Superman is in a rough spot. Lois Lane has depleted her Kryptonian powers, Lex Luthor is an enemy again, Pharm and Graft are on the loose, and he’s still an erupting volcano in a cape with his Red Kryptonite infection. Unfortunately, for Superman, things are only going to get worse from here. Not only does he have to convince Metropolis’s night-bound superhero Marilyn Moonlight that he’s not a threat to their beloved city, but something much, much worse is waiting for him in the future, but they’re not going to wait there for long. Darkseid’s corrupted Legion of Super-Heroes is coming to finally introduce themselves to the hero who previously inspired them, and they’re bringing the pain and despair that makes up their new world with them.
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Superman Versus Everyone
The start of Superman #27 sees an enraged, Red-K poisoned Superman tearing his way through Stryker’s prison to find Lex Luthor, only to be confronted by Marilyn Moonlight, who is convinced he’s gone off the deep end. However, even when his rage is flowing through him more powerfully than a locomotive, Superman will always follow his moral code. He manages to rein himself in and convince Marilyn not to fight him, pointing out that Lex, Pharm, and Graft are gone, and it’s likely that Lex is somehow controlling when and where Marilyn can appear. The pair take off to find the villains, and the leaders of the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad aren’t hard to find, given they’re stomping through downtown in a giant SuperCorp robot, screaming for Lex to face them.
As they fight, however, Lex speaks, knowing that Superman can hear him. He reveals that letting the villains go, infecting Superman with Red Kryptonite and sending Marilyn Moonlight to confront him was all a part of Lex’s plan to escape Metropolis. He did enjoy working with Superman, but after recovering all of his memories, he has to leave in order to figure out who the new Lex Luthor is. He reveals that Marilyn’s powers are the cure to Superman’s condition, and that the only way to defeat the robot is to smash it with the SuperCorp logo. Superman does so, symbolically and literally severing his ties to the company, and Lex says goodbye. In the fallout of the action, Marilyn Moonlight has been freed from her curse to only appear at night, Mercy has become the head of the newly renamed LexCorp, and Lex has slipped off to parts unknown, using sign language to avoid Superman tracking him down. Superman, disappointed but unsurprised, thinks that he’s returned to a familiar status quo, but the future is far from the idyllic land he thinks it is.
Darkseid’s Legion is Coming
In the far flung future, the Time Trapper is held captive by Darkseid’s Legion, who drag him to where they are keeping their other prisoner, Booster Gold. They reveal that Booster is the key to their plans, as after his journey to the Absolute Universe through the rift Darkseid’s death left in the Watchtower, he is basically a battery of Omega Energy. Time Trapper reminds the Legion that he is still Doomsday, and breaks free from his chains to escape, intent on finding the World Forger. The epilogue to Justice League Unlimited #8 shows him doing just that, where the two immortal beings realize together that time itself is coming undone, and that their universe is coming to an end at the hands of Omega Energy.
The Legion, meanwhile, allow the Time Trapper to flee without chase, saying that they know where he’ll wind up in the end regardless. Instead, they decide it’s finally time for them to introduce themselves to Superman. In the correct timeline, Superman inspired the Legion of Super-Heroes, and they stand as the defenders of the veritable utopia of heroes in the 31st century. They literally represent the better tomorrow that Superman is fighting for. This new Legion, however, is living proof that the tides of reality have shifted from hope to hate, and are a sick nightmare version of how things should be. Once Superman’s greatest allies, the Legion is coming to end the man who should have inspired their existence, and tear down everything Superman stands for along with him.
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