Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years

DC Anniversary Celebrations

by Jerry Siegel, Geoff Johns, John Byrne (Penciller/Writer)

For the past 75 years, Superman has faced intergalactic generals, robot powerhouses and psychotic superhuman villains, but his most dangerous enemy? The richest man in Metropolis: Lex Luthor.

He’s Superman’s most implacable foe—and now, DC Entertainment celebrates the criminal career of Lex Luthor! This new hardcover includes every phase of Luthor’s history, from mad scientist to corrupt captain of industry, from president of the United States to member of the Justice League! Includes stories from the very beginning, written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, to the present day, written by Geoff Johns!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book

360 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 2015

About the author

Jerome "Jerry" Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reviews

[Lance Rutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fantastic collection of stories and an interesting character profile of the Greatest Criminal Mind of Our Time! Sadly, there are three stories that don't quite work:
"Superman's Super Hold-Up" has a really clever set up, written by famed Batman writer Bill Finger but suffers from a head-scratching conclusion that feels like Finger wrote himself into a corner. Not his best work.
"Superman and Batman's Greatest Foes" is an historic story as it features the first team up between Lex Luthor and The Joker! Unfortunately, the Joker is reduced to a mere lackey to Luthor's scheme and we don't really get to see them play-off each other until the very end. A much better crossover between these two character occurs in the three-part episode of Superman the Animated Series, World's Finest.
"Hostile Takeover" is a very odd inclusion as Luthor is barely featured in it and most of the story is devoted to Superman (wearing his god-awful 90s all-blue outfit that never looks any less stupid) and Martian Manhunter trying to escape a twisted maze created by Mirror Master and The Joker.
These stories distract from the otherwise high-quality writing and I would have included Action Comics #47, DC Comics Presents Annual #1, and Superman Adventures #27 in their place.
On that note, the rest of the writing is really, REALLY good. Each of them show a different side of Superman's arch-nemesis and the collection ends on an awesome cliffhanger for Geoff Johns' Justice League (which I will try to read)! So, aside from the occasional dud, this a fantastic look at the varied history of this character and the best battle of Brains and Brawn ever conceived by mere mortals.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years is a compilation of some of the best representative of Lex Luthor stories over the years to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary debut of one of the most iconic comic villains (2015). Over the years, there were many incarnations and depictions of the chief villain and antagonist of Superman and this collection explores them all rather well.

This anthology is divided into four sections or more precisely comic era. The first section depicts Lex Luthor in the Golden and Silver Ages of Comics, the second section deals with the Bronze Age of Comics, and the last two sections deals with the Modern and Rebooted Ages of Comics. It is very interesting to see about how Lex Luthor's evolution through the years from mad scientist, to corrupt captain of industry, to President of the United States and even a member of the Justice League!

As a whole, Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years is a balanced book, showing each section rather evenly and not placing any favoritism in any of the eras. It gives us a nice perception of the era in which these stories were produced – a reflection of the times.

Story selection must have been difficult to say the least. Lex Luthor has a long and varied history and has been featured or cameos in many stories over many titles and it is no easy feat to pick out the best or favorites from the masses. The thing is those measuring sticks are subjective and will never reach perfect consensus. Actually, we all can agree that in an anniversary collection like this, we could all agree one story: Action Comics #23 – the first appearance of Lex Luthor – the rest is debatable.

Regardless, I think the editors picked a somewhat nice selection, would I swapped some stories out for others – sure I have my favorites, but it is difficult if not impossible to please everyone, since everyone is different. On the whole I was really happy of which stories were presented.

All in all, I think Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years is a wonderful selection of stories over the three-quarters of a century that Lex Luthor has been around. It is a good anthology for both the avid and subdued fan alike. However, for the newly initiated I would recommend a collection that is more substantial and cohesive.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining collection of stories showing the development of Superman’s greatest foe through the years. What’s noticeable are two things. Firstly,Lex Luthor, when used well, provides an intellectual problem to Superman, as well as whatever physical threat he has brought. Superman has to think his way around a problem or a mystery. It’s not just him using his powers, it’s how he uses them.
The second is that Luthor works because he is basically motivated by greed, ego and envy. Motivations that give writers something to explore other than just being evil or mad. For anybody who has just seen the films, this shows the dramatic potential of a character that the film-makers have never used properly. A treat for all Superman fans.

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random collection of Lex Luthor stories throughout the years. It honestly, shows that he has improved dramatically as a character over time. The best stories come in the latter half of this collection. Two of which come from Grant Morrison, one from new 52 and one from Brian Azzarello's Luthor story all of which stem from ideas brought by John Bryne's bronze age Reinterpretation of the character (which is included in this collection as well).

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another historic survey, with some interesting recent examples of Lex Luthor lore. With such a long publishing history and yet most famous for most it for being Superman’s archenemy, and not for any particular stories (longtime fans who read along would certainly disagree, of course), it’s interesting to see the older material, including the first appearance (with hair!), and how the lore slowly built up.

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of the most representative stories about Supes most nefafious and brilliant archvillaint. This goes from his not-so-humble beginnings as a world dictator, as a mad scientist, as a corporate mogul, as the combinatoon of all, but always with gis probervial hatred for the beloved Sun god from Krypton. Great selection!

[Mhorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

I found this better than the joker volume. Lex has always been Supermans biggest headache. This volume had some of the best Luthor stories but they should have had a few imaginary ones as well. Still, worth reading.

[Lauren Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great look at Lex through the years.

[vr]

Lex Luthor se parece a mi tío Jhonatan