: '' Luthor redirects here. For other uses, see Luther (disambiguation).''

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Converted	y
hair	None (formerly red)
eyes	Green
publisher	DC Comics
debut	''Action Comics'' #23(April 1940)
creators	Jerry SiegelJoe Shuster
base of operations	Metropolis
alliances	LexCorpInjustice GangSecret Society of Super VillainsInjustice LeagueSecret SixProject 7734Agent OrangeIntergang
aliases	Lex Luthor II, Mockingbird
powers	Genius-level intelligence }}

Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman. Although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (April 1940). Luthor is described as "a power-mad, evil scientist" of high intelligence and incredible technological prowess. His goals typically center on killing Superman, usually as a stepping stone to world domination. Though he periodically wears a powered exoskeleton, Luthor has traditionally lacked superpowers or a dual identity.

The character was originally depicted as a mad scientist who, in the vein of pulp novels, wreaks havoc on the world with his futuristic weaponry. 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; Luthor vowed revenge.

Following the 1985 limited series ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', the character was re-imagined as a Machiavellian industrialist and white-collar criminal, even briefly serving as President of the United States. In recent years, various writers have revived Luthor's mad scientist persona from the 1940s. The character was ranked as the 8th greatest villain by ''Wizard'' on its "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list.

Publication history

Creation and development

By some accounts, the seeds for Luthor's character first appeared in ''The Reign of the Super-Man'', also written by Siegel and Shuster. In the original short story, a bald scientist uses a formula created from a piece of alien meteor to give a vagrant named Bill Dunn telepathic abilities, which Dunn abuses for personal gain. The scientist battles Dunn and is killed, but by the end of the story Dunn realises his power is going and soon he will have to rejoin the bread line. Although Luthor would not appear until two years after Superman's debut, a central theme to his character—a dichotomy of science versus superpowers—was in place. The character's original incarnation, as drawn by Joe Shuster, appeared only twice between 1940-1941. In his debut, "Luthor" (who is referred to only by his surname) is a wily genius who resides in a flying city suspended by a dirigible. Having taken control of several European countries through his machinations, he tries to provoke a war between the two fictional nations of Galonia and Toran with the help of the crooked Galonian General Lupo planning to set all the nations of the world at war, but is stopped by Superman. Superman first 'sees' Luthor in a cave which Lupo has gone into to contact him. On a stone slab a face appears which Lupo talk to. Superman goes in and tries to make Lupo tell him who Luthor is, but the face reappears and a green ray slices the stricken General in half. He describes himself as "an ordinary man, but with the brain of a super-genius." He sends his two henchmen to get Clark, they find Lois in his room and seize her to prevent her speaking, then take her up to the base where she meets Luthor. One of the guards is not under Luthor's command and leaves a note in Clark's room which tells him Lois is in danger. Superman follows the plane to the dirigible. Luthor attempts to kill Superman after threatening to kill Lois, but despite being weakened by his destruction ray, Superman is able to destroy it. At the end of the story, Luthor was apparently killed when Superman caused the dirigible to crash. He returns in Superman #4, first trying to use a stolen Earthquake machine and challenging Superman to a duel of his science vs Superman's powers, which Superman wins; however, this was just a distraction to allow him to steal the machine. Despite Superman destroying his base, Luthor apparently escapes, with Superman destroying the machine and the scientist who made it committing suicide to prevent its reinvention. In a story in the same issue, he is also shown to have created a city on the sunken Lost Continent of Pacifo and to have recreated prehistoric monsters, which he plans to unleash upon the world after draining oil wells dry. After Clark and Lois fly there, a pterodactyl attacks their plane, killing the pilot. Though Superman defeats it, he sees that shock has placed Lois in a coma. Luthor apparently dies here after being attacked by his monsters, after which Superman breaks the city's glass cover, causing the ocean to destroy it. Clark then takes Lois to a doctor who revives her, and proceeds to cover the story. However, Luthor returns in Superman #5 with a plan to place hypnotic gas in the offices of influential people, intending to throw the nation into a depression with the help of corrupt financier Moseley. By the end of the story, he is once again defeated.

In his earliest appearances, Luthor is shown as a middle-aged man with a full head of red hair. Less than a year later, however, an artistic goof resulted in Luthor being depicted as completely bald in a newspaper strip. The original error is attributed to Leo Novak, a studio artist who illustrated for the ''Superman'' dailies during this period. One theory is that Novak mistook Luthor for the Ultra-Humanite, a frequent foe of Superman who, in his Golden Age incarnation, resembled a balding, elderly man. Other evidence suggests Luthor's design was confused with that of a stockier, bald henchman in ''Superman'' #4 (Spring 1940); Luthor's next appearance occurs in ''Superman'' #10 (May 1941), in which Novak depicted him as significantly heavier, with visible jowls. The character's abrupt hair loss has been made reference to several times over the course of his history. When the concept of the DC multiverse began to take hold, Luthor's red-haired incarnation was rewritten as Alexei Luthor, Lex's counterpart from the Earth-Two parallel universe. In 1960, writer Jerry Siegel altered Luthor's backstory to incorporate his hair loss into his origin.

In the origin story printed in ''Adventure Comics'' #271 (April 1960), young Lex Luthor is shown as an aspiring scientist who resides in Smallville, the hometown of Superboy. The teenage Luthor saves Superboy from a chance encounter with Kryptonite. In gratitude Superboy builds Luthor a laboratory, where weeks later he manages to create an artificial form of life. Grateful in turn to Superboy, Luthor creates an antidote for Kryptonite poisoning. However, an accidental fire breaks out in Luthor's lab. Superboy uses his super-breath to extinguish the flames, inadvertently spilling chemicals which cause Luthor to go bald; in the process, he also destroys Luthor's artificial life form. Believing Superboy intentionally destroyed his discoveries, Luthor attributes his actions to jealousy and vows revenge. Luthor's revenge first came in the form of grandiose engineering projects in Smallville to prove his superiority over the superhero, only to have each go disastrously out of control and require Superboy's intervention. The mounting embarrassments further deepen Lex's hate for Superboy for supposedly further humiliating him and he unsuccessfully attempted to murder the superhero. This revised origin makes Luthor's fight with Superman a personal one, and suggests that if events had unfolded differently, Luthor might have been a more noble person. These elements were played up in various stories throughout the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Elliot S. Maggin's novel ''Last Son of Krypton''.This revenge causes Luthor's family to disown him and change their names to Thorul. It also leads to years of Superman, Luthor, and Supergirl concealing the truth from Luthor's sister, Lena Thorul. She was told her brother died in a rock-climbing accident. She has ESP powers due ot otuching one of Luthor's inventions. Once she found out about Luthor being her brother and briefly lost her memory. However Luthor broke out of prison and gave her flowers he had developed that removed the bad memory from her mind.

In Crisis on Infinite Earths, Alexei Luthor is killed by Brainiac, and is subsequently erased from history with the rest of the DC multiverse.

1980s-1990s

In the 1986 limited series ''The Man of Steel'', John Byrne redesigned Lex Luthor from scratch, intending to make him a villain that the 1980s would recognize: an evil corporate executive. Initially brutish and overweight, the character later evolved into a sleeker, more athletic version of his old self. In an example indicative of Byrne's realistic approach, Luthor is no longer recounted as having lost his hair in a chemical fire; rather, his hairline is shown to be receding naturally over time. Marv Wolfman, a writer on Action Comics who had one conversation with Byrne prior to Luthor's reboot recalled:

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The Modern Age Lex Luthor is a product of child abuse and early poverty. Born in the Suicide Slum district of Metropolis, he is instilled with a desire to become a self-made man. As a teenager, he takes out a large insurance policy on his parents without their knowledge, then sabotages their car's brakes, causing their deaths. Upon graduating from MIT, Luthor finds his own business, LexCorp, which grows to dominate much of Metropolis.

Luthor does not physically appear in ''The Man of Steel'' until the fourth issue, which takes place over a year after Superman's arrival in Metropolis. When Lois Lane and Clark Kent are invited to a society gala aboard Luthor's yacht, terrorists seize the ship without warning, forcing Superman to intervene. Luthor observes Superman in action, and once the gunmen are dispatched, hands the hero a personal check in an attempt to hire him. When Luthor admits that he had not only anticipated the attack, but had arranged for it to occur in order to lure Superman out, the Mayor deputizes Superman to arrest Luthor for reckless endangerment. This, coupled with the indignation that Superman is the only person he could not buy off, threaten, or otherwise control, results in Luthor's pledge to destroy Superman at any cost. As such, he is more than willing to help other businessmen destroy other superbeings. He was instrumental in the apparent death of Swamp Thing, which jeopardized many lives as the Parliament of Trees attempted to replace him.

Despite general acceptance of Byrne's characterization, as evidenced by subsequent adaptations in other media, some writers have called for a return to Luthor's original status as a mad scientist. Regarding the character's effectiveness as a corrupt billionaire, author Neil Gaiman commented:

Luthor's romantic aspirations toward Lois Lane, established early on in the series, become a focal point of the stories immediately following it. He is shown making repeated attempts to court her during ''The Man of Steel'', though Lois plainly does not return his feelings.

Modern depictions

''Superman: Birthright'', a limited series written by Mark Waid in 2004, offers an alternate look at Luthor's history, including his youth in Smallville and his first encounter with Superman. The story has similarities to the 2001 television series ''Smallville'', which follows Clark Kent's life as a teenager and into early manhood; among the elements shared with the show is Lex Luthor's problematic relationship with his wealthy father, Lionel. ''Birthright'' also reinvents the Silver Age concept of Luthor befriending Clark Kent as a young man. During a failed attempt to communicate with Krypton, an explosion erupts which singes off Luthor's hair. Waid's original intention was to jettison the notion of Lex Luthor being an evil businessman, restoring his status as a mad scientist. However, he ultimately conceded that the CEO Luthor would be easier for readers to recognize. In ''Birthright'', Luthor remains a wealthy corporate magnate; in contrast to Byrne's characterization, however, LexCorp is founded upon Luthor's study of extraterrestrial life, thereby providing a link between himself and Superman. In the retrospective section of the ''Superman: Birthright'' trade paperback, Waid explains:

''Birthright'' was initially intended to establish a new origin for Superman and Luthor. However, the canonicity of the series was eventually discredited by stories which followed it, to Waid's disappointment. A concise biography for Luthor, later outlined in ''Action Comics'' #850, first appeared in the 2007 limited series ''Countdown to Final Crisis''. Luthor's current origin appears to be a synthesis of aspects from Silver Age continuity and ''The Man of Steel'' mini-series. Recent changes to DC Comics continuity were revealed to have been a result of the 2005 ''Infinite Crisis'' mini-series.

As outlined in a backup profile in the ''52'' weekly series, the post-''Action Comics'' #850 Lex Luthor in this continuity is the son of business mogul Lionel Luthor and his socialite spouse, Leticia. As shown previously in ''Superman: Birthright'' and the pre-''Crisis'' stories, he spends part of his adolescence in Smallville, Kansas. It is here that Luthor comes into acquaintance with Clark Kent, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross. However, in the 2009-2010 series ''Superman: Secret Origin,'' Luthor and his father, Lionel are both once again poor as a child and an abusive alcoholic father, though residents of Smallville. Lena Luthor, appears back in this version, as his sister. In both versions, he leaves Smallville "under a cloud of rumor and suspicion", after having his father mysteriously killed without anyone finding out the details, and leaving his sister behind as well. He later resurfaces in Metropolis and founds LexCorp.

In this incarnation, Luthor is so powerful that he owned every media in Metropolis and used it to enforce his public image as a wealthy benefactor, while the Daily Planet had always stood free, even condemning his actions with an outrageous editorial signed by Perry White himself. As a result, when Clark Kent is first inducted into the Planet, the newspaper is almost bankrupt, dilapidated and unable to afford new reporters. Thanks to Clark Kent's appearance as Superman granting exclusive interviews and photographs to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen when he debuts, the paper's circulation increases 700%. However, the paper's refurbishment is interrupted when the US Army, led by Lois's father, General Sam Lane, forcibly shuts down the business while attempting to force her to tell them everything she knows about the now fugitive superhero after he fled a military interrogation. Thanks to Jimmy's help, Lois manages to escape to help Superman just when he is finished. Sam arrives and orders Superman and Lois arrested. However, the crowd turns on the Army, and Superman orders the crowd to stop, telling them that they, not the Army, not Lex Luthor, nor himself, are meant to be Metropolis's saviors. Knowing Luthor's role in the Army's attack against him, Superman confronts him and tells him that Metropolis doesn't belong to him: "You don't own us." Lex objects, since Superman isn't from Earth. Superman replies, "This is my home", and leaves. The next day, Lex goes to pick another person from the crowd of Metropolis to give a new life to (which he always does as his normal routine), only no one is there. Holding Superman responsible for losing his complete grip over the people of Metropolis, Luthor holds a grudge against Superman, which lasts for an eternity. In both "JLA" and "52," Grant Morrison states that Luthor's ego leads him to believe that the only reason Superman commits good deeds is to somehow strike at Luthor and prove who is better, arguing that it is impossible for Superman to be as 'good' as he appears to be.

