Lex Luthor...your preferred origin story!

[manofsteel1979]

Which version of Lex's origin do you prefer?

For me, It's the SMALLVILLE tv show version. To me, that is the most balanced version of Lex's origin that pretty much takes aspects of all the various versions and puts a new spin on not only Lex, but the nature of the Superman/Luthor rivalry, adding pathos and a bit of greek tragedy to lex's story.

[Adekis]

I voted for the post-Crisis origin, but I actually hate "Kingpin Lex", I just also dislike the idea that Luthor and Kent would be from the same podunk town. I like the idea that Luthor grew up in Metropolis and knew Perry White when they were young men, but I don't like the idea that he's closer to Perry's age than to Kal's. I like the implication that he might have killed his parents, but I dislike the idea that he actually did, preferring the Silver/Bronze Age idea (possibly Maggin's?) that nobody but Lex knows for sure, and he knows that he absolutely didn't kill his parents.

Smallville Lex was really well done, but it's good as a portrayal that's centered around that town, not as a backstory. The finale was not good to Lex.

Ultimately, I don't think Luthor's backstory is really that important. I like him to just kind of be there. In the Golden Age he just showed up one day, manipulating Eastern European countries to his own ends, flying around a dirigible city, challenging his foe to a duel of machine against Superman- he didn't have an origin at all. Same in Lois & Clark. We know his parents died when he was fourteen, we know he's rich and powerful and wants Lois and hates Superman. All we need. Same with the New 52 as far as I know - one day, the government hires him to advise on capturing and interrogating the Superman. Honestly it doesn't even matter to me what he was doing before as long as it wasn't grumbling around Smallville because he didn't want to pander to a world that doesn't like him.

[Kuwagaton]

I love post crisis Lex.
1. I'm always glad to see when a comic doesn't make everyone an attractive young adult. Being bald is not character diversity.
2. Their rivalry made Perry a more relevant character, instead of "DC's Jonah Jameson."
3. It's cool that he's both a scientist who reached a realistically pessimistic conclusion and a thug with a brain to back up his mean streak (also liked how Batman '89 had Jack Napier as a sadistic thug who excelled in chemistry and art). This creates the illusion of there being more to his life than what we see.
4. Barreto and Adam Kubert? Yes, thank you.
5. That cover. It's Art of the Deal! Wonderfully hilarious in today's context.

[Coal Tiger]

Animated series Lex.

[Ascended]

I love post crisis Lex.
1. I'm always glad to see when a comic doesn't make everyone an attractive young adult. Being bald is not character diversity.
2. Their rivalry made Perry a more relevant character, instead of "DC's Jonah Jameson."
3. It's cool that he's both a scientist who reached a realistically pessimistic conclusion and a thug with a brain to back up his mean streak (also liked how Batman '89 had Jack Napier as a sadistic thug who excelled in chemistry and art). This creates the illusion of there being more to his life than what we see.
4. Barreto and Adam Kubert? Yes, thank you.
5. That cover. It's Art of the Deal! Wonderfully hilarious in today's context.

This.

As much as I hate on post-Crisis Superman, his supporting cast and Metropolis itself have never been better.

I like my mad genius Lex Luthor, but I also like my businessman Lex Luthor, and outside of Smallville (tv) I dislike the notion of Clark and Lex knowing each other as kids. And I ended up getting my genius Lex in post-Crisis anyway.

[Jon Clark]

I have a soft spot for the Silver-Age origin and how Waid updated it in Birthright. My personal take would have them meet in Smallville but not base Lex there. I see Lex as an outsider like Clark. For Clark he has to keep his powers a secret which makes him have to hold everyone at arm's length.

In Lex's case it's his mind that does it. While most kids are struggling with long division, Lex is already solving algebra equations. Lex brings in science projects like a drone he built single-handedly from stuff his parents had in the garage- which none of his teacher's believe he made, while the kid who built the potato clock (but can't explain how it works) gets 1st prize. So you have a teenager who understands quantum physics but has no one to share that with.

Picture a young Clark Kent just coming into his full powers (so he can fly or at least travel great distances) somehow encountering Lex Luthor. Maybe Lex hears of the "Smallville Angel" and comes to investigate. Maybe Clark is testing his powers and comes across Lex in trouble. But whatever the reason the two young men bond in part with Lex helping Clark explore his powers, in part with both of them discussing idea beyond most other people. For Clark this is the first person he's met who really can be himself with (Ma and Pa are great but still parents). But for Lex it's a little more as Clark is the ONLY person (besides Lena) to appreciate Lex at all. So whe the classic origin reaces that accident- it's not the baldness but the idea that the one person Lex trusted has betrayed him that remains.

[Last Son of Krypton]

The Smallville version, I guess. Except for the finale.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think a healthy amount of Smallville's Luthor, mixed with Birthright's Luthor is what I picture. Between those two depictions, you've got all the best of the classic mad scientist, the Silver Age broken friendship and the Post-Crisis corporate tycoon with enough pathos and complexity to make the character work perfectly.

[manofsteel1979]

The Smallville version, I guess. Except for the finale.

The Smallville season 11 book kinda redeemed the finale, but yeah, the mindwipe was too much.

