Superman Poster #18 vs Lex Luthor Superman #164 (1963) Curt Swan

Description

Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Luthor is the archenemy of Superman, and as a high-status supervillain, has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in Action Comics #23 (April 1940). Luthor is a wealthy, power-mad business magnate of high intelligence and incredible technological prowess. Luthor’s goals typically center on killing Superman, the foremost obstacle to achieving the villain’s megalomaniacal goals. Despite periodically wearing a powered exoskeleton, Luthor has traditionally lacked superpowers or a dual identity. Lex Luthor typically appears in comic books and other media as a bald business magnate with immense wealth and corporate power. However, Luthor was originally depicted as a mad scientist who, in the vein of pulp novels, wreaks havoc on the world with his futuristic weaponry. The character was later remodeled as a magnate and industrialist. In his earliest appearances, Luthor is shown with a full head of red hair. Despite this, the character later became hairless as the result of an artist’s mistake. A 1960 story by Jerry Siegel expanded upon Luthor’s origin and motivations, revealing him to be a childhood friend of Superman’s who lost his hair when a fire destroyed his laboratory. Superman accepts the challenge of Lex Luthor to meet and fight on equal terms on a planet with higher gravity under a red sun. Though he takes some punishment due to his tendency to pull a punch, Superman eventually knocks out Luthor. Later, however, he must deal with the problem of the planet’s populace, who have been helped by Luthor and regard him as a hero. The planet proves to be inhabited, and Luthor becomes a hero to the locals, while Superman is seen as a villain. The second round of Luthor and Superman’s battle is fought in an arena full of spectators – cheering for Luthor! Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comic book artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 1950s through the 1980s. Initially, Swan drew many different features, including “Tommy Tomorrow” and “Gangbusters”, but slowly he began gravitating towards the Superman line of books. His first job pencilling the iconic character was for Superman #51 (March–April 1948). Many comics of the 1940s and 1950s lacked contributor credits, but research shows that Swan began pencilling the Superboy series with its fifth issue in 1949. Swan always felt that his breakthrough came when he was assigned the art duties on Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, in 1954. In the view of comics historian Les Daniels, Swan became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a “new look” to the character that replaced Wayne Boring’s version. Swan and writer Jim Shooter crafted the story “Superman’s Race With the Flash!” in Superman #199 (Aug. 1967) which featured the first race between the Flash and Superman, two characters known for their super-speed powers. Over the years, Swan was a remarkably consistent and prolific artist, often illustrating two or more titles per month. Swan remained as artist of Superman when Julius Schwartz became the editor of the title with issue #233 (Jan. 1971), and writer Denny O’Neil streamlined the Superman mythos, starting with the elimination of Kryptonite. Among Swan’s contributions to the Superman mythos, he and writer Cary Bates co-created the supervillains Terra-Man and the 1970s version of the Toyman as well as the superhero Vartox. Writer Martin Pasko and Swan created the Master Jailer character in Superman #331(January 1979).