Superman: The Black Ring #1

Lex Luthor hangs upside-down from a skyscraper, his mind racing through a series of flashbacks that reveal his desperate hunt for the Black Lantern Ring’s power. With his robot assistant, Robot Lois Lane, by his side, he traces the ring’s lingering energy—only to be captured by a cunning mind he never expected: Mister Mind.

In "null," Lex Luthor is trapped in a series of surreal dreams orchestrated by Mister Mind—each one a twisted reimagining of history, legend, and his own ego, from a prehistoric fire-bringer to a Frankenstein-like creator and even a cowboy sheriff. As Lex begins to shape the dreams himself, he confronts the dream-creature Big Blue and faces off against the shadowy presence of Deathstroke in a fleeting cameo, ultimately seizing control and banishing Mister Mind. Though the source of the intrusion remains unknown, Lex presses on, hiring a guide to track down the first known location of the Black Lantern ring energy.

In the frozen isolation of the Ross Ice Shelf, Lex Luthor and his uneasy alliance—including Robot Lois Lane, Deathstroke, and a handful of scientists—uncover a mysterious energy sphere buried for eons. As the team begins to unravel its secrets, paranoia takes hold, driving them into violent chaos—until a sudden shift in the sphere’s power abruptly halts the madness. Meanwhile, far away, Gorilla Grodd monitors a similar anomaly, his gaze fixed on a deeper, unseen pattern.

In "null," Lex Luthor leads a dangerous mission to Uganda in search of the Black Ring’s power, shadowed by the cunning Gorilla Grodd. When Grodd captures RoboLois and discovers her true nature, he turns on Luthor’s team—only to be outmaneuvered as Luthor reveals a shocking infiltration of Grodd’s stronghold. With the black sphere secured, the team flees, but Grodd’s final strike leaves Luthor’s fate hanging in the balance.

In a chilling moment of self-reflection, Lex Luthor confronts Death herself after a fatal gunshot—only to find his fate isn’t sealed. As she reviews his life with cold precision, he fights to justify his existence, pleading, bargaining, and even mocking her judgment. But when she reveals he’s not truly dead, Lex awakens back in his jet, alive and unrepentant—his mind already racing toward his next move.

In a story that weaves ancient secrets with modern ambition, Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage find themselves entangled in a centuries-old game centered on mysterious black spheres. As Luthor manipulates the spheres to shift the balance of power, Savage confronts him in a high-stakes showdown—only for Luthor to reveal a final, unexpected advantage.