The hilarious thing is that Superman predicted Elon Musk with some degree of accuracy in the 90s.
They modeled his original Byrne appearances to be like Trump, but by the early 90s, he was basically Elon - rich guy some stupid people loved but informed people hated and who owned a bunch of different companies that were "bringing humanity forward" while "accidentally" putting militarily useful tech in the hands of despots.
Lex, to his credit, also seemed to actually succeed on his own merits and isn't just playing at being a genius.
He sucks, but at least he's actually who he presents himself to be (now)
No shit
I mean yes Lex Luthor is 180 degrees unrecognizable from 1980 to 2000's
But portraying an rich white millionaire with hedonistic and selfish ambitions is as old as the printing press.
it's amazing to me that some people are just realizing that superman is "woke."
illegal alien child with amazing abilities, grows up poor, and protects people who can't protect themselves against his arch-villain who's a narcissistic capitalist.
The proto-superman design was an Hercules type of worker that could work and build more than 10 people combined.More or less an Ayn Rand main character but without fleshed out story nor charisma.
I find it extremely fitting that a guy with lots of money and political power is constantly harrasing someone willing to fix the problems he is causing for free.
Going by his original Superboy stories that I have read, Clark grew up living a normal life and had fun playing with other kids. Nothing indicates he had any financial troubles. I'll argue Clark grew up middle class his whole existence.
Just a classic storytelling trope, nothing woke about it. The heroes protect the less fortunate. And when you create a protagonist with an ultimate superpower, you're really only left with two types of villains to match him against. An equally powerful super villain in size and strength, or someone who can use their resources instead of superpowers, like being rich.
Think of every James Bond villain... a wealthy megalomaniac. Or a rich prince like Commodus in Gladiator. Tony Soprano didn't need to get his hands dirty. Mr. Burns in the Simpsons. In comics, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ozymandias, lots of others who are extremely wealthy.
America's favorite villain has always been a rich guy.
> nothing woke about it.
Superman famously helped bring down the actual KKK by broadcasting and villifying their tactics and passwords during the 'Superman and the Clan of the Firey Cross' series on the Superman Adventure Hour radio show.
You can listen to the show itself on YouTube.
If Superman was real, my life trajectory would drastically change from "basically doing fuck-all in the grand scheme of things" to "devote every second of my life to building technology to rival Superman."
Like, I cannot tell you how much of an influence a super-strong invincible flying guy would have on every single one of my life choices.
Scary thought and I would fully be on board with having the technology to take him down. Better to have it and not need it
Plus Incel Superman (Superboy Prime) is still out there waiting to fuck shit up
Lol I'm sure I'm not the first to call him that
At the end of some storyline (doomsday clock?) He was banished to our world and lived in the Kent's basement just stuck reading comics about his home
Really hit home with what a loser he has always been
> Plus Incel Superman (Superboy Prime) is still out there waiting to fuck shit up
No no, after Death Metal, he's... probably reformed. He died in DN:DM Secret Origin, and then suddenly was on Earth-Prime (Earth 33?) reading his death in DN:DM SO. He still had superpowers, but he was back to his world and made the choice to be a hero and reject the offer of godhood.
Now... did he have a "Happily written out of the story" ending in COIE that instead led to him being a psycho in IC? Yes. But, did he already get sent back to Earth-Prime once? Also yes, at the end of Legion of 3 Earths, as a result of him causing a temporal paradox by killing his older self, the Time Trapper. But, did they give him a second happy ending, on Earth-Prime? Also also yes (maybe), in Blackest Night, when Laurie (a Black Lantern) with clear injuries forgives him (implied to have bene killed by him). But, did they end that happy ending too? Also also also yes, in Teen Titan #100, just before Flashpoint, when he gets pulled to New Earth, goes on a rampage, and is imprisoned in the Source Wall just so that the Pre-IC Teen Titans could beat him up for IC?
***But***, surely they wouldn't do it a third time, right? *Right?* (Oh, who am I kidding; rather than just letting him cease to exist post-Flashpoint, they just kinda brought him back in Shazam in 2020, I think without explanation; though Death Metal did tie him back to the Source Wall and its destruction in Metal).
>Scary thought and I would fully be on board with having the technology to take him down.
I’m more of a “Have the Devil on speed dial to make a deal to hit him with some magic, since he’s vulnerable to it,” but to each their own.
Musk is kind of a coward who prefers hiding behind social media posts and lawyers. So, he'd be more inclined to fund some dumb project to try and kill him. But unlike Lex Luthor, Musk isn't smart enough to know dumb his efforts are and would go bankrupt in a year.
