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The Black Ring (Comic Book)

348 statements
67 feature instances
22 referencing feature instances

The Black Ring (Comic Book)	type	TVTItem
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	label	The Black Ring (Comic Book)
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	page	TheBlackRing
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	comment	The Black Ring was an arc in Action Comics taking place following the events of Blackest Night. While Superman and his allies (Supergirl, Superboy and the like) struggled against a revived Doomsday, alongside an army of clones of him with the same attributes as the four replacement candidates of Supes from The Death & Return of Superman, as well as the Doomslayer (a Doomsday for Doomsday) in Reign of Doomsday, archenemy Lex Luthor took Superman's place as the star of Action Comics, for an eleven issue run that included two crossovers with Secret Six and an annual.During the events of Blackest Night, Luthor had briefly served as an Orange Lantern. Infected by the Orange Light of Avarice, Luthor finds himself unstable and unsatisfied without the power ring, and sets out on a quest, not to regain what he has lost, but to gain a greater power still, by tapping into the energies of the Black Lantern Rings. His quest takes him and his allies around the world, as they seek the energy spheres containing the rings' power, and come into conflict with foes including, but not limited to, Mister Mind, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Vandal Savage, The Joker, Larfleeze, Brainiac, and even Death herself. The arc explored Luthor's relationships with these other villains, doing its best to define the Post-Crisis, Pre-New 52 Luthor as a character, and as a major figure within the DC Universe as a whole.It all culminated in a massive, 92 page special in Action Comics #900, that revealed Luthor as the mastermind behind Reign of Doomsday, saw him finally attain the godlike power he had sought for so long, and contained his last, epic confrontation with Superman prior to the New 52 reboot. Written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Pete Woods, The Black Ring served as a final sendoff to the Post-Crisis world's greatest supervillain.
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	fetched	2023-04-28T18:59:27Z
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	parsed	2023-04-28T18:59:28Z
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	processingComment	Dropped link to GrandFinale: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	processingComment	Dropped link to Greed: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	processingComment	Dropped link to PoweredArmour: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	processingComment	Dropped link to SalvationRun: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	processingUnknown	PoweredArmour
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_11bc87bc	type	Comic-Book Fantasy Casting
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_11bc87bc	comment	Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Lex Luthor's assistant Spalding is modelled on David Tennant, complete with the Tenth Doctor's "brainy specs". Lampshade Hanging is provided by the Joker who, when taking credit for killing Spalding, claims "He reminded me so much of that actor, I wanted to see if he'd turn into someone else!"
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_11cac491	type	Tragedy
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_11cac491	comment	And of course, the situational irony of the ending, with hints of Tragedy: Luthor, in accepting the power of the Zone Child, could use his power to ensure an endless state of bliss for the entire universe, and thus could — as he has always believed himself to be — finally be a greater hero than Superman himself. Except that in order to do so he can't use his powers to do anything negative, destroying Superman counts as "something negative", and Luthor ultimately can't overcome his petty grudge towards Superman...
