Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1

Superman: The Black Ring

by Paul Cornell, Pete Woods (Illustrator)

When Lex Luthor finally regained control of LexCorp, he thought he had everything he wanted. But in BLACKEST NIGHT, he briefly became an Orange Lantern and got a taste of true power. Now he’ll do anything to get that power back. Buckle in for a greatest hits tour of the DCU’s most wanted as Lex Luthor begins an epic quest for power, all brought to you by writer Paul Cornell (Dr. Who, Captain Britain and MI-13) and artist Pete Woods (WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2011

About the author

Paul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.

via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...

Reviews

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was pretty dull. Also maybe don't call it Superman: Black Ring if Superman isn't even in the damned book.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were you reading every Superman story arc in 2010/11? How about the Blackest Night storyline? ‘Cos I wasn’t and didn’t know I had to in order to understand this book! Apparently at some point in one of those arcs, Lex Luthor became an Orange Lantern (just saying that reminds me why I’m not into Green Lantern) and then he wasn’t. The Black Lanterns and their Black Rings were apparently super-powerful but then went away, for some reason (I know, if I read Blackest Night, I’d probably know - maybe I will at some point).

This book opens with Superman off-world, on some quest - it’s called Superman: The Black Ring, but he doesn’t make a single appearance and instead Lex Luthor is the main character - while Lex plots to find a way of locating a Black Ring to become all-powerful and supplant Superman as saviour of Earth. Also, I have no idea when this happened but Lex created a Lois Lane android to be his personal assistant/girlfriend, which is just plain creepy especially as he has sex with it.

The book follows Lex’s patchy quest across the planet for these large black spheres which are apparently energy residue of the Black Rings which will lead him to the Black Rings...? This is why I’m not into Green Lantern, it’s too sci-fi crazy - imagine an imaginary concept, apply semi-real science to it, then add fantasy, and make it central to your story! That’s modern sci-fi, and I don’t get it.

On his journey he encounters some of DC’s B and C-list characters like Deathstroke, Mister Mind (a psychic space caterpillar), Grodd (an intelligent, violent gorilla), Vandal Savage (an immortal), and Death (from Sandman - yeah, Neil Gaiman’s cute goth chick!). Grodd had a great scene where he announces that he’s brought his biggest combat spoon to eat Lex’s brain with and the Death issue was quite good - it helped that I’m a big Sandman fan, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Dream’s sister show up for an issue of contemplation with Lex.

Despite a few nice moments though, I was more or less baffled throughout as to what the hell was going on. Lex and Black Rings? Superman gone off somewhere? It was whacky and fun in places, and Lex is a great character so it was good to see him get the spotlight again, but if you’re a Superman fan looking for a great Superman book, look elsewhere as the Man of Steel is nowhere to be found in this one. I have Volume 2 though so maybe he shows up in that book. As for Volume 1, if you’re a Lex Luthor fan and enjoy a story that jumps around the globe featuring some of DC and Vertigo’s lesser known characters, “The Black Ring, Volume 1” is for you. Just be sure that you know what Blackest Night was all about or you might end up flailing for the first third of the book.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow what an epic read!

It starts off with Luthor wanting to feel the lantern energy again as he did during Blackest night and so for that he searches for the black ring of death and he finds these strange black spheres around earth and so he is chasing them. Also he has some android of Lois Lane to accompany him and act as his mercy graves which is weird and also to oppose his views. And the great story begins where he goes up against Mr Mind and lives up his fantasies and even trapped there fights this mental menace. I loved that story and the western part was so good.

And then going up against Gorilla Grodd was fun and the way he outsmarts him is genius and then a convo with Death of the endless which was a pleasant surprise but makes sense and totally makes this book even more epic. The convos and viewpoints he brings just shows his mortality and shows Lex not even afraid of celestial concepts and finally being alive and searching for the rings again and there is also this part with deathstroke that was fun and we finally see the entrance of Vandal Savage and like how this "black spheres" thing relates to an ancient prophecy of his and how it will lead him to a conflict with Luthor.

What an epic volume and it just is too good and does so well to flesh out a villainous character like Lex and shows him at his dangerous and mad quests and also does the villain team-ups and face off so well while building a big story and stretching out characterications and what not. Plus the art is so good and its collected really well so makes for a smooth read. Ahh its so good, its already becoming one of my favorite DC stories.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmm. I thought it was a bit weird, but I'm not always aware of the goings-on in Superman's world.

Luthor is still feeling the effects of his time as an Orange Lantern, and has set out on a mission to find it's power source.
And for some reason (I must be missing a chunk of the storyline) he has an Lois Lane android as his BFF/sidekick.
Um, I'm gonna let that one go for now...