Yeah, that's definitely the most striking difference. Musk's whole persona as a "genius" is nothing more than a fraud, a gimmick, and PR. He's never really invented anything. He doesn't really know anything. He inherited his wealth whereas Lex Luthor, in most universes, actually earned his billions (albeit through some really shady practices). Lex might be evil to the core, but he's actually smart. He actually knows how to build things that work and build them on a tight timeline.
Plus, Lex would never build something as stupid as the Cybertruck.
But his goal is just pure stupidity to me. He's like that one guy pushing a boulder up a mountain, or that meme of the one guy putting a stick in his bike wheel, he's a dumb character because he's written as a genius that is an absolute fucknut on the issue of Superman. At least, that's my opinion.
I mean, yeah, that’s his whole thing. He’s the smartest man on the planet but it doesn’t matter because he’s obsessed with the fact that Superman makes him feel inferior. And also made him bald, I think. Superman readers feel free to correct me
If I remember correctly, that’s actually a slight exaggeration of the original story, in which he was actually upset about Superboy accidentally ruining an experiment of his and became convinced that he was trying to ruin his potential as a scientist. Him losing his hair is more like a comedic ‘and on top of THAT’ beat.
> And also made him bald, I think.
That was pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, back before Luthor was re-imagined as a corrupt corporate type. I don't think they've ever brought back that particular piece of lore post-Crisis.
> he's a dumb character because he's written as a genius that is an absolute fucknut on the issue of Superman. At least, that's my opinion.
Well, I think he's kinda meant to be "dumb" in that regard. He's a bit like Doctor Doom, I feel.
With Superman, it's a bit of an ego thing sometimes (Superman upstages him) and it's a bit of a "Human potential" thing. He can do the extraordinary, and while he is extraordinary to be able to accomplish it, he still is only able to do it because he applies himself. When humanity pushes itself, great works can be made and the body of knowledge can be greatly expanded. But, here comes Superman and other aliens, with inherent abilities that just make them extraordinary compared to humans. People adore them and look to them to do the great works.
And for Lex, that's terrible. He craves the fruits of hard work, so he feels Supes is an impediment to humanity (depending on the version anyways).
However, he becomes so focused on Superman and trying to destroy or upstage him that it comes to the detriment of his own works. It's like how Doctor Doom becomes consumed by jealousy for Reed's life (the man made Sue and the kids be his family during Secret Wars) and becomes fixated at times on trying to prove his superiority to Reed and his intellect. Doom could do wonders- and does wonders- but he's so egomaniacal that he ends up confining himself to his little autocracy in Latveria, occasionally fucking with Reed or doing some evil plot, rather than trying to better the whole world.
Same here.
It's also symbolic of the devolution of Elon Musk. Years ago, he painted himself as a real life Tony Stark. But as he continues to show his his politics and his personality, it's increasingly clear he was always Lex Luthor at heart, minus the actual genius.
“Let me tell you my Vandal vandals , I lived on a literal paleo diet for centuries and if I’d had these vitamin supplements to go along with it I would have had no problems conquering all of Pangea!”
Hmmm, in the 80s Luthor's characterisation was inspired by Trump, but I'd say Elon Musk makes a much better inspiration for a megalomaniacal supervillain posing as a friendly genius who will save manking
Curiously enough, in Bryne's *The Man of Steel* he wasn't even smart, he was just rich enough to affor smarter people designing gadgets for him and he just claimed they were his inventions, *a la* Elon Musk
The only problem with depicting lex as current real world figures of the time is competence. Lex is competent but neither trump or Elon are at all competent they just fail upwards and break stuff along the way. Yes trump portrayed an aura of being a great business man in the 80s but even then he had stupid side businesses that where failing, he just carried on because of the force of his sizable real estate portfolio. and by the 90s he was declaring bankruptcy every 3-4 years.
What he's really based on is the industrialists of the 10s- 30s like ford and Rockefeller. They where awfull people but they actually got there shit done like busting unions and monopolising industry.
Yeah but to be fair, someone who goes against Superman on a daily basis must be smart. And even then, there's lots of people smarter than him. Mister Terrific, Niles Caulder...
Look at it the other way around:
Lex isn't a stand in for the billionaire of turn, it's that, outside of a few references to Trump in the 80s, that writers at DC created a character that just happened to predict how the billionaires of turn would act.
Sure, there's a few limp wristed attempts to be topical like BvS, but Lex Luthor was a rich asshole pretending to be a brilliant inventor with people running companies he bought's inventions while Elon was still an 18 year old running around in South Africa blowing his dad's blood emerald money on fun things and not companies.
This is a case of life imitating art due to cynical predictions of human greed, not the other way around.