Many times, Luthor has stated that he could have aided the entire human race if not for Superman's interference, claiming that he gives humanity a goal that they could realistically strive to duplicate while Superman makes them reach for the impossible. However, both Superman and Conner Kent have called him out on the hypocrisy of this statement, noting that he has regularly turned down easy opportunities to willingly help others simply because he would have sacrificed the opportunity to kill Superman by doing so, showing that his ego is more important to him than humanity. Even when Superman was depowered after the Battle of Metropolis and remained out of sight for a year, the only thing Luthor accomplished with this time was the self-sabotaged 'Everyman' project and "found [himself] a big destructive machine so [he] could break things" while claiming that Superman drove him to this. This idea was further reinforced when Luthor was briefly merged with a near-omnipotent entity that sought peace after its difficult 'childhood'; while merged with the entity, Luthor had the power to bring peace and bliss to the entire universe, potentially becoming a hero greater even than Superman, but Luthor fought against that power simply because he would have had to share that bliss with Superman as well.

Fictional character biography

Silver age

In the pre-''Crisis'' continuity, Lex Luthor's driving ambitions are to kill Superman and enslave Earth as a stepping stone to dominating the universe. In ''Action Comics'' #271 (1960), Superman acknowledges that Luthor "could have been a mighty force for good in the world, yet he chose to direct his great scientific brain into criminal channels." Although none of his attempts to kill Superman work permanently (though a classic non-canonical story from 1961 entitled "''The Death of Superman''" has Luthor finally killing Superman after lulling him by pretending to go straight, although Supergirl then arrests him and he is exiled to the Phantom Zone), Luthor routinely manages to escape from prison and threaten the world again.

Though he is a noted criminal on Earth, Luthor is revered on the alien world of Lexor, where he rediscovered the planet's lost technology and rebuilt society for its inhabitants. He apparently lost a fight to Superman so that water could be transported to the desert planet, as he had reactivated digging machines but discovered he could not find water. He and Superman had originally gone to the world to have a proper fight as Superman did not want to appear cowardly after Luthor over a radio challenged him to a fight, as this planet had a red sun meaning Superman lost his powers there. As a result, he becomes a hero in the eyes of Lexor's people, whereas Superman is detested as a villain. He eventually marries a local woman named Ardora, with whom he fathers a son, Lex Luthor, Jr. After its debut, Lexor appears sporadically in various Superman comics as Luthor's base of operations, where he wages assaults on Superman. During one such battle, an energy salvo from Luthor's battlesuit accidentally overloads the "Neutrarod"—a spire Luthor had built to counter Lexor's geological instability—resulting in the annihilation of Lexor's inhabitants, including his wife and son. Luthor eventually returns to Earth, unable to accept his own role in Lexor's destruction and blaming Superman for it.

During the 12-issue limited series ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', Luthor allies himself with fellow Superman foe Brainiac to recruit an army of supervillains spanning the DC multiverse, intending to take advantage of the confusion caused by the Crisis. However, once it becomes clear that it is as much in their interests to save the multiverse as anyone else's, Luthor and Brainiac reluctantly ally their faction with Superman and the other heroes. At the conclusion of the series, reality is altered so that each of the different universes fall into their proper place, converging into one. Afterward, Luthor is subsequently returned to prison with all his memories of the alliance forgotten. Luthor's trademark battlesuit from this era—a heavily-armored, flight-capable suit with kryptonite fixtures embedded in its gauntlets—has reappeared in recent continuity, most notably during ''Infinite Crisis''.

Modern age

As part of the continuity changes which followed ''The Man of Steel'' and ''Superman: Secret Origin'', Luthor is shown actively participating in the creation of three ''Superman'' villains, Parasite (indirectly), Bizarro (the failed result of an attempt to clone Superman), and the cyborg Metallo. Upon discovering that Metallo is powered by a 'heart' of kryptonite rock in ''Superman'' (vol. 2) #2, Luthor steals it in order to fashion a kryptonite ring for himself. He wears the alien ore around his finger as a symbol that he is untouchable, even to the Man of Steel. Luthor eventually suffers from severe cancer brought on by long-term radiation exposure to the ring; before this, kryptonite was mistakenly assumed to produce a 'clean' radiation that is harmless to humans. His hand requires amputation to prevent the cancer's spread, but by then it has already metastasized, and his condition is terminal.

Luthor decides to fake his own death by piloting a prototype jet on a proposed trip around the world and crashing it in the Andes; this is merely a cover for the removal of his brain from his cancer-ridden body and the growth of a cloned body around it, whereupon he passes himself off as his hitherto unknown, illegitimate 21-year-old son and heir, Lex Luthor II. His deception is benefited by a vibrant new body with a beard and full head of red hair, as well as assuming an Australian accent as part of his fake backstory. As Luthor II, he inherits control of LexCorp and seduces Supergirl (a protoplasmic clone of an alternative universe Lana Lang), due to his resemblance to her creator (the alternative universe's Luthor). Luthor's clone body eventually begins to deteriorate and age (and lose its hair) at a rapid rate, a side-effect of a disease that affects all clones. Meanwhile, Lois Lane discovers proof of Luthor's clone harvesting and false identity; with help from Superman, she exposes the truth, and a despondent Superman helps to apprehend Luthor. In the end, Luthor becomes a permanent prisoner in his own body, unable to even blink, and swearing vengeance on Superman.

Aid comes in the form of the demon Neron; Luthor is offered full health in exchange for services and his soul. Not believing in the existence of souls, he agrees. Returning to Metropolis, Luthor freely turns himself over to the police and is put on trial. He is acquitted on all counts when Luthor claims to have been kidnapped by renegade scientists from Cadmus Labs, who replaced him with a violent clone that is allegedly responsible for all the crimes with which Luthor is charged.

President of the United States

Deciding to turn to politics, Luthor becomes President of the United States, winning the election on a platform of promoting technological progress. His first action as president was to take a proposed moratorium on fossil-based fuels to the U.S. Congress.

Luthor is assisted by the extreme unpopularity of the previous administration's mishandling of the Gotham City earthquake crisis (as depicted in the ''No Man's Land'' storyline in the Batman titles), and his own seemingly heroic efforts to rebuild Gotham. After six months, Gotham is restored and rejoins America. Ironically, Batman ultimately learns that the entire debacle was the fault of Luthor alone as he attempted to take control of Gotham by forging deeds for the land in his name, which results in Bruce Wayne severing all commercial ties between the U.S. government and his company, Wayne Enterprises, in protest of Luthor's election as President. Luthor responds in turn by arranging for the murder of Wayne's lover, Vesper Fairchild, and framing Wayne for the murder (as seen in ''Bruce Wayne: Fugitive'').

An early triumph of Luthor's first term occurs during the ''Our Worlds at War'' comic book crossover, in which he coordinates the U.S. Army, Earth's superheroes, and a number of untrustworthy alien forces to battle the main villain of the story arc, Imperiex. As it is eventually revealed, however, Luthor knew about the alien invasion in advance and did nothing to alert Earth's heroes to it, leading to the destruction of Topeka, Kansas by an Imperiex probe.

Removal from office

The initial story arc of the ''Superman/Batman'' ongoing series depicts the fall of Luthor's reign as U.S. President. In "The World's Finest" (more commonly referred to as "Public Enemies"), a cadre of superheroes eventually break ranks from the Justice League to oppose Luthor. Batman, who had previously forbidden any attempt to unseat Luthor from office by force, led the storming of the White House. This was predicated by an attempt on Luthor's part to link Superman to a kryptonite asteroid that is hurtling toward Earth, claiming that he had 'evidence'- which he declined to share while claiming that it would make the public laud his actions if they knew it- that the asteroid was being drawn to Earth by Superman, offering a billion dollar reward for Superman's capture that pitted Superman and Batman against an army of villains, all of whom they defeated. In a desperate gambit, Luthor uses a variant combination of the "super-steroid" Venom (a chemical associated with the Batman villain Bane), liquid synthetic Kryptonite, and an Apokoliptian battlesuit to fight Superman directly.

The madness that is a side effect of Venom takes hold, and during the ensuing fight with Superman and Batman, Luthor admits he had traded the creature Doomsday to Darkseid in return for weapons during the ''Our Worlds at War'' crisis; in doing so, he inadvertently provides a confession which is captured on video by Batman. Returning to the LexCorp building to regroup after Superman damaged his battlesuit, Luthor finds that the acting CEO, Talia Head, has sold the entire company to the Wayne Foundation, forcing Luthor to escape and go into hiding. Following Luthor's bankruptcy and total disgrace, Vice President Pete Ross briefly assumes his place as President. Luthor serves fewer than three years.

In 2009, the story of Luthor's rise and fall as U.S. President was adapted as a direct-to-video animated film entitled ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies''.

''Infinite Crisis''

Alexander Luthor, Jr. (the son of Earth-Three's version of Luthor) returned to the DC Universe along with other survivors from ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' as part of a scheme to create a perfect Earth, under the pretense of restoring Earth-Two. To this end, he assumed Luthor's identity and created a new Secret Society of Super Villains. In response, the real Luthor took on the identity of Mockingbird and formed the third incarnation of the Secret Six in order to counter Alexander's organization.

Luthor confronts his impostor in ''Infinite Crisis'' #3, but is intercepted by Superboy-Prime (a teenage version of Superman from Earth-Prime), who is allied with Alexander. After discovering that his hybrid clone/"son" Conner Kent (Superboy) was injured by Prime, Luthor contacts Robin and gives him the means to help Superboy recover. Later Luthor himself goes to Titans Tower and slips Conner a crystal shard which shows the location of Alexander's Arctic Fortress. At the end of ''Infinite Crisis'' #7, Luthor oversees Alexander's execution at the hands of the Joker.

''52''

In the opening weeks of ''52'', the Gotham City Police Department finds what appears to be Luthor's body in an alley. John Henry Irons examines the body at S.T.A.R. Labs and notes that the corpse was altered postmortem to make it resemble Lex Luthor. During a press conference, the genuine Luthor publicly states that the body is that of an impostor from another Earth, and the true culprit of the crimes with which Luthor is being charged. Though Alexander's body had a missing finger and a different appearance from Lex at the time of his death, ''52'' editor Stephen Wacker has confirmed that the body found in Gotham is indeed Alex, and that Luthor had it altered before the police discovered it.

Luthor immediately sets out to build a church, which he names the Luthoran Church; he becomes spokesman for a new procedure, created by the Everyman Project, that engineers ordinary citizens to develop superpowers. During the autopsy of Alexander Luthor Jr., he secretly exposes John to the chemicals involved in his creating his new army of superheroes, turning John into a literal man of steel. When approached by John's niece Natasha Irons, Luthor gladly allows her to be one of his first test subjects. Using Natasha and several other volunteers, Luthor forms his own team of superheroes which are introduced as the new Infinity Inc. In Week 21, Infinity Inc. is in the midst of a battle with Blockbuster (which Luthor has created as well), when he demonstrates that he can 'shut off' the powers of each of his agents; this results in the death of his speedster, Trajectory.

At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, Luthor sets in motion a calculated plot to discredit Supernova, a new hero who has taken over defending Metropolis in Superman's absence. Luthor triggers a mass-shutdown of the powers of everyone who has undertaken the Everyman program, except for the members of Infinity Inc. As multiple flight-powered Everymen plummet to their deaths, underground gas mains rupture from the impact, which adds civilians to the death toll. Millions of dollars worth of damage is caused. Luthor's plot ultimately fails when Supernova is able to minimize the disaster with a spectacular rescue.

While investigating Luthor in order to root out his motive, Natasha Irons discovers that Luthor has been testing himself to see if he is compatible with the artificial metagene treatment. John Henry Irons leads an assault on Luthor's building; despite the destruction of his armor during the fight, he confronts Luthor - only to find himself badly outclassed, as Luthor demonstrates nearly all of Superman's powers. Luthor considers conquering Earth and renaming it Lexor. However, Natasha uses her uncle's hammer to trigger an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down the synthetic metagene long enough for Steel to knock Lex unconscious. Lex is disgraced as a result, and later faces indictment when the members of the Everymen realize they have been used.

''One Year Later'' and ''Countdown''

One year after the events of ''Infinite Crisis,'' Luthor has been cleared of over 120 criminal counts ranging from malfeasance to first-degree murder relating to the New Year's Eve massacre from ''52''. However, his role in the massacre has permanently ruined his public image and thanks to the machinations of Doctor Sivana, he has lost most of his wealth and all of his control over his newly reformed LexCorp, which is now being run by Lana Lang. He blames Clark Kent for writing several articles unraveling his schemes and pledges vengeance on Metropolis after an angry mob jeers him on the courthouse steps. After amassing large quantities of Kryptonite, including kidnapping the supervillains Metallo and the Kryptonite Man, Lex uses it to power a Kryptonian battleship controlled through a "sunstone" crystal. Superman manages to destroy the Kryptonite-powered ship and recover the crystal- simultaneously confronting Lex with the fact that, despite his claims that Superman has been 'holding him back' from helping humanity, the only thing he accomplished with Superman being absent for a year was to find a large robot that he used to try and destroy everything-, but Lex manages to escape custody yet again.

Lex later sends Bizarro after the newly arrived "Superboy", only for the creature to be defeated by Superman. Undaunted, Luthor gathers together a new Revenge Squad to fight against invading Kryptonians led by General Zod, leaving Superman alive to provide assistance simply because he believed that this 'invasion' was proof that he had been right about Superman all along and he wanted SUperman to live with that knowledge.

In JLA, Luthor (alongside Joker and Cheetah III) gathers together a new "Injustice League" and, outfitted in a new version of his warsuit (although still green and purple, it no longer has clear design derivations from the pre-Crisis warsuit as the McGuinness design did), sets out to destroy the Justice League with them. On a related note during this section, he was responsible for creating the third Shaggy Man and the third Blockbuster.

