Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 (2023)

Late at night, Clark finds himself alone at his cubicle in the Daily Planet, working on his latest article. Previously, a mysterious ship had risen off the coastal islands of Bangladesh and started making its way to the coastal island of Meghwip. Clark, watching the news in the Metropolis, went on to address the emergency. Arriving at Meghwip, Superman found that the ship had made landfall and begun devastating the city. With a combination of his superpowers, Superman keeps collateral damage to a minimum. He vaporizes incoming debris with his heat vision, freezes a dangerous tidal wave with his cold breath and even neutralizes a series of tremors by using his heat vision to create a series a echo chambers that disrupt the waves' propagations. He tears the robot's outer shell open and finds Lex Luthor in the cockpit, alone. Superman is not surprised to find that Lex was behind a disaster that could have killed countless innocents. He is, however, surprised that Lex would cause such a disaster just to grab Superman's attention, even killed dozens of technicians just so he could steal the robot. Enraged, Superman asks what does Lex want and Lex simply tells him to use his X-ray vision. Superman complies and discovers that Lex's cellular structure is breaking down. He is dying. Before Superman can even ask how did this happen, Lex admits that he was experimenting with Kryptonite, like he always does. He was exposing a shard of Kryptonite with different forms of electromagnetic radiation, but the shard grew unstable and exploded, bathing Lex in dangerous radiation. Lex's later analysis only confirmed the worst. He tried to find a way to reverse his condition but he came up short and now, he only has a few days to live. Superman feels sorry for Lex, but Lex was already counting on Superman's trademark compassion because he knows that Superman won't let him die, despite all the times Lex has tried to kill him. Superman believes Lex is baiting him into a trap, so he uses his X-ray vision to analyze his body, down to tracing the molecules of dopamine released in Lex's brain. Much to Superman's surprise, he is telling the truth. Lex is even willing to put himself on Superman's doubt should he succeed in saving Lex's life for two reasons. The first reason is Lex's characteristic selfishness. He is unwilling to acknowledge a universe in which he doesn't live. The second reason: Lex has taped their conversation and broadcast it all over the world. He knew that Superman would agree, albeit reluctantly, to help him, so Lex has taken it as an opportunity to villify Superman in front of the world he has sword to protect. Superman remembers a simpler time: his youth at Smallville. Back then, Clark and Lex were friends. Not the best friends, but courteous enough around each other. Clark always did his best to defend Lex from bullies, but Lex never really paid any attention to his bullies, considering them not worth his time. Everyone in Smallville considered Lex weird and thought he should leave town. Lex himself didn't bother to combat that reputation and in the very few times he tried to help others, it was always on his own terms and without even bothering to ask, like the time he tried to modify a farmer's tractor without his permission. Clark found Lex sitting alone in a field under a starry night. As they stargazed together, Clark told Lex that people would like him if he was a little bit nicer, but Lex felt like he didn't owe anything to anyone in Smallville. Clark returned home, thinking about all the times he had to hide his powers from everyone he knew, Lex included. He actually wanted to tell Lex everything about himself, but he always remembered the promise he made to his parents. Superman takes Lex to the Fortress of Solitude, a place he'd never take Lex to. The Fortress is the only place in which Superman and Lex can gain access to Kandor, the last surviving city of Krypton. Superman explains that Kandor was stolen and miniaturized by the space pirate Brainiac just before Krypton's destruction and although Superman rescued it, he was unable to return it to its original size, so he kept it within the Fortress, where it could be safe. Upon entering Kandor, Superman receives a hero's welcome among his fellow Kryptonians, even though Superman wants to be treated as an equal. He also admits to Lex that Kryptonians have long considered cold science to be their religion and held knowledge in a much higher regard than compassion, something that Lex could relate to. He brings Lex to Drygur Moliom, a scientist that runs multiple tests on Lex to find a cure to his condition. Unfortunately, not even Kandor's advanced medical science can make sense of what's happening to Lex. Whatever is damaging Lex's systems is unlikely to be contagious, but it's also spreading at an exponentially high rate that not even cryogenic stasis can hold it off. If this continues, Lex will age rapidly while suffering from organ failure. Superman thinks there is way to stop time, at least until a cure can be found, but this measure could prove to be even worse than the disease itself. Superman and Lex cross a portal to the Phantom Zone, a realm in which the laws of time do not apply and a place in which the worst criminals of Krypton were exiled. In the Phantom Zone, living beings are no longer composed of solid molecules. Instead, they become cohesive clouds of dark energy capable of sustaining brainwaves. A person's mental state is also amplified in the Phantom Zone and, with enough determination and willpower, they can affect the Zone's terrain. Lex deduces that a prison requires prisoners and, sure enough, he and Superman are surrounded by Krypton's worst criminals, led by General Zod. The prisoners channel their rage to acquire a temporarily solid state and attack Superman. Lex learns how to temporarily become solid within the Phantom Zone and Zod, impressed by Lex's resourcefulness, invites him into destroying Superman together. Lex admits that he would love to kill Superman when he has the chance, but right now, he needs Superman alive, so he attacks Zod, forcing him to order army to let Superman return to Kandor. Zod is forced to comply with Lex's threat, but he and the other prisoners also banish Lex to Kandor. Dismissing the Phantom Zone as a possible cure to his condition, Lex decides to find another way, while Drygur Moliom questions Superman's decision to help Lex, despite all the times Lex has tried to kill him. Superman remembers a dark moment in his youth: a moment in which Lex was experimenting with a mysterious rock. As Lex's home burned, Clark rushed to Lex's home and started banging on the door, begging Lex to let him and forgive him.