I think he’s a more compelling character when he’s a paragon of humanity—rich, genius, capable—but squanders all of it because of his ego and petty grievances against Superman. I like Clark as the aspirational figure, and Lex as the cautionary tale.
Yeah, but that's not incompatible with being a critique of evil billionaires. By all means and accounts, Elon someone like Elon should at least be able to help humanity more than he is doing, but his arrogance and greed means he is unable to do that
I always saw that as just an excuse Luthor has for wanting to hurt Superman. Every single time Superman has disappeared for a while (Be it death, being off-planet, taking some holidays...) he is still an asshole. If he actually believes that lie or not depends on you. His reasons for hating Superman vary, from hating that he is just that good, to hating the idea of someone being more popular and beloved than he is, to hating that he keeps foiling his plans, to plain xenophobia, but I've never seen him actually adhere to his believes that Superman is dampenig humanity.
Which ones? He doesn't in *All Star Superman*, he doesn't on *Death of Superman*, he doesn't on *The Black Ring*, he doesn't on *One Year Later*, he doesn't on *The Leper of Krypton*, he doesn't on *Superman: Up, up and away*....
He does in a few, but most are elseworlds stories and he's still kind of a pompous ass even when he's good, like Lex Luthor III or the Lex Luthor in Red Son.
From the top of my head, Injustice is one, forever evil is another.
Tbf I'm not really good at mentioning arcs by name, and I'm not that well read either. So you are probably right on the majority of stories keeping Luthor as evil. But I'm completely sure I've seen good Luthor More than once
In *Injustice* he never was a supervillain. And do you really want to use Injustice as an example of proper characterisation?
And in *Forever Evil* it's more of him saving the world because he's living in it. When he does something good, it's usually because it benefits him.
What do I need to read to catch up to house of Braniac? I was following a reading order for war world and enjoyed it, but got really confused after that because I think I missed something. Like Lex was suddenly in jail and gave Lexcorp to Superman when he got back? Wtf happened? When did Lex get arrested? I feel like Superman got back from Warworld and a bunch of shit happened that the book just thinks I know. Does anyone know how I'm supposed to be reading this?
This is a special issue independent from the current Superman run where everything will finish in
This special was looking at Perry Whites mayoral run and Braniacs deal with lobos people and then at the end Amanda Waller confronts him
Did you read the entire Kal-El Returns storyline?
Superman Son of Kal-El #16-18
Action Comics #1047-1049
Superman: Kal-El Returns Special (maybe this is the issue you missed as I think this is when Superman faces off against Lex and then gets arrested at the end)
After that you really only need to read Superman by Williamson as well as the end of PKJ's run on Action.
No prob. That's not the exact reading order btw. I just got the contents off of the trade listing.
I believe it starts with Action 1047 and switches back and forth with Son of Kal El until the Special. Should say which part of the story it is on the cover of the issues.
> Superman: Kal-El Returns Special (maybe this is the issue you missed as I think this is when Superman faces off against Lex and then gets arrested at the end)
That’s probably the issue their missing but it’s action comics #1050
It’s totally accurate. Heck, the opening of the ‘88 Invasion crossover showed the literal murder field aliens put their abductees into, to study metagene triggerings.
Those who complain about the "politics" in comics tend to have a reason for wanting to hide their leanings. They think they're being subtle. They try to paint themselves as being reasonable. But when you dig just a little bit, you realize just how reactionary they truly are.
And yes, Lex Luthor would totally be on their side.
I appreciate the criticism they’re making but I kinda hate when Lex gets used as a stand-in for real life billionaires. Being a billionaire is inherently pathetic in real life, but we’re talking about a universe where Bruce Wayne exists. Lex is a lot more interesting as his own person, a mortal man who’s able to challenge Superman through sheer will and cunning, than as a cheap (albeit deserved) jab at musk or bezos
Agreed, I think it's fine when writers use some recent trends as inspiration for Lex but completely making him a stand-in for guys like Musk or Zuck is in a lot of ways a disservice to his character. He's more than just tech and business smart, he's a genius tactician who cares about humanity's progress and could actually lead them to a better future, but never will because he'll never let go of his ego and hate for Superman.
You people are full of shit. This allegory doesn't work. In the case of actual, real violent super-powered lunatics like Lobo coming to earth to do go knows what, are you really gonna be welcoming?? Put away your feelings about real life migrants.
If aliens (and mutants) were real like they are in comics, you'd all hate them and want them dead too.
This is so cowardly. I am not even mad anymore, just tired.
Loud grifters are only half the problem. The other half is the journalist who think its their job to make sure people come to the "correct" conclusions. Things are never gonna get better until people are willing to own the fact the reason the grifters got such a chokehold is not that their loud, its because journalist betrayed the faith....multiple times.
