Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor 

Superman is certainly the blueprint for the modern day comic book superhero. He was created to show the world the universal good in all of us. Superman is the beacon of light, so-to-speak, when everything becomes dark. He is one of the few heroes that does not falter in the face of evil. Such a symbol of piece and justice needs a worthy antagonist. The Man of Steel finds his perfect match in the iconic villain, Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor isn't just some creature of darkness like many of Superman's enemies, (Doomsday!) which in essence is what makes Lex Luthor the best of them all. Luthor is a becomes more and more fantastic with each page you read all because of one thing, his perspective on the world in which he lives. A world full of heroes would be a hard place for anyone to live when you think of all the logistics and the large amount of trust we would have to put in people we would likely never even meet face-to-face. Lex Luthor is never trying for world domination or for mutant domination, (Magneto!) in his eyes he is saving us.         

         Luthor honestly believes that he is saving us from the unwieldy, back-breaking rule of a super alien from an unknown barbaric world known as Krypton. Taking a second to admire perspective can, at points, almost have you on Luthor's side. Luthor, in all honesty, is jealous of Clark Kent. Lex desperately wants to be the world's savior, the hero that Clark is. However, he has deluded himself into believing that it is his "birthright" to be the world's savior, and to have the very ground he walks on worshiped. 

         Luthor has one of the largest disadvantages of any of the comic villains when it comes to physical strength. He makes up for this by constantly outsmarting his opponents. He relies heavily on his resources and political power to slowly tear down the King of Heroes. Luthor is constantly trying to reshape the world and change the peoples ideals to match his. He believes that the world should banish heroes, not be accepting. Many readers often speculate how great the world could be if the Man in Tights and the Luthor teamed up, this idea was eventually explored in the hit comic/television event Smallville. In the show and prequel comics it describes a friendship, an almost brotherhood, between the two that was mutually beneficial. Eventually the two grew apart due to Clark's inability to share his secret with Luthor. Luthor is the all-encompassing villain template for modern comic book villains.