Anyhoo, he runs all over the globe doing very Insane Genius-like stuff that went waaaay over my head. I had to force myself to finish the last part, because the time for Things Making Sense had passed me by mid-way through the book.

I bumped it up from 1 star to 2, because Death (from Gaiman's The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes) makes an appearance.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistitled as it's Lex Luthor who takes centre stage, the premise of searching for a black ring would be more interesting if Cornell didn't insist on dragging out the dialogue and events. With snappier storytelling, this could have been great, but it's decent regardless and worth a read for Luthor fans.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars just for the part where Lex Luthor has a conversation with Death of the Endless. Girl, we've missed you!

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Johns Green Lantern and Blackest Night where Lex Luther becomes an Orange Lantern I ran across this story that takes place after the event with Lex trying to find a way to get the power he had back. Decent premise very focused on Lex rather than Superman.

[James DeSantis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whew, this was trash. Bad dialogue mixed with a shitty plot and okay art. Why the hell is Superman name on this book? Fucking DC...

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the individual issues of this incredible run (Lex Luthor: Action Comics #890-899) by Paul Cornell/Pete Woods, and still to this day, it's one of my favorite runs of all time. I'm one of those folks who truly believes that a superhero is only as good as their villains (this belief can be disputed, but at some point, heroes fade out with the fans if they're not tested) and Lex is THE villain. He's narcissistic, calculated, petty, funny, brilliant, and most importantly, he BELIEVES in what he's doing. He's committed. Just as committed as Supes. That's what brings out the best in Supes. And what's great about this run is that Supes ain't no where to be found (still love ya buddy). This is the Lex Luthor show, baby, so strap yerself in and enjoy the ride. Some reviews have been a bit mixed on this run, and I can't for the life of me understand that. It's pretty straightforward if you read the events of Blackest Night. Lex is all about power. He's tasted the ultimate power (deputized by kindred spirit Larfleeze), a lantern ring, (doesn't really matter what color it is) and he catches wind that there's a Black Lantern ring to be found. Somewhere. Not quite sure where. Not even sure how he can harness this energy. I can't go on, because this is truly an epic build up to issue 900. And really, Action Comics hasn't been this good since then.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story, despite the fact that Superman is nowhere to be seen in his own book.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love this. My favourite part was definitely the section where Lex interacts with Death the Goth Teen Girl. Otherwise, it's kind of ho-hum. What is nice is to actually have all that Luthor with no Superman, but apparently the other 'villains' he runs into are just ridiculous. Guess I have to re-examine the DC baddies. Deathstroke was good, Gorilla Grodd was ridiculous. Lex having a Lois Lane sidekick was odd but explained very well. On the whole, I think this is a little weak to have as a stand-alone book, they should put it together with the 2nd half of the story and finish Lex's quest for a power ring.

[Tif · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lex Luthor goes on a quest to find the illusive Black Lantern ring and along the way he talks a lot about nothing particularly interesting.

[S.E. Martens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! I collected a bunch of the Action Comics floppies from this arc earlier this year while I was looking for Lex Luthor-centric stories and I really enjoyed them.

I tried to find the collected editions to fill in a couple of holes, but for a long time I didn't think they were collected, because I was searching under "Action Comics" and "Lex Luthor" and DC published this under "Superman." And sure, Lex is a Superman character, but Supes himself doesn't even show up in this volume, so it would have made much more sense to call it Lex Luthor: Black Ring. But whatever. That's a nitpick and doesn't reflect on my thoughts on the actual story.

I had so much fun reading this. I love to see Lex take center stage and I love how Paul Cornell writes him. Side note: I'm familiar with Cornell from his work on Doctor Who and it's neat to see him writing superhero comics. I also really like Pete Woods' artwork on the interior. Not a fan of the cover art for these issues though (they are done by a different artist, who seems to want to make Lex as ugly as possible.)

This story follows directly on the events of a Green Lantern story, which I haven't read, but you learn enough in this to make sense of it. Basically, Lex briefly wielded one of the lantern rings and has been chasing that power high ever since. He discovers how to trace a unique energy pattern and thus begins a globe trotting adventure where he and his team set out to analyze these anomalous pockets of extra-dimensional spacetime. Or something.

Oh? And on his team is a robot clone of Lois Lane acting as Lex's assistant/girlfriend/companion! I am screaming! Did I mention how much I love this?

The action takes us into the depths of Lex's mind and his fantasies when the psychic caterpillar "Mister Mind" attacks. Then we're off to the frozen tundra, to the jungle, and even to the afterlife! We see guest stars Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Vandal Savage, and even a crossover with Sandman as Death of the Endless shows up.