Luthor plays a large role in the ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' tie-in event, ''Salvation Run''. Having been sent to the prison planet after his Injustice League was defeated, Lex quickly assumes control of the amassed villains, receiving competition only from Joker and Gorilla Grodd, who convince half of the villains to join them. He does fight the Joker until the battle was interrupted by an attack by Desaad's Parademons. After the attack, Luthor manages to get the villains off the planet with a makeshift teleporter, secretly powered by Neutron, Heatmonger, Plasmus, Warp, and Thunder and Lightning. When called a "monster" by Thunder, Luthor claims it is the ones who sent them there who are the real monsters, and that he is the hero. He later sets the teleporter to self-destruct after he uses it, killing the attacking Parademons, and his living batteries.

Final Crisis

In ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #21, Luthor can be seen associating with Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains and placed in its Inner Circle. Lex Luthor wanted Libra to prove himself, so Libra sends Clayface to blow up the ''Daily Planet'' building. As Lex Luthor attempts to ambush Libra after learning that he is a prophet of Darkseid, Lex Luthor soon ends up surrounded by Justifiers. Libra tells Lex Luthor to make a final choice... swear an oath to Darkseid or become a mindless slave. In ''Final Crisis'' #5, Lex Luthor is seen when Libra blames Calculator for cracking the computer codes that will help the resistance. Lex Luthor is silent on the matter, but has been picked to lead the rearguard action against the heroes at Blüdhaven. He assumes it's an honor, but he doesn't look very pleased. Libra later figures out Luthor had been the mole in the Society of Super Villains. Luthor, in league with Doctor Sivana, seemingly destroys Libra and overturns the Anti-Life Equation being broadcast into the Justifiers' helmets. He subsequently assists Superman in leading the assault against Darkseid's forces, noting that Superman can consider this a legendary first team-up between 'good' and 'bad'- with Luthor's side taking the credit for the win-, Superman accepting the deal due to the stakes. Luthor later assists Superman and his remaining allies in constructing the new Miracle Machine to reset the universe and recreate the universe without Darkseid

New Krypton

Luthor ended up imprisoned for his crimes, but rather than going to jail General Sam Lane had him serve out his sentence working for the secretive Project 7734. While still forced to wear chains, Luthor was assigned the job of accessing the knowledge stored within the captured Brainiac, who had recently been defeated by Superman (as seen during the "Brainiac" storyline). Luthor successfully accessed Brainiac’s brain and after Metallo and Reactron were taken to Kandor as prisoners of the Kryptonians who had now settled on Earth he used Brainiac to reactivate the Coluan’s ship that was also being held in Kandor. Brainiac’s robots attacked the Kryptonians, providing a distraction as Metallo and Reactron used their Kryptonite hearts to kill their captors and murder Zor-El.

After his success with Brainiac, Luthor was given the seemingly dead body of Doomsday, who had been defeated by the Kryptonians, to study as it had “potential”.

Luthor later manages to use Brainiac's connection to his ship to kill the soldiers assigned to watch him. Brainiac manages to free himself from Luthor's control, forcing him onboard the ship, and the two make their escape. The two are later shown to have entered into an alliance, with Brainiac promising Luthor the Earth when he is done with it. While reading newspapers to catch up on what happened during his imprisonment, Luthor learns of the resurrection of Superboy. Lex quickly returns to Smallville, where it is revealed that his physically and mentally handicapped sister Lena Luthor is still alive, and living with her daughter Lori. In an effort to mockingly prove his abilities to Superboy, Lex agrees to cure his sister's illness. With Superboy's aid, Luthor manages to cure Lena, allowing her to walk and think logically again for a brief moment, before he then quickly reverses the process, leaving Lena completely catatonic, and informs Superboy that so long as Superman is alive, he will never reveal how he did it. Luthor escapes with Brainiac, leaving Superboy, Lori, and Krypto horrified at his cruelty. Because Luthor now sees Superboy as a failed experiment of using the "wrong alien DNA," he and Brainiac create another binary clone with their own genetics for another plan against the entire House of El.

''Last Stand of New Krypton'' and ''War of the Supermen''

As part of his participation in Project 7734, Luthor sends a robot double of himself with Brainiac on a mission to attack New Krypton. While there, the Luthor robot tampers with the body chemistry of the previously-captured Reactron. Shortly thereafter, Reactron kills himself, initiating a chain reaction which ultimately destroys New Krypton and all but a handful of its 100,000 Kryptonian inhabitants. Supergirl's mother Alura (who had assumed leadership of the planet) is among the casualties. For his efforts, Luthor receives a presidential pardon for his past crimes.

''Blackest Night''

During the ''Blackest Night'' event, when word got out that apparently ''everyone'' around the world who have died are rising as undead Black Lanterns, Luthor isolates himself in his safehouse in fear that ''all'' the people he had murdered over the years would also reanimate and seek revenge on him. His fear is justified as his victims, including his deceased father, arrive, seeking to feast on his avarice-filled heart. However, Luthor escapes after receiving a power ring fueled by the orange light of avarice and becomes a deputy of the Orange Lanterns. Luthor arrives at Coast City and joins the battle against the Black Lantern Corps. Luthor engages battle with the Black Lantern versions of Superman and Superboy. However, the Agent Orange Larfleeze wants Luthor's ring off, as the alien does not want to share his power with him, resulting in them battling each other for it despite all of the dangers around them. Luthor is able to use all of the people he has killed as his own Orange Lanterns, and seeks to add Superman to their numbers. Luthor is quickly overwhelmed by his greed, and sets out to steal the rings of his fellow inducted Lanterns, taking Scarecrow's yellow ring and attempting to steal Mera's red one, but is held back by the Atom(wielding the ring-staff of the Indigo tribe) and the Flash wearing a Blue Lantern Ring. When deputy Violet Lantern Wonder Woman uses her magical lasso to restrain Luthor, under its spell of truth, Luthor is forced to confess that he secretly wants to be Superman. When Nekron is defeated, Larfleeze takes the ring from Luthor, leaving him powerless, and allows Luthor to remain on Earth with the Green Lanterns (although Sinestro notes that this is the first time Larfleeze has given anyone anything).

In the aftermath of the crisis, Luthor, craving the power of the orange light, recovers and operates on several Black Lantern remains in an attempt to find one with a ring still on its finger. He is then visited by Larfleeze, who demands to know what is important to the people of Earth. Luthor responds with "power", which Larfleeze already possesses, and "land", which intrigues the alien.

''Brightest Day'': ''Action Comics''-"The Black Ring"

After the conclusion of the ''New Krypton'' event, Luthor became the lead character in ''Action Comics'' and will remain so until issue #900. Written by Paul Cornell, the first story entitled "The Black Ring" explores Luthor's more aggressive lust for power in the wake of his exposure to a power ring in the ''Blackest Night'' event. After being infused with the Orange Light of Avarice, Luthor begins a universal quest to locate the energy of the Black Lantern Corps.

During the midst of the ''Brightest Day'' event, Deathstroke and his new team of Titans are hired to assassinate Luthor while he is visiting Midway City with Nava Mendelssohn, his new personal assistant and bodyguard. When the Titans ambush Lex's convoy and begin killing his hired mercenaries, Nava takes him into the sewers, where she is shot and apparently killed by Deathstroke. It is then revealed that Luthor himself had paid the Titans to fake an attempt on his life, in hopes that it would draw out conspirators within LexCorp. Nava's injuries soon heal, and she reveals herself to be a shapeshifter named Facade, who had murdered and impersonated the real Nava in order to get close enough to Lex to kill him. After a massive battle, Deathstroke and Osiris are able to defeat Facade, and then turn him over to Lex. In the end, LexCorp scientists are shown performing experiments on the captured Facade, while Luthor assembles his staff and reveals that he knows that it was one of his employees who had hired the creature in the first place. Luthor warns them not to try such a tactic again, as he will turn them into his next morbid experiment if they do.

While searching for the energy of the Black Lantern- - simultaneously dispatching various Doomsday 'clones' created from the original to distract Earth's heroes by sending them after the other members of the Superman family- with the aid of a robotic duplicate of Lois Lane created to give him an honest opinion on his actions, Luthor encountered Brainiac in space while attempting to alter the last of the Black Lantern energy, acting upon an unspoken theory of his. Brainiac revealed that Loisbot was an unwilling pawn in his bid to hijack Luthor's quest. Luthor then replied that he had anticipated this for some time, and he then attacked Brainiac and snapped his neck, temporarily incapacitating him. Loisbot pleaded for Lex's forgivness, and he accepted her apology. However, after he altered the four remaining black spheres, he opened a Phantom Zone portal which unleashed an extremely powerful, monstrously large being which prepared to kill all life in the universe, because the negative emotions of sentient creatures hurt it. Luthor promptly impaled Loisbot's head, allowing himself to be infected with Krypontian technology which he used to engage the monster on a mental plane of existence. Grappling with the creature, Luthor's body and mental essence suddenly fused with it, learning that it evolved in the Phantom Zone and now seeks to escape from the grief and anger of the Zone prisoners. Using his new power, Luthor draws Superman to him, attempting to drive Superman mad by forcing him to experience the human emotions that he believes the alien merely fakes to blend in. However, Luthor is outraged when he learns that Superman's defining moment of tragedy is the loss of his father. Luthor is unable to cope with the fact that not only was his greatest enemy raised by humans, but he also had a father he would actually mourn rather than the anguish Luthor endured in his own relationship with his father. As Luthor becomes one with the creature, Superman and Mr. Mind- who has been aiding Luthor's search- realise that the creature allows Luthor to create a feeling of peace and bliss throughout the entire universe, at the cost of never allowing him to cause any harm to another being at the same time. Superman attempts to appeal to Luthor about the potential of doing something even he never accomplished, but Luthor is unable to let go of his hate for Superman, costing him control of the entity- as well as his memory of everything he learned or did while he was merged with it- and it departs for another part of the universe. Luthor is ultimately defeated when he falls into one of the Phantom Zone holes created by the creature, seemingly forever.

DC Relaunch

In September 2011, the entire Superman line will be rebooted with a new continuity. In this new timeline, Luthor will begin as a top scientific aid for the government and will be portrayed "almost as a good guy" according to ''Action Comics'' writer Grant Morrison.

Relationships and family

In the pre-''Crisis'' continuity, Luthor is shown as having very few personal attachments. Shamed by his crimes, his parents (Jules and Arlene) disown him, move away, and change their name to the anagram "Thorul". Luthor has a younger sister named Lena, an empath who grows up unaware of her familial connection with the noted supervillain. Lena, like Lex, also attended Regis High School. Protective of his sister, Luthor takes measures to hide his fraternity, and is assisted towards this end by both Superman and Supergirl. Lena Thorul later marries FBI agent Jeff Colby (who had once arrested Lex), later giving birth to a son, Val Colby. Jeff Colby dies some time later. After Lena has brain surgery the decision is made to reveal the truth about Luthor to her. There is some reconciliation between them when Luthor discovers he was an unwitting party to a conspiracy against Lena, which was masterminded by his cellmate "Sam", who wanted revenge against Colby. He is deeply apologetic to Lena.

In the Post-''Crisis'' continuity, Lena is the name of Lex's adopted sister when he was living in a foster home. She is accidentally killed by their foster father when she refuses to try and trick Lex out of his inheritance. Lex later names his baby daughter after her. However, following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'', Luthor's history was again altered, re-introducing Lena as his sister. Unlike the Pre-''Crisis'' version, Lena is well-aware of history with Lex, having grown up alongside him, with only an abusive father. She has no empathic abilities, and is a paraplegic with a teenaged daughter, Lori, both of whom still live in Smallville. Unlike his pre-''Crisis'' version, Lex has little love for his sister, having abandoned her with an unnamed aunt after their father dies of a heart attack. Lex even goes so far as to cure Lena's illness, and then immediately undoes the process, leaving her completely catatonic, solely in order to make a mocking point to Superboy and Superman. Lena is currently under the care of the best doctors from Wayne Enterprises, hired by Red Robin.

Lex Luthor himself later marries Ardora of the planet Lexor and, in ''Action Comics'' #544 (June, 1983), first learns of his infant son by Ardora, Lex Luthor, Jr. A short time later, Lexor is destroyed and both Ardora and Lex, Jr. die as a direct result.

The Pre-''Crisis'' Luthor also has a niece named Nasthalia Luthor who is an occasional thorn in Supergirl's side.

In post-''The Man of Steel'' continuity, Luthor is childhood friends with Perry White and it is revealed that Luthor is the biological father of Perry's dead son Jerry White. Lex Luthor has been married eight times, though the first seven marriages occurred off-panel in Luthor's past. His eighth marriage to Contessa Erica Alexandra Del Portenza (aka the "Contessa") is based on mutual greed; the Contessa buys controlling interest in LexCorp after Luthor is indicted, compelling him to marry her in order to regain control of his company. The Contessa becomes pregnant and starts using the unborn child to dominate Lex into doing her bidding. Luthor's response is to imprison her while she is drugged during childbirth, keeping her in a permanently-unconscious state. The Contessa later escapes to an island mansion, but upon being elected President, Luthor targets her home with a barrage of missiles and destroys it. Luthor's daughter Lena was the avatar of The Tech, the remnant cyberware of Metropolis after Brainiac 13's advancing the city to a futuristic state was undone.

