This is a chunkier book than the first volume, featuring as it does the annual and secret six tie in that comeplete the story of Luthor and the black ring. By the time it's done it will get even more bonkers than it was before, with appearances from Ra's Al Ghul, Darkseid and the Joker, as well as Larfleeze and Superman himself, who finally puts in an appearance towards the end.
So the first volume had some strange ideas about what made an enjoyable read, and kind of lost me around the point where creating simulations of your enemies wife to sleep with became a thing. But in amongst that, was some good stuff, in particular a trot through some of the worst of the DC universe that wouldn't have been out of place in setting up a new Legion of Doom.
That continues here, as we get to see more of the most nefarious individuals in the DC universe, and as we venture out into space towards the end the villains become more and more outlandish, culminating in a fight with a Phantom Zone space God.
The problem isn't the side characters, it's the arc for Luthor. Having been set up as a resolutely awful person, there are two ways this could go. Either he fails, and we're pleased, and this is what will happen. Or he wins, and although he's the current protagonist everybody loses out. The questions isn't whether he will fail, but how.
Now usually here, in a book where Luthor is the bad guy you would expect Superman to appear and save the day, either through some feat of strength, or simply by virtue of a stronger moral compass. But this isn't a book where Superman wins, but one where Luthor loses, and that for me is a problem.
Cornell doesn't set up a more positive competing vision of who Superman is, or what he does and why that is better than Luthor's vision. Instead, Luthor loses control of his rage and pumps out all the power he had gained in a futile attempt to kill Superman, whilst acknowledging that in doing so he is passing over his chance to alter the world for the better.
That's very Lex Luthor, and this idea that it's his hubris, and more than just a lust for power but a lust for power over Superman in particular, that dooms him is neat. But it does somewhat ruin what can be an otherwise more nuanced character a little. Lex is the perfect foil for Superman in the same way as Magneto is for the X-Men; neither view themselves as the bad guy. Their cause is just, and is simply contrary to the wishes of the superhero team they compete against. Compared to the Joker (sample plan: poison the water supply) or Loki (evil is funny) Luthor is a picture of sanity. But the root of that has to be that he views Superman as an outsider who threatens humanity, not just his own place and position.
Lex Luthor, for me at least, only works as a true Xenophobe, who believes that Superman holds back human progress - essentially a DC Universe equivalent of the idea that charity to Africa stifles reform there. I love the idea that Luthor may be right; but he can't be that character if he actively throws away these motives on panel. Telling Superman he won't save Jonathan Kent from dying, or that he'd rather kill Superman than make Earth better now doesn't just undermine that part of his character, it destroys it entirely. That entire facet of Lex Luthor is now unworkable.
That's the problem with The Black Ring throughout - it attempts to be a picture of Lex Luthor, and show his side of the story, but it turns out he's just a one-dimensional dick.
Also Try:
Mark Millar; Superman: Red Son
Tom Taylor, Injustice: Gods Among Us
Scott Snyder, Superman Unchained
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