The Death issue is also included in the Lex Luthor: a Celebration of 75 Years collection and with good reason - it's fantastic. Such a delight to see these two interact and it manages to be pretty revealing about Lex's character and how he views himself.

Also, this is very much a villain Lex - he sacrifices people without a thought and has people who thwart him assassinated. Yet he believes in his self-appointed mission so strongly that he very much sees himself as in the right, in an "ends-justify-the-means" sort of way. It makes for a compelling lead character and it makes me wish there were more solo Lex Luthor stories floating around out there.

[William Bainbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
Very enjoyable and a really interesting and coherent story, but even with the additions of dearhstroke and gorilla grod, any comic with lex luthor as the mc was gonna be capped at a 3.5. I did like how lex was written for the most part and its gonna be interesting to see the story continued into volume 2. My biggest gripe is the sudden introduction of this other villain from the medieval times in the last issue of the comic, it seemed rushed and poorly executed to me, as I am still uncertain fully as to what is even going on with him.

[Fernando Angeleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia que nos trae a Luthor como protagonista, luego de la noche oscura, Luthor probó el poder de los anillos de los lanterns y quiere conseguir el poder de la muerte.
En esta primera parte se encuentra con muchos personajes en su búsqueda y rastrea la energía de los anillos negros en distintas partes del mundo. Aparecen Mr. Mind y Gorilla Grood en los primeros capítulos y al final el comienzo del enfrentamiento contra Vandal Savage y la aparición de los Secret Six.
Una historia atrapante, con un gran Luthor que lleva la historia adelante.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1

Still haunted by the power of the Orange Lantern ring obtained during the Blackest Night, Lex Luthor scouts the universe looking for the remnants of the Black Lantern rings.

Gloriously drawn and inked, the appearances of the great DC villains are amazing and Death is whimsically beautiful in this collection.

[Kent · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like heroes, especially good heroes who've got their stuff together. No hero here.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no Superman in this Superman book

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: This review is about both Volumes of "The Black Ring."

Back in one of DC Comics' massive events, Lex Luthor got hold of an Orange Lantern ring. Orange Lantern rings are powered by avrice because apparently "Greed" is too common of a word and these things have to be as complicated as possible.

Anyway, Lex gets this ring, then loses it. During the event Lex also discovers this black energy that powers Black Lantern rings. Lex figures that if he can harness the power of the black energy, he can be the most powerful being in the universe. It was cool seeing Lex be the "hero" of the story, but the story was just too long. The books are Lex basically taking a tour of the DC Universe, meeting various villains along the way. You have Deathstoke, Gorilla Grodd, Vandal Savage, Mister Mind and the Joker. The Savage and Joker issues are very good, but the rest are really just padding. (There's also an issue featuring Neil Gaiman's Death that was fun, but really pointless.) The ending with the black energy being tied with the planet Krypton and some kind of Phantom Zone Starchild was also something I guess you just have to go with.

Had this been a six issue series, it would have scored three or four stars. Ten was just too much.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lex Luther as protagonist and default hero on a quest to garner the energy of the black power rings ( from Green Lantern storyline). The portrayal and development of Luther's character is very interesting and the 'villians' that try to derail his quest are rare characters from other story arcs-Mister Mind, Gorilla Grodd, Vandal Savage-even an appearance by Neil Gaiman's Death (from the Sandman series)!

A fun read, but I felt that I was missing some background data that kept me from fully investing in this unusual story.

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Who screenwriter Paul Cornell delivers a near-perfect comic book arc in this tale of Lex Luthor's quest for power, with Robot Lois Lane at his side. Luthor's written as she should be, as Shakepearean king,only mad "north by northwest," and otherwise sane, brilliant, and in a way heroic. Robot Lois, of course, is pure awesome. Cornell blends humor, pathos, action, drama and mystery flawlessly. Can't wait for the second and final volume.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book reminiscent of the super-villain team-ups of the ‘70s. Cornell offfers up a great vision of Luthor and fun interactions with other villains, all while playing joyfully with DC continuity.

I was a little less thrilled by the villain-of-the-month aspect when I read it through for the second time, but still enjoyed the book and am curious where the arc is headed.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this.

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember how it says 'Superman' on the cover? There's no Superman.

After wielding an orange lantern ring and then losing it, Luthor has set out to develop a way to find a ring once more. So far, he has been unsuccessful which frustrates him into his snarky, puerile persona which opposes his cold, calculated demeanor he sometimes exhibits. Then he gets kidnapped by androids and threatened by a giant caterpillar calling himself Mister Mind. Boy, that escalated quickly! Oh, I see. This comic is trying to be funny... Huh...