James D. Hudnall's ''Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography'' further expands on Luthor's origin. The story details how Luthor was sent to live with a foster family following the sabotage of his parents' car. His foster parents, Casey and Emily Griggs, conspire to embezzle his insurance, and coerce their daughter, Lena, into seducing Lex in order to learn the location of the money. Due to her own romantic feelings toward Lex, Lena refuses, and is beaten to death by her father. Lex is absent from the home at the time of the murder, having been talked into going to a football game by his schoolmate Perry White. Once he has established his preeminence in Metropolis, Luthor takes vengeance on Griggs, secretly hiring him to assassinate Frank Berkowitz, the city's popular four-term mayor, who refuses to knuckle under to Luthor's dominance, then personally killing him once the deed is done.

As an adult, this incident motivates Luthor to begin an affair with Perry's wife, Alice, during a period when Perry is missing and assumed dead. Alice becomes pregnant shortly afterward, though the timing of the conception means an equal possibility of either Luthor or White being the father. The child, Jerry White, later learns of his true parentage during his late teens, shortly before being killed by a local street gang he is associated with. The loss of a potential heir weighs heavily on Luthor's mind, particularly when he is dying of cancer; while mulling over his fate, Luthor visits Jerry's gravesite.

Luthor has shown an unusual level of compassion for Conner Kent, a hybrid clone created from the DNA of Superman and Luthor himself. After Conner's death at the conclusion of the ''Infinite Crisis'', Luthor is shown visiting a memorial statue of Conner in Metropolis and placing flowers there. More than once Luthor addresses Conner as his son. Following Conner's resurrection, Luthor is shocked and decides to locate him. When Brainiac accuses him of showing paternal feelings for Conner though, Luthor denies it, saying that he only wants his property back, and has no fatherly feelings towards Superboy. Apparently, Luthor is no longer affectionate to the Boy of Steel after the event at his sister's house, and now seeing Superboy as a "failed experiment" due to using "a wrong alien DNA" to combine with his own. Luthor creates another binary clone with Brainiac using their genetics, which implies that it would becomes a threat to Superboy.

In the alternate future timeline of ''Titans Tomorrow'', in which Conner still exists, Luthor acts as a caring, fatherly figure to him.

After the events of ''Blackest Night'', Luthor went on to build a gynoid version of Lois Lane using Brainiac technology. His primary purpose for creating her was to have a companion which voiced honest opinions about his plans, and to give him an extra voice of reason to counsel him on his obsessive quest for the Black Lantern energy. Luthor also had a pseudo-romantic relationship with the "Loisbot", and regularly slept with it.

Powers and abilities

Lex Luthor has the physical capabilities and limitations of a normal adult with no metahuman abilities. However, he possesses a genius level of intelligence. For virtually his entire publication history, he has been depicted as the most intelligent human in the DC Universe, and as one of the most intelligent beings of any planet or species. He has mastered seemingly every known form of science, including space travel, extra-dimensional travel, biochemistry, robotics, computers, synthetic polymers, communications, mutations, transportation, holography, energy generation, spectral analysis, and more (including time travel in many Pre-Crisis stories). With the exception of the renegade Coluan scientist Brainiac, he does not view any other being as an intellectual peer.

Over the years, Luthor has made liberal use of kryptonite weapons capable of injuring Superman and other Kryptonians. Since the Bronze Age of Comics, he has also utilized various battlesuits in many stories. Additionally, he often wore a kryptonite ring on his right hand in Post-Crisis stories, but abandoned this tactic after prolonged exposure to K-radiation resulted in the loss of his hand and poisoned his entire body (requiring him to transplant his brain into a cloned body in order to survive).

Other versions

In other media

Lyle Talbot was the first actor to portray the character in a live-action film, appearing in the 1950 serial ''Atom Man vs. Superman''. The character has appeared in all of the modern ''Superman'' films, with the exception of ''Superman III'' (1983). In the original Richard Donner films, Luthor is a vain, wisecracking money-hungry gangster, with a particular fixation on real estate, who plots outrageous disasters for Superman to try to avert. He is regularly captured by Superman and sent to prison, only to escape—in a manner similar to the comics—at the opening of the next film. This version of Luthor appears to have little personal dislike for Superman, other than the fact the hero interferes with his criminal schemes. He still displays the scientific expertise that the traditional Luthor exhibited, being able to trace Zod and his cohorts by monitoring their radioactive signatures, and masterminding the creation of the Nuclear Man. This version of Luthor also favors hairpieces to conceal his baldness.

Gene Hackman portrays Luthor in the 1978 ''Superman'' film, along with two of its sequels, ''Superman II'' (1980) and ''Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'' (1987). In the films, Luthor is established as an elusive, high-profile criminal who has taken refuge in an extensively restored abandoned subway station under the streets of Metropolis. He is initially fixated on making billions from a massive real-estate swindle, but after being foiled by Superman, shifts his focus to the history and biology of the Kryptonian himself. Unlike in most other portrayals, Hackman's Luthor appears to view Superman as a respectable and challenging foe rather than a subject of intense hatred. Luthor, as portrayed by Hackman, is somewhat light and comical, resembling a fast talking con artist more than a criminal mastermind; often attempting to talk his way out of trouble. As a result, Luthor is initially not taken seriously by General Zod or Ursa. Although he attempts to kill Superman on multiple occasions, he also expresses his pleasure with Superman's genius intellect and ability to "keep up with" Luthor's speeches and schemes.

John Shea portrayed Lex in the 1990s TV series ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' as a charming and debonair philanthropist and polymath, the owner of the massive LexCorp. He is established early on as "the 3rd richest man in the world", behind Bill Gates and the fictional Arthur Chow. He is secretly, however, a ruthless and power-hungry individual involved in many criminal enterprises and obsessed with defeating and killing Superman. Unlike other versions of the character, Shea's Lex has a full head of hair for the majority of the series. Shea addressed this by stating, "Hey, this is the '90s. Do you think a billionaire like Luthor couldn't get himself a full head of hair? Lex Luthor has got to be a modern villain."

Michael Rosenbaum portrayed Luthor in the series ''Smallville''. In this 2001 series, Lex Luthor is sent to Smallville, by his father Lionel Luthor, to run the local LuthorCorp fertilizer plant. After driving his car off a bridge, he is saved by Clark Kent and quickly develops a new friendship with the farm boy. As the series unfolds, Lex's curiosity about Clark and all things connected to Clark ultimately destroys their friendship. Smallville's Lex Luthor is first introduced as a morally ambiguous character, who walks a fine line between good and evil. Lex is an inquisitive person, and it is that curiosity that drives him to attain as much power as possible as the series progresses - it will ultimately lead him to being Clark's greatest enemy. After Rosenbaum left the show, Lex Luthor made few appearances (with his face obscured) or had his presence felt by way of clones, or constant mentions of his intertwined destiny with Clark Kent. Michael Rosenbaum reprised his role of Lex Luthor in the two-hour Smallville series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011, in which the memory of his immoral life is erased by his half sister "Lustessa Lena Luthor" before she dies. Seven years later in a flash-forward sequence it is revealed that the new Lex Luthor is the President of the United States and has donned his White Suit and Black Glove. Whether or not he has reverted back to his darker side is unknown.

In 2004, Kurt Carley portrayed Luthor in Sandy Collora's fan film ''World's Finest''.

In 2006, the role was inherited by Kevin Spacey in ''Superman Returns'', set sometime after the events of ''Superman II''. Following another stint in jail, during Superman's absence from Earth to investigate the remains of Krypton, Luthor is released on a string of technicalities and seduces a dying widow in order to marry her and inherit her fortune. The widow dies shortly after Superman's return to Earth, and Luthor immediately sets out to avenge himself, first by ransacking the Fortress of Solitude, and later through the abduction of Lois Lane and her son Jason. Spacey's Luthor continues the real-estate fixation of the Hackman version, but also appears to have a real personal animus toward Superman. Both the Hackman and Spacey versions of Luthor surround themselves with bungling henchmen and dim-witted molls.

Other actors who have portrayed Luthor include Scott James Wells and Sherman Howard in the television series ''Superboy''. He has also been voiced in animation by Jackson Beck in the 1960s series ''The New Adventures of Superman'', Stan Jones in the 1970s/1980s ''Super Friends'' franchise, Michael Bell in the 1988 ''Superman'' animated series, and by Clancy Brown in the 1990s/2000s DC animated universe, as well as a 2007 episode of ''The Batman'' and the 2009 direct-to-DVD animated feature ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', among others. Chris Noth portrays the Lex Luthor of a parallel universe (where the character is a superhero) in the animated DVD release ''Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths''. Luthor is also a playable character in 2008's ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', sporting his trademark battle armor.

In ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' TV series, a character named Rohtul (Luthor spelled backwards) appears in the episode "The Super-Batman of Planet X" portrayed by Clancy Brown. He appears as the Lex Luthor of Zur-En-Arrh and possibly the arch enemy of the Batman of that world. Both Batmen ended up fighting Rohtul and his army of giant robots (resembling the ones from the comics) when Batman discovered that he had superpowers upon being exposed to Rodon. He used his new abilities to defeat Rohtul's robots and apprehend Rohtul. While in jail, Rohtul discovers Earth Batman's weakness and plans to use it against him as Rodon-powered Earthlings are weak against Quartz (in other words, Rodon and Quartz don't mix). Rohtul contacts one of his robots which springs him out of jail while quoting to the guard that he's "done with the room." When Batman confronts Rohtul, he has one of his robots open a compartment that contains Quartz. Batman of Zur-En-Arrh rescues Batman and sprays him with something that protects him from the Rodon's events. When Rohtul tries to take Vilsi Veylar hostage, he ends up defeated by both Batmen.

The actual Lex Luthor appears in the episode "Battle of the Superheroes!" voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He robs a museum and kidnaps Lois Lane only to be thwarted by Superman and arrested by the police. When Lois Lane unknowingly receives a Red Kryptonite necklace, it causes Superman to turn evil causing Batman and Krypto to hold off Superman until the effects wore off. They discovered that the real Lex Luthor is at large having been the one who mailed Lois the Red Kryptonite necklace and that the one in jail was a robotic duplicate. When Lex Luthor tries to use his Kryptonite ring on Superman, it doesn't work due to the fact that Superman was actually Batman in disguise. Lex Luthor was defeated by Batman and Superman.

References

Daniels, Les. ''Superman: The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Man of Steel''. Chronicle Books, 1998. ISBN 0-8118-4231-2

External links

DCComics.com - Origin of Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor chronology index

Superman Homepage - Lex Luthor biography

Supermanica entry on Lex Luthor

The Justice League Watchtower - Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor

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Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Team name	Justice League
Publisher	DC Comics
Debut	''The Brave and the Bold'' (vol. 1) #28 (February/March 1960)
Creators	Gardner Fox
Base	The Hall and the SatelliteWatchtowerThe RefugeJLI EmbassiesDetroit BunkerSatelliteSecret Sanctuary
Memberlist	List of Justice League members
Cat	teams
Subcat	DC Comics
Hero	y
Sortkey	Justice League }}

The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics.

First appearing in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (February/March 1960), the League originally appeared with a line-up that included Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. However, the team roster has been rotated throughout the years with characters such as Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Black Canary, the Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna, other Green Lanterns, and dozens of others. The team received its own comic book title in October 1960, when the first issue was published, and would continue to #261 in April 1987, which was the final issue. Throughout the years, various incarnations or subsections of the team have operated as Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, Justice League Elite, and Extreme Justice.

Various comic book series featuring the League have remained generally popular with fans since inception and in most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. The League concept has also been adapted into various other entertainment media, including the classic Saturday morning ''Super Friends'' animated series (1973–1986), an unproduced ''Justice League of America'' live-action series, and most recently the animated series ''Justice League'' (2001–2004) and ''Justice League Unlimited'' (2004–2006). A live-action film was in the works in 2008 before being shelved. "

Publication history

Silver and Bronze Age / ''Justice League of America''

title	Justice League of America
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	October 1960 – April 1987
issues	261
writers	Gardner FoxGerry Conway
pencillers	Mike SekowskyDick DillinGeorge Pérez
inkers	Sid GreeneDick GiordanoFrank McLaughlin
creators	Gardner FoxMike Sekowsky }}

Having successfully reintroduced a number of their Golden Age superhero characters (Flash, Green Lantern, etc.) during the late 1950s, DC Comics asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society of America. Fox, influenced by the popularity of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to change the name of the team from Justice ''Society'' to Justice ''League''. The Justice League of America debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (1960), and after two further appearances in that title, got their own series which quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles. Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky were the creative team for the title's first eight years. Sekowsky's last issue was #63 (June 1968) and Fox departed with #65 (September 1968).

The initial Justice League lineup included seven of the DC superheroes being published regularly at that time: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. However, Superman and Batman barely featured in most of the stories, not even appearing on the cover most of the time. Three of DC's other surviving or revived characters (Green Arrow, Atom, and Hawkman) were added to the roster over the next four years, the latter two having been revamped by Gardner Fox himself. JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a round of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel-Timely owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book (''Justice League'') was selling. Later that day Goodman told Lee to come up with a team of superheroes for Marvel; Lee and Jack Kirby produced the Fantastic Four.

The Justice League operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. A teenager named Lucas "Snapper" Carr tagged along on missions, and he became both the team's mascot and an official member. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect and snapping his fingers, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In ''Justice League of America'' #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team. His resignation followed the resignations of two of the League's original members, Wonder Woman (in ''Justice League of America'' #69) and J'onn J'onzz (in ''Justice League of America'' #71).

