Lex Luthor, done right.

[SuperThinnker]

I liked that story where Lex finds a cure for cancer, but I can't remember the name or what comic it was in.

   

Was that in either "Death of Superman" or "The Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue"?

The first chapter of the "Death of Superman", is just for cancer. "The Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" is all illness-even Luthor's bald head.

[llozymandias]

I agree with NotSuper.

[Psybertrack]

i must have mixed the 2 in my memory. I read both the death of superman and the red and bllue story.   Over the years I only remember parts of them. But they were mighty stories to fuel the imagination and multiply dreams. Those were some great stories. The current crisis is on par with those days I think. Masterpiece work!

[NotSuper]

I agree with NotSuper.

Thanks.  

[llozymandias]

Luthor (when done right) will still do good things once in a while.  That does not make a misguided good guy though.  Even the most evil beings can do good.  When it suits their purposes.  I don't see Lex doing something because it's evil.  He has reasons for what he does.  When Lex (in the silver/bronze-age) commited a crime (like robbing a bank) it seemed like he did it to get Superman's attention.  Basically Lex had a new anti-superman weapon, and wanted to try it out against Superman.  Also it could be that Lex wanted Kal & the authorities to believe that crime was Lex's sole source of income.

[Rugal 3:16]

As of now I like Luthor as the Dr. Doom esque character (HAH Dr. Doom was a RIP-OFF of luthor)

But I just want the mad scientist who..

1. DOES NOT ROB BANKS with a giant robot which COSTS more (in production) than the money he just robbed

2. DOES NOT want to use his science to go TOE TO TOE with Superman, That's stupid logic based on Human terms, he should use his wits to beat supes by OTHER means not direct effect, since he's already intellectually superior, It doesn't make sense to give superman a TARGET (i'll extrapolate this later)

3. Makes Superman should find more ways to entrap luthor other than prison because that revolving door concept is TOO MUCH even for suspension of disbelief.. so what say I'm supes I know Luthor getting out of prison is always an easy way (he can even make an escape plan by using a mere bubble gum and it's packaging), so I have to find other means of him being a threat to humanity (each time he gets out).. that makes sense.

Elliot Maggin's Last Son of Krypton depicting Lex as a Mad Scientist surface and secreteley a businessman is SPOT ON PERFECT!! however Children's format superman books think it's way too sophisticated to explain this..

[llozymandias]

When Lex robs banks it's mostly to get Kal in range of Lex's latest anti-superman weapon.  Also it could be that Lex enjoys robbing banks.  Maybe it's a hobby/game to him.  Also if Kal & the authorities think Lex get's all of funding through crime, they are less likely to find & stop his real sources of income.



         The reason Lex wants to go "toe to toe" with Kal is ego.  Lex wants to be the one to destroy Superman.



         Kal is not in charge of the criminal justice system.  Where could Kal put Lex if not in prison?  The Phantom Zone?  Bad idea.  Lex has the means to escape from there.  Most likely he has a phantom zone projector of his own programmed to respond to his thoughts.  If he ever gets trapped there.  Lex does have the technology to access the phantom zone.



         I do see Lex as both an evil super-genius super-scientist & a secret businesman.  The wealth that someone of Lex's genius could accumulate through legal patents & investments (under aliases of course), would make any money he can get through crime look like pocket change.  If not for the Comics Code Authority Lex would most likely have been depicted that way throughout the silver/bronze-age.

[Defender]

To me, Lex should always be diametrically opposed to Superman in every possible way. They both have roots in Smallville, but after that their lives go in very different directions after Lex's bungled experiment and his denial of his own fault in his baldness drive him over the edge.

 Superman relies (primarily) on his phyiscal might. Lex is a man of intellect.

 Superman came from a farmer's background, rose among the people and has strong roots in the working class that he draws upon as a source of inner strength. Lex despises the working class he rose from and built a multi-billion dollar corporation partly from spite to that background and partly from sheer boredom.

 Superman lives to help others and keep the world safe and orderly. Lex lives to help himself and enjoys making Superman's world chaotic.

 Superman reveres life. Lex sees life as inconsequential save when it's his own.

 Superman needs Lex because Lex reminds him of what he could do with his abilities if he walked a selfish, self-serving path. Superman believes deeply that he could redeem his friend, make him the good man he truly could be. He considers Lex his friend despite every attempt on his life, despite every evil scheme. Superman is never angry with Lex, just saddened by him. And that makes Lex crazy. Bad enough this alien, this freak of nature upstages his natural genius at every possible turn, worse still that people flock to this abomination rather than the natural human genius of Lex Luthor, but the fact that this spit-curled godling has the nerve to care, to still want to save him, to still think he's worth saving. . .it drives him mad(and secretly makes the Greatest Criminal Mind of our Time wonder if maybe--just maybe--he really is on the wrong path).

 Bruce Timm and Paul Dini once said the best Superman stories come from the notion that Superman uses his power (which represents the power we all have) responsibly, and his best adventures come from the notion of running into beings that use their power irresponsibly. Nowhere is this more evident than in the character of Lex Luthor, a man who could do so much good, but can't and won't because he doesn't see anything beyond his own wants, needs, and obsessions.

 Just my $0.02 and change, for what it's worth.

 -Def.