The Faces of Luthor

In tracing the transition from various "ages" of comics, some light may appear if we follow a character through these ages in his various "versions." Superman's chronic nemesis Luthor offers one such figure, in that this long-lived "mad scientist" villain has survived sixty years or so with an intact core concept that has allowed a number of widely varied takes.

Thus, in Luthor, we have the Golden Age version, or Original Luthor; the Gangster, Prison Uniform, Costumed, and Movie Luthors of (roughly) the Silver Age; and the post-Silver Age Spacesuit and Byrne Luthors. Through all these figures, we may follow a shift in motivation, from crass self-interest, to revenge, to ambition, and ultimately, an oscillation between these poles.

Luthor, Mark I - The Original Luthor

Luthor first appeared, in 1940, as a generic evil inventor. The bald, thick-set, image that characterized Luthor throughout most of his history did not define the character initially; an editorial mistake brought this about, but decades of repetition rendered the bald Luthor the "correct," canonical figure.

Luthor and His Lab Assistant

The first Luthor appeared as a youngish clean-cut redhead, able to pilot planes and create giant destructive magnetism ray machines. This Luthor would, in the great revisions of post-sixties Superman concepts, form the template for the "Earth-2" Luthor (retroactively removed from continuity in 1985), and, in the process, also affect the concept of the "Earth-3" Luthor (also removed, the same year) and the "Luthor, Jr." of the Death of Superman period. In essence, where necessity compels some kind of Luthor to appear with hair, said hair still appears in the original blood-red (a Per Degaton, rather than a Jimmy Olsen, red).

Luthor, Mark II - The Gangster Luthor

However, after Luthor's introduction, someone read his first story rather carelessly and redefined the character after the model of Luthor's dubious lab assistant, who, after all, provided a ringer for the thick-set Wayne Boring era scientist. Luthor, in such a period, would typically appear in appropriate business wear for his day until the early Silver Age.

This Luthor, although an established character of some tenure by this point, still lacked a reason behind his perverse pestering of Superman beyond the generic "badness" he thrust as an affront to Superman's "goodness." Also, this Luthor frequently operated with a pecuniary, rather than a personal, motive, as had the Original Luthor; often, his planet-destroying gadgets served as a high-tech pistol in a global holdup in which Luthor would ransom the planet.

One may, without cruelty, characterize this Luthor - the version of the fifties - as the most incomplete and least interesting.

Luthor, Mark III - The Prison Uniform Luthor

The first significant developments in Luthor's canon would bloom in the 1960s, when Luthor appeared in the Superboy stories and acquired a first name - "Lex," possibly short for Alex(ander) or Alexei - and a very silly origin. This origin attempted, unsatisfyingly, to explain both Luthor's animosity toward Superboy/Superman and his shiny nude scalp in one stroke. Therefore, the story went, Superboy and Luthor began as best friends in Smallville. Luthor, in those days, applied his considerable intellect to the betterment of his fellow man and the progress of science. However, his arrogance brought him to a fall when a lab fire started just as Luthor created artificial life; Superboy, in rescuing him, caused toxic fumes in Luthor's lab to destroy his irreplaceable synthetic life form and caused Luthor's hair to fall out permanently.

The Luthor of this period, in both Superman and Superboy stories, appeared in his Kurt Schaffenberger form, in the gray prison uniform that, for some reason, he never seemed to shed during his frequent escapes from the reformatory and from prison. Wardrobe aside, however, the editorial team controlling Superman allowed some depth to intrude into Luthor's previously nonexistent biography. Luthor had a family, including a sister named Lena; said family improbably changed their last name to "Thorul" in disgrace at Luthor's depravity, moved away, and convinced Lena that (Lex) Luthor had died. Furthermore, in a typically Silver Age role reversal story, the planet Lexor appeared, named after Luthor, who, for saving the world, became its hero and eponym.

This Luthor, at the cost of accumulating silly sixties comic book baggage, did begin to acquire some depth, and therefore set the precedent for future Luthors. No subsequent Luthor could altogether escape some explanation and exposition of how he began his feud with Superman, nor what drives him.

Luthor, Mark IV - The Costumed Luthor

By the mid-seventies, someone (tardily) became aware of the lameness of Luthor's wardrobe and the redundancy of Luthor stories and brought about some revamp of the character's visual image. Luthor then acquired his seventies look, this involving a skin-tight body suit that revealed both previously unknown muscles on his frame and how considerably bad his taste in clothing had become. Consider, first, that the combination of plum and forest green bespoke either depravity, indifference, or complete color blindness. Then, in addition, the enormous collar affixed to this atrocious outfit would date the ensemble decisively: This outfit damned Luthor to his place among the disco fashion casualties of the seventies, like many of the Cockrum (and Grell) era Legion of Super-Heroes. Nonetheless, Luthor's new attire rendered him more akin to a conventional supervillain of his period.

During the Bad Costume period, Luthor otherwise became considerably less silly overall. Certain of the more absurd elements accruing about his biography found themselves increasingly ignored by writers; Luthor's plans became more coherent and ambitious, and his arrogance and willfulness became frightening things; in a sense, personality-wise, Luthor became much more like the red-haired sociopathic genius who first bore the name. In this sense, if we ignore the wardrobe, we can find, here, one of the better Luthor concepts.

Luthor, Mark V - The Movie Luthor