Superman #33: DC K.O. – Round 7: No Sympathy For The Demon

Superman #33 opens with Lex in Hell,making a deal with Neron. Unless there has been another story arc with Lex meeting Neron, it seems that this deal that Lex made during the Underworld Unleashed event where he traded his soul (which he believes doesnt exist) in order to restore him after his cloned body began deteriorate. Williamson uses this opening to reveal that Luthor continues to question if he has a soul or not. Following this opening the first round begins as Luthor’s internal monolog directs the narrative and digs into who Luthor is and the recent events that have transpired between him and Superman in The All-In Era.

After Luthor loses to the Demon in the first round, Luthor admits he let The Demon win to see what he was up against so he could devise a way to counter Etigran. Williamson does something in between the first and second round that has yet to be done well in previous rounds: have Luthor ask The Demon why he cares about Darkseid’s arrival. In answering, Williamson has Etigran reference indirectly the 1988 event Cosmic Odyssey  in which Darkseid and The Demon are forced to work together against the larger threat.

In Round Two, Luthor, who Etigran comments has more options of variants to choose from, goes with his Apokoliptian suit he wore during the events of the Rebirth Era,, while Etigran chooses his New 52 Demon Knights version. Druring this round, Williamson writes some great Luthor dialog such as his comment on The Demon’s rhyming and his justification of using Apokolips toys in a Apokolips battle, defeating Etiran with a Boom Tube to the face.

Round Three unfolds in a very interesting way as Luthor, using magic, separates Etigran from Jason Blood and then slashing Blood’s throat for the final win. However, Luthor is able to seperate himself from Etrigran, unlike Jason Blood has been able to do for centuries.

Williamson in the remaining pages moves the larger KO story forward as a beaten Grodd trys to inform Luthor that Darkseid has manipulated the Justice League via his possession of Booster Gold and moves the tie-in arc with Superboy Prime and Lois trying to get the information they learned from Superman’s mom, about the Time Trapper’s role against Darkseid’s plans.

Sherman’s art and panel layout along with Sánchez’s colors throughout the issue are on the mark. The initial version of Etigran seems to draw heavily from Kirby’s original character design which adds a nice touch to the opening of the story.