Satellite years

In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting satellite headquarters in ''Justice League of America'' #78 (February 1970). Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, Zatanna and Firestorm all joined the team during this period, and Wonder Woman returned. In the first two thirds or so of this era, the team was sometimes said to have a twelve-member limit and/or a "no duplication of powers" policy; this was formally rescinded in ''Justice League of America'' #146, allowing Hawkgirl to join.

Those involved in producing the ''Justice League of America'' comic during the 1970s include writers Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Elliot S! Maggin, Cary Bates, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Steve Englehart, with Dick Dillin handling the art chores from issues #64-181, missing only one issue, #153 and did only a framing sequence for #157. Len Wein wrote issues #100–114 wherein he and Dillin re-introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory in issues #100-102 and the Freedom Fighters in issues #107-108. Libra, a supervillain created by Wein and Dillin in ''Justice League of America'' #111 (May-June 1974), would play a leading role in Grant Morrison's ''Final Crisis'' storyline in 2008. Writer Gerry Conway had a lengthy association with the title as well. His first ''JLA'' story appeared in issue #125 (December 1975) and he became the series' regular writer with issue #151 (February 1978). With a few exceptions, Conway would write the team's adventures until issue #255 (October 1986). After Dick Dillin's death, George Pérez, Don Heck, and Rich Buckler would rotate as artist on the title. Pérez would leave the title as of issue #200 to concentrate on ''The New Teen Titans'' although he would contribute covers to the ''JLA'' through issue #220 (November 1983).

Detroit

Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their other team books, which focused upon heroes in their late teens/early 20s, Gerry Conway and artist Chuck Patton revamped the Justice League series. After most of the original heroes failed to arrive in order to help the team fend off an invasion of Martians, Aquaman dissolved the League and reformatted its charter to only allow heroes who would devote their full time to the roster. The new team initially consisted of Aquaman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, the Vixen, and a trio of teenage heroes Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe. Aquaman would leave the team after a year and was replaced as leader by the Martian Manhunter. Because of his own edict of only wanting full-time heroes in the League, Aquaman's estranged wife Mera gave him an ultimatum to stay with either the group or with her to salvage their marriage.

Fan response to the series' new direction was largely negative and even the return of Batman to the team in ''Justice League of America'' #250 could not halt the decline of the series. Thus the fan deeming the name of the worst team of Justice Leaguer's ever, which eventually receded to the comics; such as in a moment of coversation in Justice League vol 2 Vixen said "With our line-up we coundn't even beat Detroit!" Which was responded by Dr Light "Anyone can beat Detroit!" The final storyline for the original ''Justice League of America'' series (#258-261) by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Luke McDonnell, culminated a story-arc involving long-time Justice League enemy Professor Ivo's murders of Vibe and Steel (and the resignations of Vixen, Gypsy, and the Elongated Man) during the events of DC's ''Legends'' mini-series, which saw the team disband.

Modern incarnations

Justice League International

The 1986 company-wide crossover featured the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed "Justice League" then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The new series, written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis with art by Kevin Maguire (and later Adam Hughes), added quirky humor to the team's stories. In this incarnation, the membership consisted partly of heroes from Earths that, prior to their merging in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, were separate. The initial team included Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Light (a new Japanese female character, emerging from the Crisis of Infinite Earths, not the supervillain who had appeared previously), Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, and Guy Gardner; and soon after inception, added Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire (then known as the Global Guardians' Green Flame), Ice (then known as the Global Guardians' Icemaiden), and two Rocket Reds (one was a Manhunter spy, and one was Dimitri Pushkin). The series' humorous tone and high level of characterization proved very popular initially, but writers following Giffen and DeMatteis were unable to maintain the same balance of humor and heroics, resulting in the decline of the series' popularity. New writers gave the storylines a more serious tone and re-focused the team on America, resulting in the book being re-branded ''Justice League America''. By the mid- to late-1990s, with the series' commercial success fading, it was eventually canceled, along with spinoffs ''Justice League Europe'', ''Extreme Justice'', and ''Justice League Task Force''.

''JLA''

title	JLA
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 1997 – February 2006
issues	125
writers	Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Denny O'Neil, Chuck Austen, Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, Allan Heinberg, Bob Harras
pencillers	Howard PorterBryan HitchDoug Mahnke
inkers	John DellPaul Neary
creators	Grant MorrisonHoward Porter }}

The low sales of the various Justice League spinoff books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team (all the various branch teams were disbanded) on a single title. A Justice League of America formed in the September 1996 limited series ''Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare'' by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza, which reunited the "Original Seven" of the League for the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths. In 1997, DC Comics launched a new Justice League series titled ''JLA'', written by Grant Morrison with art by Howard Porter and inker John Dell.

This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter. Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the "Watchtower", based on the Moon. Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a pantheon of gods, with their different powers and personalities, incorporating such characters as Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion, Huntress, Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Steel (John Henry Irons), and Plastic Man. He also had temporaries as Aztek, Tomorrow Woman, and Green Arrow (Connor Hawke).

Under Morrison, the series pitted the League against a variety of enemies, ranging from murderous White Martians, renegade angels, a new incarnation of the Injustice Gang led by Lex Luthor, the Key awakened from a coma, to the villainy of new villain Prometheus, the alien species of existing JLA villain Starro the Conqueror (revamped as a monstrous creature known as "The Star Conquerer") and Captain Atom villain General Wade Eiling, who transformed a cadre of Marines into deformed super-powered beings known as "The Ultra-Marines" as well as put his mind into the body of the indestructible Shaggy Man, and a futuristic Darkseid. Morrison's run itself featured a myth-arc involving the New Gods preparing the Earth for battle against a creature known as "Maggedon", a super-sentient weapon of mass destruction that was approaching Earth, that culminated in the final Morrison arc "World War III".

The run also had its share of editorial problems, such as Morrison's need to adapt to Superman's changing powers, the death of Wonder Woman and the loss of Green Arrow Connor Hawke, due to plans for a Kevin Smith-penned ''Green Arrow'' series. Still, ''JLA'' quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed off and on for several years. Despite this, DC did not create continuing spinoff series as it had done before.

Morrison departed with issue #41, after which the book saw runs by Mark Waid and Joe Kelly. Subsequent to this, the series switched to a series of rotating writers with issue #91 while Kelly (via ''JLA'' #100) was given a the mini-series ''Justice League Elite'', which featured Green Arrow, Flash, and several other Kelly created characters. The new format saw stories by John Byrne, Chuck Austen, and Kurt Busiek. Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg would take over the book with #115, which saw a multi-part storyline that dealt with the aftermath of ''Identity Crisis'', and served as a lead-in to the events of "Infinite Crisis", as Superboy-Prime destroyed the Watchtower at the end of issue #119. Bob Harras would ultimately write the book's final storyline (''JLA'' #120-125) as Green Arrow struggled in vain to keep the League afloat.

''52''

In ''52'' Week 24, Firestorm recruits a group to reform the Justice League. It consists of Firehawk, Super-Chief, Bulleteer, and Ambush Bug. They fight a deranged Skeets who takes Super-Chief's powers and kills him as well as numerous people given powers by Lex Luthor's Everyman Project. Afterward, Firestorm breaks up the team.

Also in the series, Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. was informally referred to as a "Justice League" in solicitations and on covers.

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2)

title	Justice League of America (vol. 2)
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2006 – August 2011
issues	60 (including #0) as of August 2011
writers	Brad MeltzerDwayne McDuffieLen WeinJames Robinson
pencillers	Ed BenesMark BagleyBrett Booth
creators	Brad MeltzerEd Benes }}

One year after the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite in the Batcave to re-form the League in ''Justice League of America'' #0, the kick-off for a new series by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes. The series featured a roster which included Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary, Red Arrow (Green Arrow's former sidekick), Red Tornado, Vixen, Black Lightning, and Hawkgirl. The first arc of the series focused upon Red Tornado and pitted the team against a new intelligent incarnation of Solomon Grundy and the rebuilt Amazo. The new incarnation of the team has two main headquarters, linked by a transporter. The first site is The Hall, which in mainstream DC Universe is a refurnished version of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron's former headquarters located in Washington, D.C. Black Canary is elected as the first official Chairperson after the fight against Amazo and Solomon Grundy, and led both the Justice League and Justice Society in a complex quest to reunite time-lost members of the pre-Crisis Legion of Super-Heroes, who had been sent back in time to free both Bart Allen and Flash from the other dimensional realm of the Speed Force. Meltzer left the series at the end of issue #12, with one of his subplots (Per Degaton, a pre-nuclear fire mutation version of Despero, and a circa 1948 version of the Ultra-Humanite gathering for an unknown plot) resolved in the pages of ''Booster Gold''.

Dwayne McDuffie took over the writing job with the ''Justice League Wedding Special'' and the main book with issue #13. Due to DC Comics seeking to launch a spin-off Justice League book led by Hal Jordan, the character was removed from the main League series and replaced by John Stewart. Firestorm also joined the roster, with the series entering into a series of tie-in storylines towards ''Countdown to Final Crisis'', with the arrest of a large number of supervillains (gathered by Lex Luthor and Deathstroke to attack the League on the eve of the wedding of Black Canary and Green Arrow) setting up the ''Salvation Run'' tie-in miniseries. Also, roster members Red Tornado and Geo-Force were written out. McDuffie's initial issues received mixed reviews and experienced minor conroversy due to fan favorite Hal Jordan's removal in favor of Stewart. Jordan ended up being restored to the roster by issue #19 of the series, only to be removed once again by issue #31 once ''Justice League: Cry for Justice'' was completed and ready to be shipped.

Issue #21 saw the return of Libra and the Human Flame, setting up their appearances in ''Final Crisis''. Later issues would resolve issues involving Vixen's power level increase and see the integration of the Milestone Comics characters the Shadow Cabinet and Icon, who fought the Justice League over the remains of the villainous Doctor Light. The group suffered greater losses during ''Final Crisis'' with the deaths of Martian Manhunter and Batman, as well as the resignations of Superman and Wonder Woman, who could no longer devote themselves full-time to the League due to the events of the ''New Krypton'' and ''Rise of the Olympian'' storylines in their respective titles. Hal Jordan would also resign as well, clearing the way for John Stewart's return to the team. Black Canary (now team leader) found herself declaring the League no more, though the group would continue with Canary taking a secondary role in the group. Her last act as leader would be assigning John Stewart and Firestorm the task of hunting down the Human Flame, for his part in the murder of Martian Manhunter, as seen in the ''Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!'' miniseries.

Vixen would take over the team, with Plastic Man rejoining the group. Len Wein wrote a three-part fill-in story for ''Justice League of America'' that ran from #35 to #37. McDuffie was fired from the title before he could return, after discussion postings to the DC Comics message board, detailing behind-the-scenes creative decisions on his run, were republished in the rumor column "Lying In The Gutter". James Robinson was announced as the new ''Justice League of America'' writer.

Wein's fill-in run would be published as "Justice League: Cry For Justice" neared its conclusion, as Vixen and Black Canary's group (sans John Stewart) would confront Hal Jordan and Green Arrow's makeshift Justice League group, which had stumbled upon a plot by the villain Prometheus that had resulted in much death and carnage. During the confrontation over Jordan's group using torture to extra information from the villains being blackmailed into carrying out Prometheus' plan, both Roy Harper and Supergirl would discover that one of Jordan's heroes, Captain Marvel Jr., was really Prometheus in disguise. In the ensuing battle, the League would suffer horrible losses: Roy Harper was maimed and his daughter Lian and hundreds of thousands of people in Star City would be killed by a doomsday device Prometheus activated. Vixen would have her leg broken and Plastic Man would have his powers permanently scrambled, making him a slowly disintegrating puddle creature. To save other cities from being destroyed like Star City, the League reluctantly allowed Prometheus to go free. However, Green Arrow (with help from the Shade) would track down and kill Prometheus.

Following the events of "Blackest Night", Hal Jordan and Donna Troy begin the task of rebuilding the League, with Green Arrow, the Atom, Batman, Mon-El, Donna, Cyborg, Doctor Light, Starfire, Congorilla, and the Guardian.

At the end of issue #43, the majority of the new members leave for various reasons. Mon-El and the Guardian leave after Mon-El returns to the future, Black Canary returns to the Birds of Prey, Starfire leaves to join the R.E.B.E.L.S., Green Lantern leaves locate the other Lantern Corps Entities, and Green Arrow is forced to leave due to his fugitive status. James Robinson revealed this was due to him having second thoughts about his decision to use so many characters, and revealed that the team would have a different roster in the coming months. To replace the departed members, Jade and Jesse Quick were added to the team. Cyborg remained with the team in a reduced capacity, and was eventually given his own co-feature storyline for issues 48–50.

Under Robinson, the title experienced mixed reviews and lower (but stable) sales than under Meltzer and McDuffie, with negative fan respone being leveled at the series due to its usage of lesser known heroes instead of more popular Justice League members. DC eventually announced that Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps would be joining the Justice League during a tie-in to the ''Reign of Doomsday'' crossover, but the character did not become a full member due to the cancellation of the title.

The series ended with issue #60 in August 2011, with the title being one of the numerous DC books cancelled after the ''Flashpoint'' crossover. The issue saw Batman disbanding the League due to most of the individual members becoming preoccupied with personal commitments.

''Justice League''

title	Justice League
Converted	y
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2011 – present
main char team	Justice League of America
writers	Geoff Johns
pencillers	Jim Lee
inkers	Scott Williams
colorists	Alex Sinclair
creators	Geoff JohnsJim Lee }}

In 2011, following the "Flashpoint" crossover storyline, all DC titles were canceled. Fifty-two titles were relaunched with new first issues and new creative teams. ''Justice League of America'' was relaunched as ''Justice League'', and was the first of the new titles released, coming out the same week as the final issue of ''Flashpoint''. The title will be written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee, and will feature a brand new origin for the team which is covered in the first six issues of the series that takes place five years before the events of the titles from the other relaunched series. Issue #7 of the series will begin the story of the Justice League in the present which is set to be released in March 2012.

