I hope this doesn’t mean you’ll turn ‘evil’
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too late?
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I imagine Nixon was an inspiration. President Luthor is also relevant to some post-Nixon politicians as well.
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But, Luthor is
- An actual genius
- Highly successful
- impeccably dressed with with a minimalist’s sense of style
- in great shape
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But not in every area. A genius level scientist. Is he a genius level painter, or architect, or does he have, like Edison, have scores of other people working in scientific areas, making his breadth of genius, seem broader than it is?
Not at wasting Superman, which is generally his primary focus most of the time.
I find his style to be stagnate and boring. It easy if you have a good tailor to get a well fitting suit that is cut well, rather than off the rack. But from a style standpoint, I disagree.
That may depend. Certainly in the film Public Enemies (I haven’t gotten to the books yet) he was taking a steroid and and kryptonite cocktail. So is he really in great shape or “on the juice”.
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was there a more chubby Luthor post crisis?
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He was a bit on the chubby side when you look at the cover art for the Unauthorized biography.
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And that.
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Those are certainly all valid, but in comparison to a completely made up hypothetical president some may compare him to I stand by each one.
Da Vinci genius is exceptionally rare. Edison or Steve Jobs genius is more common, but their focus and ability to move from concept to actual impact on history certainly qualifies as genius. But like Jobs, Lex’s intellect must fight a battle with his ego often loosing. Superman is Lex’s Next computer.
‘Fashion’ comes and goes, a well-tailored suit is timeless
-Didn’t say he didn’t cheat to get into shape, like half of Hollywood.
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Also, want to qualify that this is my favorite Lex. This is favorite comic book Lex. Think Micheal Rosenbaum’s Smallville is the best Lex. Over seven seasons he builds a tragic villain trapped by his own ego and when he reaches out for help not to go down this path, his best friend lies to him.
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Lex certainly falls into the Edison or Woz camp. I’ve never been all that convinced that Jobs was a genius.
As is seen in public enemies and his inability to account for the radiation. I wonder since he’s juicing if that impaired his thinking. I think the tycoon Lex we got in Byrne’s MoS series was a fresh take. Before, he was more mad scientist than tycoon. Even in JL S1, was he really that smart or how much of it was Brainiac as the puppet master?
We could certainly debate fashion. A well tailored suit being timeless I just don’t buy. The suit as you speak of is only about 110-120 years old. So in the history of men’s fashion it as about a half a millennia before it even comes close to the toga, in terms of timelessness.
But, I do think that this is indeed his most interesting arc. It certainly has a lot of potential elements. I wonder what parallels we might see to Julius or Augustus in this arc. Or maybe even Shakespeare’s Richard III.
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An arrogant, Superman-hating @$$hole is an arrogant, Superman-hating @$$hole all the same. 
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So in the end, while the more famous quote is “no matter the circumstances, Superman will always be Superman”
In the end “No matter the circumstances, Luthor will always be Luthor.”
Is that a fair assessment?
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leans back in chair while stroking his chin in thought
Yeah, I’d say so.
Superman will always put others and their well-being before himself, because that’s the right thing to do.
Lex will only put others before him if it benefits him, because he’s an egotistical jackass.
The leopard’s spots, much like the song, remain the same.
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So The Question is right. I’m paraphrasing cause I can’t recall the exact line. But, in Justice League episode Question Authority, when he goes off to kill Luthor so Superman can’t.
“Everything in the universe has a specific nature (regardless of the universe) A is A. Luthor is Luthor.” The Question
This implies predestination, which is interesting
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Love that episode. One of JLU’s very best.
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I think predestination could be the theme of Smallville’s Luthor. There are times that Lex sees where he is going and makes a real effort to find another way, but ultimately ego, insecurity, paranoia win out. But, what Smallville gives us that the comics don’t is the question of could Clark have changed Lex’s path if he made the ultimate gesture of trust, telling his secret.
Another all time fave run is Luthor in the Justice League, he just can’t get to the other side of that divide.
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Au contraire mon frere we can find numerous examples of Lex protecting Lena one way or another. There’s a whole string of stories with Luthor in prison using his genius to build some contraption out broom handles and soap bars to keep Len Thorul from learning her true identity so her life wouldn’t be ruined.
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Anything with Clancy Brown as Luthor gets 
from me.
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Alright stop having an interesting conversation I’ve got work to do.
Laters
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