Luthor
Superman #4
A game of one-manupship between Luthor and Superman during their second encounter. Luthor performs an incredible feat only for Superman to top it. The contest ends when, sick of being the one challenged, Superman asks "Isn't it time I find out whether
you can take it? Lemme see! First I'll toss you against your plane and see what cracks - your skull, or the metal?"
Superman 149The Death of Superman
Just look at that face. Believe it or not, this is also the face of the man who earlier in this story cured cancer. Not to benefit mankind mind you, but because it was merely step one in earning Superman's trust so he could do this:
"You... devil!"
"
Clever devil, you mean!"
It isn't enough to simply kill Superman - Luthor has to do so in front of the woman he loves, his best friend, and his boss.
Luthor at his most evil.
Superman 164Luthor at his most noble.
Superman accepts a challenge to face Luthor on a planet under a red sun. Whereas my previous entry was an Imaginary Story, make no mistake, this is for real.
When Luthor saves the lives of some of the citizens of the planet he has selected to square off against Superman on, he realizes two things:
1. This planet has entered a dark age and none of its citizens know how to save themselves from the drought which threatens to render them extinct.
2. Luthor knows how to save them.
As the story progresses, Luthor and Superman head towards their very own "last shootout" which incredibly, Luthor is destined to win. With his fingers wrapped firmly around his enemy's neck, with Superman himself accepting that he's done for, and with an entire planet cheering Luthor on thinking that
he's the good guy, Luthor's supreme arrogance no longer seems out of place. His massive ego; his desire to be looked upon as a God; his pure, unadulterated hatred of Superman; all of this has dovetailed into what should be a moment he'll replay in his mind over and over again, except...
for the first time in his life, his conscience tells him that he has to sacrifice all of this to save a planet.
This wasn't Luthor taking a cheap shot at Superman in the back with a kryptonite bullet - this was as a fair a fight as you could expect. And Luthor would have won.
Still, there is one outcome Luthor hadn't expected...
And thus was born... Lexor!
Superman 167
Fun fact! A teen-aged Cary Bates submitted this cover idea when still just a fan and DC decided to write a story around it.
Superman vs his two greatest foes. From the way Luthor deduces that Brainiac isn't the alien he claims to be but a robot (something which was such a guarded secret that even Superman didn't know this tidbit at the time) to the way he frees Brainiac from the planet Superman imprisoned him on with a bit of clever psychology a machine would never come up with, Luthor remains casually cool even in the presence of an entity which would readily kill him if given half a chance.
OWNED!!!
Oh, and in case you're interested, yes, that cover scene does accurately reflect what happens in the story, so there's no cop-out here.
Superboy 85Luthor's laying low after having escaped from prison. Because he's Luthor however, his idea of laying low is to travel back in time to the late 19th century. Luthor however, hasn't counted on the fact that the date in history he chose for his jaunt (seemingly at random) is of profound historical significance and it is for this reason that Superboy arrives to see that history turns out OK on this date. Although he isn't expected to find Luthor in this small boarding house on this date, Luthor has considered the possibility that Superman just might manage to track him down through the time stream. For that reason, he's brought some Red Kryptonite with which to paralyze the Man (or Boy) of Steel should he make an appearance. While Superboy stands immobile, silently pleading with Luthor to let him change history for the better, Luthor strikes a match on the kid's face, blows smoke into it, chucks peanut shells at him, and berates him for all the grief he has yet to give him. He interrupts himself, when he hears a commotion from outside his window.
Even when his plan consisted of nothing more than "sit around and do nothing", Luthor managed to find himself an accessory to the death of Abraham Lincoln.
