Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2 just had the Man of Steel beating Lex Luthor at his own game by proving he’s a ruthless businessman too.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2 by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Carlos M. Mangual and Romulo Fajardo Jr., on sale now.
Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex has found the Man of Steel in a precarious spot with his lifelong nemesis and the planet he’s running, Lexor. Superman had the United Planets bring Lexor into the fold so the organization could help Lex fix his crumbling empire. To make matters complicated, Lois Lane has been made ambassador. This results in her making the trip to oversee an alliance, although Superman’s uncomfortable as Lexor has a red sun.
And in Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2, Lex tries to betray him and the coalition. However, the Man of Steel shows why his genius shouldn’t be underestimated and beats Lex at his own game.
Lois has brought a team of surveyors and miners, mech warriors responsible for finding minerals, with her, as the United Planets has to discern what resources their new members have. Lex doesn’t care as he just wants funds to build his kingdom up, but that changes when the team finds deuterium crystals. These can amplify energy and act as a clean source as well, which will benefit the entire galaxy. Since Earth adopted Lexor, it owns the crystals too, and Lois plans on bartering to get Lexor’s brainwashed people what they need to eventually rebuild society and self-govern.
This sends Lex off the hinges, and he orders his robots to kill the miners so he could seize the crystals for himself. He even imprisons Lois as he wants the find all for himself as he knows it’ll make him rich on the cosmic market.
However, Clark realizes that something is amiss while he’s on Lexor’s moon and flies down, only to be beaten up by Lex in his iconic green robotic suit as the red sun comes up. Luckily, Lois escapes captivity, jumps into a miner’s mech suit and smacks Lex away. However, his alien disciples are rallying with him, not caring that the media’s under the president’s thumb and that they’re not free after all.
Kal-El and his wife leave, heartbroken the people couldn’t see the obvious for themselves. However, Kal decides to outfox Lex at his own game back home by creating synthetic crystals at the Fortress of Solitude and giving them away for free.
While Lex is usually a master of wielding economic forces as a weapon, Lex is shocked to see that none of his crystals are selling. Since Superman flooded the market, there’s no demand for Lex to play a part in the universal energy crisis. No one’s going to pay, rendering his supply moot and reminding Lex that Superman knows exactly how to hit Luthor where it hurts.
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