If you haven’t been keeping up with DC’s All Fight Month, you are missing out on one of the most chaotic and high-stakes tournament arcs in recent memory. Superman #33 takes us into Round Seven of the DC K.O. tournament, and while the title says Superman, the Man of Steel is nowhere to be found. Instead, we get a character exercise in tactical villainy as Lex Luthor faces off against The Demon, Etrigan.
Lex Luthor in Hell
The issue kicks off with Lex in a headlock, reflecting on whether what he’s experiencing is even real. Since his encounter with Neron in Hell, Lex has been questioning everything, specifically one haunting question: “Does Lex Luthor have a soul?”.
The Heart of Apokolips, the sentient core driving this tournament to become a King Omega capable of matching Darkseid, transports the combatants through shifting arenas. We start in a medieval Camelot, where Lex and Etrigan trade armor for forms. Lex dons an armored Superman suit from the Rebirth era, while Etrigan sports his classic Demon Knights plate.
What makes this issue click is how Joshua Williamson writes Lex. He doesn’t win through brute strength but uses his mind like a puzzle. While Etrigan (and the reader) thinks they’re watching a physical slugfest, Lex is actually playing a long game involving runes carved into his skin from his previous travels in the underworld.
The Subplot That Races Against the Clock
While Lex is busy punching demons, we continue the subplot at the Fortress of Solitude. Lois Lane, Superboy-Prime, and a Robot Superman are frantically uploading Kryptonian archives to send to the Time Trapper. The goal? To give the real Superman his hope back after the Legion of Super-Heroes was seemingly wiped from existence. The stakes here feel heavy because they only have two Earth hours to hold the data before it’s lost.
A core theme of this issue is Lex’s internal struggle. He claims that concepts like good and bad are meaningless to him, yet he wears Superman’s symbol. When Etrigan mocks him for being sentimental, Lex snaps back that he chose the armor because he knows the tech built into it, “it’s a weapon, not a tribute.” By the end of the fight, Lex wins by using a possession spell to free Jason Blood from his curse of rhyme, effectively neutralizing Etrigan as a competitor. It’s a classic dirty win that reminds you why Lex is the smartest man in any room.
Art, Colors and Lettering
Hayden Sherman’s art is, quite frankly, a vibe. It’s kinetic and messy in all the right ways for a tournament called K.O. One of the coolest visual tricks Sherman pulls is having the debris of the fight literally form the letters of the issue’s questions, like the massive “DOES LEX LUTHOR HAVE A SOUL?” floating in the background of a splash page.
Alejandro Sánchez’s colors perfectly differentiate the arenas, moving from the earthy tones of Camelot to the fiery, oppressive reds of the underworld. Ariana Maher’s lettering also deserves a shoutout, as the way she handles Etrigan’s rhyming dialogue versus Lex’s clinical internal monologue keeps the two characters’ voices distinct even in the middle of a panel-shattering explosion.
The Verdict
If I have one gripe, it’s that the Lois Lane subplot still feels out of place. Shifting from the tournament to Lois and Superboy-Prime is jarring, yanking you out of the action just to stall the momentum with Kryptonian exposition that might not even be relevant later. However, if you enjoy stories where the villain is forced to be the hero using all the wrong methods, this is the book for you. Lex Luthor might not have a soul, but he certainly has a plan.
‘Superman’ #33 Review: Is Lex Luthor the Savior the DC Universe Deserves?
If you enjoy stories where the villain is forced to be the hero using all the wrong methods, this is the book for you. Lex Luthor might not have a soul, but he certainly has a plan.
