand them this issue instead. In this issue alone, Johns shows you who Luthor really is and just how evil of man he is. The story picks up where we left off in the last issue where Superboy rescued a girl named Lori and brought her back home only to be find out that she is the niece of Lex Luthor, the man who cloned him from Superman and his greatest enemy. Luthor is here to recover his property (Superboy), but the revelation of who Lori and her mother are gets in the way of things.

Lex Luthor blames Superman for everything and boasts that he could cure his sister Lena if he choose to. Superboy calls his bluff and asks him to do it. Luthor agrees and sends Superboy around the world and back in time to get ingredients. Luthor is able to create a cure from the materials Superboy has gathered and he cures his sister who is now able to walk - unfortunately “Lex giveth—and Lex taketh away” as he injects his sister with something that causes her to revert back to her previous condition. Lex announces that the secret of the cure stays with him until Superman is dead!

My jaw dropped when this happened. Lex wants to be the world’s savior. He wants to be the “Superman” and he hates that humanity turns to Superman and other superheroes instead of to him. What Lex really wants is power. He doesn’t care about helping people - not even his own blood. Some comic writers would take a moment like this where the main antagonist shows some humanity, when he or she interacts with their family. Instead, Johns introduces Lex’s family as a way of showing just how evil a person Luthor really is. As heartbreaking as this scene was, it also made me cheer in a way as this moment truly is a defining moment in the life of this character. This moment will be referenced in the same breath when comics fans talk about when the Joker paralyzed Barbara Gordon. It’s one of those, “Oh my God” moments that give fans goose bumps. It’s moments like this when I say this is why I love comic books. The development of a character by a great writer than can match anything written by a prose writer.

We end with Conner talking with his friends Red Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl about what has happened and he comes to the realization of that although he may be partially made from Luthor, he is nothing like him. We then go to Luthor and Brainiac together on their ship. There Luthor rejects Superboy as a failed experiment and welcomes his new one as we see a green female hand exit a chamber. So it seems that Luthor has taken the DNA of Brainiac and has created a new clone. Whether he used his DNA the same way he used when creating Superboy remains to be seen.

DC’s next big event for the world of Superman is Brainiac and The Legion of Super-Heroes. Followed by the Summer event War of the Supermen. Brainiac will obviously be playing a big role as I’m sure Luthor will be as well. We’ll see if Luthor’s experiment does as well.

Not sure if I’ll be checking out these stories. I’ll read the first issue of War of the Supermen as it will be released on Free Comic Day. James Robinson will be handling the writing chores on these events and his work has been okay as of late. Not enough to get me to invest my hard earned dollars. I do highly recommend this issue if you are a Superman fan. Geoff did a great job here. Hopefully he jumps back to writing Superman monthly or maybe a new monthly Superboy book. I’d buy it.