15 Best Things The Internet Has Done With Superman
4. Lex Luthor Took 40 Cakes
The Super Dictionary is one of the weirdest reading experiences a DC Comics fan will ever encounter. Really, it's worthy of its own list. The intent is clearly to teach children the meanings of words like "forty," but it worked out to being some weird hybrid between DC Comics and the Dick and Jane books ("See Dick. See Jane. See Spot. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run!"). But of all the strangeness it has to offer, nothing stuck in the fandom's imagination quite like this image of 1970s-era, evil mad scientist Lex Luthor, laughing maniacally as he takes 40 cakes (or perhaps 39, if you don't count the one falling off the back there). This inspired many a mashup, but the best was probably Bill Walko's cross-fertilizing it with the Hostess Cupcakes ads of the same decade. This meme became so popular, Chris Roberson and Eddy Burrows smuggled into the canon in Superman #709. The following panel has not been altered in any way from its original publication:
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