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1228314a	type	Strong as They Need to Be
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1228314a	comment	Strong as They Need to Be: Luthor's battlesuit allows him to face Slade, Larfleeze, and finally Brainiac. In each case, the suit seems just strong enough to allow Luthor to battle his adversary of the moment. Of course, it's possible they are different models.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_13c1fec8	type	Dragon-in-Chief
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_13c1fec8	comment	Dragon-in-Chief: Mister Mind to the Zone Child.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_15b09af9	type	Heelâ€“Face Door-Slam
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_15b09af9	comment	Heel–Face Door-Slam: Luthor does it to himself, rejecting Superman and the Zone Child's entreaties, and giving up the very power he had sought in exchange for one last shot at killing Superman.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1888979e	type	Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1888979e	comment	Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Whenever confronted with his reprehensible traits, no matter how much insight the observer has, even an entirely objective recounting of his entire life, Lex justifies himself as doing only what was necessary, ostensibly to protect humanity from those who would subjugate it. It's very quickly transparent that Lex only ever does anything for his own personal glory and that he can't stand any genuine aid he himself hasn't provided. In the end, he gives up the chance to be a god and fix literally everything everywhere because it would mean giving up his vendetta against Superman.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1dd12556	type	We All Die Someday
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_1dd12556	comment	We All Die Someday: This is more or less Death's response when Luthor points out how often super-people come back to life. A few people might get an extra handful of years, but eventually they're all going to die for good. For someone who's basically as old as the universe, it doesn't make a lot of difference.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_2b7d29e1	type	Artifact Title
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_2b7d29e1	comment	Artifact Title: Of a sort. The name "Superman" in the title of the arc isn't exactly accurate, as it's really about Lex Luthor's Grand Finale in the pre-Flashpoint timeline.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_302730a	type	Fusion Dance
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_302730a	comment	Fusion Dance: Luthor performs one with the Zone Child in order to tap its powers for his own.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_319e4a2f	type	Even Evil Has Standards
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_319e4a2f	comment	Even Evil Has Standards: Larfleeze, more or less the incarnation of Greed itself, states in Action Comics 898 that what Luthor wants is the one thing he doesn't want, something that shocks even him.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_3b41dde5	type	Eat Brain for Memories
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_3b41dde5	comment	Eat Brain for Memories: Grodd devours the brains of his victims to gain their memories. Luthor uses it against him by allowing him to capture and eat a henchman who had been given a false briefing on what Luthor's plan was.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_40c57041	type	Manipulative Bastard
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_40c57041	comment	Manipulative Bastard: Luthor, Mind, and Brainiac all attempt to screw with one another's emotions in order to achieve victory.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_47fea76b	type	Butt-Monkey
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_47fea76b	comment	Butt-Monkey: Mister Mind, who has a very bad time of things. He'd be the woobie if it weren't for the fact that we know he nuked one city and tried to devour the multiverse.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_483152c4	type	The Resenter
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_483152c4	comment	The Resenter: An aspect of why Luthor hates Superman so much.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_485eb589	type	Sealed Evil in a Can
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_485eb589	comment	Sealed Evil in a Can: How Luthor is left at the end of the arc, trapped in the Phantom Zone.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_4b220918	type	Godhood Seeker
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_4b220918	comment	Godhood Seeker: This is what Luthor is aiming for, and for a brief, spectacular moment, he achieves it, fusing with the living embodiment of the Phantom Zone, and gaining power over the space-time continuum as a whole.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_539ae07a	type	Empowered Badass Normal
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_539ae07a	comment	Empowered Badass Normal: The entire arc revolves around Luthor's quest to become one (though given the presence of his armoured suit, one could contend he already is one).
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_5d1cdda9	type	God Test
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_5d1cdda9	comment	God Test: Lex Luthor meets Death and he immediately demands proof. She softly pokes the tip of his nose, and it turns grey and begins cracking.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6136e02f	type	Brain Food
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6136e02f	comment	Brain Food: Shown in disgusting detail when Grodd eats the brains of one of Luthor's henchmen.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_67a7cd88	type	Battle in the Center of the Mind
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_67a7cd88	comment	Battle in the Center of the Mind: Luthor and Mind engage in one early in the arc. Brainiac is also in on the act, using his mental probes to alter both Luthor and Mind's perceptions. Luthor works this out after the fact. Mind does not.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6eeba1cb	type	Shut Up, Kirk!
