10 DC Characters Who Survived Terrible Debuts
2. Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is one of the most intelligent men in the DC Universe, to the point that his intellect almost counts as a superpower. He is the quintessential Superman villain and believes that he is saving humanity from a dangerous alien. Since the mid-1980s, Lex has been portrayed as the self-centered and power-hungry CEO of LexCorp, a massive multinational conglomerate that owns 3/4 of Metropolis and employs tens of thousands of its citizens. He is also one of the undisputed leaders in the villain community. Many villains immediately fall in line behind him and look to him for orders. None of this was present at the man’s debut.
Lex Luthor was created by Jerry Seigel and Jerome Shuster for Action Comics #23 in 1940. When Luthor first debuted, he was shown as a diabolical scientist motivated purely by financial or megalomaniacal pursuits. This Lex had no strong animosity toward Superman other than the fact that the hero constantly thwarted his schemes.
Even Luthor’s signature look occurred by mistake. In his earliest appearances, Lex was shown as a middle-aged man with a full head of red/orange hair. Within a year, he was portrayed as bald and was portrayed as such from then on. The common theory is that studio artist Leo Nowak confused Luthor for another Superman villain, the Ultra-Humanite.