LEX LUTHOR LIVES!

But Now Wife Is Missing

By Frank Moore

In an incredible twist of fate this week, Lex Luthor returned from a watery grave just days after his own funeral only to narrowly cheat death once again, losing his wife in the process. The stunning chain of events was a whirlwind of triumph and tragedy befitting the epic history of the area's most prominent and powerful family.

It began with the dramatic return of the young LexCorp president three months after the plane he was traveling on went missing somewhere between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Lex was en route to St. Barts with his new bride, Dr. Helen Bryce, when the private jet disappeared from radar.

When a long massive search spearheaded by Lex's father, Lionel Luthor, failed to turn up any signs of his son or the jet, the elder Luthor reluctantly allowed a memorial service for Lex to be held in Metropolis. "There is no crueler fate a parent can be dealt than to bury a child," an emotional Lionel told the mourners.

But the LuthorCorp CEO's grief soon turned to joy when Lex turned up alive and mostly well with an amazing story of survival. According to the Coast Guard, Lex's plane had crashed near the shores of a deserted island so small that it's not found on maps and could have easily been overlooked by search teams. "In his heart, Lionel Luthor never gave up hope," said LuthorCorp spokesman Mitchell Taylor. "He never truly believed his son was gone."

After swimming from the jet's wreckage to dry land, Lex was able to live on tropical fruits, fish and insects while waiting to be rescued. Using the kind of determination that made him a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom, Lex survived and built a large signal fire that was finally spotted by a passing fisherman.
Officials at Smallville Medical Center, where Dr. Bryce worked, said Lex had suffered minor cuts and bruises from his ordeal. Lex was quickly released into the loving arms of his wife, a widow no longer.

But proving that fortune doesn't always favor the bold, their reunion has now proved to be sadly short-lived. The couple had decided to give their honeymoon another go, taking off for the Bahamas in another small LuthorCorp jet. Once more, something went horribly wrong, but this time it was Lex who made it back home alone.

Although official details have not been released, pending a full investigation, a source within the Federal Aviation Authority said it appeared that the plane's pilot suffered a sudden loss of consciousness--sending the plane plummeting from the sky. The cause of the pilot's lapse and his current condition are unknown at this time.

Displaying incredible instincts yet again, Lex was able to take control of the aircraft's throttle and stabilize it. However, because the accident seemed to have caused the plane's door to blow open, the sudden loss in cabin pressure may have sucked Dr. Bryce out into thin air, although a conflicting report from one source says that one of the plane's parachutes was missing.
After miraculously piloting the plane to a safe landing on a nearby island, Lex immediately called for a search for his wife to begin in the surrounding waters, despite the odds against her surviving such a fall. That search is still underway with Lex expected to devote all of the resources available to him to finding his wife.

Now back at Luthor Mansion in Smallville, an understandably heartbroken Lex declined to comment on his ordeal. Get the latest on this story and other breaking news from our sister paper, the Daily Planet, directly to your cell phone by clicking here.

CRIME BOSS
IN SMALLVILLE?
By Jim "Slim" Bradlee

Suicide Slum residents and workers near Metropolis' industrial river docks were jolted by a large explosion in the late afternoon two days ago. Although there was no dock work going on at the time of the blast, Lieutenant Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Police Department is reporting that at least one body was found near the wreckage--with a bullet in the chest. And strangely, there may be a connection to a dead body found miles away in Smallville recently.

It is not yet known what Edgar Hoyt, who has worked various jobs as a bouncer/security guard, was doing on the docks or how his murder was related to the explosion. Sawyer would only comment that Hoyt "has been known to fraternize with an assortment of shady characters in the Metropolis underworld, including nightclub owner Morgan Edge. It's not a stretch to speculate that Edge is somehow involved in this incident, but I'll let the detectives do their job before commenting any further."
Lowell County Sheriff's officials have revealed that Ethan Carter, who was fatally injured in a freak incident on a Smallville farm this week, was also associated with Edge. Working with MPD, the Sheriff confirmed that Carter served as a security guard for Edge.

Sheriff Adams is trying to piece the puzzle together. "Security guards usually go where the people they are securing go. So given that fact, the bigger questions become, what was Edge doing in Smallville? Why would he go to the Kents' barn? And will he be back?"