Rather than control his mind, Mr. Mind fails miserably against Lex and gets killed by Lex's swift kick to the behind. Lex returns to his goal to find a lantern ring. He takes a team along that includes Deathstroke and his android Lois. The first site that contains black ring energy threatens to have them kill each other by enhancing their emotions. Lex orders one of his followers to analyze it, which makes it inert.

Lex encounters the gorilla leader Grodd who kills him. He is visited by Death for a long conversation that ends with him waking up. He was never dead. Vandal Savage is next. He wants to find happiness no matter the cost. Even if he has to threaten Luthor for it. He doesn't know Luthor very well, does he?

[Dasamur76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leído como el número 51 de la colección de DC Héroes y Villanos, resulta un tanto irregular. Se divide en pequeños capítulos, que tienen conexión entre sí, pero no es visible del todo hasta el final de la historia, lo que hace que, entretanto, haya momentos en los que genere dudas, y/o parezca que hay aspectos incompletos, o que pasan sin un motivo concreto. Cuando, en el segundo volumen, llega la explicación, casi no recuerdas de lo que te están hablando...
Por otro lado, esa sensación de omnipotencia que se le atribuye durante toda la historia al personaje principal de Luthor no funciona. Haber previsto cada una de las reacciones de TODOS los implicados en su misión, e incluso saber cuándo alguno de ellos se está anticipando a esa previsión para hacer otra contra-previsión, al final, no es creíble, y redunda en una experiencia que no es del todo satisfactoria.
El dibujo es muy bueno, apabullante, en ocasiones, pero esos detalles son demasiado importantes para pasarlos por alto.
Con todo, se disfruta y deja ganas de leer su conclusión en el volumen definitivo.

[Alek Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this in 2021, post Scott Snyder's Doom War Event. You can definitely see where some inspiration might have been drawn.

The Black Ring is a Lex Luthor seeking godhood story that is a lot more behind the scenes and subtle compared to the Rebirth event Year of the Villain. After experiencing the power of an Orange Lantern Ring, Luthor begins a quest to unlock the power of the Black Lantern Rings.

Overall not a terrible story but it's not fully developed. There's a bit of confusion as to how things get started or why certain characters are motivated. Its just sort of a journey you go through but not really understand.

I didn't really care for Cornell's portrayal of Luthor at times. His megalomania came off as overly sensitive and whinny. Pre-New 52 Luthor was a bit crazy on his "I Hate Superman!", and I think they did a good job of sophisticating his character since then.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you make the villain the hero of their own story, you run the risk of humanizing them. That's done here to magnificent effect. This Luthor rivals Michael Rosenbaum's version for the Lex I'd most want to hang out with. Some of the best stories have no heroes and villains, no black and white, just shades of gray like the world that most of us live in. Luthor here is...well, Lex Luthor, but he's more relatable because he's not directly trying to kill Superman. He just wants to be the best and be recognized for his efforts. The writing here is top notch, and the illustrations add a layer of enjoyability that made my day. Great book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. It was actually a bizarrely entertaining read with unexpected characters *cough* Mr. Mind *cough* and a pretty interesting look into Lex Luthor's psyche. It's a nice semi-sequel to "Blackest Night," highlighting one of the characters who was chosen by the other power rings. All in all, it's pretty darn clever to use Lex Luthor having once had an orange power ring as: (1) A look into what makes Luthor tick; (2) A follow-up to a pretty great DC major event; and (3) An archetypal quest story. Add into that a tie-in with... Neil Gaiman's Sandman!?!?! Honestly, all of that together makes for a pretty unusual but undeniably engaging read.

[Stacey-girl · Rating 1 out of 5]

***may contain spoilers *** what.the.f*ck.was.this.sh*t? I don't even know! It started out well, but then all of a sudden they had a tequila worm as a villain (maybe if I had had some tequila, the story would've made sense). Then they introduced a brain eating gorilla (no he wasn't a zombie. Zombies would have definitely made this story more interesting), and for good measure, they added a goth teen (who was death btw, cuz that makes total sense....NOT!). I loved the Blackest Night storyline, so had high hopes for this one, but Blech!!!! What a stinker this one was, so I'm glad it was just a library rental.

[Rory C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, I mean why is Superman's name in the title, but mildly entertaining overall. I wasn't really looking to read a Lex Luther series and I did lose some interest part way through, the Death cameo in particular was a little indulgent, but then I really enjoyed the last issue featuring Vandal Savage, which ended in enough of a cliffhanger for me to want to seek out the next book. That's a strength of the DC universe for me is it's history of characters, and the more I see of them in a book the better.