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Brian Hague
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Posted: 29 July 2012 at 6:52pm | IP Logged | 1  

Lex in the Nu52 so far has been shown to be an unscrupulous s.o.b. scientist working with the government on the topic of extraterrestrials. When he first captures Superman, he tortures him with full govt. approval to find out about his "true form" and his invasion plans. (When scientists came to the site where Superman's rocket crashed, Pa Kent gave them the carcass of a malformed goat born recently on the farm. He said he found it out there near the crash site, had no idea what it was... Luthor and the govt. apparently believe this twisted newborn goat carcass represents the actual shape of Superman's alien race... Yeah, I don't get that either...)

Visually, he's straight Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville.

 

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Thomas Moudry
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Posted: 29 July 2012 at 7:16pm | IP Logged | 2  

I like the "ruthless businessman" from JB's Superman run, but I really liked
what was done with Luthor in the "Timmverse," especially once it had evolved
into "Justice League Unlimited."

Oh, and, yeah, Darkseid needs to appear in a Superman movie.
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Stephen Robinson
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Posted: 29 July 2012 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | 3  

I like the "ruthless businessman" from JB's Superman run, but I really liked
what was done with Luthor in the "Timmverse," especially once it had evolved
into "Justice League Unlimited."

**********

SER: I agree. I think the "businessman" Luthor is the logical version of the character before Superman arrives. One of the complaints I heard about this version was that Superman never "beat" him, which I think missed the point. JB's Luthor was basically a Satanic character, so Superman won by not sinking to his level, by proving him wrong on a daily basis.

If it's necessary to have Superman take this Luthor down, then the JL show did it best, and the added effect of Luthor's dying from kryptonite poisoning justified his change in tactics.

And of course, I liked the Luthor who can run the Legion of Doom, but you could still do that with JB's version of the character.

***********

Oh, and, yeah, Darkseid needs to appear in a Superman movie.

**

SER: My concern is that Darkseid is viewed as someone Superman can beat up on. It's like what started to happen to Galactus, and it's a waste of the character.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 5:18am | IP Logged | 4  

Oh, and, yeah, Darkseid needs to appear in a Superman movie.

••

First they need to make a Superman movie.

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John Byrne
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 5:21am | IP Logged | 5  

My concern is that Darkseid is viewed as someone Superman can beat up on. It's like what started to happen to Galactus, and it's a waste of the character.

••

Lazy writers fall into this trap very quickly. "My character is so tough he can beat up…" and you just fill in the name of whichever villain is considered toughest at the moment.

It's not unlike when I returned to DC, to do WONDER WOMAN, I I heard Doomsday being used as the benchmark. "My character is Doomsday Level!"

It all becomes very boring, very quickly.

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Marcel Chenier
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 8:35am | IP Logged | 6  

Doomsday sickens me.  I regret even ever seeing Doomsday.

(scurries back under rock)
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Matt Reed
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 9:07am | IP Logged | 7  

 John Byrne wrote:
 Michael Todd wrote:
Lex Luthor hasn't held any interest to me since he stopped wearing this suit.

Precisely the point at which he ceased to be of any interest to me.

Agreed.  Hated that suit Michael posted.  Hated the armor he wore.  Hated anything that gave him the ability to go toe-to-toe with Superman.  That's just not him.  Creating robots, devising plans, manipulating people to do his bidding.  That's Lex.  He rarely gets his hands dirty, prefering others to do that work for him.  Why?  He's above it, plain and simple. His mind is his weapon, not his body. 

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 9:54am | IP Logged | 8  

This has been a great thread-- thanks to everyone for posting!

I'm with you, Matt. The minute the "world's smartest villain" straps on battle armor, something is VERY wrong. I loved JB's fakeout in MOS when Superman was gripping that green-and-purple armor... and a mere flunky was inside, while Luthor scowled in the next panel.

I would be so happy if Luthor was given his due. Yes, his domination of JLU was extremely well-written... but we haven't had the equivalent in the comics themselves for a long long time. Making Luthor the president was, to me, a bad move; making him a Forbes-class business tycoon? Brilliant-- because now he has *legitimate* resources to use against Superman, and the ego-bruise of having been *arrested* by Superman no less.

It's what the character deserves. He SHOULD be one of the DCU's most dangerous villains, but he hasn't been that in much too long. Let's see him raised back to the status he should have.



Edited by Andrew Bitner on 30 July 2012 at 9:55am
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 9:56am | IP Logged | 9  

me: …the guardians are playing the heavy…

••

JB: Oh, look! The authority figures are the bad guys! Nobody's EVER done THAT before!

---

Yeah, but THIS time it's... right again, dagnabbit. :)

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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 9:58am | IP Logged | 10  

JB: Many, many, MANY moons ago, there was a story I wanted to do with the Mad Thinker.

***

I would have loved to see this story. What a great way to depict the Thinker!

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Michael Todd
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 10:18am | IP Logged | 11  

Hate on it all you like, I still think that Luthor in his purple and green battle suit was pretty darn neat!

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Matt Reed
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Posted: 30 July 2012 at 10:43am | IP Logged | 12  

Nice Aparo art.  Still hate the suit. So antithetical to how I see the character.
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