Sawyer's suspicion of Morgan Edge's involvement in a series of brazen robberies in Metropolis has been well-publicized lately. Although not yet able to pin anything on Edge, Sawyer has made no secret that she Sheriff Adams is trying to piece the puzzle together. "Security guards usually go where the people they are securing go. So given that fact, the bigger questions become, what was Edge doing in Smallville? Why would he go to the Kents' barn? And will he be back?"

Sawyer's suspicion of Morgan Edge's involvement in a series of brazen robberies in Metropolis has been well-publicized lately. Although not yet able to pin anything on Edge, Sawyer has made no secret that she has her eye on him. "We're waiting for this clown to slip up," she declared at a press conference recently. "He can cower in the shadows of Atlantis [Edge's hip Metropolis nightclub] all he wants. Even a rat has to come out into the light once in a while."

If Edge is the "rat" that Sawyer is trying to flush out, he comes with a pedigree: numerous criminal charges going back to his impoverished adolescence on the streets of Suicide Slum, including an arson investigation that was never clearly resolved. Some have speculated that he was recently in the process of consolidating several independent underworld factions into what would certainly have been a formidable crime syndicate. Edge has not been heard from since this latest incident. Metropolis PD is dredging the algae-choked river around the site for further clues.

CLARK KENT
SAFE AT HOME
By Kathy Romita

One disaster after another befell farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent this summer. First a mysterious explosion ripped apart their storm cellar, obliterating the ground around it. The earth movement caused the couple's truck to overturn. As a result of that accident, Martha suffered a devastating miscarriage. On the same day, their teenaged son, Clark, disappeared for three months. However, yesterday, one disaster was righted; Clark Kent returned home to Smallville.

But what has the young man come home to? It looked as though the farm, which has been in the Kent family since 1871, was heading towards foreclosure. During the past few years, the land has been the site of a mysterious silo death, the discovery of a murder victim in the barn, hazardous waste dumping that killed a herd of cattle and the recent unexplained blast. Martha's burgeoning organic produce business is too small to sustain the entire farm.

A last-minute bailout has saved the Kent farm from landing into the hands of strangers. An unnamed source paid off a debt to the Kents, and now Jonathan and Martha are back in business. Young Clark's return home couldn't have happened at a better time. He'll be busy with his chores as the ranch gets back on its feet.

URBAN LEGEND: MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE?

By Max Taylor
The Daily Planet

This is the second of three "Urban Legend" articles that ran this past summer. We are reprinting this series with the permission of Metropolis' Daily Planet.

Is it a Metropolis University prank, a publicity stunt or the work of the so-called Metropolis Urban Legend? If you ask Eddie Patel, infamous owner of Discount Eddie's Electronics Stores with locations in Downtown and Suicide Slum, he'll tell you it's the latter. "I saw the guy pick up the Planet globe," exclaims Patel. "When he let go of that thing, it plowed right through my store like a locomotive, I tell ya."

Most Metropolis residents must find it hard to believe that this isn't yet another well-orchestrated publicity stunt masterminded by Patel, perfectly timed to tap into the feverish buzz surrounding the mysterious personage I refer to as Urban Legend. Anyone who has so much as turned on a television set within a 300 mile radius of Metropolis has surely heard--and thus permanently stamped into their brain--Discount Eddie's famous commercial mantra, "Come see me anytime--cause Discount Eddie's is OPEN ALL NIGHT!"

Since I'm now probably a blatant accomplice to an Eddie scam, let's travel back to some past Eddie stunts, shall we? 1987: Eddie heralds the opening of his downtown store by riding a five-ton African elephant down Broadway. 1991: Eddie drops thousands of coupons over the Metropolis skyline from a hot air balloon. 1997: Eddie breaks ground on his Suicide Slum store after bulldozing an old warehouse in an Army tank.

Max Taylor--The Daily Planet

Just to cover all the bases, let's consider the possibility that the recent mayhem is not Eddie-related but is indeed the artistry of our Urban Legend. If that's true, then the guy's a genius (and a ridiculously strong one at that) for boomeranging Discount Eddie's penchant for pranks right back on the TV hawker. If you're out there reading this, U.L., I say good work, my friend. That was a good one. I'm Max Taylor, and this is what you are going to talk about today.