“Heroes, Villains, and Me” is a periodic article on Geeky KOOL by Larry Litle about the world of comic books and my reaction to it. “Heroes, Villains, and Me” is not a comic book review article. I will write about current events, speculation and rumors, or my own wacky thoughts about the world of comic books.
The regular article, Heroes, Villains, and Me, has returned to Geeky KOOL. Around a year ago, I had to take some time off from it. I am excited to start writing Heroes, Villains, and Me again. I love to talk about my reaction to comics and comic related news. I have been contemplating this particular article for some time. Let us get started with “Lex Luthor Is Right”.
Most of the world is at least familiar with the fictional character of Lex Luthor. He is Superman’s arch rival. The majority of Superman movies have had Lex as a bad guy if not the focal bad guy. Sometimes the movies show him as a goof ball and other times he is devious but always a villain.
Over the years, there have been numerous incarnations of Lex. He has been a mad scientist, evil corporate executive, Politician, and even President. He been a member and even led numerous villainous teams including the Injustice Gang, Secret Society of Super Villains, Injustice League, Intergang, and The Legion of Doom (for Superfriends fans). Lex is one of the most intelligent people on Earth and thinks way outside of normal range of most humanity but he rarely uses this brilliance for the good of humanity. There is no doubt that Lex is a bad guy.
That being said, even narcissistic, manipulative, evil jerks can be right occasionally. For as long as I have been reading comics (early 70s), Lex Luthor has been hammering home the point that Superman is too powerful to be on the Earth. Much of this has to do with Superman cramping Lex’s style and plans. Superman takes the spotlight off of the egocentric Luthor which has a way of getting his goat. Yet the words that come from the best known comic villain seem to be ringing true with me lately.
Yes, Superman does a lot of good work. He saves a ton of people from natural and man made disasters. But has the Earth grown reliant on the Man of Steel? We don’t always make the hard decisions or fund the needed technology and programs because we know that Superman can save us. Is this really the wise thing to do?
Superman is the most powerful force on the Earth (in the DC Universe- New 52 or any prior). It was announced back in February (From DC Comics) that Superman is about to get a new power and it will be extensively powerful with destructive force. What happens to the Earth if Superman can’t control his powers? He is susceptible to magic and mind control so a villain could control him like a weapon and do extensive destruction. But the greatest fear is if Superman grew tired of the problems of humanity and began to see the world like General Zod and become a villain. If any of these things happened, people of Earth would face a certain doom even with Batman’s backup plans.
His super strength alone is almost unstoppable. It is estimated that he can easily lift 100 tons for an extended period of time. He would grind a regular person to dust with one punch.
He is invulnerable to almost every physical attack. There is no attack the people of Earth can bring that can physically hurt the Man of Steel. Bullets have been know to bounce off of his eye balls. He has even survived against Darkseid’s omega beams, which was thought to be impossible. He is practically immortal and a god amongst ants.
Superman’s super speed and flight make it impossible to know where he is at any one time. Even if there were a weapon that could stop Superman, it would be almost impossible to hit him with it. He could cause havoc all over the planet so fast that there would be no time to stop him even if we could.
Don’t forget about Supes heat vision and cold breath. He can kill almost anything with his heat blasting beams from his eyes. On the other end of the spectrum, he can freeze most things and people solid just be breathing on them.
Superman has a ton of other powers and abilities beyond the ones described above. He is getting a new more destructive ability. He is basically an Omega bomb (Earth destroying weapon) waiting to go off without this new ability. With this new power, the citizens of Earth have no hope of surviving something going wrong with Superman.
I think it is time for us all to admit the truth. Lex Luthor is right. Superman is just too powerful to be on the Earth any longer. Superman should be allowed to come back and help the Earth fight of alien invasions or attacks from Darkseid but those should be the exception. It is time for him to find a new place to live where humanity can be safe from this helpful but too powerful of a juggernaut of a hero.
Let me know what you think. Is Lex and Larry right? Is Superman just too powerful to be on Earth full time? Tell us why in the comments below.
Stay Geeky My Friends!