The starting line-up of the team will consist of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, the Flash (Barry Allen), and Cyborg, with the Atom (Ryan Choi), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), Green Arrow, Aquaman's wife Mera, Deadman, recently created character Element Woman, and Lady Luck, a revamp of the Golden Age character, as additional members.

In addition to this series, two other ''Justice League''-related titles have been announced and will launch during the same month; a new ''Justice League International'', written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti, featuring a roster consisting of Batman, Booster Gold, Rocket Red, Vixen, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Fire, Ice, August General in Iron, and Godiva, and ''Justice League Dark'', written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Mikel Janin, featuring a roster consisting of John Constantine, Shade, the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, and new character Mindwarp.

Various origins of the Justice League

In a story told in flashback in 1962's ''Justice League of America'' #9, Earth was infiltrated by the Appelaxians. Competing alien warriors were sent to see who could conquer Earth first to determine who will become the new ruler of their home planet. The aliens' attacks drew the attentions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. While the superheroes individually defeated most of the invaders, the heroes fell prey to a single competitor's attack; only by working together were they able to defeat the competitor. For many years, the heroes heralded this adventure as the event that prompted them to agree to pool resources when confronted with similar menaces.

Years later, however (as revealed in ''Justice League of America'' #144), Green Arrow uncovered inconsistencies in League records and extracted admissions from his colleagues that the seven founders had actually formed the League after the Martian Manhunter was rescued from Martian forces by the other six founders, along with several other heroes including Robin, Robotman, Congo Bill/Congorilla, Rex the Wonder Dog, and even Lois Lane. Green Lantern participated in this first adventure solely as Hal Jordan, due to the fact that he had yet to become the costumed hero at that time (the biggest inconsistency Arrow found, as they celebrated the earlier incident's date, while recounting only the later one's events). When the group formalized their agreement, they suppressed news of it because of anti-Martian hysteria (mirroring the real-world backdrop of Martian scares and anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s). Because the League members had not revealed their identities to each other at the time, they did not realize that Jordan and Green Lantern were one and the same when he turned up in costume during the event described in #9. While most subsequent accounts of the League have made little mention of this first adventure, the animated ''Justice League'' series adapted this tale as the origin of the League as well.

1989's ''Secret Origins'' #32 updated ''Justice League of America'' #9's origin for Post-Crisis continuity. Differences included the inclusion of the original Black Canary as a founding member and the absence of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman (the 1960s time frame was retained, but the post-Crisis versions of DC's three biggest stars were young and early in their careers in the late 1980s). Additionally, while Hal Jordan served as the public face of the Justice League, this iteration of the League's origin cast the Flash as the team's unofficial leader, since it was Allen who usually came up with the plans that best utilized everyone's powers. 1998's ''JLA: Year One'' limited series, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, further expanded upon the ''Secret Origins'' depiction, with the revelation that the group was secretly financed by Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the superhero Green Arrow. It also stated that Superman rejected membership into the group, leading to much animus between him and the other "founders" during the early years of the group.

In 1994's ''Justice League Task Force'' #16, during Zero Hour, an unknown superhuman named Triumph appeared. In a plotline never explored before, Triumph was revealed to have been a founding member of the Justice League and was their leader. On his first mission with the fledgling Justice League Triumph seemingly "saved the world" but was teleported into a dimensional limbo that also affected the timestream, resulting in no one having any memory of him. This explained how all the heroes ended up in Washington for their first meeting.

Further convolutions came with the issue of Batman's involvement with the League; during the 1990s, the editors of Batman sought to distance Batman from the Justice League, to the point of demanding that Batman's entire Justice League membership be removed from the group's canon. According to Christopher Priest, this "Batman was never in the Justice League" edict came down ironically after DC published ''Justice League America Annual'' #9, which featured Batman as a member of the League during its early days. The edict itself was largely haphazardly enforced; while Mark Waid had Batman proclaim to have never been a member of the League in ''Justice League Incarnations'' #7, other writers such as Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen took the stance that Batman had simply never joined the team until the Justice League International era. This edict was ultimately dropped by the early 2000s, as Batman's involvement with the League is now referenced heavily by later writers such as Brad Meltzer.

The convoluted change made to Hawkman's background in the wake of the launching of the Hawkworld ongoing series, in 1990, resulted in a retcon where the original Golden Age/Justice Society Golden Age Hawkman, Carter Hall was now a member of the team as opposed to Katar Hol (who would now not join the group until 1994's Justice League America #0). The details of how Carter Hall joined the team, would be revealed in the 2001 ''Justice League Incarnations'' #1, with the revelation that Carter joined the team to serve as a mentor for then-young heroes.

In 2006's ''Infinite Crisis'' #7, the formation of "New Earth" (the new name for the Post-Crisis Earth) resulted in the retcon that Wonder Woman was a founding member of the Justice League in the early days. In Brad Meltzer's ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0 (2006), it was also revealed that both Superman and Batman were founding members as well. ''52 - Week 51'' confirmed that the 1989 ''Secret Origins'' and ''JLA: Year One'' origins were still in canon at that time, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman joining the team (consisting of Aquaman, Black Canary, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter) with founding members' status shortly after the group's formation. However, in various issues (particularly issue #12) of the 2006 ''Justice League of America'' series, the founding members of the Justice League are shown to be: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter.

With much of DC's past history rebooted by the 2011 "Flashpoint" event, an entirely new origin for the League is introduced in the subsequent ''Justice League'' series which debuted in September 2011. Issue #1 portrays the first meeting between Batman and Hal Jordan, with the two encountering each other during a battle against a Parademon in Gotham City. After realizing the creature is extraterrestrial in origin, the two heroes head to Metropolis to seek out Superman (who is a known alien in the new continuity), and are attacked by him. Later, after a brief fight to which the Flash arrives and Batman convinces Superman they are on the same side, they move to an abandoned newspress building to work on analyzing the mysterious alien box, when it suddenly activates and more Parademons arrive. While fighting them off, the heroes notice them capture people for something. During this they meet two more heroes Aquaman and Wonder Woman who join them.

Related series

''Formerly Known as the Justice League''

In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire returned with a separate limited series called ''Formerly Known as the Justice League'' with the same humor as their Justice League run, and featuring some of the same characters in a team called the "Super Buddies" (a parody of the ''Super Friends''). A follow-up limited series, entitled ''I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League'', soon was prepared, although it was delayed due to the events shown in the ''Identity Crisis'' limited series, but was eventually released as the second arc in ''JLA: Classified''. The Super Buddies consisted of Blue Beetle; Booster Gold; Captain Atom, Fire; Mary Marvel; the Elongated Man with his wife, Sue Dibny; Maxwell Lord; and L-Ron. The second story arc of ''JLA: Classified'' focuses on the Super Buddies in a humorous story that features Power Girl, Guy Gardner, and Doctor Fate.

''JLA/Avengers''

In 2004, George Pérez and Kurt Busiek came out with a ''JLA/Avengers'' crossover, an idea that had been delayed for 20 years for various reasons. In this limited series, the Justice League and the Avengers were forced to find key artifacts in one another's universe, as well as deal with the threats of villains Krona and the Grandmaster. A key moment in League history occurs in this series, when the Avenger Hawkeye becomes the first Marvel Comics character to be inducted into the Justice League.

''JLA: Classified''

title	JLA: Classified
schedule	Monthly
format	Ended
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 2005 - May 2008
issues	54
writers	various
artists	various
creators	Grant MorrisonEd McGuinness }}

In 2004, DC began an anthology series titled ''JLA: Classified'', which would feature rotating writers and artists producing self-contained story-arcs and aborted mini-series projects that were reappropriated for publication within the pages of the series, starring the JLA. While the bulk of the stories took place within the continuity of the series (circa ''JLA'' #76–113) some of the stories take place outside of regular DC Universe canon. The series was canceled as of issue #54 (May 2008).

''Justice''

In October 2005, DC began publishing the 12-issue miniseries ''Justice'' by writer Jim Krueger, writer/illustrator Alex Ross, and artist Doug Braithwaite. The story, which takes place outside regular DC continuity, has Lex Luthor assembling the Legion of Doom after he and several other villains begin to have nightmares about the end of the world and the failures of the Justice League to prevent said apocalypse. As the Legion begins engaging in unprecedented humanitarian deeds throughout the world, they also launch a series of attacks on the Justice League and their families. In the end however, the threat that the Legion was warned about destroying the Earth turns out to be caused by Brainiac, who seeks to destroy Earth during the chaos.

''Justice League: Cry for Justice''

Originally a planned ongoing title, ''Justice League: Cry For Justice'' is a mini-series written by James Robinson and drawn by Mauro Cascioli. The mini-series, set after the events of ''Final Crisis'', has Hal Jordan leaving the League following the deaths of Batman and Martian Manhunter, as their deaths have caused Hal to seek out a more proactive manner of dealing with super-villains. Hal, along with Green Arrow and later Supergirl, Captain Marvel Jr., and Batwoman are then recruited by Ray Palmer to investigate a murder of a former colleague carried out on orders from Prometheus. This ties into another string of murders, bringing Starman Mikaal Tomas and Congorilla together as their investigation of the murders of several European super-heroes are also revealed to be the work of Prometheus.

With help from the Hawkman villain I.Q., Prometheus plans on creating the ultimate weapon in mass murder, a massive doomsday device which he plans on using to destroy entire cities, as part of his revenge scheme against the JLA for lobotomizing him. Disguised as Captain Marvel Jr., Prometheus maims Roy Harper and brutally injuring JLA members Dr. Light II, Vixen, and Plastic Man while using the JLA Satellite to activate his doomsday device, which destroys Star City, killing 90,000 innocent civilians, including Roy Harper's young daughter Lian. Prometheus ultimately extorts his freedom from the League in exchange for the codes to shut down his weapon, much to the horror of the JLA members. However, afterwards, Green Arrow (with help from reformed villain the Shade), tracks Prometheus down and kills him by firing an arrow into his head.

The mini-series leads directly into the formation of a brand new JLA roster with Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Donna Troy, Dick Grayson as Batman, Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Mon-El, Cyborg, Starfire, Congorilla, Guardian, and Mikaal Tomas.

''JLA/The 99''

Launching in October 2010, ''JLA/The 99'' was a crossover mini-series featuring the Justice League teaming up with the heroes of Teshkeel Comics' ''The 99'' series. The JLA consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), the Flash (Barry Allen), the Atom (Ray Palmer), Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Hawkman, and Firestorm (Jason Rusch).

Awards

The original ''Justice League of America'' series has won:

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Comic Book''

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Adventure-Hero Group''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Favorite Novel'' ("Crisis on Earth-One/Crisis on Earth-Two" in ''Justice League of America'' #21-22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky)

1963 Alley Awards for ''Strip that Should Be Improved''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Artist Preferred on Justice League of America'' (Murphy Anderson)

1973 Shazam Awards for ''Best Inker (Dramatic Division)'' (Dick Giordano)

Collected editions

Silver Age ''Justice League of America''

This series has been collected in the following: {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |Justice League of America Archives volume 1 |''The Brave and the Bold'' #28-30, ''Justice League of America'' #1-6 |- |2 |Justice League of America Archives volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #7-14 |- |3 |Justice League of America Archives volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #15-22 |- |4 |Justice League of America Archives volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #23-30 |- |5 |Justice League of America Archives volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #31-38, #40* |- |6 |Justice League of America Archives volume 6 |''Justice League of America'' #41-47, #49-50* |- |7 |Justice League of America Archives volume 7 |''Justice League of America'' #51-57, #59-60* |- |8 |Justice League of America Archives volume 8 |''Justice League of America'' #61-66, #68-70* |- |9 |Justice League of America Archives volume 9 |''Justice League of America'' #71-80 |}

omitted issues featured reprints of material from earlier Archives.

''Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America'' (1987–1996)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	Justice League International Volume 1	''Justice League'' #1-6, ''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #7
''2''	Justice League International Volume 2	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #8-14, ''Justice League'' Annual #1
''3''	Justice League International Volume 3	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #15-22
''4''	Justice League International Volume 4	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #23-25, ''Justice League America'' #26-30
''5''	Justice League International Volume 5	''Justice League International Annual'' #2-3, ''Justice League Europe'' #1-6

''JLA'' (January 1997 – February 2006)

This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	New World Order	''JLA'' #1-4
''2''	American Dreams	''JLA'' #5-9
''3''	Rock of Ages	''JLA'' #10-15
''4''	Strength in Numbers	''JLA'' #16-23, ''JLA Secret Files'' #2, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot)
''5''	Justice For All	''JLA'' #24-33
''6''		''JLA'' #34-41
''7''		''JLA'' #42-46, ''JLA Secret Files'' #3, ''JLA 80-Page Giant'' #1
''8''	Divided We Fall	''JLA'' #47-54
''9''	Terror Incognita	''JLA'' #55-60
''10''	Golden Perfect	''JLA'' #61-65
''11''	The Obsidian Age (Book 1)	''JLA'' #66-71
''12''	The Obsidian Age (Book 2)	''JLA'' #72-76
''13''	Rules of Engagement	''JLA'' #77-82
''14''	Trial By Fire	''JLA'' #84-89
''15''	The Tenth Circle	''JLA'' #94-99
''16''		''JLA'' #101-106
''17''	Syndicate Rules	''JLA'' #107-114, and a story from ''JLA Secret Files'' 2004
''18''	Crisis of Conscience	''JLA'' #115-119
''19''	World Without a Justice League	''JLA'' #120-125

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1	''JLA'' #1-9, plus a story included in ''JLA: Secret Files and Origins'' #1
''2''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 2	''JLA'' #10-17, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot), plus ''JLA/WILDCATS''
''3''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 3	''JLA'' #22-26, 28-31 and 1,000,000''
''4''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 4	''JLA'' #34, 36-41, ''JLA: Classified'' #1-3, ''JLA: Earth II''

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) (August 2006 – August 2011)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	The Tornado's Path	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #1-7
''2''	The Lightning Saga	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0, #8-12; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #5-6
''3''	The Injustice League	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #13-16; ''JLA Wedding Special'' #1
''4''	Sanctuary	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #17-21
''5''	The Second Coming	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #22-26
''6''	When Worlds Collide	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #27-28, #30-34
''7''	Team History	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #38-43
''8''	The Dark Things	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #44-48; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #41-42
''9''	Omega	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #49-53
'' 10	The Rise of Eclipso	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #54-60

Miscellaneous reprints

These trades don't reprint the series in a coherent fashion, but reprint themed issues. {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |Justice League of America Hereby Elects |''Justice League of America'' #4, 75, 105-106, 146, 161, and 173-174 |- |2 |JLA: The Greatest Stories Ever Told |''Justice League of America'' #19, 77, 122 and 166-168, Justice League #1, JLA Secret Files #1 and JLA #61 |- |3 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 1 |''Justice League of America'' ##21-22, 29-30, 37-38 and 46-47 |- |4 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #55-56, 64-65, 73-74 and 82-83 |- |5 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #91-92, 100-102, 107-108 and 113 |- |6 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #123-124, 135-137 and 147-148 |- |7 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #159-160, 171-172 and 183-185 |}

In other media

See also

Justice Society of America

Spin-off groups

Extreme Justice

Justice Leagues

Justice League Antarctica

Justice League Elite

Justice League Europe

Justice League International

Justice League Task Force

Super Buddies

References

External links

Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

The Origin Story of the Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

Justice League of America at Toonopedia

''Justice League Unlimited'' at Cartoon Network "A Monumental Move" (April 5, 2007) WizardUniverse.com - Writer Brad Meltzer discusses the origins and implications of the JLA's new HQ

The Justice League Library

"Super-Exiles of Earth" (''JLA'' #19, May 1963)

Category:1960 introductions Category:1961 comic debuts Category:1997 comic debuts Category:2006 comic debuts Category:DC Comics titles Category:Justice League Category:Characters created by Gardner Fox

bg:Лигата на справедливостта de:Gerechtigkeitsliga es:Liga de la Justicia fr:Ligue de justice d'Amérique id:Justice League of America it:Justice League of America he:ליגת הצדק hu:Igazságliga nl:Justice League ja:ジャスティス・リーグ pl:Justice League pt:Liga da Justiça ru:Лига Справедливости simple:The Justice League fi:Oikeuden Puolustajat sv:Justice League of America tl:Justice League tr:Justice League of America uk:Ліга Справедливості zh:正義聯盟

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
name	Kazuo Hirai
birth date	December 22, 1960
birth place	Tokyo, Japan
occupation	Executive Deputy President, Sony CorporationChairman, Sony Computer Entertainment
spouse	}}

is the Representative Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Deputy President of Sony Corporation, concurrently serving as president of the Consumer Products & Services Group, which includes all of Sony's consumer electronics (including TV, home video, home audio, digital imaging, PC, game, and mobile products) and networked service businesses. He also serves as Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group. He was noted by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as one of the most powerful executives in the world. Hirai became Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment on September 1, 2011 and was replaced by Andrew House as President and Group CEO.

Early years

Hirai was born in 1960 in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a wealthy banker, Hirai often traveled with his father across the world to California, New York, and Canada and around Japan — a trait which Hirai noted to be a major factor in his later multi-continental business success.

It was his interest in games that later brought him into the entertainment business. After graduating from the International Christian University in August 1984 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree, Hirai was hired at CBS/Sony Inc. (now Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.), where he was involved in marketing international music within Japan. His hard work and dedication allowed him to rise through the ranks, eventually placing him once again in New York, where he became head of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's international business affairs office.

Sony Computer Entertainment

In August 1995, Hirai joined Sony's computer and video game division, Sony Computer Entertainment America. Two years later, in 1997, Hirai was credited on his first completed video game.

PlayStation

Since heading up Sony Computer Entertainment America, Kazuo Hirai has been instrumental in Sony's success. He played a fundamental role in the rise of the PlayStation in the United States, and his methods of cross-promoting of the PlayStation brand took its advertising beyond merely "game" or computer oriented fields. PlayStation advertisements were placed in mainstream sports events such as the NBA, the NFL, the NHL and even NASCAR. This method of marketing has been credited with introducing large numbers of individuals to video games who would ordinarily have not considered purchasing a console.

With the release of the PlayStation 2 in 2000, Kazuo continued his success, utilizing second-party franchises such as Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series of games. Under his leadership, SCEA continually managed to retain high profits throughout the sixth generation era.

2006-2011 SCEI management shuffle

On July 3, 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Hirai had been made a vice president of its corporate executive group on July 1, 2006.

On November 30, 2006, just under two weeks after the launch of PlayStation 3, Hirai replaced Ken Kutaragi as President of Sony Computer Entertainment. While maintaining his positions at SCEA, Hirai also became chief operating officer of SCEI. Kutaragi himself was promoted to chairman of SCEI, and remained chief executive officer of the group.

On April 26, 2007, it was announced that Hirai will be promoted to President and Group CEO of SCEI, replacing Ken Kutaragi who would retire and instead take up the role of Honorary Chairman.

Sony

On April 1, 2009, Sony’s electronics and game businesses were merged and reconfigured as two major groups: the Consumer Products & Devices Group (CPDG) and the Networked Products & Services Group (NPSG). Hirai was appointed as Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation, concurrently serving as president of the NPSG. He has overseen all development, production and marketing activities at the NPSG, comprising of Sony's game (i.e. SCEI & Sony Online Entertainment), personal computer (VAIO), networked mobile (including Walkman) and network service (including online distributions of music, video, books, etc.) businesses and new business incubation projects.

On April 1, 2011, Sony's consumer electronics, game, and networked service businesses were reorganized into one group, named the "Consumer Products & Services Group." Hirai was promoted to Representative Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Deputy President of Sony Corporation. He oversees the Consumer Products & Services Group. Hirai will also possibly become the successor to Howard Stringer, the current sitting president and CEO of Sony Corporation, who is expected to step down in 2013.

Notes

External links

Official profile

;Interviews

Kikizo video interview

Gamespot video interview - Playstation 3 pre launch

Gamespot video interview - TGS 2006

1UP.com interview

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese businesspeople Category:Sony Computer Entertainment Category:Sony people Category:People from Tokyo

da:Kaz Hirai fr:Kazuo Hirai it:Kazuo Hirai ja:平井一夫

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
name	Kevin Conroy
birth date	November 30, 1955
birth place	Westbury, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1980–present
spouse	}}

Kevin Conroy (born November 30, 1955) is an American stage, screen, and voice actor, best known for his acclaimed voice role as Batman in numerous animated television series, feature films, and video games that make up the DC Animated Universe.

Biography

Early life

Born in Westbury, New York, Conroy moved to Westport, Connecticut when he was about 11 years old. He moved to New York in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend Juilliard's famous drama division, where he studied under actor John Houseman. While there, he almost ended up living with future Superman actor Christopher Reeve, but ended up rooming with Robin Williams who was in the same group as both Kevin and Kelsey Grammer. In 1978, after graduating from Juilliard, he toured with The Acting Company, Houseman's acting group, and, in 1979, he went on the national tour of Ira Levin's ''Deathtrap''.

Career

In 1980, he decided to try his hand in television, and moved out to California. He landed a role in the daytime soap opera ''Another World''. He became associated with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, where he performed in productions of ''Hamlet'' and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. From 1980 to 1985, he acted in a variety of contemporary and classic theatre pieces, including the Broadway productions of ''Eastern Standard'' and Edward Albee's adaptation of ''Lolita''. In 1984, he played the title role in ''Hamlet'' in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He returned to television in the 1985 TV movie ''Covenant'', and had a role on another daytime soap drama, ''Search For Tomorrow''. He was a series regular on ''Ohara'' in 1987, and on ''Tour of Duty'' from 1987 to 1988, before starring in a series of television movies. He has also guest starred on shows such as ''Cheers'', ''Dynasty'', ''Search For Tomorrow'', and ''Matlock''.

He almost landed the part of Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom ''Wings'', but lost out to Tim Daly (who coincidentally, as a voice actor, later portrayed Superman in The WB's ''Superman: The Animated Series''). He was confirmed to be performing on the fourth season of ''The Venture Bros.'' as Captain Sunshine, a caricature of Batman and Superman.

Batman

Vocally, Kevin Conroy is best known to audiences for his role as Batman in ''Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995). Conroy continued to voice-play Batman in the subsequent spin-off series ''The New Batman Adventures'' (1997–1999), ''Batman Beyond'' (1999–2001), ''Justice League'' (2001–2004), and ''Justice League Unlimited'' (2004–2006), all of which take place in what is commonly referred to as the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). His tenure in the role also includes the DCAU films ''Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'' (1993), ''Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero'' (1998), ''Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' (2000), and ''Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman'' (2003). He also played Batman for the character's guest appearances in ''Superman: The Animated Series'', ''Static Shock'' and ''The Zeta Project''. Apart from the DCAU, Conroy has also portrayed Batman in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies ''Batman: Gotham Knight'' (2008), ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'' (2009), and ''Superman/Batman: Apocalypse'' (2010).

Conroy is well remembered by fans for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was Conroy's idea. In a tally of performances that include every episode, movie, and guest appearance made as Batman, Conroy has portrayed the superhero longer than any other actor in either live-action or animation.

Additionally, he also portrayed Batman in the video games ''The Adventures of Batman and Robin'' (1994), ''Batman Vengeance'' (2001), ''Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu'' (2003), and ''Batman: Arkham Asylum'' (2009) and is set to reprise the role in ''Batman: Arkham City'' (2011), as well as the 2001 revamp of ''Batman Adventure - The Ride'', at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland, Australia. Conroy also portrayed Batman alongside his DCAU co-star Mark Hamill as the Joker and Jason Hillhouse as Dick Grayson in a feature of a storyboard scene included in the 2005 Special Edition DVD of Tim Burton's 1989 ''Batman'' film. This scene depicted the origin of Robin, which wasn't filmed because the filmmakers ultimately felt it was out of place with the rest of the film. In the season four premiere of ''The Batman'', an animated series unrelated to the DCAU, Conroy portrayed Robin's father, John Grayson. Conroy also voiced the Phantom Stranger and an alternate Batman in ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', another animated series unrelated to the DCAU. He also portrays Batman in the online video game: ''DC Universe Online''.

Personal life

Conroy's hobbies include traveling, running, cycling, and painting. In his spare time, he also does work with foster kids. He has two brothers and one sister, as well as a chocolate Labrador named Bear.

In recent years, he has pursued a writing career.

He took part in the California AIDSRide from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Conroy helped out in the relief efforts by volunteering to do cooking duties for officers and firefighters. On the ''Batman: Gotham Knight'' DVD's commentary, he told the story about it, and how another cook found out he was the voice of Batman. He asked if he could tell everyone, and Conroy agreed, though he thought no one would even know who he was. At the other cook's urging, Conroy yelled in the voice of Batman, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I... AM... BATMAN!" (a line he had famously delivered in the episode "Nothing to Fear" from ''Batman: The Animated Series'') eliciting cheers from the first responders eating at the relief center. They began telling him what their favorite episodes were, and how they had watched the show with their kids. He said it was the first time he had seen any of them smile or laugh since the attacks a week earlier.