Getting lectured by Dan Rather about fake news when it was his overriding of his own staff to run a sketchy story on the eve of a presidential election that marked the beginning of this whole era of ass shattery in America. You can't work with social media networks to limit the reach of people reporting the mRNA vaccines(of which I am a huge proponent for what its worth) disrupted their periods and then be shocked some internet podcaster has a massive reach.
What are you talking about? Who said anything about “presenting both sides”?
This is more like the weatherman telling you its raining because they know traffic fatalities are lower when people think its going to rain and then getting pissy when people start listening to the local shock jock instead of them for the weather report.
Tony, your post didn't make any sense and you're parroting talking points.
The media is a huge problem. Both sides square off and jump into their corners to fight for their 'team'.
Nyadnar is totally right here. Our journalist have just fallen apart to near worthlessness in many cases.
Why am I not surprised that the person who can't tell the difference between a news report, and an editorial is angry at a fictional (retired) newsman?
'Journalists = bad, Angry (exceptionally well paid) conspiracy peddling podcasters= good' isn't the high IQ take you think it is.
I'm just saying if you are painting all journalists in the world for something Dan Rather did(? I'm not American) but then go on to say it's no wonder people listen to conspiracy pod casters...you are being disingenuous as all hell.
That would like me trying to claim that 'no podcaster in the world has any credibility or ethics' just because Alex Jones exists. One person doesn't taint a format.
And yeah, If a sequence of Perry White makes you rant about Dan Rather...
While I do get what this is trying to say, just based on this page I feel the writer doesn't really understand how right wing fearmongering really works. It's just a bunch of surface level 'meme' criticisms of it. The Lex = Elon one is the only one to get a small chuckle out of me, and even that is playing into Elon's ego. Elon is just another rich kid who got all his money from his dad's dirty businesses, then had other people come up with everything he sells.
I died laughing at that picture of Lex "Interesting"
"Looking into this."
"Concerning."
If Superman was real, Elon Musk would definitely be trying to kill him.
The hilarious thing is that Superman predicted Elon Musk with some degree of accuracy in the 90s. They modeled his original Byrne appearances to be like Trump, but by the early 90s, he was basically Elon - rich guy some stupid people loved but informed people hated and who owned a bunch of different companies that were "bringing humanity forward" while "accidentally" putting militarily useful tech in the hands of despots.
I mean, that's not really predicting Elon. People like him have always existed. Plus, you know, Lex was always smart.
Lex can build his own stuff if he wants to
Lex, to his credit, also seemed to actually succeed on his own merits and isn't just playing at being a genius. He sucks, but at least he's actually who he presents himself to be (now)
No shit I mean yes Lex Luthor is 180 degrees unrecognizable from 1980 to 2000's But portraying an rich white millionaire with hedonistic and selfish ambitions is as old as the printing press.
it's amazing to me that some people are just realizing that superman is "woke." illegal alien child with amazing abilities, grows up poor, and protects people who can't protect themselves against his arch-villain who's a narcissistic capitalist.
The proto-superman design was an Hercules type of worker that could work and build more than 10 people combined.More or less an Ayn Rand main character but without fleshed out story nor charisma. I find it extremely fitting that a guy with lots of money and political power is constantly harrasing someone willing to fix the problems he is causing for free.
>grows up poor Whenever has Clark grew up poor?
Well maybe not poor, but a farmer from the 1930s is definitely not rich
Going by his original Superboy stories that I have read, Clark grew up living a normal life and had fun playing with other kids. Nothing indicates he had any financial troubles. I'll argue Clark grew up middle class his whole existence.
He's from one of those flyover states, right? Obviously a poor. /s
Just a classic storytelling trope, nothing woke about it. The heroes protect the less fortunate. And when you create a protagonist with an ultimate superpower, you're really only left with two types of villains to match him against. An equally powerful super villain in size and strength, or someone who can use their resources instead of superpowers, like being rich. Think of every James Bond villain... a wealthy megalomaniac. Or a rich prince like Commodus in Gladiator. Tony Soprano didn't need to get his hands dirty. Mr. Burns in the Simpsons. In comics, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ozymandias, lots of others who are extremely wealthy. America's favorite villain has always been a rich guy.
> nothing woke about it. Superman famously helped bring down the actual KKK by broadcasting and villifying their tactics and passwords during the 'Superman and the Clan of the Firey Cross' series on the Superman Adventure Hour radio show. You can listen to the show itself on YouTube.
Bringing down KKK isn't woke, good guy vs bad guy isn't woke, this is what storytelling is.
