The Vilest Lex Luthor Stories Ever Told

[daBronzeBomma]

Lex Luthor is a villain.

Not just a villain, but a super-villain.

And not just A super-villain, but arguably THE super-villain.

Or at least on the Super-Villain Mount Rushmore alongside the Joker, Dr. Doom, and Magneto.

Lex Luthor is, when all is said and done, very clearly one of the biggest bad guys ever.

But it seems like some people have either forgotten that or would rather he be a good guy. Which is fine up to a point: Lex's innate complexity should be high, and he should believe that he is in the ultimate right to do what he does. The ends justifying the means and all.

But, at the core, Luthor wears the metaphorical black hat. And he wears it well.

So let's remind the people just how cruel, pretty, egotistical, and all-around bad Lex Luthor actually is. The embodiment of selfish, sane neutral evil.

Let's put together a hypothetical collected trade paperback called "The Vilest Lex Luthor Stories Ever Told".

This is distinct from "The Greatest Lex Luthor Stories Ever Told", as here the emphasis would be completely on Lex's villainy, with no spotlight on any of his better qualities at all. So here there is no Lex crying, no Lex's pain, no sad Lex, no noble Lex, no heroic Lex, no Sacrificing His Life For Others Lex. Etc.

Hmmm ... we 'll need about 18 separate comic book stories, spanning the Golden, Atomic, Silver, Bronze, Post-COIE, 2000s (pre-FP), New52, and Rebirth.

Any video suggestions for evil Lex, be it animation, live-action, CGI (cartoons, tv shows, movies, video games, etc) could be on a hypothetical DVD that comes with this hypothetical trade paperback.

So how about this: you can nominate any story that highlights any aspect of Lex's villainy. It can be a main story or even a backup feature. But someone else (anyone else) has to second it for the story to make the cut.

I'll go first. And I'll start small, with the cruelty of Lex's pettiness.

I nominate "Metropolis 900 mi", a backup feature in SUPERMAN (VOL 2) #9 from 1987.

Luthor stops by a diner 900 miles from Metropolis. He charms a waitress there, gets in her head, and makes an offer for her to leave her drunkard husband to go with him.

Lex tells her his offer is good for 10 minutes and he will wait in his limo for her answer. He leaves early, happily satisfied that she will be tormented by his false offer for the rest of her life.



What a cruel jerk.

[Last Son of Krypton]

The original Death of Superman (SM #149)...

[Carabas]

I nominate "Metropolis 900 mi", a backup feature in SUPERMAN (VOL 2) #9 from 1987.

Luthor stops by a diner 900 miles from Metropolis. He charms a waitress there, gets in her head, and makes an offer for her to leave her drunkard husband to go with him.

Lex tells her his offer is good for 10 minutes and he will wait in his limo for her answer. He leaves early, happily satisfied that she will be tormented by his false offer for the rest of her life.

What a cruel jerk.

Or for the next day or so. Lex does have a vastly overestimated impression of himself. And an underestimation of everybody else.

[mute90]

This is from Adventures of Superman 432 (Gangwar arc: 432-434). In fact, Lex was totally vile in everything related to this arc.

He makes a big speech about how he's investing money and time to take youth gang members out of Suicide Slums and get them working for a better life. In reality, joining up isn't a choice, he's giving them weapons and teaching them how to use them, and he's using the all these kids for experimentation. In the next issue, it's reported that over half died. Most of the others had experienced increased antisocial behavior and ended up in jail (using the guns Lex provided.) Only one was a moderately successful experiment. His response: "One out of a hundred is unacceptable. Next time, try for five. "

[mute90]

Or for the next day or so. Lex does have a vastly overestimated impression of himself. And an underestimation of everybody else.

Not so much in this case. In a later issue, Jenny pops up again and shoots him.

[TheCape]

That time when he stole 40 cakes was the most vile thing that any supervillain could pull off

[Carabas]

Not so much in this case. In a later issue, Jenny pops up again and shoots him.

I guess we can add it to the list of reasons why Byrne is terrible.

