The Legend: Lex Luthor is an unparalleled and ruthless businessman with
power and influence second only to Superman in Metropolis.
As CEO of LexCorp International, Luthor has full access to some of the most
technologically advanced weaponry on the planet. His historical appearance was
way back in Action Comics #23 (April, 1940) and was reintroduced in
Man Of Steel miniseries #4 (August, 1986), the series that revamped the
Superman storyline.
Lex Luthor was the most powerful man in Metropolis until Superman came to town.
When terrorists attacked a society gala aboard his yacht, Luthor observed
Superman in action and then tried to hire the Man of Steel. But when Luthor
admitted that he'd expected the attack, Mayor Berkowitz deputized Superman to
arrest Luthor for reckless endangerment. Humiliated, Luthor vowed to destroy
Superman. He has since devoted much time and energy to that task. Superman
survived every attempt but has never been able to prove Luthor's role in the
attacks.Some fear Luthor. Others admire him. No one can ignore him. He is,
arguably, the most dangerous man on Earth.
Since his criminal activities have never been proved, the public are not
aware of his true colors and everytime a case is launched against him,
somehow he still wins and comes out smelling like a rose. Luthor, through his
company Lexcorp International has virtually built Metropolis and owns nearly all
the large establishments save for a few like WGBS and Newstime. He considers
Metropolis his empire and the citizens, his people. Most of the public were
unaware of his malevolent side and saw Luthor as an employer, a benefactor
to the city and it's residents. Luthor may have rushed
in to destroy Mr. Mxyzptlk and help José Delgado
(See Gangbuster) walk again, but only when it suited his own purpose.
..
In his endevour to destroy Superman, Lex Luthor had crafted a Kryptonite ring for
himself. Due to the deadly radiation from the Kryptonite, his hand was destroyed
and he had to use a prosthetic. On the day he died, when Luthor took to the air
in the ill-fated Lexwing X-27, his private jet, he was already dying of an
exotic form of radiation. His jet crashed somewhere along the Andes, in the
Peruvian border.
Luthor had left his empire to a son which he stated
was born out of wedlock with his lover, Dr.Gretchen Kelly. In reality this was
another one of his elaborate ploys to cheat death. Dr.Sidney Harperson along with
Dr.Kelly preserved Luthor's
brain and eventually grew a much younger and stronger body around the brain, a
clone of the former Luthor. This new Lexcorp CEO, Lex Luthor II, had been raised
in Autralia by foster parents, or at least that's what he fooled everyone,
including Superman, into believing. But a leopard does not change his spots, and
eventually with the help of Lois Lane, Superman found out who he really was.
When his cloned body started degrading, Luthor had
his doctors working day and night for a cure. Apparently one of his failsafes
that Luthor had devised was the Kryptonian Battle Suit that Superman
had abandoned when he went to fight the Cyborg in Coast City. The Battle Suit
made a complete recording of Luthor's consiousness and now his mind was all in
one storage disk. From this disk, Dr. Harold Vekko downloaded Luthor's mind into
the brain of his vegetative brain-dead body, giving him a new lease on life.
Apparently, Luthor thinks himself powerful enough to cheat
death, and he has suceeded; so far.
After coming back to the world of the living, Luthor had to stand trial for
a number of charges including murder. His lawyers devised a stratergy pinning
all of Luthor's problems onto the Kryptonite ring, getting him off the hook.
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