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6eeba1cb	comment	Shut Up, Kirk!: When Superman tries to convince Luthor to accept the Zone Child's wishes and do some good for the world, Luthor angrily refuses and screams at Superman to be quiet.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6f9d7da3	type	GrimReaper
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_6f9d7da3	comment	Death assumes that Luthor is disappointed in her physical appearance because she has neither a scythe nor a pair of skis. This seemingly-random comment is a reference to The Black Racer, another manifestation of death in DC Comics, who flies around on skis. Lois also expresses disbelief that Luthor met Death using the same logic.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_71bd62b9	type	Calling Your Attacks
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_71bd62b9	comment	Calling Your Attacks: Luthor does this during his battle with Brainiac in order to psychologically trick Brainiac into doing the same. This allows Luthor to breach Brainiac's defences, since he can hear and plan around his vocal commands.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_72cdfc33	type	Big Bad Ensemble
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_72cdfc33	comment	Big Bad Ensemble: Luthor, Brainiac, and the Zone Child can all fill this role depending on how you look at it.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_851dda8f	type	Humanoid Abomination
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_851dda8f	comment	Humanoid Abomination: Luthor becomes one after his fusion with the Zone Child, achieving the power of a Physical God.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_8774fb47	type	Eldritch Abomination
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_8774fb47	comment	Eldritch Abomination: The Zone Child, the living embodiment of the Phantom Zone.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_898ff050	type	Villain Protagonist
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_898ff050	comment	Villain Protagonist: Lex Luthor, of course.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9053903	type	Ignored Epiphany
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9053903	comment	Ignored Epiphany: Luthor is constantly being confronted with reasons for why his quest is a bad idea, is not going to end the way he thinks, how he and the world would be much better off if he turned his back on it and focussed on other matters, or — if he must press on regardless — then he at least needs to change his priorities and worldview in order to truly succeed, up to and including Death of the Endless showing up to politely try and talk him out of it. He constantly dismisses and ignores them. Furthermore, he often does so in such a swift, smooth and practiced fashion, often neatly sidestepping the point onto something else, that at times it's almost like he magnetically repels any idea or suggestion that his ideas could ever be bad or that achieving what he wants is not only best for him but best for everyone in the universe without even thinking or realising it. Brainiac even calls him out on this in their confrontation, pointing out that for almost anyone else Luthor's adventures would have been a quest for self-realization and achieving a deeper understanding of themselves, but it's all just gone completely over Luthor's head because he fundamentally lacks the ability to engage in any kind of self-examination or introspection. It's not lingered on, but the smug way Luthor dismisses Brainiac's point only serves to underline it.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_91697559	type	Half the Man He Used to Be
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_91697559	comment	Half the Man He Used to Be: Vandal Savage bisects "Lois" down the centre. She gets better thanks to Luthor.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_957e5fc2	type	Villainous Breakdown
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_957e5fc2	comment	Villainous Breakdown: During the final confrontation between him and Superman, Luthor tries to break Superman by showing him painful moments from his life, thinking that Superman has no feelings. He shows him his death in front of many, the destruction of both Krypton and New Krypton and the sacrifice of his adopted son Chris Kent. But, when Superman shows him the most painful memory he has - the death of Jonathan Kent, who had a heart attack when Brainiac invaded awhile back - Luthor promptly loses it, not wanting to admit that they are on some level the same.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_970c790a	type	Big Bad
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_970c790a	comment	Big Bad: From Luthor's perspective, Brainiac and the Zone Child are this, trying to use him for their own ends, and standing at the ends of two separate schemes aimed at destroying him. From everyone else's perspective, Luthor himself is filling this role. Big Bad Ensemble: Luthor, Brainiac, and the Zone Child can all fill this role depending on how you look at it.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_973d220f	type	Never My Fault
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_973d220f	comment	Never My Fault: In their confrontation, Brainiac points out to Luthor that despite all of Luthor's self-serving actions, including but not limited to the fact that he betrayed Brainiac in their last encounter, Luthor nevertheless constantly comes away from events certain that he is the real victim.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_984ef9ef	type	"Not So Different" Remark
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_984ef9ef	comment	"Not So Different" Remark: When Lex realizes that Superman is Clark Kent, Superman tries to show him that they are more similar than Luthor thinks◊. Luthor being Luthor, he refuses to admit it.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_99213234	type	Death Takes a Holiday
