October 26th, 2010
Catching up with Brian Azzarello’s Luthor which is, so far, probably the best Superman story ever. You might remember Azzarello as the guy who wrote the really great Joker graphic novel.
Once you put aside the childish Gene Hackman Luthor and the green power-suited Super Powers Luthor, the only version of the character that really makes any sense is an Ayn-Randian objectivist whose only interest in professional villainy is in seeing Superman put down because of what The Big Red S represents. In the opening of Luthor, Azzarello’s Lex puts a very fine point on this: “All men are created equal,” he says, talking about Supes. “All men. You are not a man.”
In this imagining, Luthor is in some ways just a more extroverted Bruce Wayne. Of course, Bruce and Clark are respectful friends. But as we all know, the minute Batman learns of Superman’s existence, he begins trying to figure out how to kill him. You know, just in case.
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JVL, Which graphic novel has the Batman-kills-Superman story? I see references to the storyline all the time, but I’ve never read it. Thanks!
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I’m pretty sure this is part of why I love you. Aside from the obvious.
Jonathan V. Last October 27, 2010 at 11:01 am
In the final book of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns Batman defeats Superman and stands over him, about to finish him. Only at the last moment does he stay his hand. His reason is that he wants Clark to live with the knowledge that he’s only alive because of Bruce’s generosity. It’s awesome.