Flashback Friday: Lionel Luthor

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Lionel Luthor!

But before we get into Lionel Luthor, I should note that Lex Luthor's father does have a history in comics. So we should go over that first in order to better understand how depictions of Lionel Luthor differ.

Jules Thorul only made two appearances: one in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #23 (December 1960) and one in Superman #292 (August 1975). The story is that the Luthors were a comfortably middle class family in Smallville who disowned Lex when he turned to crime, then changed their names to "Thorul" just to complete the picture.

Fast forward to 2001, Lionel Luthor first appeared in the Smallville pilot. Lionel served two roles on the show: one, he filled the classic Lex Luthor role as the evil businessman, and two, he provided a contrast in parenting styles to the Kents. He was upgraded to the main cast in season 2, and stayed on more or less until the end, even transitioning over time into one of Clark's allies (in a storyline that never felt completely believable).

In 2004, DC released a re-telling of Superman's origin called Superman: Birthright. When first released, it was unclear whether it was a standalone story or if it were meant to replace Man of Steel as his official origin, although that is what eventually happened regardless. One of the changes it made, no doubt inspired by Smallville, was restoring Lex Luthor's past as growing up in Smallville and knowing Clark. In issue #8 (March 2004), we meet Lex's dad. He goes unnamed here, but his appearance is certainly inspired by John Glover and he appears to be wealthy, although we don't learn anything more about him than that.

The year after that, Teen Titans revealed that the human half of Superboy's DNA came, not from Cadmus director Paul Westfield like was once thought, but from Lex Luthor himself. In Teen Titans #26 (July 2005), we learn Lex was going to name Superboy "Lionel" after his father.

In Countdown #34 (July 2007), we get a short history of Lex Luthor. His background in Smallville is for real for real restored, and his father is once again a businessman with a passing resemblance to John Glover. He goes unnamed, but since Teen Titans previously established Lex's father's name is Lionel, we can assume it is here.

Here's where things get a little wonky. In Adventure Comics #6 (January 2010), we meet Lex's sister, Lena, and learn a little bit about their past. Here's the thing...suddenly he's not a wealthy businessman anymore. He's also not called Lionel here (although we can assume that's still his name). The Luthors are, at best, on the lower end of middle class. Since this issue was written by Geoff Johns, I'm sure it matches Superman: Secret Origin (2009), another re-telling of Superman's origin...and the most pointless, if I do say so myself.

It's pointless for several reasons. One, Birthright was only about five years old at this point. Two, it was mostly just a remix of previous origins. A little from Birthright, a little from Smallville, a little from Man of Steel, a little from various other things, and a LOT from Superman: The Movie. But mostly it was pointless because, only two years later, DC decided to reboot the whole universe. That gave us Flashpoint, and in the Flashpoint alternate reality, Lionel is at his most Smallville-esque. He debuts in Flashpoint: Project Superman #2 (July 2011).

After Flashpoint came the New 52, then DC Rebirth, and it seems like DC can't decide whether they want Lionel to be poor or wealthy, because Superwoman #6 (January 2017) fits what was pictured in Adventure Comics...

...but in Action Comics Special #1 (May 2018), he's a businessman again.

Then, Justice League #17 (February 2019) throws another wrench into the whole thing. Now, not only was Lionel a wealthy businessman, he was also studying aliens.

And Justice League #18 (March 2019) goes even farther to show him as a super-scientist who worked with Vandal Savage to harness the hidden power sources of the DC Universe, including the Still Force, the Ultraviolet part of the Emotional Spectrum, and the Tear of Extinction. I have no idea where they're going with this.

Surprisingly, this is all kind of still in line with Smallville's version of Lionel. See, beyond the "meteor rock" experiements LuthorCorp did, season seven revealed that Lionel Luthor was a member of a secret society called Veritas, which was interested in both alien life and strange artifacts on Earth, such as the Stones of Power and the Kawatche Caves. So while the comics take it quite a bit farther, it's not entirely out of left field.

One final note: Lex Luthor's father appears or is mentioned in many adaptations, but usually doesn't get named. He is, however, named Lionel when he appeared in Supergirl (2017).