Lex Luthor
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Lex Luthor is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and a prominent member of Superman's rogues gallery. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he first appeared in Action Comics #23 (1940).
Lex Luthor has played many roles within the separate continuities of the DC universe, ranging from pulp-inspired mad scientist to unrepentant killer.[1] Following a makeover to the character during the 1960s, an origin story depicted Luthor as an embittered scientist who blames Superman for a lab accident that left him bald. In the 1980s, he was rewritten as a Machiavellian industrialist and white-collar criminal, even briefly serving as President of the United States.[2] In 2006, Wizard magazine rated him the 8th greatest villain of all time.[3]
Luthor was portrayed in the 1978 Superman film by Gene Hackman, who reprised the role in two sequels. The role was inherited by Kevin Spacey in the 2006 film Superman Returns. The part of Lex Luthor been played by several actors on American television, including Sherman Howard in the television series Superboy, and John Shea in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Michael Rosenbaum currently portrays Lex as a younger man on the CW series Smallville.
Lex Luthor is one of many Superman characters with the initials "LL" - others include Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Lori Lemaris.
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Conception
Lex Luthor's background has undergone several revisions, most notably during the 1970's and early eighties. When Luthor first debuted in Action Comics #23 in 1940,[4] he was portrayed with a full head of red hair. That following year, Luthor appeared totally bald in Superman #10. The reason for this switch is attributed to Leo Novak, an artist Joe Shuster hired to reduce the strenuous workload of producing comics on a regular schedule. It is suspected that Novak confused the appearance of Luthor with a bald henchman in Superman #4.[5] In spite of this error, the switch went unchanged, and the more striking appearance was adopted and became a Luthor trademark. It is of note that Siegel and Shuster's original short story, "Reign of the Superman", featured a bald villain with telepathic powers.[6] [7]
[edit] Golden Age
In his first appearance in Action Comics #23, Luthor (who is only referred to by his surname) is a megalomaniacal genius who makes his home in a flying city suspended by an airship. He first tries to ignite a war between two fictional European nations as part of a larger plan for world domination. In Superman #4, Luthor is found hiding out in an underwater city, where he is terrorizing the planet with man-made earthquakes. When he is confronted by Superman, Luthor challenges the superhero to a contest of strength versus science.[8]
When the DC multiverse began to take hold in the 1960s, this "Golden Age" Luthor was rewritten as Alexei Luthor, Lex Luthor's counterpart from a parallel universe, specifically Earth-Two.[9] In the lead-up to the multi-issue series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Alexei joins forces with his Earth-One counterpart, each attempting to defeat the other's version of Superman. When Alexei challenges Brainiac's partnership with Lex during the Crisis, Brainiac kills Alexei to settle the dispute.[9][10]
[edit] Silver / Bronze Age
In his classic appearances, Lex Luthor is a mad scientist who typically plots to take over the world, or destroy it, through a number of diabolical schemes. In Adventure Comics #271 (1962), Jerry Siegel retroactively wrote an origin story that reveals that Luthor's hate for Superman stems from a past encounter:[11][12] During his youth, Lex had been an aspiring scientist and a friend of Superboy. Lex begins experiments in creating an artificial new form of life, as well as a cure for Kryptonite poisoning. An accidental fire breaks out in Lex's lab, Superboy uses his super-breath to extinguish the flames, inadvertently spilling chemicals which cause Luthor to go prematurely bald; the botched rescue also destroys Lex's artificial lifeform, along with the Kryptonite cure.[2]
Believing that Superboy intentionally caused the accident, Lex attributes his actions to jealousy and vows revenge. He first tries to show Superboy up with grandiose inventions that will improve the lives of Smallville's residents, but each goes dangerously out of control and requires Superboy's intervention. Unwilling to accept responsibility for the catastrophes, Lex rationalizes that Superboy is out to humiliate him. He continues to seek revenge, and in the process devolves into a criminal; over time he becomes Superman's archenemy. Although he is routinely sent back to prison, Lex always manages to escape to threaten the world again (early Luthor stories often begin with him sitting in prison and wearing a gray uniform).[13]
This origin makes Luthor's fight with Superman a personal one, and suggests that if events had unfolded differently, Luthor might have been a more noble person; these elements were played up in various stories in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Elliot S. Maggin's text novel Last Son of Krypton.
Luthor's originally-stated goals were to kill Superman and to take over Earth as a stepping stone to dominating the universe.[14] In addition to using his inventions to combat Superman's powers, Luthor also shows an affinity for wigs and disguises. Although none of his attempts to kill Superman work permanently (though a classic non-canonical story from 1961 entitled "The Death of Superman" has Luthor finally killing Superman after lulling him by pretending to go straight),[1] Luthor's persistence makes him Superman's most troublesome foe.
Though he is a notorious fugitive on Earth, Luthor is revered on the alien world of Lexor—renamed in honor of him—where he rediscovered the planet's lost technology and rebuilt society for its inhabitants' ruined civilization. As a result, he becomes a hero in the eyes of Lexor's people, whereas Superman is detested as a villain.[15] He eventually marries a local woman named Ardora,[16] with whom he fathers a son.
After its debut,[17] Lexor appears sporadically in various Superman comics as Luthor's base of operations, where he wages assaults on Superman. During one such battle, Lex flees Earth and returns to Lexor to draw Superman to his destruction. But when an energy salvo from Luthor's battlesuit accidentally overloads the "Neutrarod" (a spire Luthor had built to counter Lexor's geological instability), the result is the total destruction of the planet, killing all of its inhabitants, including Luthor's wife and son there. Superman initially assumes Luthor has also been killed in the blast, but this is due to his unfamiliarity with the rugged design of Luthor's battlesuit. Luthor eventually returns to Earth, unable to accept his own role in Lexor's destruction and blaming Superman for it.[18]
[edit] Crisis on Infinite Earths
During the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Luthor allies himself with fellow Superman foe Brainiac to recruit an army of supervillains spanning the DC Multiverse, intending taking advantage of the confusion caused by the Crisis for their own benefit. However, once it becomes clear that it is as much in their interests to save the multiverse as anyone else, Luthor and Brainiac reluctantly ally their faction with Superman and the other heroes. The Bronze Age Luthor is involved in a battle on Maltus with other super-villains to prevent Krona from beginning the experiment which created the multiverse in the first place; instead, reality is altered so that the different universes fall into their proper place, converging into one. Afterwards, Luthor is returned to prison with all his memories of the alliance forgotten. Luthor remains a foe of Superman until the DC Comics continuity is retconned in the months following the mini-series. Henceforth, the Silver Age Lex Luthor is referred to by readers as the "Pre-Crisis" Luthor.
