#that bruce said that lex is worse than ra's too which is really funny considering every time lex and ra's have interacted ra's dismisses hi

[cryingalexanders]

I've read that arc, and it ended with Superman bringing Lena back to Lex and telling him that he needed to not let her go again. So to an extent I think Williamson is picking up with that, after the same writers who laid it down ignored Lena for the rest of the run!

(This is a sidenote but after looking for discussion of this arc on this site I have some opinions.)

Lena II's original personality was "baby" and then "brainwashed evil, tortured girl" when she came back in Our Worlds at War. I can see why some people like the dynamic between her and Lex in this version, what we saw of it was sorta compelling. But I don't agree that she had much of an actual character or that her original writers gave her a lot of focus.

IMO, whatever characterisation Williamson gives her is basically establishing her personality rather than contradicting anything that came before.

Do you think lex actually cares about lena (his daughter) bc reading the current comics shes in lex does seem concerned about her...but I've seen snippets of the 00's comics where lex trades her for tech. That story is apparently still canon so it's hard to believe lex was fine with handing lena over to brainiac when she was a baby and is now devoted to her when she's a teen. I'm wondering if lena knows something that lex doesn't want brainiac to find out hence the amount of concern lex shows about her being around but idk. Also I'm surprised lena isnt more pissed off at her dad, like the guy sold her out, literally.

the short answer: i think williamson thinks that lex cares about her and is writing lex as such. i also think lena’s earliest appearances, when she was an infant, seem to suggest that he genuinely loved her as well, and handing her over to brainiac always felt a little jarring to me compared to his characterization with her earlier.

the early 2000s were also a different era for lex’s characterization, and they were kind of pushing a very unsympathetic version of him at the time. i specifically remember bruce in jeph loeb’s batman/superman title saying lex was worse than the joker, which in any other era would be a pretty insane thing to say.

i’m curious if williamson will delve any deeper into it, but his take on lex is pretty sympathetic, and i suspect lena’s presence is there in part to humanize him. i would suspect his concern for lena is specifically because he doesn’t want to lose her again.