In my opinion there are two categories of villain that when
done right put all others to shame. Number one on my list is the villain that
does what he does just because he can, he may have his reasons, he may have no
reason, and he may just want to watch the world burn. Obviously by using that
line from
The Dark Knight you can
probably guess that I place the Joker in this category as would many others.
The other category is the villain who sees themselves as the victim of some
imagined slight and based on that delusion sees himself not as an evil,
egotistical, maniac but as a hero sticking up for the downtrodden of which he
or she counts themselves not only as one of those oppressed but as the most
victimized of that group.
The main person
who I believe fits the mold of this type of villain extremely well is Lex
Luthor, and this issue of Superman:
Secret Origin shines a light on that view because this one is very
Lex-centric.
Part 4: Parasites
We start the is with a crowd of people gathered at the gates of LexCorp, just as they gather
there every day at the same time for the hope that Lex Luthor will choose one
of them and change their lives forever. Whether that’s for good or for ill we’ll
see later. After watching this gathering for a few moments Lex finally makes
his grand appearance and gives a speech about having risen above his humble beginnings
and is now looking for someone to take to those exact heights. He of course
fails to mention that he was able to do so with the insurance money from his
father’s fatal car accident which happened because Lex himself cut the break
lines.
Lex chooses Rudy Jones, the janitor of the
Daily Planet that Clark Kent had met last issue. When he’s chosen Rudy cries
with joy like he’s been saved from a fate worse than death. He has no idea and
I’d usually say “poor sap” but considering Rudy had conned Clark out of his
lunch and $20 I have a hard time feeling sorry for the schmuck. As Lex smiles
and waves to the crowd he instructs his underlings to retrieve Lois Lane and
Clark Kent in hopes of drawing out Superman.
We cut to the Daily
Planet as we find Lois simultaneously writing up the story and fielding
questions from the rest of her coworkers.
When she and Clark get escorted by Lex Corp Security to see Lex, their
strong arm methods don’t go over very well but Lois is so gung ho at getting to
finally talk to Lex that she goes willingly. We cut back to Lex giving a
doughnut stuffing Rudy a tour of the facility where Lex’s crack staff is going
to put Rudy through several exams to test his intellect and physical fitness to
mold Rudy and change him for the better.
It’s pretty
apparent from this that the idea of what the citizens of Metropolis think is
going to happen is very different from what Lex wants to do. The people at the
gates believe that Lex is going to make their dreams come true by giving them
what they want; last issue Clark had met a police officer that was doing crowd
security who said that on his days off he would go over there hoping for the
chance to open an Irish Pub. Lex however is not interested in giving people
what they want but what he believes
the people need, he’s so arrogant to believe that he knows people better than
they know themselves. Sound familiar?
Lois and Clark
are brought to Lex’s office; Lois thinks she’s going to get a chance to
confront Lex on all his shady dealings which include bribery, extortion, forced
relocation, and even murder. But Lex hasn’t brought them here for anything of
the sort, he’s brought them to him so he can pump them for information about
Superman (I should mention he hasn’t been named yet) and charge him with
trespassing. So….Superman saves dozens of people from a helicopter falling from
his building and he wants to press charges? Lex obviously has some big brass ones,
but I also have to wonder if they’re as shiny as his head.
In another part of
Lexcorp we see Rudy Jones still stuffing his face when one of his doughnuts
falls on the floor and onto some purple ooze. Using the three second rule Rudy
picks it right back up and eats it, not necessarily a man of discerning taste
as it gives him a lot more than indigestion as the ooze starts to mutate Rudy
and gives him an insatiable appetite that drives him to start attacking people
around him. Clark can hear the screamrbance and
they try to get Lex to safety leaving the reporters to fend for themselves.
 |
| Am I late for the calender shoot? |
It’s too late
however as Rudy bursts on the scene completely mutated into a big, bloated
purple leech with a mouth that would make a sarlaak jealous. He’s become The
Parasite, a long time villain of Superman who has the ability the suck out the
energy of anyone he gets his mouth on. Yick! But Clark was able to slip away
and in comes Superman ready to save the day as he picks Rudy up and launches
him into the street. After a short fight Superman uses his icy breath to freeze
the Parasite in place, Lex comes out and sees the results with his own eyes and
is in total disbelief but snaps out of it when he hears someone calling the
scene a miracle.
He then calls out
Superman and asks him if Big Blue expects the people to worship him for what he’s done thus far. Oh the irony is thick on this one folks. Clark is so stunned by
the question he can’t even respond and is further taken aback when Lex asks if
he’s even human. Superman flies off listening to the voices of the people as
they not only question
his motives
but most of them siding with Luthor as well. Ouch.
Superman lands on
the roof of the Daily Planet bemoaning his decision to come into the open, he sees
someone else on the roof and finds that it’s Jimmy Olsen also bemoaning his lot
in life and considering returning home feeling that he hasn’t accomplished much
of anything except finding the quickest route to get coffee and donuts to the
city room without spilling a drop. Superman sympathizes with Jimmy and the two
bond over their insecurities about the paths they’ve chosen. Before Superman
flies off Jimmy convinces him to pose for a picture.
In Perry White’s
office, Lois turns in her story on the flying man. Perry remarks about how the
story doesn’t contain any of Lois’ patented cynicism and Lois replies that she’s
never felt better and you can see on her face that for the first time in a long
time she’s found something, someone she can believe in. Jimmy shows up and
slaps the picture of Superman on Perry’s desk and announces with renewed
confidence “The name’s Jimmy….Jimmy
Olsen.” We close on Lex looking through the newspapers finding that they’re
all swayed towards his opinion of the flying man. All except the Daily Planet,
to which he says “This means war!”
As this issue shows
that for all his drive and intelligence, Luthor’s egotism can be deadly for
anyone that gets involved with him. From Rudy Jones’ transformation into the Parasite
to the victims of his rampage to even the people of Metropolis just walking on
the streets, Lex’s blind narcissism can lead to him making mistakes on a cataclysmic
scale that can negatively affect so many people. And is he repentant for any of
this, Hell NO! In fact he doesn’t
shoulder the blame; he blames everyone else for his mistakes and in this case
placing the blame on Superman for his own mistakes. We’ll continue the story at
a later time but next time I’ll be looking at Transformers: the Movie. Until
then, Cheers!
