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The DC bounty hunter Lobo might be one of DC’s most durable fighters, but his most recent attack on Superman dint’ involve his fists.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman vs. Lobo #1, available now from DC.
Lobo, a character known for his vicious actions and gung-ho personality, has taken to weaponizing social media against longtime rival, Superman, in Superman vs. Lobo #1, by Tim Seeley, Sarah Beattie, Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto and Fabio Amelia. Though unexpected for a character like Lobo, his plan of attacking Superman’s image rather than the man himself is more reminiscent of a Lex Luthor scheme than it is one planned by Lobo.
Released under DC’s Black Label, the non-continuity story of Superman vs. Lobo takes place in a world where Superman’s identity is not yet known to the public or perhaps even to Lois Lane, as this issue implies. The story begins with the introduction of a mysterious new cosmic being called Numen, said through narration to be the last of its kind from another universe. This being forces its way into the familiar DC Universe, crashing into the planet of Telk, where a relaxed Lobo is lounging poolside for a vacation. Having already fixed a problem at a Detection Array Station, a station that monitors deep space distress signals, Superman hears the distress call from Telk and races to confront the problem.
On Telk, Lobo continues to attack the Numen creature, though its strength is more than a match for the Last Czarnian. Superman arrives in time to save the lives Lobo had neglected to, attempting to seek a nonviolent solution with Neuman, though it is an attack from Lobo that makes the being disappear. Despite doing much of the battling, the arrival of Superman ensures that Lobo will receive none of the credit for saving Telk, even though his motivation for defeating Neuman was purely motivated by self-interest to begin with. This lack of recognition angers Lobo though, and he vows his revenge on the Man of Steel. But during this battle, Lobo discovers a group of companion robots that can assimilate the form of any being they interact with, which form the basis of his plan to stop Superman
Having dealt with this threat, Superman returns to Earth, where he learns there is a growing animosity towards him via a trending hashtag on Lexxer, a social media platform created by Lex Luthor’s company. This #NoThanksSuperman hashtag has arisen from a number of individuals that say Superman didn’t really save them and make other outrageous claims about Superman or the negative effects of his abilities. It is quickly revealed that the people who originated these claims are the companion robots from Telk, reprogrammed by Lobo.
For a while, this strategy of attacking Superman’s image works, though one of these bots becomes damaged during an attack from the Toyman. Superman then picks up on Lobo’s trail following Toyman’s apprehension, discovering that Lobo has started a LexTube (an equivalent to YouTube), where he preaches an Anti-Superman agenda, amassing a following off of the buzz created from the hashtags.
Before he can revel in his success, Lobo then learns that a new hashtag has been gaining traction, #LoboIsOverParty, created by Lois to reveal Lobo’s less than benevolent actions to the internet. Infected by Toyman’s virus and corrupted by the two different hashtags, the robots rebel, attacking Lobo, Superman and anyone else in their way. It takes a call to action from Superman to defuse the situation, inspiring people to spread positivity, effectively altering the actions of the robots. Ultimately, Lobo’s plan failed because of a lack of foresight.
Though his means of turning the public on Superman was effective at first, someone with a past as checkered as Lobo is bound to be discovered for the type of person they truly are as an Internet influencer.
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