Luthor's trademark battlesuit from this era - a heavily-armored, flight-capable suit with Kryptonite fixtures embedded in its gauntlets[19] - has reappeared in modern continuity, most notably during Infinite Crisis.
[edit] Personality
Superman himself acknowledged that the Pre-Crisis Luthor is a man of his word who honors promises he has made. On occasion, he has come to the aid of innocents, even when doing so will lead to his capture and inevitable return to prison. Shamed by his criminal acts, Lex's parents, Jules and Arlene, disown him, move away and change their name to the anagram "Thorul". Luthor has a younger sister named Lena, an empath who grows up unaware of her familial connection with him.[20] Protective of his sister, Luthor takes measures to hide his fraternity, and is assisted towards this end by both Superman and Supergirl. Luthor considers Albert Einstein a great personal idol, and makes a special effort to escape prison around the anniversary of Einstein's birthday each year, and visit places of significance in Einstein's life.[21][22]
[edit] Modern Luthor
In 1986, John Byrne's "reboot" of Superman's mythos in the limited series, The Man of Steel, rewrote the character of Lex Luthor from scratch, intending to make him a villain that the 1980s would recognize: a corporate white-collar criminal (this idea is credited to Marv Wolfman).[23] The modern Luthor begins as an almost entirely different character, with no past linkage to Superman.
[edit] Origin
Like many supervillains, the Lex Luthor envisioned in the six-issue Man of Steel comic series had an abusive childhood which warped his worldview. He was born to cruel parents in the Suicide Slum district of Metropolis, his only friend was a schoolmate named Perry White. In his teens, Lex takes out a large insurance policy on his parents without their knowledge, then sabotages their car's brakes, killing them.[24]
Lex is sent to live with equally-brutal foster parents, Casey and Emily Griggs, where he will wait until he became of legal age to collect the insurance money. His foster parents conspire to steal his money, forcing their daughter (and Lex's foster sibling), Lena, into seducing Lex so they can learn of its location. Because she has romantic feelings for Lex, Lena refuses to cooperate, and is beaten to death by her enraged father. Lex is absent from the home at the time of the murder, having been talked into going to a football game by Perry. After this event, Lex forever blames Perry for keeping him from Lena's side.[25]
Upon graduating from MIT, Lex launches his own business, LexCorp, which grows to dominate much of Metropolis.[26] Still harboring bitterness toward Perry White, Lex begins an affair with his wife, fathering a baby with her. The offspring Jerry White later learns of his true parentage during his late teens, shortly before being killed by a local street gang he was associated with.[27]
Decades later, on the day Lex's own daughter is born, he finally avenges himself on his foster father by hiring him to assassinate the Mayor of Metropolis. In the wake of the successful hit, Lex meets with Lena's killer in an alley (under the pretense of payment) and personally slays him with a handgun. Following this incident, he names his newborn daughter Lena.[28]
[edit] Man of Steel
Luthor's presence is hinted at in issue #2 of Byrne's Man of Steel series, but he is not fully seen until issue #4, several months after Superman first arrived in Metropolis. When Lois Lane and Clark Kent are invited to a society gala aboard Luthor's yacht, terrorists seize the ship without warning.[29] Luthor observes Superman in action, and once the gunmen are dispatched, hands the hero a personal check. But when Luthor admits that he had not only anticipated the attack, but had arranged for it to occur in order to lure Superman out, Mayor Berkowitz deputizes Superman to arrest Luthor for reckless endangerment.[30] Luthor's temporary incarceration leaves him seething, and he promises to make Superman pay for the humiliation. The rivalry escalates in Man of Steel #5, when Luthor attempts to clone Superman with the assistance of Dr. Teng. Upon completion, the clone proves itself to be flawed and dangerous, eventually degenerating into Bizarro.
With Luthor's "Silver Age" origin now gone, Man of Steel illustrates a more base and vicious villain, whose motivation for opposing Superman is protection of his own illegal business interests. When Superman is apparently slain in battle with the alien monstrosity Doomsday, Luthor feels "cheated" that a "lifeless monster" had robbed him of his life's work,[31] and sinks into a chronic depression until Superman debuts again.
[edit] Cancer and cloning
Luthor acquires his first prized sample of kryptonite from the cyborg Metallo, who is powered by a "heart" of kryptonite rock. Fashioning a ring from the alien ore deadly to Superman, Luthor wears it as a symbol that he was untouchable, even to the man of steel. He eventually suffers from a severe cancer in the 1990s, caused by long-term radiation exposure to his kryptonite ring.[32] (Before this, kryptonite was assumed to produce a 'clean' radiation that was harmless to humans). Luthor's hand requires amputation to prevent the cancer's spread, but by then it has already metastasized, and his condition is terminal.
While mulling over his fate, Luthor visits the grave of his deceased illegitimate son, Jerry White.[33] He soon fakes his own death by taking a jet on a proposed trip around the world and crashing it in the Andes; this is merely a cover for the transplant of his brain into a healthy clone of himself, which he passes off as his hitherto unknown, illegitimate son and heir, Lex Luthor II; This deception is helped by a vibrant new body and full head of red hair.[34][35] Luthor II inherits control of LexCorp and seduces Supergirl.[36] However, Luthor's new clone body begins to deteriorate and age at a rapid rate (a side-effect of a disease that affects all clones). Meanwhile, Lois Lane discovers proof of Luthor's clone harvesting and false identity;[37] with help from Superman, she exposes the truth. In the end, Luthor becomes a permanent prisoner in his cloned body, unable to even blink, and swearing vengeance on Superman.
Aid comes in the form of the demon Neron; Luthor promptly sells his soul in exchange for Neron restoring his body to vibrant health, though he once more loses his hair.[38] Returning to Metropolis, Luthor freely turns himself over to the police and is put on trial. He is acquitted on all counts when Luthor claims to have been kidnapped by renegade scientists from Cadmus Labs, who replaced him with a violent clone that is allegedly responsible for all the crimes Luthor is charged with.[39]
[edit] Relationships
Although Luthor holds a grudge toward Lois Lane for exposing his criminal dealings, he also has an unspoken love for her. On several occasions Luthor has commented that had Superman not arrived in Metropolis, he would have used his time and energy to winning Lois instead; indeed, Luthor is actively pursuing her as early as Man of Steel #2. Marv Wolfman originally planned for the two to have been romantically involved, with Lois leaving him for Superman, giving Luthor another reason to hate his foe, but John Byrne modified the story when he wrote the actual issue.
