image source: Associated Press
The DC Universe keeps finding new ways to stay dead. That is the power of the New 52.
Remember when villains were the bad guys? When we rooted for them to be beaten by the heroes? Apparently Geoff Johns never did. His latest bit of fail is having Lex Luthor join the Justice League after the events of Forever Evil, Johns’ personal ad towards supervillains. In an interview with the Associated Press he just keeps covering the grave of the DCU in favor of DC52 so high you could get a nosebleed standing on it.
Lex Luthor is sporting a new title on his business card: Hero.
And, the way things are going in the wake of the Crime Syndicate’s mayhem on earth, the erstwhile corporate titan and super hero-wary skeptic may find himself leading the Justice League, too. That would be much to the chagrin of some of its members, notably Superman whose visage is not among those featured on the cover of “Justice League” No. 30 due out April 23 and illustrated by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.
“Is he going to lead the Justice League? It depends on whom you ask on the team. Certainly, he thinks he should,” said series writer Geoff Johns, who said the Justice League will have to rebuild its reputation and its dynamic among members Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Cyborg and former Flash rogue Captain Cold.
Yes, both Lex Luthor and Captain Cold…wait, did they actually use Captain Marvel? I thought everybody thought his name was Shazam, DiDio? Anyway, Luthor and Captain Cold are now on the team of superheroes. Captain Cold 52 was given superpowers for…reasons and Luthor hasn’t changed much from the tail end of previous universe, where he lost Lexcorp once everyone finally realized he was evil. But is Luthor a changed man after the events of Forever Evil? Of course not!
“The Justice League is going to go through a lot of changes, obviously, in the wake of ‘Forever Evil,'” he explained this week. “A lot of the blame can be put on their shoulders for what has happened: They were infiltrated and they fought each other and that led to the unleashing of the Crime Syndicate and the evil that took over the world.”
Right, during Civil War Trinity War. When all the good guys fought each other for…reasons. Show of hands: who else has had it with heroes fighting each other?
Johns said readers will see “the post-‘Forever Evil’ world with the lines being a little bit blurry between good and bad and seeing what kind of heroes it will take to not just protect the world, but defend the world.”
……
“With fame and spotlight comes scrutiny and detractors,” said Johns, adding Luthor is breaking new and unfamiliar ground.
“I think the most interesting thing is that Lex doesn’t realize what it’s like to be a super hero, what the life is like. You make enemies, they attack you on a personal level. And he’s just Lex Luthor. He has no codename, no mask,” he said. “He has to deal with the ramifications of that.”
Doesn’t he also have a criminal record? This morning’s Morning Article Link had fellow Friday Night Fighter Brian Snell going over the crimes Luthor has committed in the New 52. Luthor 52 is as much an unrepentant murderer as the Joker 52, only with less flair and wearing his own face as a mask. (Seriously, what was with that?) But there’s a reason that Luthor and Captain Cold are joining the Justice League, and it’s because of Johns being more fascinated with villains than heroes. I’m also starting to think that Luthor is close to becoming one of his pet characters as far back as making him Superboy’s human donor for, you guessed it, reasons. Basically, Johns doesn’t understand the point of villains in fiction.
Villains stand in for those things we want to surmount, the things we can’t control, or alternately those whose opinion we don’t like. They represent our darker natures, the things we don’t want to be but sometimes we wish we could do or have the things they have. They’re there to be feared or laughed at but ultimately to be defeated or reformed. I don’t think Luthor or Cold are reformed. I have favorite villains, too, but I want to see the heroes win when I can’t. I can’t do anything about overzealous bureaucrats, terrorist groups, or criminals but through fictional heroes as my proxy (or in video games a bit more directly) I can.
Johns, and frankly a lot of DC’s writers, seem to be more interested in writing villains, or giving heroes unlikable qualities. This is why I lost interest in pro-wresting and it’s become worse in comics and even television and movies to a lesser degree. This is why the DCU is only a happy memory to me and the DC52 seems destined to keep it that way. Which is why I can’t read the New 52.
By the way, what happened to Superman and Hal Jordan?
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