History ComicBook / LexLuthorManOfSteel

* BewareTheSuperman: From Luthor's perspective, Superman always has [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing malevolent red eyes]], and every stitch and seam of his costume can be seen, and is silent during the entire series save for the end.

* LetsYouAndHimFight:
** At one point, Superman and Batman come to blows over a chunk of green kryptonite that Luthor has given to Bruce Wayne. Although there's little context and we don't hear any dialogue between the two, it's suggested that Superman is either under some kind of MindControl, is a little bit miffed about Batman going behind his back and accepting the only thing that can kill him for whatever reason (and accepted it from ''Superman's arch-nemesis'', of all people), or a bit of both. An alternative interpretation, given the implied ContinuityCameo of Poison Ivy in earlier pages, is that ''Batman'' is the one under the influence of MindControl, and Superman is in fact trying to calm him down or isn't even there.
** Or he might be an artificial duplicate of Superman [[spoiler: like Hope]], given the {{Foreshadowing}} above.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Luthor is shown chatting amiably with his security guard. [[spoiler:Things to not end up well for the guard, either.]]

* PrecociousCrush: Lex's assistant says that Superman's been around since she was a little girl, and admits that she had a crush on him at the time.

* ThouShaltNotKill: [[spoiler: Luthor's plan is to use Superman's refusal to kill against him, by manipulating him into a situation where he saves the life of Winslow Schott -- who, having ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation seemingly]]) bombed a building with a daycare center inside, is high up on Metropolis' current Who Would Be Better Off Dead list -- in order to turn people against him.]] Furthermore, Luthor makes Superman look like a massive hypocrite when [[spoiler:he arranges for it to look like Supes kills Hope, a super heroine Luthor introduced to the world stage who had become beloved by Metropolis. Hope is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot, so Superman isn't killing anything (literally, since it's ''Lex'' who triggers the explosion that kills Hope)... but the people who can only see things happening from a distance don't know that.]]

* UnflinchingWalk: A variation; although Luthor's nowhere near the [[spoiler: jewelers / daycare center when it explodes,]] of the other people on the street he's currently on, he alone barely reacts in the panel when it explodes. It's a hint that he had more to do with it than he's letting on.

* WifeHusbandry: Lex hooks up with Hope, who saw him as a father figure. [[spoiler:Of course, she was an android built by Luthor in the first place.]]

** Both initially appear to be deconstructing the superhero, only to turn it around and end up revealing exactly how monstrous the villain is and why we shouldn't trust them at all. As an example, both works climax in a confrontation between villain and hero in which the villain launches into a lengthy and deconstructive "TheReasonYouSuck" Speech about how inadequate the hero is, only for the hero to respond with a brief ShutUpHannibal statement (seven words for Superman, three words for Batman) that not only refutes everything the villain has tried to claim about the hero, but turns it back on the villain in such a way that drives them to a VillainousBreakdown.

* AcceptableTargets: An in-universe example. Luthor selects Winslow Schott a.k.a. Toyman to be [[spoiler: nearly killed by Hope and then saved by Superman. Because Schott had just (seemingly) bombed a daycare center and is an alleged child molester, Lex knew the public would be calling for his blood and might turn against Superman for saving his life.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor attempts to deconstruct Superman, attempting to present him as a potential threat to humanity. However, it's actually one of Luthor himself, as the comic clearly demonstrates that, even if we can take his talk about the dangers posed by Superman seriously, he's ultimately become so totally obsessed with defeating Superman for his own ego that he voluntarily undermines any good he does or benevolence towards humanity he supposedly has. The clearest illustration of this is the fact that, for all Luthor's grand speeches about the potential of humanity and how it needs to be protected and nurtured from Superman's negative influence, he ultimately destroys the two clearest examples of said potential presented in the story [[spoiler: the Science Spire and Hope]] for an ultimately petty reason: [[spoiler: he's just trying to damage Superman's reputation in the minds of the people of Metropolis by appealing to their darker impulses]].

Was re-released and given the more laconic yet intimidating title ''[[http://dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=15388 Luthor]]''. Works nicely as a companion piece to Azzarello's later work, ''ComicBook/{{Joker}}''; even the trade dress, [[UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} typefaces]], and titles (in both incarnations; ''Lex Luthor: Man of Steel''/''Joker: The Dark Knight'' and ''Luthor''/''Joker'') play up the differences between the two characters.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Superman's eyes are always red and shadowed. Justified because this is the way Superman's eyes look when he's angry or preparing to shoot eyelasers, which he always is when he's looking at Luthor.

* {{Robot Girl}}: [[spoiler:Hope]] it turns out is one, who's so finely made [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot she looks just like a normal woman]].