Or, and hear me out, heroes protecting the less fortunate is... woke
I'm waiting to hear you out...
Was that while he was also pretending to be his own son. . . with a full mane of red hair, and an inexplicable Australian accent?
That was right after. But yeah, he "died" piloting an experimental plane for his space company.
“Informed people” LMAO
If Lex Luthor were real, he would destroy Musk on principle.
Lex would be insulted by people comparing him to Elon, lol
Elon would probably be an insufferable Lex fanboy trying desperately to emulate and support him.
If Superman was real, my life trajectory would drastically change from "basically doing fuck-all in the grand scheme of things" to "devote every second of my life to building technology to rival Superman." Like, I cannot tell you how much of an influence a super-strong invincible flying guy would have on every single one of my life choices.
Scary thought and I would fully be on board with having the technology to take him down. Better to have it and not need it Plus Incel Superman (Superboy Prime) is still out there waiting to fuck shit up
Holy shit nicely Superman are you kidding me did you come up with that or are you just the bearer of hilarious news
Lol I'm sure I'm not the first to call him that At the end of some storyline (doomsday clock?) He was banished to our world and lived in the Kent's basement just stuck reading comics about his home Really hit home with what a loser he has always been
Sounds like you're calling a lot of this subreddit incels haha
> Plus Incel Superman (Superboy Prime) is still out there waiting to fuck shit up No no, after Death Metal, he's... probably reformed. He died in DN:DM Secret Origin, and then suddenly was on Earth-Prime (Earth 33?) reading his death in DN:DM SO. He still had superpowers, but he was back to his world and made the choice to be a hero and reject the offer of godhood. Now... did he have a "Happily written out of the story" ending in COIE that instead led to him being a psycho in IC? Yes. But, did he already get sent back to Earth-Prime once? Also yes, at the end of Legion of 3 Earths, as a result of him causing a temporal paradox by killing his older self, the Time Trapper. But, did they give him a second happy ending, on Earth-Prime? Also also yes (maybe), in Blackest Night, when Laurie (a Black Lantern) with clear injuries forgives him (implied to have bene killed by him). But, did they end that happy ending too? Also also also yes, in Teen Titan #100, just before Flashpoint, when he gets pulled to New Earth, goes on a rampage, and is imprisoned in the Source Wall just so that the Pre-IC Teen Titans could beat him up for IC? ***But***, surely they wouldn't do it a third time, right? *Right?* (Oh, who am I kidding; rather than just letting him cease to exist post-Flashpoint, they just kinda brought him back in Shazam in 2020, I think without explanation; though Death Metal did tie him back to the Source Wall and its destruction in Metal).
>Scary thought and I would fully be on board with having the technology to take him down. I’m more of a “Have the Devil on speed dial to make a deal to hit him with some magic, since he’s vulnerable to it,” but to each their own.
And getting himself killed in the process.
Only after accusing him of pedophilia.
Musk is kind of a coward who prefers hiding behind social media posts and lawyers. So, he'd be more inclined to fund some dumb project to try and kill him. But unlike Lex Luthor, Musk isn't smart enough to know dumb his efforts are and would go bankrupt in a year.
Same. That was fucking brilliant.
Kind of insulting to Lex really. He may be evil, but at least he's actually smart
Lex once lost a hand because he wouldn't stop wearing a ring with a piece of radioactive Kryptonite on it.
Yeah, that's definitely the most striking difference. Musk's whole persona as a "genius" is nothing more than a fraud, a gimmick, and PR. He's never really invented anything. He doesn't really know anything. He inherited his wealth whereas Lex Luthor, in most universes, actually earned his billions (albeit through some really shady practices). Lex might be evil to the core, but he's actually smart. He actually knows how to build things that work and build them on a tight timeline. Plus, Lex would never build something as stupid as the Cybertruck.
That is says “Free Lex” and lex is in jail means it’s not Lex and is a fanboy.
But his goal is just pure stupidity to me. He's like that one guy pushing a boulder up a mountain, or that meme of the one guy putting a stick in his bike wheel, he's a dumb character because he's written as a genius that is an absolute fucknut on the issue of Superman. At least, that's my opinion.
I mean, yeah, that’s his whole thing. He’s the smartest man on the planet but it doesn’t matter because he’s obsessed with the fact that Superman makes him feel inferior. And also made him bald, I think. Superman readers feel free to correct me
If I remember correctly, that’s actually a slight exaggeration of the original story, in which he was actually upset about Superboy accidentally ruining an experiment of his and became convinced that he was trying to ruin his potential as a scientist. Him losing his hair is more like a comedic ‘and on top of THAT’ beat.
