Who is Lex Luthor?

[llozymandias]

To me, Lex Luthor is my most favorite super-villain. Yes, he is even more inconsistent than Kal in terms of his incarnations over the years, and yes, he is the most often-used of the Super Rogues by such a large margin that it hurts sometimes, and yes, it feels like he's not nearly as formidable as he should be a lot of the times.

But, despite all that, Lex is my main do-badder. He is the most primal antagonist in the Superverse, like the Joker is in the Batverse (except Joker def works better with a "less is more" approach due to the severity of his crimes).

Lex is, depending on the writer, weirdly relatable, especially in the origins where his story starts in Suicide Slum with no emotional support and nothing in terms of comfort (I still want to tie in Lionel & Lillian to his story, but the harsh and poor upbringing is a must for me).

Who is Lex Luthor now?

He is the man who, directly or indirectly, provides for most of the citizens in Metropolis, in terms of jobs and paychecks and benefits. He is, among others, Henry Ford I and Alexander the Great and Adolf Hitler (at least in terms of both oration and a hatred of aliens, extraterrestrials only) rolled into one.

Lex should be blindly loved by a certain percentage of the population, because unless you cross or back- talk to him, Lex is viewed as the world's best boss by most civilian Lexcorp employees. And if Lex gets arrested, he never spends more than a day in jail before being released by his lawyers. He is never truly held accountable by society, because he IS society in the worst sense.

Lex is the dark aspect of civilization, the kind Supes can't ever solve with his powers ... but whom someone like Clark and/ or Lois could possibly eventually help take down for good through their journalism.

A character like Lex (when done right) should embody much of the best & worst aspects of humanity. As well as have an intellect that can terrify gods, demons, & guardians. I don't see Lex as an alien hating bigot. I see his war with Superman having 2 major motivating factors. Lex hates Kal, for being a constant obstacle, & Kal is the only truly worthy opponent Lex has. Take several of history's greatest scientists/inventors, business entrepreneurs, statesmen, & conquerors, roll them into one. Then square that at least 2-4 times. Now you have someone who is almost as smart as Lex.

[Jim Kelly]

"Lex Luthor" was created by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino, for editor Mort Weisinger, in the story "How Luthor Met Superboy," ADVENTURE COMICS 271 (April 1960).

"Luthor" (no other name given) was created by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and Paul Cassidy, for editor Whitney Ellsworh, in a two-part untitled European war story, ACTION COMICS 22 (March 1940) - 23 (Aprl 1940).

[DrNewGod]

...Lex hates Kal, for being a constant obstacle, & Kal is the only truly worthy opponent Lex has...

I agree. I like the idea of Lex looking on Superman as a problem he's determined to solve, it's just a matter of how long it takes it to find the answer.

However, I also like the idea that Lex's inevitable opposition to Superman is amplified to hatred by Lex's own insecurities. It's the kind of thing Lex would never acknowledge to himself, but he can't feel comfortably superior, that he's absolutely master of his own fate, as long as Superman exists, and until he personally has proven himself Superman's better.

(IMO) The odd thing is, absent Superman, Lex still would always be finding someone that makes him feel insecure, and thus always be trying to spitefully conquer. That's the character's real tragedy. There would always be someone who has something that he wants exclusively, or achieving things he'd be driven to better, compelling him to break them at the first sign of push-back. Even had Superman not frustrated one of his schemes, Lex would have eventually targeted Superman because all other challenges to Lex's self-image would have paled in comparison to Superman.

[stargazer01]

Very, very interesting thoughts, guys. I feel intellectually stimulated.

So, in some of Lex' origins he starts from nothing? I always thought he was born into a very rich family.

In the movies it seems he had a really bad relationship with his father. And he kills his father.

I also kind of like the idea that Lex made himself. But the idea that his father treated him badly is also very interesting. Can both work? Maybe his father wanted Lex to do other things but Lex refused.

I also think Lex doesn't necessary hate aliens or metas, but he hates the idea that humanity becomes too reliable on them and we don't grow by ourselves the way we are supposed too.

[Adekis]

Very, very interesting thoughts, guys. I feel intellectually stimulated.

So, in some of Lex' origins he starts from nothing? I always thought he was born into a very rich family.

In the movies it seems he had a really bad relationship with his father. And he kills his father.

I also kind of like the idea that Lex made himself. But the idea that his father treated him badly is also very interesting. Can both work? Maybe his father wanted Lex to do other things but Lex refused.

So Luthor's father is kind of all over the place.