The post-Crisis Lex Luthor has been married eight times, though the first seven marriages occurred off-panel in Luthor's past. His eighth and final marriage to Contessa Erica Alexandra Del Portenza,[40] (otherwise known simply as "The Contessa") is based on mutual manipulation and greed. The Contessa buys controlling interest in LexCorp after Luthor is indicted, compelling Lex into marrying with her in order to regain control of his company. The Contessa becomes pregnant[41] and starts using the unborn child to dominate Lex into doing her bidding. Luthor's response is to imprison her while she is drugged during childbirth, then lock her up, keeping her in a permanently-drugged unconscious state. The Contessa later escapes to an island mansion,[42] but upon being elected President, Luthor targets her home with a barrage of missiles and destroys it.[43]
[edit] President of the United States
Deciding to turn to politics, Lex became the president of the United States, winning the election on a platform of promoting technological progress (his first action as president was to take a proposed moratorium on fossil-based fuels to U.S. Congress).
Luthor is assisted by the extreme unpopularity of the previous administration's mishandling of the Gotham City earthquake crisis. After six to seven months, Gotham is restored and rejoins America. Ironically, Batman ultimately learns that the entire debacle was the fault of Luthor alone, which results in Bruce Wayne severing all commercial ties between the U.S. government and his company, Wayne Enterprises, in protest of Luthor's election as President. Luthor responds in turn by ordering the murder of Wayne's lover Vesper Fairchild and framing Wayne for the murder.
An early triumph of Luthor's first term is the Our Worlds At War crisis, in which he coordinates the U.S. Army, Earth's superheroes and a number of untrustworthy alien forces to battle the main villain of the story arc, Imperiex. However, as it is eventually revealed, Lex knew about the alien invasion in advance and did nothing to alert Earth's heroes to it, which led to Topeka, Kansas being destroyed by an Imperiex probe.
[edit] Fall from power
Although Batman, along with other members of the Justice League, forbid any attempt at trying to forcibly remove Luthor from office, a cadre of superheroes eventually break ranks and storm the White House. In order to fight back, Luthor uses a variant combination of the "super-steroid" Venom (a chemical associated with the Batman villain Bane) and an Apokoliptian battlesuit to fight Superman directly. The madness that is a side effect of Venom takes hold, and during the ensuing fight with Superman and Batman, Luthor admits he had traded the creature Doomsday to Darkseid in return for weapons during the Our Worlds at War crisis; this inadvertently provides a confession, which is captured on video by Batman. Returning to the LexCorp building to regroup, Luthor finds that the acting C.E.O., Talia Head, has sold the entirety of the company assets to the Wayne Foundation (owned by Batman, Talia's past love interest). Following Luthor's bankruptcy and total disgrace, Vice President Pete Ross briefly assumes his place as President.
[edit] Birthright
The 2004 12-issue limited series Superman: Birthright provides an alternate look at Luthor's history, including his youth in Smallville and his first encounter with Superman, with a few elements lifted from the 2001 television series Smallville. Examples of the show's influence include Lex's problematic relationship with his wealthy father, Lionel Luthor. Birthright also reinvents the Silver Age notion of Lex originally befriending Clark Kent, who shares his interest in astronomy. During a failed experiment to communicate with a lost alien civilization (Krypton), an explosion erupts which singes off Lex's hair and kills his father.[13] By the time Clark meets him again in Metropolis years later, Lex has launched a billion-dollar business and is the foremost astrobiologist in the world, but has also become corrupt and misanthropic.
Mark Waid has gone on the record as stating that his original outline for "Birthright" had Waid restoring Luthor's pre-Crisis background as a mad scientist and jettisoning the notion of Luthor being a respected but evil businessman. In the retrospective section of the published "Birthright" graphic novel, Waid described his view that Luthor operating free and unchallenged in Metropolis for years makes Superman look "ineffectual."[44] Due to the changes of the Infinite Crisis, however, this origin is no longer in canon.
[edit] The Insiders
Lex Luthor went into hiding, preparing to activate a mind control program planted inside the brain of the current Superboy Conner Kent (created with 50% of Lex's and 50% of Superman's DNA) to help him gain revenge against Earth's mightiest heroes. Luthor has also been carefully surveiling the new Supergirl, but his attempt to split her personalities using black kryptonite backfired when the "evil" incarnation of Kara Zor-El rebelled against Luthor and nearly killed him.
[edit] The New Secret Society
Alexander Luthor, Jr., the son of Earth-Three's Lex Luthor, returned to the DC Universe along with other survivors from Crisis on Infinite Earths as part of a scheme to create a perfect Earth, under the pretense of restoring Earth-Two. To this end, he assumed Lex Luthor's identity and created a new Secret Society of Super Villains.
The real Lex Luthor took on the identity of Mockingbird and formed a super-villain version of the Secret Six, whose purpose was to subvert the new Secret Society created by Alexander. Lex swore vengeance against the impostor for taking his place.
[edit] Infinite Crisis
In Infinite Crisis #3, Lex confronted Alex Luthor after tailing him for several months. Alex's identity was exposed to Lex during the following fight. Alex and Superboy-Prime managed to destroy Lex's battlesuit, but Lex escaped via short-range teleporter.
Luthor then visited Conner Kent (in recovery at Titans Tower). Lex gave words of vengeance against Alex Luthor and Superboy-Prime, and slipped onto Conner's person a crystal shard (collected during his fight with Alex) showing the location of Alexander's Arctic Fortress. Conner later went to Nightwing and the two agreed to stop Alexander. At the end of Infinite Crisis #7, Lex Luthor oversees the Joker's execution of Alexander.