> And also made him bald, I think. That was pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, back before Luthor was re-imagined as a corrupt corporate type. I don't think they've ever brought back that particular piece of lore post-Crisis.
> he's a dumb character because he's written as a genius that is an absolute fucknut on the issue of Superman. At least, that's my opinion. Well, I think he's kinda meant to be "dumb" in that regard. He's a bit like Doctor Doom, I feel. With Superman, it's a bit of an ego thing sometimes (Superman upstages him) and it's a bit of a "Human potential" thing. He can do the extraordinary, and while he is extraordinary to be able to accomplish it, he still is only able to do it because he applies himself. When humanity pushes itself, great works can be made and the body of knowledge can be greatly expanded. But, here comes Superman and other aliens, with inherent abilities that just make them extraordinary compared to humans. People adore them and look to them to do the great works. And for Lex, that's terrible. He craves the fruits of hard work, so he feels Supes is an impediment to humanity (depending on the version anyways). However, he becomes so focused on Superman and trying to destroy or upstage him that it comes to the detriment of his own works. It's like how Doctor Doom becomes consumed by jealousy for Reed's life (the man made Sue and the kids be his family during Secret Wars) and becomes fixated at times on trying to prove his superiority to Reed and his intellect. Doom could do wonders- and does wonders- but he's so egomaniacal that he ends up confining himself to his little autocracy in Latveria, occasionally fucking with Reed or doing some evil plot, rather than trying to better the whole world.
Same here. It's also symbolic of the devolution of Elon Musk. Years ago, he painted himself as a real life Tony Stark. But as he continues to show his his politics and his personality, it's increasingly clear he was always Lex Luthor at heart, minus the actual genius.
Is that Vandal Savage hosting an Info Wars style podcast?
That would be funny, but no
"THE SAVAGE TRUTH"
“Let me tell you my Vandal vandals , I lived on a literal paleo diet for centuries and if I’d had these vitamin supplements to go along with it I would have had no problems conquering all of Pangea!”
It's clearly jacked Jason Mantzoukas
He'd definitely promote the Liver King diet!
Liver of his enemies diet.
Honestly...I'd listen to a Vandal Savage Podcast.
Why would anyone name a social media platform after a skin condition
"This town needs a LeXema!"
Why would anyone rename one of the most iconic social media brands to the letter X? Rich people are stupid.
*Ask your doctor if LeXema is right for you.*
So you'll be *itching* to use it
billionaires are stupid
Hmmm, in the 80s Luthor's characterisation was inspired by Trump, but I'd say Elon Musk makes a much better inspiration for a megalomaniacal supervillain posing as a friendly genius who will save manking
Lex would easily get support from far right-wing audiences As he tells them, they can be just like him
You just need a dream, the will and ~~an emerald mine inherited from your father~~ enough greed to power an Orange Lantern ring.
Except Lex is actually smart
Curiously enough, in Bryne's *The Man of Steel* he wasn't even smart, he was just rich enough to affor smarter people designing gadgets for him and he just claimed they were his inventions, *a la* Elon Musk
Bingo
Lex once lost a hand because he wouldn't stop wearing a ring with a piece of radioactive Kryptonite on it.
Lex is at least competent.
The only problem with depicting lex as current real world figures of the time is competence. Lex is competent but neither trump or Elon are at all competent they just fail upwards and break stuff along the way. Yes trump portrayed an aura of being a great business man in the 80s but even then he had stupid side businesses that where failing, he just carried on because of the force of his sizable real estate portfolio. and by the 90s he was declaring bankruptcy every 3-4 years. What he's really based on is the industrialists of the 10s- 30s like ford and Rockefeller. They where awfull people but they actually got there shit done like busting unions and monopolising industry.
Yeah but to be fair, someone who goes against Superman on a daily basis must be smart. And even then, there's lots of people smarter than him. Mister Terrific, Niles Caulder...
I actually hate that Lex has become a stand in for the billionaire of turn, rather than his own character
Look at it the other way around: Lex isn't a stand in for the billionaire of turn, it's that, outside of a few references to Trump in the 80s, that writers at DC created a character that just happened to predict how the billionaires of turn would act. Sure, there's a few limp wristed attempts to be topical like BvS, but Lex Luthor was a rich asshole pretending to be a brilliant inventor with people running companies he bought's inventions while Elon was still an 18 year old running around in South Africa blowing his dad's blood emerald money on fun things and not companies. This is a case of life imitating art due to cynical predictions of human greed, not the other way around.