In the pre-Crisis DCU, Luthor's parents were small-town nobodies like the Kents or the Langs and he grew up in Smallville with Lana and Clark, er, although I think the Luthors moved to Smallville from the big city, and he was a bit older than them. Lex's Dad, Jules Luthor, treated Lex badly because of his eccentricity and his strange inventions (and eventually his criminal activities). Mark Waid brought in that side of their relationship in the pre-Flashpoint Birthright, so it's still cromulent for the contemporary Luthor as well, give or take a certain amount of hyper-temporally retro-active history. In the Pre-Crisis DCU, Luthor acquired all his wealth from crime, so coming up from nothing doesn't really come into it. If his father wanted him to follow a different path other than "being normal," it isn't shown. The main person trying to convince Luthor to use his talent for good instead of crime is Superman himself.

Then the early post-Crisis DCU, Luthor grew up in Suicide Slum to unnamed parents who definitely mistreated him, and they died under mysterious circumstances, leaving him to benefit from their life insurance policy. It's ambiguous whether or not he murdered them, but that's how he got his start, and then he made money off his inventions, mostly for military contract work I believe. This Luthor is also significantly older than Clark, as he knew Perry White growing up, and totally slept with his wife, the jerk.

I don't think Luthor ever came from a wealthy family until Smallville introduced Lionel Luthor, and frankly I just see him as a way of having both a younger "evil" Luthor and an older "anti-hero" Luthor exist simultaneously. I don't really have any interest in Lionel outside of Smallville. In Dawn of Justice I think they mostly just made Lex a Lex Luthor, Jr. as a way of giving him daddy issues, so I'm not interested much in that Luthor's father either, haha! Though I will note an interest in the fact that Lex, Sr. hails from eastern Europe, as the first ever Luthor story is set there, and nothing in it indicates that Luthor comes from America. But I digress.

My favorite version of Luthor's father is probably Jules, though I will say that in Tom DeHaven's novel It's Superman, it's off-handedly mentioned that his father was a petty crook and con artist, and I kind of like that too, on some level.

Normally I prefer pre-Crisis to post-Crisis, but in the case of Luthor's backstory, I really like the idea of Luthor as a self-made man who came up from nothing. I also like the ambiguity of nobody but him knowing whether he really killed his parents.

I also think Lex doesn't necessary hate aliens or metas, but he hates the idea that humanity becomes too reliable on them and we don't grow by ourselves the way we are supposed too.

Yeah, I don't like the idea of Luthor being just a monster or a bigot. I think on some level he can have a pragmatic "some life-forms are too dangerous to exist and we also rely on the kindness of monsters for global security too much" kind of approach, but every time he's just a xenophobe it really bugs me, just as it bugs me every time he like, cures AIDS and then doesn't release the cure because he wants to make more money.

Then again, I'm probably the only one in the thread who thinks that Luthor should thread the anti-hero/anti-villain line, and never tip into actual moral depravity.

[Kuwagaton]

I like Lex being old money, but it's almost never that way. In part it's really fascinating how he compares and contrasts with Donald Trump, keeping in mind that he was a very famous person well before presidency or even The Apprentice. Lex is better known for being essentially rags to riches, but there's a domineering quality to some people that just comes from less humble beginnings with high expectations and entitlement. Lex strikes me less as a guy who will prove he's better than you and more a man who truly believes he and and is supposed to be better than you, and the proof of that is a minimum effort.

In the post crisis continuity he closely guarded his past. James Hudnall wrote his autobiography, but the canon was a little loose on that story. His legacy though was just the best. Mothers were kind of negligible, as he just wasn't the type to truly love.When it came to his children there was something of a good father there. He placed a lot of value in his blood as a point of pride. But that was part of his self love: whether he knew it or not, he definitely loved himself more. When terrible things happened he had about as much self pity as anything, and his bounce-backs were self soothing. I think it's nothing short of excellent that we got to see years of his kryptonite exposure slowly kill him, and that he successfully disguised as his own son for years. And then when that fell through, he kind of became a cross between his pre-crisis version and the animated series version that basically resulted from the earlier years.

Or maybe just a contemporary version of the Lex seen in stories like The Powerstone. Kinda weird how every collection seems to separate Action #47 and Superman #17 between volumes, btw.

[Vordan]

I like Lex being old money, but it's almost never that way. In part it's really fascinating how he compares and contrasts with Donald Trump, keeping in mind that he was a very famous person well before presidency or even The Apprentice. Lex is better known for being essentially rags to riches, but there's a domineering quality to some people that just comes from less humble beginnings with high expectations and entitlement. Lex strikes me less as a guy who will prove he's better than you and more a man who truly believes he and and is supposed to be better than you, and the proof of that is a minimum effort.