Luthor has shown an unusual (at least by his standards) compassion for Conner Kent; it seems that by watching Superboy throughout the course of his short life, Lex came to see Conner as his son. At one point, Luthor is shown visiting a memorial statue of Superboy in Metropolis and placing flowers there.[45]
[edit] 52
In the opening weeks of 52, the Gotham City Police Department finds what appears to be Luthor's body in an alley. John Henry Irons examines the body at S.T.A.R. Labs and notes that the corpse was altered postmortem to make it resemble Lex Luthor. During a press conference, the genuine Luthor publicly states that the body is that of an impostor from another Earth, and the man truly responsible for the crimes Luthor is being charged with.[46] Though Alexander's body had a missing finger and a different appearance from Lex at the time of his death, 52 editor Stephen Wacker has confirmed that the body found in Gotham is indeed Alex, and that Luthor had it altered before the police discovered it.[47]
Lex strives to rebuild his fallen reputation; he becomes spokesman for a new procedure, created by the Everyman Project, that engineers ordinary citizens to develop superpowers. During the autopsy of Alex Luthor, Lex secretly exposes John to the chemicals involved in his creating his new army of super-heroes, turning John into a literal man of steel. When approached by John's niece Natasha Irons, Lex gladly allows her to be one of his first test subjects. Using Natasha and several other volunteers, Luthor forms his own team of superheroes which are introduced as the new Infinity Inc. In week #21, Infinity Inc. is in the midst of a battle with Blockbuster (which Luthor has created as well), when he demonstrates that he can 'shut off' the powers of each of his agents; this results in the death of his speedster, Trajectory.
At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, Luthor sets in motion a calculated plot to discredit Supernova, a new hero who has taken over defending Metropolis in Superman's absence: Luthor triggers a mass-shutdown of the powers of everyone who has undertaken the Everyman program, except for the members of Infinity Inc. As multiple flight-powered Everymen plummet to their deaths, underground gas mains rupture from the impact, which adds civilians to the death toll. Luthor's plot ultimately fails when Supernova is able to minimize the disaster with a spectacular rescue.
While investigating Luthor in order to root out his motive, Natasha Irons discovers that Luthor has been testing himself to see if he is compatible with the artificial meta-gene treatment.[48] John Henry Irons leads an assault on Luthor's building; despite the destruction of his armor during the fight, he confronts Luthor - only to find himself badly outclassed, as Luthor demonstrates nearly all of Superman's powers. However, Natasha uses her uncle's hammer to trigger an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down the synthetic metagene long enough for Steel to knock Lex unconscious.[49] Lex is disgraced, and later faces indictment when the members of the Everymen realize they have been used.
[edit] One Year Later and Countdown
One year after the events of Infinite Crisis Luthor is cleared of over 120 criminal counts ranging from malfeasance to first-degree murder relating to the New Years Eve massacre from "52." However, his role in the massacre has permanently ruined his public image and thanks to the machinations of Doctor Sivana, he has lost most of his wealth and all of his control over his newly reformed LexCorp, which is now run by Lana Lang. He blames Clark Kent for writing several articles unraveling his schemes and pledges vengeance on Metropolis after an angry mob jeers him on the courthouse steps.
After amassing large quantities of Kryptonite, including kidnapping the supervillains Metallo and the Kryptonite Man, Lex uses it to power a Kryptonian battleship controlled through a "sunstone" crystal.[50] Superman manages to destroy the Kryptonite-powered ship and recover the crystal, but Lex manages to escape custody yet again.[51]
Lex later sends Bizarro after the newly arrived "Superboy" only for the creature to be defeated by Superman. Undaunted, Lex gathers together a "Revenge Squad," to fight against the invading Kryptonians led by General Zod.
In JLA, Luthor gathers together a new "Injustice League" and, outfitted in a new version of his warsuit (although still green and purple, it no longer has clear design derivations from the pre-Crisis warsuit as the McGuinness design did), sets out to destroy the Justice League with them. Both storylines are ongoing.
Countdown #34 presents a concise origin page for Lex Luthor as a backup (part of a series which began in 52), which differs greatly from Birthright. Luthor's baldness is clearly shown not to be due to having burnt off in an accident as shown in Birthright, but rather have naturally receded over the course of his career as a business mogul and early rivalry with Superman, precisely as depicted in Byrne's Man of Steel version. Lex is also described as living near Smallville at one point and having at least some interactions, but not a friendship, with the younger Clark Kent. Much like Man of Steel, Lex is the shrewd businessman, rather than the Birthright-scientist depiction.
Lex is set to play a large role in the upcoming Countdown to Final Crisis tie-in event, Salvation Run.
[edit] Earth-Three
- See also: Alternate versions of Lex Luthor
In much the same way that Superman and other heroes have evil analogs on the parallel world of Earth-Three, Luthor had a heroic counterpart there; he reluctantly decides to adopt a heroic identity to combat the evil Crime Syndicate of America. Alexander, who eventually married the Lois Lane of Earth-Three, dies in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but is survived by their son, Alexander Luthor, Jr., the future antagonist of Infinite Crisis
In the JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel, an updated version of Earth-Three and its version of Luthor were reintroduced to the post-Crisis DC Universe. In this version of events, the heroic Luthor traveled from his Earth (located in the anti-matter universe rather than being an alternate positive-matter one) to the mainstream DC Earth, posed as his villainous counterpart, and subsequently asked the Justice League to help him rebuild his world. However, since "evil always wins" in this alternate world, the attempt failed, and Luthor resigned himself to being the only noble character on his Earth, although the Syndicate Rules story arc in JLA featured another group of heroes named the Justice Underground; there was also a mention of the Luthor of Earth Two awaiting a mock trial before his public execution. At the end of the story, the JLA released all the CSA's prisoners before returning to Earth One. It is not known, although very probable, that Luthor was among the released prisoners.
[edit] All-Star Superman
The Lex Luthor of All-Star Superman seems closer to his past Silver Age incarnation, as he is seen plotting Superman's downfall and world domination schemes while in prison.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Atom Man vs. Superman
Luthor was revealed to be the mystery villain in the second Superman serial which aired in 1950, titled Atom Man vs. Superman. He was played by Lyle Talbot. It is worth noting that this was the first time in which Lex Luthor was depicted on film.
[edit] Film series
[edit] Superman: The Movie
Actor Gene Hackman played the role of Lex Luthor in the 1978 movie Superman, and in two of its three sequels (Superman II and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace). Hackman's portrayal is lighter and more comedic than most other portrayals of Luthor. Lex Luthor is the sole villain of the first Superman film; He is mainly motivated by money, as well as a desire to swindle as big a fortune as possible to prove how smart he is. This version of Luthor tends to punctuate each sentence with self-aggrandizing statements. He is also apparently insecure about his baldness, and wears a variety of wigs to conceal it (he does not appear bald at all during Superman IV). When not in complete control of a given situation, Luthor has a habit of trying to talk his way out of trouble, as he repeatedly does with General Zod in Superman II.
