Why Do People Like Mad Scientist Lex So Much?

[daBronzeBomma]

Agreed.

"Combo" Lex is the best Lex.

Better than "Scientist" Lex. Better than "Businessman" Lex.

"Combo" Lex all day, every day.

[llozymandias]

To me the best version of Luthor, is Jerry Siegel's. Luthor's main goal is to conquer as much of the world/universe/multiverse as he possibly can. Also Luthor (as an evil super-genius super-scientist) can do things that no mere businessman can do. Like steal the sun.

[llozymandias]

Agreed.

"Combo" Lex is the best Lex.

Better than "Scientist" Lex. Better than "Businessman" Lex.

"Combo" Lex all day, every day.

People like to claim that Byrne's Luthor was just a businessman & not a scientist. Actually Byrne wrote as being both. Byrne described his Luthor as being kind of like Dr. Doom combined with the Kingpin. It was later writers that wrote Lex as being DC's Kingpin. In Byrne's stories it always seemed like Lex treated the scientists who worked for him as nothing more than lab assistants. Remember the story where Lex takes Metallo's kryptonite "heart"? He hands it to one of his lab assistants, & tells him to analyse it. Lex also tells him that he wants a thorough, detailed analysis of it on his desk. That is the kind of order a scientist gives one of assistants.

[Jim Kelly]

I don't know. It always seemed to me that Byrne's Lex didn't do any of the real science. You may call them assistants, but they were the ones doing the real analysis. Lex might have taken credit for it--he probably did and he probably had iron-clad contracts that gave him full ownership of the science. That just makes him an egotistical businessman.

Was there even any Byrne stories that showed Lex doing science? Where did he study? It always seemed like Byrne's Luthor was a corrupt financial wizard, who used his fortune to acquire the best minds he could buy. If he had really been the world's smartest man, then he wouldn't need to hire brilliant scientists--he'd just need to hire lackies to do his bidding.

Old school Lex was passionate about knowledge. I don't know if that makes him mad. Angry, possibly, but not really insane. He really cared about his own brilliance and his ability to come up with the most amazing inventions. He wouldn't leave such pleasures to anyone else but himself. As Maggin showed, Luthor could care less about being in prison--he stayed inside only as long as it suited his plans. Once Luthor's genius had concocted a new scheme, he'd escape and carry out his latest experiments.

[llozymandias]

I don't know. It always seemed to me that Byrne's Lex didn't do any of the real science. You may call them assistants, but they were the ones doing the real analysis. Lex might have taken credit for it--he probably did and he probably had iron-clad contracts that gave him full ownership of the science. That just makes him an egotistical businessman.

Was there even any Byrne stories that showed Lex doing science? Where did he study? It always seemed like Byrne's Luthor was a corrupt financial wizard, who used his fortune to acquire the best minds he could buy. If he had really been the world's smartest man, then he wouldn't need to hire brilliant scientists--he'd just need to hire lackies to do his bidding.

Old school Lex was passionate about knowledge. I don't know if that makes him mad. Angry, possibly, but not really insane. He really cared about his own brilliance and his ability to come up with the most amazing inventions. He wouldn't leave such pleasures to anyone else but himself. As Maggin showed, Luthor could care less about being in prison--he stayed inside only as long as it suited his plans. Once Luthor's genius had concocted a new scheme, he'd escape and carry out his latest experiments.

At the time (when Byrne & Wolfman were writing the titles) the basic idea was that Lex started Lexcorp with money earned from his discoveries & inventions. It's just by the time he met Superman, that running his business interests took up so much time. He had no time for lab work. Another thing about this Luthor is that he was totally self made. Chances are that he was self educated. Given the fact that he was always called (by his subordinates) Mr. L or Mr. Luthor, he obviously did not have "credentials" like a doctorate or phd. In his early days people (who had "credentials" & degrees) most likely treated Lex like a joke or an idiot. Later when he is the richest most powerful man on earth (as well as being seen as the smartest man on earth) he enjoys reminding his paid scientists that compared to Lex they are nothing. Hence he treat them all as mere assistants. He comes up with the theories & inventions. They just do the needed lab work. Chances are that Lex plans all the experiments. Once in a while one of his people has an idea that Lex sees value in. But that would not be very often. One of the risks of working for this Lex was that there is always the possibility that you end up "taking the fall", when Superman thwarts Lex latest scheme. You get the credit for the tech involved in that failed scheme, but you serve heavy prison time.

[Jim Kelly]

The stories from Wolfman and Ordway that stick out in my memory are the ones about Cat Grant and Quraq. All the Lex stories I remember from that time were the ones by Byrne. Maybe Byrne was too successful in convincing me, the reader, that Lex was a truly loathsome, untrustworthy person. Even when Lex claimed to have invented something, I couldn't trust that that was the real truth. He was such a horrible schemer that I always figured he just stole whatever ideas made his fortune for him (like an analogy to some comic publishers and creators that we know).

[llozymandias]

The stories from Wolfman and Ordway that stick out in my memory are the ones about Cat Grant and Quraq. All the Lex stories I remember from that time were the ones by Byrne. Maybe Byrne was too successful in convincing me, the reader, that Lex was a truly loathsome, untrustworthy person. Even when Lex claimed to have invented something, I couldn't trust that that was the real truth. He was such a horrible schemer that I always figured he just stole whatever ideas made his fortune for him (like an analogy to some comic publishers and creators that we know).

This Luthor has a super-ego & is a super control freak. He most likely demands that his labs work on his ideas, theories, inventions above everything else. Once in a great while he will use other people's inventions. Like Dr. Teng's duplicator. Legally he did have a valid point about Emil Hamilton's force field technology. Emil worked on that invention on Lexcorp time. Hence according to Emil's Lexcorp employment contract, that force field tech lagally belonged to Lexcorp. Otherwise his attitude toward his scientist/underlings is quite simple. You work for me, you will do the work i assign to you. Your ideas are irrelevant. Is it any wonder that so many of his scientists jumped ship[ first chance they got?

[daBronzeBomma]

If we're looking at it as a choice between "Strictly Businessman Lex" or "Strictly Scientist Lex" (with no option for "Combination Businessman/Scientist Lex" ... because otherwise that's a no-brainer),

then it has to be Strictly Scientist Lex over Strictly Businessman Lex.

Scientist Lex will go to jail every week, break out and plot something that requires both brilliance and audaciousness, even if it'll always fail in the end.

Businessman Lex cannot go to jail (more than once anyway) and relies too much on the loopholes of the law to confound Superman.

Combination Lex gets the best of both worlds: the keen understanding of the darker side of humanity and the law, mixed with an unfettered imagination and virtually unlimited reach.

[Lois]

Also agree that it makes him a real threat to Superman.
Also, mad scientist Lex Luthor is such a fun villain.
Always enjoy watching Lex's plotting and failing every time at getting Superman.
And the evil grin on Lex's face is just priceless.

[llozymandias]

I prefer Lex as an evil super-genius super-scientist. His schemes are big. They involve things like: stealing the sun; evaporating all of earth's water; & other fun projects. Sure those schemes all fail. The reason they fail is Superman. If Superman were not there to stop him, Lex would be well on his way toward ruling the universe (or multiverse). Now look at businessman Lex. Other than trying (once in a while) to kill Superman, his schemes are small, petty, & boring. Superman does not really make that much of a difference in businessman Lex's life. This Lex gets away with just about anything. Most of his evil schemes are in response to Superman's existence. If Byrne's Luthor had no Superman to deal with, he would simply be running Lexcorp.