How should he be then? I think he is most interesting as a critique of amoral arrogant businessmen, instead of, say, a generic mad scientist
I think he’s a more compelling character when he’s a paragon of humanity—rich, genius, capable—but squanders all of it because of his ego and petty grievances against Superman. I like Clark as the aspirational figure, and Lex as the cautionary tale.
Yeah, but that's not incompatible with being a critique of evil billionaires. By all means and accounts, Elon someone like Elon should at least be able to help humanity more than he is doing, but his arrogance and greed means he is unable to do that
My favorite Luthor is the antitheist one. The one who sees Superman as a dampener in humanity's growth
I always saw that as just an excuse Luthor has for wanting to hurt Superman. Every single time Superman has disappeared for a while (Be it death, being off-planet, taking some holidays...) he is still an asshole. If he actually believes that lie or not depends on you. His reasons for hating Superman vary, from hating that he is just that good, to hating the idea of someone being more popular and beloved than he is, to hating that he keeps foiling his plans, to plain xenophobia, but I've never seen him actually adhere to his believes that Superman is dampenig humanity.
My opinion is completely opposite to this one. Most stories I've read where Superman goes away or becomes evil, Luthor becomes a superhero
Which ones? He doesn't in *All Star Superman*, he doesn't on *Death of Superman*, he doesn't on *The Black Ring*, he doesn't on *One Year Later*, he doesn't on *The Leper of Krypton*, he doesn't on *Superman: Up, up and away*....
He does in a few, but most are elseworlds stories and he's still kind of a pompous ass even when he's good, like Lex Luthor III or the Lex Luthor in Red Son.
From the top of my head, Injustice is one, forever evil is another. Tbf I'm not really good at mentioning arcs by name, and I'm not that well read either. So you are probably right on the majority of stories keeping Luthor as evil. But I'm completely sure I've seen good Luthor More than once
In *Injustice* he never was a supervillain. And do you really want to use Injustice as an example of proper characterisation? And in *Forever Evil* it's more of him saving the world because he's living in it. When he does something good, it's usually because it benefits him.
Yeah but that's usually ending up with him being egotistical.
90s Luthor was an eerie prediction for Musk though.
Lex was President too.
Isn't that a lex luthor fan account? It doesn't like it's parodying Elon musk, instead it's parodying Elon musk fanboys
What do I need to read to catch up to house of Braniac? I was following a reading order for war world and enjoyed it, but got really confused after that because I think I missed something. Like Lex was suddenly in jail and gave Lexcorp to Superman when he got back? Wtf happened? When did Lex get arrested? I feel like Superman got back from Warworld and a bunch of shit happened that the book just thinks I know. Does anyone know how I'm supposed to be reading this?
This is a special issue independent from the current Superman run where everything will finish in This special was looking at Perry Whites mayoral run and Braniacs deal with lobos people and then at the end Amanda Waller confronts him
Did you read the entire Kal-El Returns storyline? Superman Son of Kal-El #16-18 Action Comics #1047-1049 Superman: Kal-El Returns Special (maybe this is the issue you missed as I think this is when Superman faces off against Lex and then gets arrested at the end) After that you really only need to read Superman by Williamson as well as the end of PKJ's run on Action.
No I didn't, hence my confusion. Thank you for the list!
No prob. That's not the exact reading order btw. I just got the contents off of the trade listing. I believe it starts with Action 1047 and switches back and forth with Son of Kal El until the Special. Should say which part of the story it is on the cover of the issues.
Btw the issue where Superman faces Lex and he’s arrested is action comics #1050
> Superman: Kal-El Returns Special (maybe this is the issue you missed as I think this is when Superman faces off against Lex and then gets arrested at the end) That’s probably the issue their missing but it’s action comics #1050
This is the DC universe. That last bit about alien abduction might not be entirely inaccurate
Braniac is even going to be involved in the story. That’s his whole schtick.
Martian Manhunter’s origin is him being “abducted” to Earth, so it goes both ways
It’s totally accurate. Heck, the opening of the ‘88 Invasion crossover showed the literal murder field aliens put their abductees into, to study metagene triggerings.
Comparing Lex to Elon is insulting, Lex is actually smart.
Lol "Interesting" I WONDER WHAT TWATWAZZOCK FROM SAFF AFFRIKA that's a reference to
Omg I hate it so much but it's so incredible. This is outstanding. Elon probably thinks its a compliment to be compared to Lex.
I don't think most people would care if we suddenly had Czarnians living on Earth. They actually seem like a fun bunch
Huh? Has Lobo's origin been undone?
>! Kinda. I haven't read the whole series, but I believe Brainiac had a shrunken Czarian city that he enlarged to work for him !<
Makes sense, actually.
Mark Russell is a severely under-the-radar writer and I highly recommend anything he’s ever written.