In the first film, Luthor's high-tech hideout harkens back to the secret lairs of his "Golden Age" comic counterpart;[52] it is located in an abandoned railway terminal deep beneath the Metropolis streets. Luthor's schemes are offset by a tendency to surround himself with unsatisfactory help; He is burdened by his bumbling henchman Otis, and his conscience-stricken girlfriend Eve Teschmacher. Luthor attempts to divert missiles to hit the San Andreas fault, causing California to sink into the ocean, and turning its neighboring states into beach front property owned by Lex Luthor Incorporated.[53] Although he nearly kills Superman using kryptonite, he is eventually thwarted and sentenced to prison.
Luthor's role in Superman II is relegated to a supporting villain, beginning with a jailbreak organized with the help of Miss Teschmacher. After journeying to the Fortress of Solitude using sled dogs (a plot point that recurs in Superman Returns), Luthor learns of the existence of General Zod and the other Kryptonian criminals. In a bid to rule his own continent once the evil Kryptonians take over Earth, Luthor allies himself with Zod and becomes a sidekick of sorts. Luthor does not appear in Superman III, although an evil businessman named Ross Webster fills a similar role.
Luthor reappears in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, escaping from prison once more, this time with the aid of his nephew Lenny. Once again, Lex allies himself with other villains, in this instance a cadre of war profiteers and arms dealers who are worried about what Superman's efforts toward nuclear disarmament will do to their business. Lex uses his own DNA, combined with strand of Superman's hair that is stolen from a museum, to create a hybrid clone which he dubs "Nuclear Man." The radioactive villain possesses abilities similar to Superman, but receives his power from direct sunlight, whereas Superman can still operate in darkness. Superman exploits this weakness in the end, killing Nuclear Man and returning Lex to prison.
[edit] Superman Returns
In the 2006 film Superman Returns, Luthor is played by two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey. At one point Luthor compares himself to Prometheus in that, in taking the Kryptonian technology from the Fortress of Solitude for his own use, he is taking fire from the gods and giving it to the people (though he later admits that billions of people will die as a result of his get plan). He still enjoys promoting himself through hyperbole, but has apparently grown comfortable with his baldness, and only wears wigs for the purpose of disguise.
In the film, five years earlier, Lex Luthor has gotten out of doing prison time, intensifying his desire for revenge on Superman. During Superman's absence, Lex managed to get an appeal for his trial, but Superman, who was away from Earth and would have had to reveal his true identity, was not around to testify against him. Due to the fact that the Man of Steel never showed up, he is released from prison and funds his criminal operations by seducing a wealthy, elderly benefactor Gertrude Vanderworth (portrayed by Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane in the Superman serials as well as the 1950s television series, and has made several cameo appearances in later Superman productions). Lex also recruits several goons who had allied with him in jail.
Luthor's machinations once again concern real estate, as they did in the first two films; He plans to use Kryptonian crystals (like the one Superman used to create the Fortress of Solitude in the first Superman film) stolen from Superman to form a new continent off the East Coast of the United States, destroying all surrounding landmass in the process and killing untold numbers of people. With the technology garnered from Superman's crystals, Luthor is confident he will be able to force people to live on his new landmass (dubbed "New Krypton") and pay him money. By fusing the crystal together with kryptonite, the landmass also has the added effect of sapping Superman's powers when he is in proximity, giving Luthor the advantage. However, after putting several layers of earth between himself and New Krypton, Superman hurls the landmass into space. After his scheme fails, Luthor uses a helicopter to escape capture, but it runs out of fuel, stranding him on a deserted island.
Luthor is confirmed to return for the 2009 sequel, with Spacey reprising the role.
[edit] Live-action television
[edit] Superboy
In the late 1980s and early 1990s syndicated television show Superboy, Luthor merely began as a rich, scheming college student played by Scott James Wells. In early episodes, Luthor is preoccupied with showing up Superboy, rigging basketball games, and stealing priceless artifacts, among other small-time schemes. At the close of the first season, Superboy accidentally causes Luthor to go bald while saving him from a lab fire (this incident is near-identical to Lex Luthor's classic origin). Convinced that Superboy intentionally caused the accident, a deranged Lex kills wealthy businessman Warren Eckworth and tries, unsuccessfully, to take his place via plastic surgery.[54] Prematurely aged and bald-headed, Lex is played for the remainder of the series by actor Sherman Howard.
In the Season Four two-parter, 'Know Thine Enemy' Luthor's childhood is explored when Superboy relives his life via the "psychodisk". Similar to his post-Crisis origin, Lex is raised by an abusive father and neglectful mother; Lex becomes rich when he takes out an insurance policy on his parents and then kills them both. His sister, Lena Luthor, holds the distinction of being the sole person Lex cares about.
[edit] Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
In the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), Lex Luthor is played by actor John Shea. In the eyes of the public, he is a beloved humanitarian, but Superman knows the truth. During the show's first season Clark Kent/Superman spends a good deal of time trying to prove that Luthor is corrupt, while Luthor tests Superman to find his weakness. He also comes up with dangerous plots to turn the public against Superman. At the end of season one, he manages to acquire a rare piece of kryptonite; he then devises a trap for Superman that almost kills him, but Superman narrowly escapes when Luthor leaves him to his fate. Just as Luthor is about to marry Lois Lane, the truth about his evil nature is exposed and he takes his own life rather than face imprisonment.[55] Ironically, due to exposure to Luthor's kryptonite, Clark's powers are too weak and he cannot save him.
Following the season one finale, Lex's corpse disappears from the coroner's office. Later on, the body resurfaces in a lab where a devoted scientist (played by Denise Crosby) freezes Luthor's remains and labors to bring him back from the dead. She eventually succeeds, but as a side effect of his resurrection, Lex loses his hair.[56] He is quickly disenchanted with the changes that have happened during his absence, particularly the emergence of Intergang, and by the news that his former fiancee Lois Lane is now dating Clark. Lex hides underground, again seeking kryptonite. But after kidnapping Lois in an attempt to reclaim her, he is traced to his sewer lair by Superman. This time however, Superman prevents Lex from taking his own life again to "cheat justice" and sends him to prison.
