DC has a limited series comic book going on right now, that is also a major crossover event in the DC universe. It is called "Forever Evil." In it an alternate-universe version of the Justice League, from a world that is the very birth place of evil, has ostensibly killed off our own Justice League and replaced them. This ersatz team, known as the Criminal Syndicate, is like a group that incarnates satan, extremely evil and throwing the entire world into disarray. They have recruited the world's villains to help them subdue the planet, and so far have triumphed handily over every obstacle. The world is a dark place, and all seems blackness at this point.
Issue three sees some of the villains, those who are crooks and thieves but refuse to kill en masse as the Syndicate demands, banding together to begin a resistance to this new brand of villainy. Issue three was particularly good, as I remarked in my recent comic book reviews. Part of what made it so good was this critique of DC's soteriology, which I have commented on elsewhere. In the DC universe, there is a very theistic bent. There is this sense that humanity cannot save itself on its own, but needs help from 'on high', with some divine or semi-divine beings coming down to do what we can't...to fight the evil we are incapable of fighting.
In FOREVER EVIL #3, we see Lex Luthor criticizing the heroes of the DC universe, particularly Superman, for making humanity weak, and so when a threat comes up that Superman cannot handle, we are lost. Lex insists that salvation for humanity must come from within the human condition itself, and that he is the one to do it. He derides even hope, saying only stern action is the way to salvation. Luthor is a perfect image of the Nietszchean 'ubermensch', a human being who throws of all illusions and takes on life for what it is, triumphing by his own inner resources.
The comic is good in that this message is delivered expertly. Deep thoughts are these, and deep thoughts make for great art, especially in comic books. I understand this point of view, heck I respect it. But ultimately I must disagree, and the comic itself gives the key as to why. There is no salvation from men like Lex Luthor. Those who embrace fierce will are almost always corrupted. They can create, but they destroy more than they create. The vitality of life shows itself ultimately to be at war with the law of life, if there is no God. There is no way to reach true greatness, for true greatness is self-defined. Lex is wrong...if we cannot hope, we have no hope. There is only scant evidence that God exists. There is massive counter-evidence to the proposition that mankind can save themselves. For all the wacky things I believe, that one is just too much for me.
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