The cover to Justice League #5 from Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung reveals the return of the Legion of Doom — and they are seemingly led by Lex Luthor.
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This is news less for the Legion of Doom’s return than for the revelation that Luthor will apparently finally go “full evil” again following the events of the No Justice miniseries that launched this week. Luthor has been at least nominally a hero in the pages of DC Comics since the 2013/2014 Forever Evil publishing event, and most recently was dressed in a suit of Apokoliptian armor, wearing the Superman sigil, and flying around Metropolis as a hero.
Following the Action Comics Special which came out earlier this month, it seemed likely Luthor’s time as a hero was finished…but then he ended up on the side of the angels in No Justice. Now, it seems, that will be his last heroic stand.
It should be no surprise that Scott Snyder, who told us during an interview yesterday that he wants to evoke a sense of nostalgia while going someplace the characters have never been before, would want to put Lex back in his traditional setting for the series.
“It’s one of these books where I feel like I get to play with every character in ways that I’ve been dying to do for years…but also connect them to a bigger tapestry of story that we’ve been building for the last two years, and we intend to build for the next two years, and have it be something you can line all up and be like, ‘Wow, that was one giant story that celebrated the DCU, took you places you never expected, and changed things in ways that are really exciting, and inspiring, and terrifying, and all of it at once,’” Snyder explained. “I really can’t thank fans enough, especially where we started in terms of them backing No Justice, and selling it as high as it is, and the enthusiasm for Justice League. I promise my goal, and Jim Cheung’s goal, and Jorge Jimenez’s goal, and Josh Williamson’s goal, and James Tynion’s goal is to reward you with the best comic book storytelling on the stands. We do not take this task lightly at all. This is the book, for me, that I want to be the best thing I’ve ever done, the biggest thing I’ve ever done, the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done, becausethese characters deserve risk-taking, and they deserve your absolute best.”
Justice League #1 is on sale June 6 from DC. The issue is written by Snyder and features art by Jim Cheung and Mark Morales. You can pre-order a copy from your local comic shop or pre-order a digital version from ComiXology. You can see the covers for the first five issues in the attached image gallery.