Luthor later escapes through a convoluted plot involving clones; first using a clone of the President to grant him a pardon, then kidnapping the real Lois Lane and replacing her with a clone just before her wedding to Clark.[57] Luthor hopes to transfer the minds of himself and the genuine Lois into clone bodies so they may never be found. Although he tricks Lois' clone into divulging Superman's secret identity, he still fails in destroying Superman, and is killed the destruction of his lab.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Luthor has illegitimate sons, two of whom try to kill Superman over the course of the last two seasons. The second one, played by Keith Brunsmann, is facially deformed and disowned by his father, reduced to living in a furnished sewer/transit station beneath Metropolis. Lex Luthor Jr. hires a handsome stand-in (played by Patrick Cassidy) to impersonate him; The imposter poses as Lex Jr.'s public persona as he murders the CEOs of his father's old companies and rebuilds LexCorp.[58] While Lex Jr. and his imposter manage to get their hands on a recording of the elder Luthor (John Shea's voice) revealing Superman's secret identity, both men are later killed in an explosion that levels the crypt. Lois is initially skeptical that Lex could have fathered these adult men, but Clark insists that no one can be sure of Luthor's true age since he was "a master of deception".
[edit] Smallville
The television series Smallville features a younger Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum (who also voiced the Flash on the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series.) Although his history echoes previous incarnations, this version of Lex did not begin as a bona fide villain.
Lex's full name is Alexander Luthor, modeled after Alexander the Great. His father, nefarious business mogul Lionel Luthor, idolizes the legendary general, and applies Alexander's tactics to the world of modern business. At the age of 9, Lex accompanies his father on a business trip to Smallville, unwittingly getting caught in the meteor shower that brings Kal-El to Earth; he survives, but loses his hair as a result[2] (Superman's indirect involvement in Lex's hair loss resembles the Silver Age comic mythos). Lex later believes that the exposure which left him bald also gave him a "super" immune system and was the reason that he had never been sick after the event. Lex is the heir to LuthorCorp, and lives in an ornate mansion on the edge of Smallville.
Lex first meets his future nemesis Clark Kent when he loses control of his Porsche, slamming into Clark and plummeting off a bridge. It is after Clark saves his life that the two bond and become friends. Smallville plays on his relationship with Clark and how that deteriorates into the mutual enmity that they will have in life. Lionel Luthor exhibits many of the same characteristics as Lex's comic-book counterpart, and it is through his dysfunctional relationship with Lex that Smallville attempts to characterize how Lex eventually succumbs to his truly evil side; early seasons focused on Lex's severely traumatic and loveless upbringing, a stark contrast to Clark's own idyllic childhood.
In the second episode of Season Five, Lex's friendship with Clark finally ends when he arranges for Clark, his parents, and Lana Lang to be taken hostage, in an effort to prove that Clark is hiding some secret abilities. He nearly manages to record evidence of Clark's superpowers, but Clark's powers were taken away by his father, Jor-El, and Lex's efforts come to nothing. As resentment between the former friends grows, Lex further alienates Clark by becoming romantically involved with Lana.
At the end of season five, Milton Fine/Brainiac manipulates Lex into being possessed by the consciousness of General Zod. After recovery at the beginning of season six, Lex focuses on a secret project called 33.1 based around capturing and studying people who have been infected by kryptonite in order to recreate their abilities, ostensibly to protect the world against further alien threats. This puts him at odds with Clark and his new ally, billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen, aka the Green Arrow with whom he went to boarding school. At the same time, Lex becomes engaged to Lana after she supposedly becomes pregnant with his child (it turned out that she had been drugged with a synthetic hormone to simulate pregnancy). At the end of season 6, Lex is arrested for the murder of his wife, Lana Lang, who appears to have been caught in an explosion triggered by a car bomb.
Lana, however, faked her own death and comes back to Smallville. Soon learning of Clark's secret as they become romantically involved. Lex also was saved by the, recently found Kara Kent (Supergirl). And he soon becomes wrapped up in discovering her true identity.
[edit] Animation
[edit] Super Friends
Luthor was a recurring villain in Hanna-Barbara's Superfriends franchise that ran from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. In the series Challenge of the Superfriends season, Luthor was head of the Legion of Doom, a coalition of villains who plotted the downfall of the titular heroes.[59] Luthor appeared in his pre-Crisis purple jumpsuit. He was voiced by Stan Jones.
The Challenge Of The Superfriends episode History Of Doom depicts a portion of Lex Luthor's origin from Adventure Comics #271.
[edit] Ruby-Spears animated series
In the short-lived 1988 animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Luthor was shown as an evil businessman for the first time in other media. He is voiced by Michael Bell.
[edit] Superman: The Animated Series
In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series and the subsequent Justice League animated series Luthor was voiced by actor Clancy Brown of Highlander and Buckaroo Banzai fame (Brown originally auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent, but that part ultimately went to Tim Daly). The Animated Series' Luthor is a corrupt businessman like his comic book counterpart, and again his jealously and hatred of Superman ultimately brings down his empire.
According to the DVD commentaries and interviews by the show's creators, the Animated Series Luthor was inspired by Telly Savalas' portrayal of James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[60]
[edit] Justice League
It is revealed early in the series that Luthor is suffering from a rare blood cancer caused by long-term exposure to the Kryptonite Shard he carries. While in prison, he bribes the Ultra-Humanite to free him, and the two band together and ultimately form the Injustice Gang. Ultra-Humanite's technology allows Lex to wear an armored suit that will decrease the speed his cancer, as well as give him a fighting chance against Superman. However, Humanite betrays him when approached with an offer by Batman. After being exposed as a criminal and losing his business empire, Luthor's characterization turns more toward the original conception of a criminal genius obsessed with destroying Superman. He is eventually pardoned from his crimes after assisting the Justice League in defeating their alternate evil counterparts from a parallel universe, the Justice Lords. Afterwards, Luthor is interviewed by the press and implies that he is thinking of going into politics.
[edit] Justice League Unlimited
In the first season of Justice League Unlimited, Luthor announces he was running for President of the United States; This is later revealed to be a ruse to enrage Superman. In reality, Luthor is reality financially backing Project Cadmus, a shadow government organization dedicated to eradicating the League if they ever turn on Earth's population. Luthor ultimately betrays them, hijacking the League's space-based laser to take out Cadmus leaving the impression the League had attacked the United States government. While attempting to place his mind in a duplicate of A.M.A.Z.O., he is thwarted by Amanda Waller of Cadmus. At this point, it was revealed that Brainiac had downloaded himself into Luthor long ago in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Ghost in the Machine", secretly manipulating his actions. After the two merge into a more complete being using alien nanotechnology, Luthor/Brainiac attempts to destroy the world, but they are halted by The Flash.