Credits

''How to Pick Up Girls!'' (1978; TV movie) - Bartender

''Another World'' (1980–1981; TV series) - Jerry Grove #2

''Born Beautiful'' (1982; TV movie) - Stan

''Kennedy'' (1983; TV mini-series) - Ted Kennedy

''George Washington'' (1984; TV mini-series) - John Laurens

''Search for Tomorrow'' (1984–1985; TV series) - Chase Kendall

''Covenant'' (1985; TV movie) - Stephen

''Dynasty'' (1985–1986; TV series) - Bart Fallmont

''Ohara'' (1987; TV series) - Capt. Lloyd Hamilton

''Tour of Duty'' (1987–1988; TV series) - Capt. Rusty Wallace

''Killer Instinct'' (1988; TV movie) - Dr. Steven Nelson

''So Proudly We Hail'' (1990; TV movie) - Francis Crosby

''The Face of Fear'' (1990; TV movie) - Frank Dwight Bollinger

''Hi, Honey - I'm Dead'' (1991; TV Movie) - Brad Stadler

''Battle in the Errogenous Zone'' (1992; TV movie) - Mondo Ray

''The Secret Passion of Robert Clayton'' (1992; TV movie) - Hunter Roy Evans

''Chain of Desire'' (1992) - Joe

''Rachel Gunn, R.N.'' (1992; TV series) - Dr. David Dunkle

''Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dr. Thomas Wayne

''Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'' (1993; theatrical film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''The Adventures of Batman and Robin'' (1994; video game) - Batman

''Island City'' (1994; TV movie) - Col. Tom Valdoon

''The Office'' (1995; TV series) - Steve Gillman

''Superman: The Animated Series'' (1997, 1998, 1999; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman (guest appearances)

''The New Batman Adventures'' (1997–1999; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero'' (1998; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Crusaders of Might and Magic'' (1999; video game) - Drake

''Batman Beyond'' (1999–2001; TV series) - Bruce Wayne

''Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' (2000; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''The Zeta Project'' (2001; TV series) - Bruce Wayne (guest star; episode: "Shadows")

''Batman Vengeance'' (2001; video game) - Batman

''Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'' (2001; video game) - Fisherman

''Justice League'' (2001–2004; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Static Shock'' (2002, 2003, 2004; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman (guest appearances)

''Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne'' (2003; video game) - Lord Jack/Cleaner/Commando

''Lords of EverQuest'' (2003; video game) - Lord Palasa

''Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu'' (2003; video game) - Batman

''Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman'' (2003; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Justice League Unlimited'' (2004–2006; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''The Batman'' (2006; TV series) - John Grayson (guest star; episode: "A Matter of Family")

''Batman: Gotham Knight'' (2008; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Ben 10: Alien Force'' (2008; TV series) - Alien X (Bellicus)

''Batman: Arkham Asylum'' (2009; video game) - Bruce Wayne/Batman and Thomas Wayne

''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'' (2009; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''The Venture Bros'' (2009; TV series) - Captain Sunshine (guest star; episode: "Handsome Ransom")

''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' (2010; TV series) - Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, Phantom Stranger

''Superman/Batman: Apocalypse'' (2010; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

''Transformers: Prime'' (2010; TV series) -

''DC Universe Online'' (2011; online video game) - Batman

''Batman: Arkham City'' (2011; video game) - Bruce Wayne/Batman

Stage plays

Character played ? ? ? ? Achilles Hamlet Hamlet ? Lenny Hamilton ? Lysander Lysander ? ?

Stage Play	|	Location performed	Year
Accounts	|	Hudson Guild	?
Come Back Little Sheba	|	Roundabout Theatre	?
Deathtrap	|	(on Broadway)	1979
Eastern Standard	|	Golden Theatre (Broadway)	1989
The Greeks	|	Hartford Stage	1984
Hamlet	|	New York Shakespeare Festival	1984
Hamlet	|	Old Globe Theatre, San Diego	?
King Lear	|	San Diego Shakespeare Festival	?
The Last Yankee	|	Signature Theatre	12/30/97 - 2/8/98
Lolita	|	(on Broadway)	?
A Midsummer Night's Dream	|	New York Shakespeare Festival	1984
A Midsummer Night's Dream	|	Old Globe Theater, San Diego	1982
Mother Courage	|	?	?
Much Ado About Nothing	|	San Diego Shakespeare Festival	?

References

External links

Audio Interview w/ The Rafferty/Mills Connection Podcast (2009)

HoboTrashcan - One on One with Kevin Conroy (2009)

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:American voice actors Category:American television actors Category:American stage actors Category:People from Long Island Category:People from Westport, Connecticut Category:Juilliard School alumni

bg:Кевин Конрой de:Kevin Conroy es:Kevin Conroy fr:Kevin Conroy it:Kevin Conroy ja:ケヴィン・コンロイ pl:Kevin Conroy pt:Kevin Conroy fi:Kevin Conroy sv:Kevin Conroy

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
name	Clancy Brown
birthname	Clarence J. Brown III
birth date	January 05, 1959
birth place	Urbana, Ohio, U.S.
occupation	Actor, voice actor
yearsactive	1983–present
spouse	Jeanne Johnson (1993–present)
website	http://www.clancybrown.com}}

Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film ''Highlander'', Byron Hadley in the award-winning ''The Shawshank Redemption'', Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed ''Carnivàle'', and Career Sergeant Zim in ''Starship Troopers''. Brown also works extensively as a voice actor in animated films and TV series, notably portraying Mr. Eugene H. Krabs in the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He also voiced Lex Luthor in the ''DC animated universe'' and the film ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', Raiden in ''Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm'', Gorrath in ''Megas XLR'', Captain Black and Ratso in ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', Vice-Principal Pangborn in ''All Grown Up'', Otto in ''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'', and Destro in ''G.I. Joe: Renegades''.

Early life

Brown was born in Urbana, Ohio. His mother, Joyce (née Eldridge), was a conductor, composer, and concert pianist, while his father, Clarence J. "Bud" Brown, Jr., was an Ohio Congressman and chairman of the board of the Brown Publishing Company, the family-owned newspaper business started by Clancy's grandfather, Congressman Clarence J. Brown. He graduated from St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., and earned a scholarship to Northwestern University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was inspired to become an actor by a neighbor who showed him Shakespeare's works.

Career

Brown, who is 6'3" (191 cm), possesses a deep voice and large frame, is often typecast in roles of villains or authority figures, although his friends and co-stars describe him as having a very pleasant and easy-going personality. His career has tended to alternate between mainstream TV/cable; major-studio and independent-studio movies; and a large repertoire of voicework for animated and video game roles.

Movie roles

Brown's role as the Kurgan in ''Highlander'' helped give him fame. Other well-known roles include Captain Byron Hadley in ''The Shawshank Redemption'', Viking Lofgren in the 1983 hit drama movie ''Bad Boys'', Rawhide in ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension'' (1984), Frankenstein's monster in ''The Bride'' (1985), Army mercenary Larry McRose in ''Extreme Prejudice'' (1987), vicious killer Steve in ''Shoot to Kill'' (1988), the police officer in Michael Jackson's short movie ''Speed Demon'' (1988), ''Dead Man Walking'' (cameo only), ''Pet Sematary Two'' as Gus, Career Sergeant Zim in ''Starship Troopers'', (a role he would reprise in the animated television series ''Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles''), and Captain William Hadley in ''The Guardian''. He also played a role in ''Flubber'' as one of the evil henchmen that get harmed by uncontrollably bouncing sports equipment.

Brown has three times played senior prison officers in movies dealing with miscarriages of justice: in ''The Shawshank Redemption'', the tyrannical Capt. Byron Hadley; in ''The Hurricane'', the sympathetic Lt. Williams; and in ''Last Light'' as Lt. McMannis. In 2001, he played the wisher man in the Hallmark version of ''Snow White''. In 2007, he played the Viking leader opposite Karl Urban in ''Pathfinder''. He also voiced Mr. Krabs in ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie''.

He starred in several independent films in 2008: ''The Burrowers'', screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2008, and released in the US on DVD in April 2009, and ''The Twenty'', which is currently awaiting screening. One of his most recent roles was in Steven Soderbergh's 2009 film ''The Informant!'' opposite Matt Damon in which he played an attorney. He also portrayed Alan Smith in Samuel Bayer's 2010 remake of the horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. In 2011 he starred in ''Cowboys and Aliens'' alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde as a kindly reverend. He voices the astral supervillain Parallax in the film ''Green Lantern''. He will be the voice of ''The Goon'' in the upcoming animated feature film.

Television roles

Brown was a series regular on the science fiction series ''Earth 2'' from 1994 to 1995, playing the role of John Danziger. Brown was notable as the sinister preacher Brother Justin Crowe in the HBO series ''Carnivàle''. Though the show only went for two seasons, ''Carnivàle'' has attained a cult popularity and his pivotal performance was applauded by critics for showcasing a new side to his acting talents. He also starred in the Showtime production ''In the Company of Spies''. He has also made many guest appearances on various television shows including ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' as Zobral in the episode "Desert Crossing", ''ER'', ''Lost'' as Kelvin Joe Inman, and former baseball player (and investment scam mark) Rudy Blue on ''The Riches''. "A Walk with Simon Kenton", a 2000 Kentucky Educational Television production on the frontiersman figure key to America's westward expansion, who resembles Brown in stature and is buried in his home town. Brown most recently appeared as Hart Sterling, founding partner of fictional law firm Sterling, Huddle, Oppenheim & Craft in ABC's ''The Deep End''. He also guest starred on the series ''Leverage'' in the episode "The Gone Fishin Job".

Notable voice roles

As well as his work in the DC animated universe (see below), he has voiced the corrupt Baron Praxis in the PlayStation 2 video game ''Jak II'', Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka in a number of the ''Crash Bandicoot'' video games until ''Crash Twinsanity'' (in which he was replaced by Lex Lang and Alex Fernandez/John DiMaggio), Montross in ''Star Wars: Bounty Hunter'' and Gorrath in the animated series ''Megas XLR''. Brown was also the voice of Thrall in the cancelled video game ''Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans''. He also played Hakon, Tomas Brod, and Wolf in the TV series ''Gargoyles''. In 1994 he voiced the fictional tanuki, Gonta, in the English language dub of "Pom Poko". Brown voice-played Raiden on the animated series, ''Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm''. In 1999 Brown voiced a Hessian trooper in ''The Night of the Headless Horseman''. Brown also played the conniving Alderman Richard Hughes in the Xbox 360 game, ''Saints Row''. He made a guest appearance in ''Godzilla: The Series'' as the voice of billionaire Maxmilian Speil. Brown portrayed 5 of the 6 members of Legion Ex Machina in the animated series ''Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot''.

From 1999 to the present, he has played the role of Mr. Krabs of ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. From 2000 to 2005, he regularly played the roles of Captain Black and Ratso on ''Jackie Chan Adventures'' and occasionally took on the role of the talisman-animated moose doll known as "Super Moose". He has also voice-played Vice-Principal Pangborn in ''All Grown Up'' and Barkmeat in ''Catscratch''. In Disney programs, he's played roles such as Otto in ''Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'', and the Dark Dragon in ''American Dragon: Jake Long'', as well as the Ugly Bald Guy in the movie ''Recess: School's Out''. Brown also plays Long Feng in ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''. He could be seen in the 2006 Cartoon Network movie ''Re-Animated'', as Mr. Norm, the science teacher. He also voice-played Undertow, Cloak and Dagger in ''The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea'' and a guest appearance in the ''Kim Possible'' episode ''Oh, No! Yono'' where he played the titular character. He guest starred in ''The Penguins of Madagascar'' as the Rockhopper Penguin, Buck Rockgut, in "The Red Squirrel". He also guest starred in the TV series ''Duck Dodgers'', playing the voice of Archduke Zag. He also makes a few guest appearances in the Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb, most notably, Santa Claus, the Regurgitator, and the Warden at Smile Away Reformatory School. In 2010 he played various characters on Adventure Time including the demonic cat in Dungeon. He is also set to lend his talents to ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', providing the voice for the character Savage Oppress, who appeared in the second half of the third season. He is also the voice of character Destro in G.I. Joe: Renegades. Brown lended his voice in the ''ThunderCats'' remake as Grune the Destroyer. He also has a recurring role as Agent Silas in ''Transformers: Prime''.

DC universe roles

Brown is well known for his voice work as villains from various DC animated shows, movies, and video games. Clancy Brown played Mr. Freeze in ''The Batman'', as well a few appearances as the voice of Trident on ''Teen Titans''. Clancy Brown's best known role in the DC animated universe, is that of the villainous Lex Luthor, a role that he played for over 12 years. He first appeared as Lex vocally in Bruce Timm's ''Superman: The Animated Series'', he had originally auditioned for the role of Superman, but the part ultimately went to actor Tim Daly. He has reprised his role as Lex Luthor in various other animated shows: ''Justice League'', ''Justice League Unlimited'' and in the non DC animated universe show ''The Batman''. He has reprised his role of Lex in the video game ''Superman: Shadow of Apokolips''. Clancy Brown was absent from the movie ''Superman: Brainiac Attacks'' so the role of Lex was played by Clancy's Justice League Unlimited co-star Powers Booth. Clancy Brown has reprised his role as Lex Luthor in ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies''. He also reprised his role as Lex Luthor under the name Rohtul (Luthor spelled backwards) in the episode "The Super-Batman of Planet X!" of the TV Series ''Batman: Brave and the Bold''. Adding up all these vocal appearances Clancy has made as Lex Luthor, Clancy Brown has played Lex Luthor longer than any other actor in history, even Gene Hackman who played Luthor in the first Superman film saga and his Justice League co-star Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex Luthor in ''Smallville''.

Marvel roles

He played police captain George Stacy in ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', as well as supervillain The Rhino. Recently, he also appeared on ''Wolverine and the X-Men'' as the villainous Mr. Sinister. He voices Odin in ''Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes''. Brown made a guest appearance in ''The Incredible Hulk'' as The Sasquatch.

Video games

Brown has appeared in several video games, usually playing an antagonistic character. He played Dr. Neo Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot series, from ''Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back'' to ''Crash Nitro Kart'', and also the evil mask Uka Uka in the same games. In 2002, he played Montross, a Mandalorian rival of Jango Fett in the game ''Star Wars: Bounty Hunter''. He also played Baron Praxis in Naughty Dog's ''Jak II'', the secondary antagonist after Metal Kor. He is also the voice of Hades, a supporting antagonist in ''God of War III''.

Commercial spokesman

He is the commercial spokesman for Home Depot, Gerbers and Avis Rent a Car System, as well as Honda.

Personal life

Brown has been married to Jeanne Johnson since 1993; they have two children.

References

Further reading

Voisin, Scott, ''Character Kings: Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art and Business of Acting'' BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59393-342-5

External links

Clancy Brown's official website

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:People from Champaign County, Ohio Category:Actors from Ohio Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American video game actors Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni

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