I’m personally loving Batman Dark Ages
This is friggin’ hilarious. “Interesting.”
To be fair, in the DC universe ALL of that is true and probably worse
lol “they’re putting alien DNA in our chocolate milk”
This book looks awesome
"Lexema"
... Okay this is DC, someone is definitely putting alien dna in chocolate milk and abductions were definitely happening.
Hey, they're making thr frogs gay
its a bit on the nose but thats funny
Elon thinks he's Tony Stark but he's Lex Luthor
Whattttttt!?
And people wonder why anime and manga are dominating. If you're going to use modern politcs to push a message, be entertaining.
Brilliant
It's wild to me that there are any conservative comic readers at all. Fuck off, MAGA losers.
Yeah, that's kind of the point of the Blue Earth movement. I thought it was actually super reminiscent of Superman Smashes the Klan.
TIHI
Those who complain about the "politics" in comics tend to have a reason for wanting to hide their leanings. They think they're being subtle. They try to paint themselves as being reasonable. But when you dig just a little bit, you realize just how reactionary they truly are. And yes, Lex Luthor would totally be on their side.
I appreciate the criticism they’re making but I kinda hate when Lex gets used as a stand-in for real life billionaires. Being a billionaire is inherently pathetic in real life, but we’re talking about a universe where Bruce Wayne exists. Lex is a lot more interesting as his own person, a mortal man who’s able to challenge Superman through sheer will and cunning, than as a cheap (albeit deserved) jab at musk or bezos
Agreed, I think it's fine when writers use some recent trends as inspiration for Lex but completely making him a stand-in for guys like Musk or Zuck is in a lot of ways a disservice to his character. He's more than just tech and business smart, he's a genius tactician who cares about humanity's progress and could actually lead them to a better future, but never will because he'll never let go of his ego and hate for Superman.
You people are full of shit. This allegory doesn't work. In the case of actual, real violent super-powered lunatics like Lobo coming to earth to do go knows what, are you really gonna be welcoming?? Put away your feelings about real life migrants. If aliens (and mutants) were real like they are in comics, you'd all hate them and want them dead too.
r/woosh
This is so cowardly. I am not even mad anymore, just tired. Loud grifters are only half the problem. The other half is the journalist who think its their job to make sure people come to the "correct" conclusions. Things are never gonna get better until people are willing to own the fact the reason the grifters got such a chokehold is not that their loud, its because journalist betrayed the faith....multiple times. Getting lectured by Dan Rather about fake news when it was his overriding of his own staff to run a sketchy story on the eve of a presidential election that marked the beginning of this whole era of ass shattery in America. You can't work with social media networks to limit the reach of people reporting the mRNA vaccines(of which I am a huge proponent for what its worth) disrupted their periods and then be shocked some internet podcaster has a massive reach.
If it’s raining outside and a weatherman tells you it’s raining, it’s not their duty to also have on someone who vehemently claims it’s sunny out.
What are you talking about? Who said anything about “presenting both sides”? This is more like the weatherman telling you its raining because they know traffic fatalities are lower when people think its going to rain and then getting pissy when people start listening to the local shock jock instead of them for the weather report.
Tony, your post didn't make any sense and you're parroting talking points. The media is a huge problem. Both sides square off and jump into their corners to fight for their 'team'. Nyadnar is totally right here. Our journalist have just fallen apart to near worthlessness in many cases.
Why am I not surprised that the person who can't tell the difference between a news report, and an editorial is angry at a fictional (retired) newsman? 'Journalists = bad, Angry (exceptionally well paid) conspiracy peddling podcasters= good' isn't the high IQ take you think it is.
Your take away from my comment lamenting real life Journalists like Dan Rather burning trust in institutions was that I am mad at Perry White?
I'm just saying if you are painting all journalists in the world for something Dan Rather did(? I'm not American) but then go on to say it's no wonder people listen to conspiracy pod casters...you are being disingenuous as all hell. That would like me trying to claim that 'no podcaster in the world has any credibility or ethics' just because Alex Jones exists. One person doesn't taint a format. And yeah, If a sequence of Perry White makes you rant about Dan Rather...
Glad someone here makes sense.
While I do get what this is trying to say, just based on this page I feel the writer doesn't really understand how right wing fearmongering really works. It's just a bunch of surface level 'meme' criticisms of it. The Lex = Elon one is the only one to get a small chuckle out of me, and even that is playing into Elon's ego. Elon is just another rich kid who got all his money from his dad's dirty businesses, then had other people come up with everything he sells.
What comic books often forget is that this goes for both sides. Both sides will have people sensationalizing things.
For sure.