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_99213234	comment	Death Takes a Holiday: When Luthor has his Physical God moment, he banishes all death and suffering from the universe. There's a reaction panel of Death of the Endless enjoying the fact that, for the first time in millennia, she has nothing to do. Because Luthor is Luthor and the Status Quo Is God, it doesn't last long.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9b9d2629	type	Evil Will Fail
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9b9d2629	comment	Evil Will Fail: What happens to Luthor at the end. He can't hold onto godhood for longer than 5 minutes because he also can't stop himself from being evil for that long.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9d12bbc1	type	Foreshadowing
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9d12bbc1	comment	Foreshadowing: Luthor's conversation with Death about various hypothetical heavenly afterlives. Lex not only demonstrates chronically unyielding behavior to do what he wants to the point he's willing to try and bribe and threaten Death, but also that he's incapable of accepting paradise without seeking some sort of catch or loophole.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9dab0a6e	type	Continuity Nod
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_9dab0a6e	comment	Continuity Nod: The issue about Vandal Savage trying to hurry up the prophecy relating to Lex Luthor features two flashbacks to previous meetings between the two. One was from the relatively recent Salvation Run, the other was from The Flash #124, back in 1997. Death assumes that Luthor is disappointed in her physical appearance because she has neither a scythe nor a pair of skis. This seemingly-random comment is a reference to The Black Racer, another manifestation of death in DC Comics, who flies around on skis. Lois also expresses disbelief that Luthor met Death using the same logic.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a60f7120	type	Physical God
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a60f7120	comment	Physical God: The Zone Child is one. Luthor achieves the same level of power after fusing with it.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a7a42b92	type	Oathbound Power
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a7a42b92	comment	Oathbound Power: The only condition for Luthor to keep the Zone Child's powers is that he must not do anything negative with it. Too bad for Luthor, trying to destroy Superman does qualify as something negative.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a7c91a10	type	Meaningless Villain Victory
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_a7c91a10	comment	Meaningless Villain Victory: An interesting case in that it's only meaningless to Luthor himself. He wins in that he manages to achieve godhood, but since it comes with the caveat that he can't hurt anyone, he feels it's meaningless because he can't continue his vendetta against Superman. For anyone else, it would be the real deal, but Luthor can't hold onto it for more than a few minutes.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_aac2244a	type	EvilVsEvil
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_aac2244a	comment	Evil vs. Evil: Luthor is a bad, bad man, and The Black Ring makes no bones about it. However, he's up against a veritable buffet of the DC Universe's worst of the worst, including Mister Mind, Grodd, Vandal Savage, Larfleeze, and Brainiac, making it hard not to cheer for him.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_aba8065b	type	Fatal Flaw
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_aba8065b	comment	Fatal Flaw: Luthor's pride and inability to let go of the past are what ultimately bring him down.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_b6c2e6ad	type	Villain Episode
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_b6c2e6ad	comment	Villain Episode: The entire story arc is a Lex Luthor villain episode, with Superman only showing up for the climax.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bb18a227	type	It's All About Me
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bb18a227	comment	It's All About Me: For all Luthor's claims that he is acting in the best interests of humanity, it is constantly pointed out to him that it's clear that this is just his rationalisation for his self-serving greed and lust for more power. In his final confrontation with Superman, when Superman instinctively reacts to the presence of the Phantom Zone opening to try and rescue "someone he cares about" who is trapped there (Chris Kent, his adoptive son), Luthor grabs in and furiously yells about Superman daring to turn his back on him; while he frames it as Superman arrogantly refusing to believe that a human could have ascended him in power, it's blindingly obvious that he's really just furious that Superman dared to prioritise something else over him.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bb5126ec	type	Prophecy Twist
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bb5126ec	comment	Prophecy Twist: Vandal Savage was told that Luthor's use of the black energy spheres would bring him great happiness. At the end of their conflict, he's yet to be made happy. Then Luthor achieves near-godhood and starts broadcasting messages (at the Zone Child's insistence) of peace and tranquility across the multiverse, making Vandal, and everybody else, greatly happy.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27	type	Berserk Button
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27	comment	Berserk Button: Lex Luthor does not react well when people turn their backs on him.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c2c15b23	type	Bait-and-Switch Comment
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c2c15b23	comment	Bait-and-Switch Comment: When the Secret Six are preparing to fight Vandal Savage and his goons, Rag Doll rambles about going to the zoo and how he likes to watch the monkeys...