In the post crisis continuity he closely guarded his past. James Hudnall wrote his autobiography, but the canon was a little loose on that story. His legacy though was just the best. Mothers were kind of negligible, as he just wasn't the type to truly love.When it came to his children there was something of a good father there. He placed a lot of value in his blood as a point of pride. But that was part of his self love: whether he knew it or not, he definitely loved himself more. When terrible things happened he had about as much self pity as anything, and his bounce-backs were self soothing. I think it's nothing short of excellent that we got to see years of his kryptonite exposure slowly kill him, and that he successfully disguised as his own son for years. And then when that fell through, he kind of became a cross between his pre-crisis version and the animated series version that basically resulted from the earlier years.

Or maybe just a contemporary version of the Lex seen in stories like The Powerstone. Kinda weird how every collection seems to separate Action #47 and Superman #17 between volumes, btw.

Like this?

[magha_regulus]

In my opinion, Luthor is the smartest human being on earth. He possesses an intellect eons beyond our own but he's not psychologically adapted to his own intelligence. Luthor is indeed a mad scientist, driven by his irrational hatred of Superman which stems from his extreme narcisism and psychopathic/sociopathic tendencies. He is the greatest criminal mind of our time. He has the spirit of a conqueror of the likes of Caesar, Alexander, or Genghis Khan. He desires nothing less than to be recognized as a god. Any benevolent traits he has only exists as a means to earn himself the admiration of the people. Luthor is a supreme egomaniac.

Luthor represents the worst aspects of humanity. His vast resources are ill-gotten and squandered on the most base of human emotions. Because of his genius and depravity is one of the most dangerous people in the universe.

[magha_regulus]

I really like what they are doing with him in the Justice League stories (although I do wish that Superman was the one upholding the counter-vision). The whole thing about being devoted to doom and believing that people should follow their chaotic base desires fits his personality so well in my opinion.

[Heavunion]

An aspect of Lex Luthor that I always liked was the idea that he doesn't like Superman simply because Superman is a stop to our civilisation, because in his mind, humanity shouldn't rely on a alien saving us, we should save ourselves.

That is who Lex is to me, the " evil " mirror of Superman except that he isn't really just evil, he is just cynical. If Superman is the guy who could accept a candy from a stranger, Lex is the guy who wouldn't just refuse the candy but force the stranger to reveal everything so he can't hurt anyone else.

He is someone we could be if we refuse Superman's way and choose to stop believing in the people and that's really what I love about the character, that he is the " realistic " humanity of our world, that would be so easy to embrace and that Superman will always fight with all he got

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I have been reading the earliest appearances of Luthor recently and he's a fascinating character. I can see why he soon eclipsed the Ultra-Humanite, who was your standard mad scientist type.

I mean, in his first appearances, Luthor is literally playing two nations off each other in the early days of World War II to make money selling weapons and using some kind of ray beam to hypnotize them, building earthquake machines, and raising lost cities of Atlantis filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs. That's some next level diabolical $#!% right there. There's also a charming relationship between Superman and Luthor in these early stories where he's challenging Superman to all these races and shows of strength and showing him around his headquarters like a baller while trying to convince him to join him.

Great stuff.

[Kuwagaton]

Like this?

I think this goes well toward the point of him usually being self made. Because it's what they focus on, it ends up being realized well and the hypothetical is a mere suggestion to make Luthor more like real life rich villains. Which he doesn't have to be at all.

[Jim Kelly]

It's funny that there was no back story for Luthor in the first two decades of his existence. He wasn't exactly as mysterious as the Joker, but with only one name and no origin story, readers must have thought he was some kind of cypher.

[DrNewGod]

It's funny that there was no back story for Luthor in the first two decades of his existence. He wasn't exactly as mysterious as the Joker, but with only one name and no origin story, readers must have thought he was some kind of cypher.

Not all that surprising given the times. I wonder if it was a recognition that some fans weren't turning over every 2-3 years that prompted the creation of a backstory him? Of were they just looking for an idea for a Superboy story?

[Jim Kelly]

I remember reading somewhere that when THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN television series was in production, Whitney Ellsworth had instructed the editors not to make any new changes to the mythology, just maintain the status quo. But once production ended, then Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff were free to do new things with Superman. So that could explain why so much mythology was put on hold and only built up for Superman and his supporting cast after the series ended.

However, I can't vouch for any of that being true. It's probably random speculation--as with 99% of fan theories. It doesn't jibe with ACTION COMICS 241 going on sale April 29th, 1958--a day after the last episode of AOS. There were plans for the series to continue after that season--so there's no way Mort would have known that episode was going to be the last. It was only with the deaths of John Hamilton and George Reeves that the television series was definitely never going to return.