Luthor returns later to join the Legion of Doom, but, ironically, not as the leader (Gorilla Grodd). Luthor agreed to join in order to obtain the last remaining piece of Brainiac, which Grodd has in his possession. Luthor is obsessed with rebuilding Brainiac, as what is left of him is inhabiting Luthor's mind, giving him a sort of multiple personality disorder.[61] It is unclear to the viewer, however, if Brainiac really exists and inhabits his mind, or if he is simply a mad figment of his imagination. Later, using the failure of Gorilla Grodd's silly master plan to turn all humans into apes as pretext, Lex shoots and and imprisons him, then assumes Grodd's place as leader.
After taking over as leader of the Legion, Luthor returns to trying to resurrect Brainiac. Using the power of the Legion headquarters, Luthor spends tireless hours trying to bring a fragment of Brainiac back online. With the help of Tala, Luthor tracks down Brainiac's base (seen in the episode "Twilight") and reconfigures the Legion base into a starship with which to seek out the remnants Brainiac's base. During the journey, Tala frees Gorilla Grodd, who mounts an insurrection against Luthor with his fellow Legion members. Just as Grodd moves to use his telepathic power on Luthor, Luthor uses his belt to take over Grodd's mind. Afterward, Luthor forces Grodd into an airlock and jettisons him into space.
The Legion, back under Luthor's power, returns to their task of resurrecting Brainiac. Luthor hooks Tala up to a machine, reminiscent of Brainiac's machine used against Superman, to transmutate remnants of Brainiac's base back into a working body of Brainiac. Before Luthor begins the process, Metron stops time and appears to him warning that he may be unleashing something that will affect the past, present and future. Luthor, still obsessed with becoming a god, ignores him, and the process begins.
Although the process is seemingly successful, Luthor actually ends up resurrecting Darkseid, who attempts to destroy the Legion in the episode"Alive". The remnants of the Legion, under Luthor, go to the Justice League Watchtower to warn the superheroes of the threat and insist on a temporary alliance in the defense of the planet in the episode"Destroyer". With the aid of the New God Metron, Luthor manages to acquire the Anti-Life Equation long sought by Darkseid, and uses it on the lord of Apokolips, (apparently) sacrificing his own life in the process. Batman, however, suspects that either one or both of them survived.
[edit] Superman: Brainiac Attacks
Lex Luthor was also featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Brainiac Attacks. Lex's character designs from Superman: The Animated Series, his job as a criminal businessman and his bodyguard Mercy Graves were used for this movie, but this version of Luthor acted similar to Gene Hackman's Luthor from Superman, although not as effectively as Hackman had done. He constantly spouted one-liners and at one point threw a Tiki Torch Luau to celebrate Superman's presumed death. Lex Luthor was voiced by Powers Boothe in this movie.
[edit] Superman: Doomsday
Lex Luthor is featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Doomsday. Lex's character design is similar to those seen in Superman: The Animated Series, albeit with a much slimmer profile and a white suit, and is voiced by James Marsters; Marsters also portrayed villain Milton Fine (Brainiac) in the fifth season of Smallville.
In the film, Luthor is indirectly responsible for the release of the creature Doomsday. Upon discovering that the latent radiation from the Earth's core can be harnessed for energy purposes, LexCorp has been illegally drilling into the earth. When Luthor's miners stumble upon Doomsday's alien spacecraft while digging, they accidentally damage it and awaken Doomsaday from his long slumber. After the creature slaughters the mining team, Luthor orders his personal assistant, Mercy Graves, to cover up his involvement.
Following Superman and Doomsday's epic battle, Superman lies dead, and Luthor is free of all culpability. Rather than be pleased, Luthor is incensed that the evidence crediting him to Superman's death has been destroyed; he lashes out by killing Mercy with a handgun, despite the fact she was only following his orders. Luthor then robs Superman's body from his grave with the intention of creating genetic clones of him. The cloned Superman is more violent than the original, killing crooks, insulting old ladies, and generally behaving like a public menace. Meanwhile, the real Superman's corpse disappears from LexCorp during an electrical blackout.
Luthor is visited in his office by Lois Lane, who says she feels distant from her relationship with Superman (not knowing that he is a clone). Luthor tries to seduce her and they kiss, but Lois uses a tranquilizer on Luthor and knocks him unconscious; Lois believes he is the one behind Superman's strange behavior. Lois and Jimmy Olsen uncover Luthor's cloning project, but Luthor reappears and tries to shoot them. Fortunately, the cloned Superman has freed himself from Luthor's control and steps in to rescue Lois and Jimmy. Luthor escapes to a room with red sun beams, similar to Krypton's Red Sun, which will neutalize Superman's powers; he also dons kryptonite gloves, with the intention of beating the insolent clone to death. Instead, the clone traps Luthor in the vault, rips its foundation out of the building, and throws the vault across Metropolis. At the end of movie, it is revealed that Luthor survived, but with severe injuries.
[edit] Legion of Super Heroes animated series
In the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Legacy", the young Superman meets Alexis, the "richest girl in the galaxy" in the 30th century, who also has a knack with machinery and access to powerful technology. A redhead who wears a purple jumpsuit (echoing Lex Luthor's original hair color and classic costume), Alexis starts out as a friend of Superman, but is scorned when he refuses to neglect his duties with the Legion in favor of spending time with her.
To get rid of the "competition" for Superman's time, Alexis equips enemies of the Legion with cutting-edge weaponry and, after luring Superman away with a fake distress call, personally dons a suit of robotic armor and leads an attack on the remaining Legion members. Superman returns in time to aid his friends and makes it clear to Alexis in no uncertain terms that he wants nothing more to do with her. Alexis decides to kill Superman, reasoning that if he won't be her friend, he won't be anybody else's either. In the struggle, the barrel of Alexis' gun overloads and her suit blows up. Superman pulls her free in time to save her life, but in addition to the injuries she sustained from the blast, all of her hair is seared off.
Instead of showing gratitude, Alexis is incensed. In the final scene, she has recovered and appears to be regrowing her hair while in prison. Her prison uniform displays the name "Luthor" written in the Interlac alphabet. While rebuilding her butler/bodyguard, the sinister Alexis states that she is actually grateful to the Legion, since they helped her realize her potential as a supervillainess. Alexis is voiced by Tara Strong. She is seen again in the season one finale where the Legion break out the Fatal Five. When she sees Superman she sticks her tongue out at him.
[edit] Robot Chicken
Lex Luthor appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Toyz in the Hood" voiced by Seth Green. He is seen carpooling to work with Cobra Commander, Mumm-Ra, and Skeletor.
