June 30, 2025

Metropolis Mailbag: Clark Saved Luthor?

Anonymous asked:

When did Lex find out it was Clark who saved him in adventures 447?

Huh, that’s a great question. Short answer: we don’t know. UPDATE: Yes we do! See update at the bottom.

Long answer: In Adventures #447, a hitman hired by Morgan Edge tries to send Lex Luthor to “that big doughnut factory in the sky” during a press conference, but luckily Metropolis’ foremost X-Ray vision-having reporter happens to be in the crowd and prevents it.

Luthor then orders his bodyguards to find his savior and give him money… or else. I’m not sure what they’re supposed to do. Beat him up until he accepts the money? Kill him, then throw a generous check at his corpse? None of these options sounds off-brand for Luthor.

This incident isn’t mentioned again until 20 issues later, in Adventures #467. (UPDATE: Yes it is. Again, see below.) Clark, Lois, and out-of-towner Bruce Wayne are attending the “LexCorp Zenith Award for Journalism” (a.k.a., the in-universe Baldy Awards) when Lex corners Clark and tells him to reveal his secret: the fact that He Saved Luthor’s Brain from being shot. Clark is very relieved that that’s the secret he’s talking about.

Luthor insists that he shall repay the favor – and he gets a chance on the very next page, when Intergang troopers invade the ceremony and try to kill Clark. The surprisingly spry Lex actually leaps in the air to “save” Clark from a blast that, to be fair, would have totally ruined his fancy dinner suit, not to mention secret identity.

(Big issue for reporters being saved by billionaires, something that has never happened in the real world.)

With that, Luthor considers the debt paid, and I don’t think this plot was mentioned again. So, I guess Luthor found out who saved him at some point (that press conference WAS full of cameras) but he was so busy with his hostile takeover of S.T.A.R. Labs and with having a superpowered circus mentalist living in his facilities that he just didn’t get around to rewarding/extorting Clark. I’m a big procrastinator myself, so I can sympathize.

That’s the best explanation I can come up with, anyway. If anyone has a different answer (does Mike Carlin still read us?), feel free to leave it in the comments!

UPDATE: I WAS WRONG! Adam Mallinger pointed out on BlueSky that Lex found on in Adventures #451, when Superman was in Exile and Clark was believed dead. Lex is disturbed by the news – not because he cared for Clark but because he needs to repay his debt, so he decides to make up for it by going after Clark’s “killers” at Intergang. Oh, and all of this happens while Lex is in the shower.

I can’t believe I spent like two hours digging up and flipping through these issues and bypassed a Lex Luthor shower scene. My apologies, and big thanks to Adam for the correction! Yet another reason to love his work in Superman & Lois.

ICYMI: Check out our new post about Man of Steel #0! Incidentally, up next is Superman #0, featuring the return of the in-universe Baldies (but not the big Baldy himself, who’s still out of commission).

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

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