The Good

There's nothing like jumping forward a bit and discovering things have changed with no explanation. Part of the fun is the 'wait and see' approach as we are soon treated to the story that lead up to the changes. When we saw Lex Luthor in the opening of FOREVER EVIL #1, there were a couple changes - he was out of prison and his scarred face was no longer scarred. That's where this issue comes in. Leading up to the events we saw in the first issue, Charles Soule also gives us some great old-fashioned Lex Luthor action.

Lex is a complex character. Soule manages to illustrate that as well as what makes him such an interesting bad guy. He's a smart and ruthless businessman but also willing to put people's lives at risk to make a point. Being able to hear his thoughts via the inner monologue is treat as well.

This issue is a good example how a Lex ongoing or mini could work. We get to see some of the layers to his character and even without an appearance by Superman, there is plenty to see and plenty to keep us interested.

The Bad

There were some moments where the art became a little distracting. It seemed to mainly occur when characters had their heads turned to the side and happens on more than one occasion.

We do have an interesting look at Lex but the end of the story felt a tiny bit rushed to line up with the opening of FOREVER EVIL.

The Verdict

Are we getting Villains-overload? We are but when you have a complex character like Lex Luthor, you can't resist having a good time. Charles Soule does a great job delving into what makes Lex tick. His inner monologue is just what we'd want to see in a Lex-solo story. The art is okay but there are some minor distracting moments that pull you out of the story. If you've been wondering how Lex changed and moved into the position seen in FOREVER EVIL #1, you'll definitely want to check this out. Charles Soule gets who Lex Luthor is and that's always great to see when Lex is given the spotlight.

Can't wait to read.

My comic shop's shipment got delayed by a day because of flooding in Colorado but was looking forward to this issue also.

Haven't read this yet but Soule did a bang up job with the Arcane Villains Month issue.

Can't wait to pick this up tomorrow! Lex Luthor was a villain I always liked, but never had any comics with him really. I am thrilled to read some Luthor. Better be better than the Joker issue. I rejected the Joker issue for Lex's and the Joker's turned out to have some monkey fun. MONKEYS!

REALLY loved Lex's issue. As amazing as Joker's was.

So, is this issue more Forever Evil based or Superman stories based? Because I'm not reading any Superman titles at the moment, but I am going to read Forever Evil.

@rulerofthisuniverse: It's Forever Evil based, not a tie in to any current Superman story.

Anyway, this was a fantastic issue. I especially love the fact that Soule's Lex thinks Superman is obsessed with him. It makes a lot of sense that someone with Lex's ego would have have such an inflated sense of self importance that he'd rationalize every interaction with Superman as being about himself.

@melodet: Thanks for the help!

I loved it. Soule's take on Lex is impeccable.

I haven't read one issue of villains month I really liked. there were a few okay issues, but for the most part they all suck donkey dick, and this is one of them. What a waist of a month of DC comics. Forever Evil is good so far, but that's it. I read a lot of comics from both Marvel and DC and so far Marvel has been blowing DC out of the water. There really isn't a title from Marvel that I don't enjoy reading. I weeded out the crap and I'm really happy. With DC tho. I wonder every other issues on pretty much every title I get if I want to keep reading them or not. They are not solid every month, and haven't been since the revamp. Hit more miss so far. This month has been it's worst, and it was a good idea. Just bad writing. Oh well.

One of the best issues showed who lex truly was.

I've never really been able to get into Lex Luthor much. He doesn't seem as layered or complex to me as this review says. He just seems selfish and smart, and that's pretty much it. He's just never seemed that interesting to me.

Hope to read it soon.

I for one loved this issue. I was half expecting an origin though I suppose that might have been covered in past issues of Action Comics. This was more what I wanted anyway, which is Lex acting like a total boss. It was a great way to show how someone could be completely legit and utterly evil at the same time. Some of the panel layouts were strange like how he had his scar fixed as if he were at a barber shop. This has got me pumped for the next issues of Forever Evil which can't get here soon enough.

@mezmero:

I agree and was pleasantly surprised to learn this issue wasn't an origin story like the majority of other villain's month titles.

Easily the best VM issue yet. I would go as far as to compare it to LL:Man of Steel. Paints a perfect picture of who LL is, all his evil & delusion.

I'm sorry but there was nothing bad with this issue, you gave mongul 5 stars but this 4? I know it's opinion and all but there's no denying that this was 10x better of a book then mongul and mongul was a top notch book

Sold! I not a huge Superman fan, but I love this version of Lex Luthor (well this one and the Forever Evil one) ...

I even loved the 3D cover!

This issue and the Riddler Issue were my favorites of villains month so far. It's really great to see intelligent criminals get a chance to shine. ^_^

Just finish reading it and Lex is just a badass dude