--> '''Superman''': You're wrong. I ''can'' see your soul.

* ThouShaltNotKill: [[spoiler: Luthor's plan is to use Superman's refusal to kill against him, by manipulating him into a situation where he saves the life of Winslow Schott -- who, having ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation seemingly]]) bombed a building with a daycare center inside, is high up on Metropolis' current AcceptableTargets Who Would Be Better Off Dead list -- in order to turn people against him.]] Furthermore, Luthor makes Superman look like a massive hypocrite when [[spoiler:he arranges for it to look like Supes kills Hope, a super heroine Luthor introduced to the world stage who had become beloved by Metropolis. Hope is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot, so Superman isn't killing anything (literally, since it's ''Lex'' who triggers the explosion that kills Hope)... but the people who can only see things happening from a distance don't know that.]]

%%* WifeHusbandry: Lex does this with Hope [[spoiler:after a fashion at least, since Hope isn't human...]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4567_400x600.jpg]]

An AlternateCharacterInterpretation of Comicbook/{{Superman}}'s arch-nemesis, ''Lex Luthor: Man of Steel'' was first published in 2005 by Creator/DCComics. It's a bit of a departure from other stories about Luthor, which up until then (and indeed for [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths twenty years previous]]) had shown him as little more than an unrepentant jerk who just wanted to kill Superman. It speaks to humanist traits the character had taken on since about 2000. First is this: when other comics on the stands in 2005 were about Luthor heading up a [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis large]] LegionOfDoom and manipulating [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Superboy]] ForTheEvulz, an empathetic view into the mind of Lex was seen as an odd thing, though not unwelcomed; many readers came away noting that Luthor [[VillainHasAPoint may have had a point at times]]. As it turns out, the story was ''very'' well-received.

* {{Fembot}}: [[spoiler:Hope]] it turns out is one, who's so finely made [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot she looks just like a normal woman]].

%%How does this count?* ItsAllAboutMe: Luthor's actions show that he only cares about himself.

%%* OnlySaneMan: Lex believes himself to be this.
%%* PerspectiveFlip: The entire series.

* OnlySaneMan: Lex believes himself to be this.
* PerspectiveFlip: The entire series.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Luthor's actions show that he only cares about himself.

* PetTheDog: One long petting session for Lex, as the point is to show him outside of his conflict with Superman and show the benevolent things he does (or at least is capable of). Although it's played with, since despite the more positive perspective we get on Lex, he ends up [[KickTheDog Kicking The Dog]] several times anyway almost despite himself. In a MoralEventHorizon way.

* WifeHusbandry: Lex does this with Hope [[spoiler:after a fashion at least, since Hope isn't human...]]
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: Whoever bombed the jewellery store didn't know or care that it was next to a daycare centre and ended up killing over a hundred people, more than seventy of whom were young children. Toyman gets the blame for this but desperately denies planting the bomb, even in private to himself. It is strongly implied that Lex was responsible for the explosion and that the daycare centre was even the actual target. His {{mook}}, who is willing to at least threaten to hurt somebody's family, [[EvenEvilHasStandards is appalled]] and makes no secret that he blames Lex for the attack (and is seemingly murdered on the orders of Lex as well).]]

** In a particular example, he's friendly to the janitor tidying his office, asks after the janitor's academically gifted son, and arranges a prestigious scholarship for him. Unfortunately, that goes wrong, too.

* TautologicalTemplar: Luthor believes he's a WellIntentionedExtremist, but despite his supposed belief in the value of humanity and how it's being diminished by Superman's mere presence he's still willing to [[spoiler: kill a lot of humans to make Superman look bad]].

** In a particular example, he's friendly to the janitor tidying his office, asks after the janitor's academically gifted son, and arranges a prestigious scholarship for him.

** In the last issue, Luthor's internal monologue talks about hope in the face of the unstoppable, and says that "hope is what makes us human". The final line of the comic is "I am a man. I hope." which could be taken both as Luthor saying that he continues to have hope because that's what it is to be human, or that his actions have driven him to question his own humanity.