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c335b9ec	type	Irony
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c335b9ec	comment	Irony: The whole series, Luthor has been accompanied by a robotic duplicate of Lois Lane who he uses as a sounding board, lover and henchperson. The reader is naturally given to wonder how Superman might react to finding this out... except that by the time Superman appears in the series, Luthor has smashed "Lois's" face to pieces, meaning that Superman never realises who "Lois" was built to resemble. And of course, the situational irony of the ending, with hints of Tragedy: Luthor, in accepting the power of the Zone Child, could use his power to ensure an endless state of bliss for the entire universe, and thus could — as he has always believed himself to be — finally be a greater hero than Superman himself. Except that in order to do so he can't use his powers to do anything negative, destroying Superman counts as "something negative", and Luthor ultimately can't overcome his petty grudge towards Superman...
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c39846a3	type	Pride
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c39846a3	comment	Pride: Luthor's defining characteristic, alongside his greed.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: The story arc gives Lex Luthor a sidekick who bears a striking resemblance to David Tennant. Lampshaded when the Joker claims (falsely) to have killed him: "He reminded me so much of that actor, I wanted to see if he'd turn into someone else!"
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c7e7529c	type	Five Stages of Grief
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_c7e7529c	comment	Five Stages of Grief: When encountering Death of the Endless, Luthor invokes the stages. He's actually between Bargaining and Denial the whole time, and is faking the other stages. Death sees through it, and points out that even if she hadn't it's utterly pointless his trying to reject or manipulate his way out of the situation anyway.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d2ce1cbd	type	Reasoning with God
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d2ce1cbd	comment	Reasoning with God: Death asks Luthor if he would like to ask God's forgiveness, if that were an option. Luthor visibly squirms at the very idea, and somewhat feebly offers that he might like a chance to explain his motivations.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d397657d	type	Hoist by His Own Petard
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d397657d	comment	Hoist by His Own Petard: Lex cannot wield the power of a god, because to do so he must give up his vendetta against Superman and that he cannot do.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d3f33049	type	Blasphemous Boast
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d3f33049	comment	Blasphemous Boast: When Luthor uses Phantom Drove technology to confront and absorb the Zone Child's power, it's punctuated in in the narration captions with him claiming "I am that I am!"
