Editing Lex Luthor (section)

===== ''52'' =====
[[File:52weekthirtynine.jpg|thumb|upright|''52'' Week 39, cover art by J.G. Jones]]

In the 2006 – 2007 series [[52 (comics)|''52'']], Lex takes advantage of the presence of Alexander Jr.'s body. He convinces the public that it was not him who committed crimes and fled the White House but rather this man, a Luthor from a parallel Earth who masqueraded as him.<ref>''[[52 (comics)|52]]'': Week 3</ref> While some in the public don't believe this, it is enough to provide reasonable doubt and clear Lex of all charges again. With Superman now missing (due to losing his powers at the end of ''Infinite Crisis''), Luthor pursues a new agenda. He creates the Luthoran Church and becomes spokesman for the Everyman Project, which offers [[Superpower (ability)|superpowers]] to ordinary citizens through artificial [[Metahuman|metagene]] treatment. With several Everyman volunteers (including [[Natasha Irons]], niece of [[Steel (John Henry Irons)|John Henry Irons]]), Luthor forms his own team of superheroes, the new [[Infinity Inc.]] When the team battles the villain [[Blockbuster (DC Comics)|Blockbuster]] (whom Luthor empowered as well), Lex demonstrates he can 'shut off' the powers of any of his Everyman agents; this results in the death of his [[Speedster (comics)|speedster]], Trajectory.<ref>''52'': Week 21</ref>

At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, Luthor sets in motion a calculated plot to discredit [[Booster Gold#52 and Supernova|Supernova]], a new hero defending Metropolis in Superman's absence. Luthor triggers a mass-shutdown of the powers of everyone who has undertaken the Everyman program, except for the members of Infinity Inc, causing widespread death, injury, and millions of dollars worth of damage. Luthor's plot ultimately fails when Supernova is able to minimize the disaster with a spectacular rescue.<ref>''52'': Week 35</ref>

While investigating Luthor, Natasha Irons discovers he has experimented on himself with artificial [[metagene]] treatment.<ref>''52'': Week 39</ref> After developing nearly all of Superman's powers himself, Luthor considers conquering Earth and renaming it Lexor. However, Natasha triggers an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down the synthetic metagene and her uncle Steel knocks Lex out.<ref>''52'': Week 40</ref> Publicly disgraced, Lex faces indictment for over 120 criminal counts relating to what is now called "the New Year's Eve massacre", ranging from [[malfeasance]] to first-degree murder. The full nature of his crimes are brought to public attention through various articles written by Clark Kent.