** In a particular example, he's friendly to the janitor tidying his office, asks after the janitor's academically gifted daughter, and arranges a prestigious scholarship for her. Then everything goes badly for the janitor and his daughter because of the events Luthor seemed to orchestrate.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor attempts to deconstruct Superman, attempting to present him as a potential threat to humanity. However, it's actually one of Luthor himself, as the comic clearly demonstrates that, even if we can take his talk about the dangers posed by Superman seriously, he's ultimately become so totally obsessed with defeating Superman for his own ego that he voluntarily undermines any good he does or benevolence towards humanity he supposedly has. The clearest illustration of this is the fact that, for all Luthor's grand speeches about the potential of humanity and how it needs to be protected and nurtured from Superman's negative influence, he ultimately destroys the two clearest examples of said potential presented in the story [[spoiler: the Science Spire and Hope]] for an ultimately petty reason: [[spoiler: he's just trying to damage Superman's reputation]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: For most of the book, Luthor presents himself as an idealist and a humanist, championing the finest parts of humanity against a near-godlike alien who threatens to make them redundant, but he still has no qualms about killing people, or threatening their families to get his way.

** In a particular example, he's friendly to the janitor tidying his office, asks after the janitor's academically gifted daughter, and arranges a prestigious scholarship for her.

An AlternateCharacterInterpretation of Comicbook/{{Superman}}'s arch-nemesis, ''Lex Luthor: Man of Steel'' was first published in 2005 by Creator/DCComics. It's a bit of a departure from other stories about Luthor, which up until then (and indeed for [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths twenty years previous]]) had shown him as little more than an unrepentant jerk who just wanted to kill Superman. It speaks to humanist traits the character had taken on since about 2000. First is this: when other comics on the stands in 2005 were about Luthor heading up a [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis large]] LegionOfDoom and manipulating [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Superboy]] ForTheEvulz, an empathetic view into the mind of Lex was seen as an odd thing, though not unwelcomed; it could be argued the story showed just how right Luthor could be. As it turns out, the story was ''very'' well-received.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor is deconstructing Superman, exposing him as a potential threat to humanity. However, it's one of Luthor, as comic heavenly implies that he's so totally obsessed with defeating Superman for his own ego that he voluntarily undermines any good he supposedly has.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor is deconstructing Superman, exposing him as a potential threat to humanity.

* PetTheDog: One long petting session for Lex, as the point is to show him outside of his conflict with Superman and show the benevolent things he does. Although it's played with, since despite the positive viewpoint we get of Lex and the benevolent things he does, he ends up [[KickTheDog Kicking The Dog]] several times anyway almost despite himself. In a MoralEventHorizon way.

An AlternateCharacterInterpretation of Comicbook/{{Superman}}'s arch-nemesis, ''Lex Luthor: Man of Steel'' was first published in 2005 by Creator/DCComics. It's a bit of a departure from other stories about Luthor, which up until then (and indeed for [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths twenty years previous]]) had shown him as little more than an unrepentant jerk who just wanted to kill Superman. It [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] Superman's ArchEnemy in subtle ways, or at least speaks to humanist traits the character had taken on since about 2000. First is this: when other comics on the stands in 2005 were about Luthor heading up a [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis large]] LegionOfDoom and manipulating [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Superboy]] ForTheEvulz, an empathetic view into the mind of Lex was seen as an odd thing, though not unwelcomed; it could be argued the story showed just how right Luthor could be. As it turns out, the story was ''very'' well-received.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Throughout the story, in his narration Luthor believes he's deconstructing Superman and exposing him as a threat. Really though, it's a deconstruction of Luthor himself, showing how Luthor's obsessions are blinding him and making him lose touch with reality and the people around him.

* ShutUpHannibal: Superman's only line throughout the miniseries (after Lex rants about Superman not seeing humanity and Lex's soul for what they truly are). It reinforces the point that even though we've seen a more human, benevolent side to Lex than normal and he's very eloquent and impassioned in delivering his rant, he's still the ''bad guy''. Lex's resulting VillainousBreakdown suggests that at some level, ''he knows this.''

* ItsAllAboutMe: Luthor's actions show that he only cares about himself. That, and his LackOfEmpathy, make him a CompleteMonster. [[invoked]]

* SympathyForTheDevil: An ambiguous example. In their final encounter, for the most part Superman as ever looks like he's barely restraining himself from attacking Luthor -- until Lex delivers his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how [[spoiler:everyone in Metropolis wanted to see Toyman killed]]. For one panel, Superman looks at Luthor with a sad expression which suggests that either Luthor's words have touched a nerve, or that Superman for a moment actually pities Luthor for his nihilistic and [[SillyRabbitCynicismIsForKids contempt-filled]] view of the world.

* SympathyForTheDevil: An ambiguous example. In their final encounter, for the most part Superman as ever looks like he's barely restraining himself from attacking Luthor -- until Lex delivers his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how [[spoiler:everyone in Metropolis wanted to see Toyman killed]]. For one panel, Superman looks at Luthor with a sad expression which suggests that either Luthor's words have touched a nerve, or that Superman for a moment actually pities Luthor for his nihilistic view of the world.