In Another Life, Superman and Lex Luthor Would Be the Best of Friends

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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Superman: Lex Luthor Special #1!

They might have one of the DC Universe’s greatest rivalries, but if circumstances had been different, Superman and Lex Luthor would have been as close as brothers. Lex might hate the Man of Steel more than anything, but he had a connection with Clark long before he ever discovered that hate.

Since Superman first burst onto the scene, he’s been hounded by Lex’s devious machinations. Lex Luthor has tried everything in the book to kill or otherwise defeat the Last Son of Krypton to prove Luthor’s superiority. But as one look into the past reveals, a real friendship with Clark could have given Lex something that would have changed his life forever.

Lex Luthor Had a Connection with Superman from the Very Beginning

Only Lex Could Help Clark in His Youth

In Superman: Lex Luthor Special #1 by Joshua Williamson, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, and Dave Sharpe, Mister Terrific calls Superman to the Watchtower and reveals he’s working on a way to contact the Absolute Universe. However, Terrific’s work has stalled, and he needs a dark, devious mind like Lex Luthor’s to finish the project. Unfortunately, Lex is still suffering from amnesia and when Superman attempts to rope Lex into the project, Lex affirms that he doesn’t want to be anything like his old self anymore.

Lex lost his memories at the end of last year’s “House of Brainiaic” crossover!

Throughout the issue, flashbacks of Lex’s childhood in Smallville are shown, showing he was a prodigy in every sense of the word. However, Lex’s talents were downplayed and insulted by his abusive father, Lionel. Lionel later takes the young Lex into town, where the boy purchases a radio wave emitter so he can build a device to send sounds into space that can hopefully be picked up by special people. During the Luthor’s outing, they bump into Martha and Jonathan Kent, who are trying, and failing, to calm down a baby Clark.

Lex Luthor's Signal Stops Baby Clark's Crying DC

Later, Lionel Luthor rages at his wife, saying their son shouldn’t be able to make something so advanced, even calling Lex a ‘freak’. Upset, Lex runs into a field with his sound device hoping someone will hear it. Lex broadcasts a recording of himself playing a piano that makes its way to the Kent farm, where Clark is still crying. Just as the two worry nothing will stop Clark’s wails, the infant hears Lex’s broadcast. For the first time since he arrived on Earth, baby Superman sleeps peacefully, while Lex remains ignorant about who his signal reached.

Superman and Lex Luthor Were Both Outsiders That Could Have Been Friends

Destiny Had Different Plans for DC’s Icons

Superman and Lex Luthor Fighting Side by Side DC

This isn’t the first time DC Comics has hinted that Superman could have had a real bond with Lex. Superman: Birthright and Superman: Secret Origin both hinted at a potential friendship that could have formed between the two. But unlike those stories, this glimpse into the past goes even further, when Lex was only about six or seven and Clark was just a baby. Even though they were incredibly young, they were already being treated or seen as outsiders. Superman at least had the good fortune of being raised by the Kents, while Lex suffered abuse at his father’s hands.

…Clark was simply too young to recognize the significance of that sound.

The real tragedy of this issue is that it shows how badly Lex needed someone to connect with. He was so desperate to be understood, he sent out a signal into space because Lex knew his family was incapable or didn’t desire to connect with him. Worse, his device actually worked, and it did connect with someone, but Clark was simply too young to recognize the significance of that sound. If Lex had known that someone in his own town could hear him and actually appreciate what Lex could do, he might have created a lifelong bond with Superman.

It’s such a cruel irony that Lex has spent the better part of his life hating and fighting the one person in the world that could have changed his life for the better. Clark validated a young Lex’s beliefs in extra-terrestrials and having a positive influence from the get-go could have shaped Lex into a force for good instead of a supervillain. Instead, Lex was led to think that his message went unheard, sending him down a path that would pit him against Superman instead of forging the friendship that would have made Lex Luthor’s life so much better.

Superman: Lex Luthor Special #1 is available now from DC Comics.