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I just recently got turned onto the whole leo quintum-as-lex luthor reading, and I'm simply stunned.
I'm not sure how much this has been done here at barbelith. I can't recall seeing it too seriously considered, but I'll concede not going back over all 55 pages to check. I thought I'd outline what's in the books on re-reading them. I think taken together it rises beyond interpretation to a genuine intent on GM's part. it's as clear as it can be without someone on the page simply saying it.
issue by issue:
#1- there are a couple main points here: first we're told that lex luthor had fooled everyone into thinking he'd reformed, and only the daily planet didn't believe it. 'luthor lied' is the story of the century according to perry white. why does this matter? well if lex reforms for real at the end of ASS, there's really no chance anyone will believe him anymore and he knows it. all the more reason to becomes soomeone else, and live his life over.
secondly, and this is the one that did it for me, is where lex is remote operating his humanoid suicide bomb, and time delaying his words to the solar ship. general lane walks in and says ' lex? are you talking to yourself again?" ...and he is! on the facing page, the same words lex spoke come again, but it turns out they are directed at leo quintum!
that's what they call a hint. this is the ONLY point in the whole series where these characters interact in any way whatsoever.
I might as well mention this as well, but we get a full face shot of leo in issue one, and if you take away the goggles and the hair, it's basically lex. the fact he never appears without the goggles must be intentional. it's a brilliant play on the whole superman disguise schtick.
we learn that leo resurrected the DNA project, with the express purpose of building a new race of superhumans 'in case anything happens to superman' ( paraphrase ). why would he do that, and why would he think that?
there's a bunch of allusions to his true origin as well: 'I'm trying to escape from a doomed world...the past' 'we're building outposts of tomorrow, in the here and now.' he's a time traveller trying to escape from his past. duh.
on the strength of this issue alone, you could make a solid case.
#'s 2-3 -nothing direct or conclusive here.
#4 - there's probably something you could say about why leo trusts his whole project to jimmy olsen, but I'm not sure if it's relevant.
#5- we get a clear picture of who lex is and why he's fixated on superman. we see his better qualities ( that he shares with leo quintum BTW) and how they are all warped and misdirected by his hatred of superman. we also see how passionately clark believes that he and lex could be friends, that his potential is wasted, that his life is being thrown away for no reason. we see lex flounder slightly in the face of it. "I'm a born dictator!" smacks of rationalisation. he and superman could never be friends, but only becuase of how lex pictures himself.
#6- is important but only for context reasons. you might say having lex reform and come back in time to do his life over is a stretch, but here we have a young superman interacting with his future self (unknowingly), and along with samson, the three members of the superman squad, and the various messages from the future to the past, you can safely say that implied time travel is fair game. there's certainly enough of it going on.
#7-8- not much. in 8 we see that leo is trying to cure superman of solar poisoning, but failing. at one point leo says: "we hardly dared imagine what we'd do without him" which is key to understanding why he reforms after the series ends.
#9- nuthin I can see.
#10- big time.
at 4:30 superman entrusts his dna to leo quintum, despite leo cautioning that he 'could be the devil himself'. but superman reiterates his faith in leo's character. it's clear superman knows who he really is. why wouldn't he?
at 5:15 superman challenges luthor to reform, to prove what he can do if superman isn't around. he knows there is good in luthor and says so. at this point, lex spits in his face. this exchange makes even more sense in light of what superman presumably knows. not making it explicit only makes superman seem more decent and idealistic.
in between these two, at 4:55 we have the strange case of the 'mechano-man'. some deranged senior citizen who is tearing up the ground looking for a time capsule that ends up being from the 24th century, and we are also told is "on a wild goose chase for luthor". who is this guy? I think he's another future version of lex. a demented feeble lunatic full of bitterness and hate, reduced to a punchline by his resentment towrds superman, come back in time to renew his grudge. what would he know about 24th century time capsules unless that's where he's from?
so we have three possible visions of luthor here: his misguided present, his 'doomed' future/past, and his reformed second life.
#11-12- cinches it up soundly. luthor's rampage here makes his chances of yet another chance in this era nonexistant.
-his hideout has a bust of einstein which sports a familiar looking hairdo. why wouldn't lex want einstein hair?
-we have a referrence to solaris having reformed ( in the 24th century, again ), so it's not inconceivable that luthor does as well, at some earlier point. just more context.
-when lex appears in his new outfit, he is wearing not just an identical jacket to leo's, ( with different colors ), but he also sports an identical pair of bubble shades, which are otherwise pointless. ( notice how quitely draws them, but lex never actually wears them over his eyes. another strong hint.)
-we see the artificial super-senses gradualy overtake lex until he breaks down. he is overwhelmed by love, clarity and understanding, but still can't get beyond his hatred of superman, and has to be beaten down. he's had his moment of insight, but won't realise the full error of his ways until superman is gone.
-we are told ( by leo!) that after superman vanishes into the sun, lex finds 'closure' amidst renewed calls for his execution, and how small and faded he seemed after getting his wish. who would know better than the man himself, looking from outside?
I couldn't figure out why we end the series with leo quintum on the last page, of all people, until I realised that it encapsulates the whole theme and point of the series. superman's legacy; his powers in the hands of a redeemed humanity, symbolised by a redeemed lex luthor. the ultimate achievement of the man of steel: he actually rescues humanity from it's own wasted potential.
this reading elevates what was already a work of monumental unity and beauty to an almost flawless level of perfection. I really cannot think of anything else comparable to it's structural harmony and compelling thematic unity in the comics medium. certainly not in the superhero genre, besides the obvious benchmarks of course. But I think ASS reaches beyond even DKR or Watchmen by quite a bit. It's about as close to flawless as we are likely to see in some time, and this easter egg opens up an incredible degree of meaning in the story, at least for me. |
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