[edit] Krypto the Superdog
In the animated series, Krypto the Superdog, a rather cartoonish version of the DCAU Luthor (who is also portrayed as a rich businessman in the series, played by Brian Dobson, though he is only rarely seen) has a pet iguana named Ignatius. Like Luthor, Ignatius is intelligent, vain, and morally ambivalent. Ignatius is voiced by Scott McNeil.
[edit] The Batman
Luthor appeared in the fifth season of The Batman. Clancy Brown reprises his role from the DC animated universe. Luthor hires Metallo and equips him with his only piece of kryptonite he has to defeat Superman, but is defeated by Batman. Luthor hires Black Mask and Clayface to kidnap Lois Lane while he leaves for Gotham with Mercy Graves. While Superman rescues Lois, Luthor captures Poison Ivy and mixes her mind controlling spores with the kryptonite powder he already had. He uses it in Superman to become his personal slave. After Batman frees Superman from his control, both of them defeat Lex Luthor
[edit] Video games
Lex Luthor has appeared in every electronic game featuring Superman since the first Superman game released for the Atari 2600 with the exception of The Death and Return of Superman. Most recently, he has appeared in the Superman Returns video game, but is only seen in cut scenes.
[edit] Name
Lex Luthor's full first name has over the years been variously spelled as Alexis, Alexei, and Alexander (currently his official first name), but originally "Lex" was not intended to be short for anything. In Latin, the name "Lex" translates as "law."
In Smallville, his full name is Alexander Joseph Luthor. He is named after Alexander the Great, the historical general whom Lionel Luthor most admires and encourages his son to pattern himself after.
[edit] References
- ^ a b patfullerton.com - Superman: Lex Luthor Gallery. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ a b c SupermanTV - Lex Luthor Origins. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Wizard #177.
- ^ Action Comics #23
- ^ Cronin, Brian (2006) Comic Book Resources - "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #79". Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Daniels, Les. Superman: The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Man of Steel. Chronicle Books, 1998, pg. 13.
- ^ UnderGroundOnline - Superman Enemies: Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Daniels (1998), p. 66.
- ^ a b DC Database Project - Alexei Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Crisis on Infinite Earths #9.
- ^ Adventure Comics #271.
- ^ supermanthrutheages.com -"How Luthor Met Superboy" Retrieved on 2007-8-5.
- ^ a b Scifipedia - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Superman #43/3, November/December 1946: “The Molten World!�
- ^ Supermanica entry on Lexor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Action Comics # 318, November 1964: "The Death of Luthor".
- ^ Superman #164.
- ^ Action Comics #544/1, June 1983: "Luthor Unleashed".
- ^ Superman Homepage - Who's Who In the Superman Comics: Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Supermanica entry on Lena Thorul. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Superman #416.
- ^ Supermanthrutheages.com - "The Einstein Connection". Retrieved on 2007-8-5.
- ^ Superman Homepage interview with Marv Wolfman. Retrieved on 2007-7-7.
- ^ Spider Bob's Comic Book Encyclopedia - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ DC Database Project - Lex Luthor (New Earth). Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Oracle's Realm - Lex Luthor Mega Page. Retrieved on 007-7-20.
- ^ Superman Homepage - Who's Who In the Superman Comics: Perry White. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
- ^ Superman #131.
- ^ The Man of Steel #4.
- ^ Justice League Files - Luthor, Lex.
- ^ Action Comics #685.
- ^ Action Comics #600.
- ^ Superman #49.
- ^ Action Comics #670.
- ^ The Captain's JLA homepage - Lex Luthor (DC Universe). Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Action Comics #677.
- ^ Superman #77.
- ^ Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow #1.
- ^ Action Comics #737.
- ^ Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow #5.
- ^ Superman #119.
- ^ Superman: The Man Of Steel #77.
- ^ President Luthor: Secret Files & Origins #1.
- ^ Waid, Mark (2004) Superman Birthright - Lex Luthor (retrospective).
- ^ Action Comics #837
- ^ 52: Week 3
- ^ Newsarama interview with Stephen Wacker [1]
- ^ 52: Week 39
- ^ 52: Week 40
- ^ Action Comics #839>
- ^ Action Comics #840
- ^ Supermanica - Luthor's Lair. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Movie Villains - The Best and Worst Villains of All Time: Lex Luthor (2004). Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ DMWC's Superboy: The Series Website - The Villains of Superboy. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
- ^ Superman: A Who's Who of the Man of Steel - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Second Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Third Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Fourth Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Seanbaby's Super Friends Page - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ imbd.com - FAQs for Superman. Retrieved on 2007-7-29.
- ^ Superman Super Site - Brainiac. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
[edit] External links
- The Unofficial Guide to the DC universe - The Unofficial Lex Luthor Chronology
- Superman Homepage - Lex Luthor - A summarized history of the post-Crisis Lex Luthor (3 parts)
- Luthor Wins! - announcement of Lex Luthor's victory in the 2000 Presidential election, on the official DC Comics site
- The Captain's Unofficial Justice League Homepage:Lex Luthor
- Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Lex Luthor
- The Justice League Watchtower - Lex Luthor
- The Remaking of Lex Luthor From the Quarter Bin
- Lex Luthor on DCComics.com
- Lex Luthor Guilty AND Innocent! - "News article" on how Luthor had his name cleared in 52
- The religion of Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-enemy
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|---|---|
| Creators | Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster |
| Characters | Superman (Clark Kent) · Lois Lane · Jimmy Olsen · Perry White · Jor-El and Lara · Ma and Pa Kent · Lana Lang · Pete Ross · Steel · Superboy (Kal-El; Kon-El) · Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) · Krypto · Eradicator · Chris Kent |
| Villains | Lex Luthor · Bizarro · Brainiac · Cyborg Superman · Darkseid · Doomsday · General Zod · Livewire · Metallo · Mongul · Mr. Mxyzptlk · Parasite · Prankster · Toyman · Ultra-Humanite · Intergang · Phantom Zone villains · Ultraman |
| Locations | Daily Planet · Fortress of Solitude · Krypton · Metropolis · Smallville |
| History and themes | Origin · History of Superman · Symbol · Powers · Kryptonite · Character and cast · Relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane |
| Miscellanea | Publications · Storylines · Alternate versions · Superman in popular culture |
Categories: American comics characters | DC Comics supervillains | DC Comics titles | Fictional atheists | Fictional businesspeople | Fictional characters from Kansas | Fictional Americans | Fictional inventors | Fictional mass murderers | Fictional Presidents of the United States | Fictional scientists | Golden Age supervillains | Smallville characters | Supervillains without aliases | Suicidal fictional characters | Fictional murderers