[JBatmanFan05]

In Superman #178. A nerdish civil servant tells President Luthor that he found old satellite images proving that a Kryptonian spacecraft landed at a farmhouse in Smallville, Kansas. The eager little fella also tells his President that he hasn't told anyone else about the discovery and, conveniently, that he has no friends or family. One dead civil servant later, Luthor looks at the photo of the ship landing at the Kent Farm and quietly gloats, "Clark Kent is Superman". (Later in "Ending Battle," Manchester Black wipes Luthor's computer files and Luthor's memory)

Superman_v.2_178.jpg

[Kuwagaton]

DC Comics presents annual 1, Crisis on Three Earths. This is a bogo, two Luthors for one price. Alexei is hilarious, he is a Lex so bloodthirsty that after recruiting him, the Earth 1 Lex gets uncomfortable. Naturally, Alexei decides that the best course of action in killing Kal L is destroying Earths 1 and 2 in addition to killing his own counterpart.

"Luthor's Day Of Reckoning!" from Action Comics #512 does feature crying, but it's also about as low as this Lex got. This is like the clearest example of senseless murder pre crisis, and it leaves Superman quite sickened.

World of Metropolis was straight creepy, where he uses hidden cameras to check out a teen Lois. This trait, his deviant nature, comes about later in the Action Comics #600 short where he confronts Maggie Sawyer.


The lowest to me is trading Lena to Brainiac. Although it shows a truly villainous side, I actually think it goes against his character and the relationship he had with her for years prior, so I don't like it.

This is from Adventures of Superman 432 (Gangwar arc: 432-434). In fact, Lex was totally vile in everything related to this arc.

Yeah, Gang War was a really good story.

I guess we can add it to the list of reasons why Byrne is terrible.

Byrne left 140 issues before Jenny Hubbard showed up again.

[Carabas]

Byrne left 140 issues before Jenny Hubbard showed up again.

Fair enough.
Then whomever wrote that made a poor decision.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

World of Metropolis was straight creepy, where he uses hidden cameras to check out a teen Lois. This trait, his deviant nature, comes about later in the Action Comics #600 short where he confronts Maggie Sawyer.

He also spanked Lois in that same story.

That makes him trying to get Lois to date him all the more creepy.

Written by Byrne.

Fair enough.
Then whomever wrote that made a poor decision.

It was Loeb.

Lex gets shot in the leg, and it turns out he had planned the whole thing in order to help him in the polls. This was when he was running for President.

[Soubhagya]

Superman #2, Vol 2.

Lex Luthor had observed the presence of Lana Lang near the sightings of Superman. Though she was not to be kidnapped as he sent thugs to find information on Clark Kent he was delighted that she was found. Luthor wanted to find out her connection to Superman. So, this is what happened:

Attachment 54747

Next he left her so that Superman would come for him.

Attachment 54748

I was shocked to see this panel. The way she was brutalized and tortured even though off-panel was disturbing. Later panels show her in bandages with one covering her eye.

In this book he orders her employee to have a date with him. She agrees. Later she thinks that she could not refuse him. Or else she would suffer more than death. Bonus points for squeezing her hand to intimidate.

This was the first issue when he got that slimy hands of his on Kryptonite post-COIE. Problem was as his scientists pointed out that it was in the body of Metallo powering him. Removing that would kill him. What he does next shows his concern for someone's life (Which is none btw). Fans of Metallo disappointed with what happened in the latest issue can take heart from this. (Pun fully intended)

Attachment 54749

Finally, this issue shows his ego. Using computer analysis he finds out that Clark Kent is Superman. But he rejects the obvious. A splendid insight on his character.


If you include live action include that scene when he shows Martha's photos to Superman in BvS. Seriously messed up stuff. He intended to burn her alive! Thank God Bruce went all Arkham Asylum on those goons.

[Agent Z]

I guess we can add it to the list of reasons why Byrne is terrible.

How does this make him terrible? Not saying he isn't but what's so bad about this particular story?

[Agent Z]

Fair enough.
Then whomever wrote that made a poor decision.

How is it a poor decision?

[Carabas]

How does this make him terrible? Not saying he isn't but what's so bad about this particular story?

How is it a poor decision?

Lex pulls what is basically a stupid prank.
You need to be a very special kind of weak person to have that ruin your life. Or to try to murder somebody over it.