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d62dd556	type	The Chessmaster
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_d62dd556	comment	The Chessmaster: Mr. Mind (on behalf of the Zone Child), Brainiac, and of course, Luthor himself.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_dd9fba61	type	A Rare Sentence
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_dd9fba61	comment	A Rare Sentence: A character-only one. Larfleeze, practically the Anthropomorphic Personification of Laughably Evil Greed, admits that what Luthor is after, he doesn't want. Even he's shocked.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_de9047ac	type	Gambit Pileup
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_de9047ac	comment	Gambit Pileup: The Zone Child is trying to manipulate Luthor, through Mister Mind, into setting it free. Brainiac is trying to manipulate Luthor, through the "Lois" robot, into showing him the way to ultimate power. Vandal Savage is out to force Luthor to fullfill a prophecy that he will bring Savage ultimate happiness. Grodd is looking to exploit the black energy spheres for his own gain. Larfleeze wants Luthor to give him the power of the black spheres. And of course, there's Luthor himself, who incorporates all of their respective gambits into his own as he aims for godhood.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_dfa71e43	type	Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_dfa71e43	comment	Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Toyed with. Mister Mind is portrayed this way, yet Luthor never lets himself forget that Mind nearly ended the multiverse one time, and is far more than the harmless Butt-Monkey he appears to be.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_e5d8460d	type	Unexplained Recovery
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_e5d8460d	comment	Unexplained Recovery: Parodied. Mister Mind keeps trying to explain how he recovered, but nobody is interested.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_e70127	type	The Mole
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_e70127	comment	The Mole: "Lois" was one for Brainiac. Luthor anticipated this and planned accordingly.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_ec9a5f50	type	Deconstructed Character Archetype
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_ec9a5f50	comment	Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of Luthor himself. He claims he wants to save humanity from Superman and other superheroes who are keeping mankind back. Some of the other villains don't seem to buy it. Through the entire arc it is shown that Luthor does not have humanity's best interests at heart despite his lofty goals; he is only after power and has an intense dislike for authority other than his own but insists, even to himself, that he is the hero of the story. Yet he allows people to get killed as pawns, shoots an employee so that he can't be used against him as a hostage and whenever anyone turns their back on him he flips out. He does not believe that Superman empathizes with humanity at all and it is possible he's projecting this trait on Superman. Darkseid says he only wants to rule others and be "the biggest fish". Brainiac outright states that he is doing it for power and mocks his lack of introspection. Even Superman is surprised that Luthor's first act as a physical god is to come after him. Only the Joker believed he had any real potential to do good and feared this as Joker needs to believe that life is pain and has no meaning. Superman and Mr Mind attempt to reason with him by appealing to his desire to do good but his need to destroy Superman destroys his chances to do any real good as he promised himself he would. All this underscores just how much of a wasted opportunity Lex Luthor's life was. Mr Mind's parting words are more than apt: "I'll leave you to your tragedy."
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_eeb2d092	type	Killer Gorilla
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_eeb2d092	comment	Killer Gorilla: Grodd and his army of mindcontrolled apes.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_f8e010ce	type	Evil Cannot Comprehend Good
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_f8e010ce	comment	Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lex, so much. He can't understand why Superman is a hero, calling him too alien to understand suffering and loss despite him truly having experienced those things. And his overall quest to gain power means he cannot understand how to wield it responsibly for the sake of others. Also with Death of the Endless, to a degree (since she's more a kindly and good-natured but remote observer rather than "good", strictly speaking); she remarks at one point in their conversation that he keeps acting like she's some kind of supervillain, and he just doesn't seem able to comprehend that such a powerful entity as her, one who is almost a fundamental part of the universe, simply might not have any ulterior motives, hidden gambits or lusts.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_f9f2c33	type	Running Gag
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_f9f2c33	comment	Running Gag: Mister Mind trying to explain that he's not the original Mind, but an offspring, psychic upload, etc, only to be unceremoniously interrupted.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_fcf6bca9	type	Robosexual
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_fcf6bca9	comment	Robosexual: Luthor regularly has sex with a robotic Lois Lane that he built to supply him with opposing opinions.
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The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_fe64d5a1	type	Evil Is Petty
The Black Ring (Comic Book) / int_fe64d5a1	comment	Evil Is Petty: Luthor gives up omnipotence and the chance to give everyone in the universe eternal bliss — all because one of the conditions of keeping that power is that he can't do anything negative with it such as, say, destroying Superman. To Luthor, godhood is meaningless if he can't use it to crush his greatest foe. This is alluded to throughout the series, of course, and explicitly noted even before this; to the point where Superman, on learning that Luthor has finally become a Physical God, incredulously notes that the first thing Luthor could think to do with all his newfound power was to summon Superman just to destroy him.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

TheBlackRing	sameAs	The Black Ring (Comic Book)
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The Black Ring (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul / int_dd5ec97a
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The Black Ring (Comic Book)	hasFeature	What Is This Feeling? / int_dd5ec97a
The Black Ring (Comic Book)	hasFeature	You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good! / int_dd5ec97a

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