Honestly I don't want Lex's origin to be the 1 to 1 adaptation of SMALLVILLE per say, just the general details and arc of Lex as a young man being sent to Smallville, being saved by Clark, they being friends for a time until he leaves town after the mysterious death of Lionel,revamps Luthorcorp as LexCorp and becomes the guy we usually know.

The only disadvantage is I do prefer the idea of Lex building LexCorp on his own, but I don't care for post Crisis Lex being old enough to be Perry White's childhood pal , nor of the idea he's pretty much a bad seed from when he was a kid. Lionel can be that figure, the suicide Slum origin, the abusive parents, the friendship with Perry that turns sour etc. I think Lex works best when there is a level of tragedy to him and a tiny Kernel of good deep inside. It doesn't make him any less formidable as a villain or any less capable of doing really evil things. If anything, it makes him more scary to think that at one time he could have been just like you or me, and his circumstances and upbringing and a series of bad choices, he becomes the greatest criminal mind of all time.

[Truman Burbank]

Post-Crisis Lex, hands down. I could never buy the shared-childhood stuff in the comics, because it always implied on some level that Lex was too oblivious to realize his old friend Clark Kent was his Super-nemesis. That's just a massive inconsistency for someone that's supposed to be the smartest man on the planet. Smallville's solution to that was cheap.

The Post-Crisis origin gave Lex more weight as a character, and set up much more of a yin/yang scenario with Superman that really played well in the stories that followed.

[daBronzeBomma]

Other.

And by "Other", I really mean "I want the Lex Luthor Origin Buffet".

I kinda want it all, in bits and pieces.

I want the Secret Bastard Son of Lionel Jules Luthor and one of his many mistresses.

I want the poor kid who was raised by abusive foster parents in Suicide Slum, whom he murdered when he was age 10 to get their faked life insurance money and his freedom.

I want the Boy genius who got his BS by 12, his MD by 16, his JD by 18, his MBA by 20 and his PhD by 22.

By age 23, Lex had spent one semester in Smallville as part of an educational requirement. He meets high school student Clark Kent and deems him the perfect worker in his upcoming new World Order. They are friendly, but Lex never notices anything out of the ordinary about Clark.

By age 23, Lex has made his first $1M.

By age 25, Lex's LexCorp has fully absorbed Lionel's failing LuthorCorp company (Lionel dies at this time) and made his first $1B.

By age 27, Lex has made Lexcorp surpass both Wayne Enterprises and Queen Consolidated in overall net worth.

By age 29, Lex Luthor is officially the wealthiest man in the world (over $100B) in terms of legal wealth.

By age 30, Lex meets Superman for the first time.

[DochaDocha]

Absolutely hate any suggestion that Lex and Clark knew each other as youngsters in Smallville. I dislike it so much that I tuned out the origin stories that went that direction.

People argue that it makes Lex and Superman's enmity more personal if their conflict runs that deep, but that's akin to saying that any romance you write is instantly better if the characters met as youngster and not for the first time as adults. Who makes that argument?

My dislike of this narrative trick doubles for every freakin' time someone thinks it's cute if young Bruce Wayne and Alfred decided to take a road trip through Smallville.

Prequel type stories that insert elements from the "present" into the "past" cheat the narrative. It's not giving the character a genuine history as much as it's just rehashing "present" day ideas into the "past" timeline. Star Wars does this on so many levels.

I agree with the "buffet" idea of taking elements of the different origins that work best, but Lex-in-Smallville is a taint that makes me throw away the entire preparation.

There is a place in Superman's history that works as the crossroads for the main events and characters of his day-to-day life to meet and interact. It's called "Metropolis."

[Last Son of Krypton]

The Smallville season 11 book kinda redeemed the finale, but yeah, the mindwipe was too much.

Honestly I don't want Lex's origin to be the 1 to 1 adaptation of SMALLVILLE per say, just the general details and arc of Lex as a young man being sent to Smallville, being saved by Clark, they being friends for a time until he leaves town after the mysterious death of Lionel,revamps Luthorcorp as LexCorp and becomes the guy we usually know.

The only disadvantage is I do prefer the idea of Lex building LexCorp on his own, but I don't care for post Crisis Lex being old enough to be Perry White's childhood pal , nor of the idea he's pretty much a bad seed from when he was a kid. Lionel can be that figure, the suicide Slum origin, the abusive parents, the friendship with Perry that turns sour etc. I think Lex works best when there is a level of tragedy to him and a tiny Kernel of good deep inside. It doesn't make him any less formidable as a villain or any less capable of doing really evil things. If anything, it makes him more scary to think that at one time he could have been just like you or me, and his circumstances and upbringing and a series of bad choices, he becomes the greatest criminal mind of all time.

I'm conflicted about Lex building LexCorp on his own or inherit it. But as long as Lex isn't a farmboy that grew up in Smallville, I'm fine with every other origins.

[Flash Gordon]

The first few seasons of SMALLVILLE.

[EmeraldGladiator]

I am torn Smallville's Lex is the best fleshed out version but then again my favorite all time look and story with Lex in it was the Action Comics #544. I loved the George Perez' "Super Powers" warsuit look, and the story was poignant enough to make me root for Lex. So if I could get a combo of those, the backstory and motivations of Smallville but still keeping the warsuit stuff.