Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography

by James D. Hudnall, Eduardo Barreto (Illustrator), Adam Kubert (Illustrator)

He’s arguably one of the most influential men in America today. He’s inarguably the evilest. His name is Lex Luthor...and whatever Luthor wants, Luthor gets—even if it’s the life of a man who threatens his privacy. But it’s Clark Kent who’s arrested for the brutal murder of down-and-out biographer Peter Sands, a man who hoped to climb back to the top with THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF LEX LUTHOR. All it got him was dead. What are the secrets of his past that Luthor is willing to kill for...secrets that the merciless criminal mastermind wants kept dead and buried?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superman, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

49 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 1989

About the author

James David Hudnall has been a professional writer since 1986. The majority of his work has been in the graphic novel field. He has had one television show made from his comics (Harsh Realm, Fox 1999) and has several comics properties in development.

His Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography has been called one of the best comics of all time by “Wizard Magazine.” It was cited in TV guide as an inspiration for an X-Files Episode.

He currently writes Blue Cat with Val Mayerik on art and Thracius with Mark Vigouroux on art for Acesweekly.co.uk.

His first novel is: The Age of Heroes: Hell's Reward. His book The Secrets of Writing is expected at the end of 2013

He is a professional writer and has been a writing teacher, lecturer, publisher, and software developer for many years. He’s also a U.S. Air Force Veteran.

He currently lives in San Diego, California.

Reviews

[Marcelo Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lex Luthor.
O domo reluzente de Metrópolis.
Todo mundo sabe que eu sou fã do Byrnezão da massa, e uma das tantas contribuições dele que revolucionaram o Universo DC é a releitura do seu maior vilão, Lex Luthor.
"Ah, mas o Coringa..."
O Coringa é um caso de investimento em fechaduras melhores e remédios mais eficazes, só isso, afinal o cara é louco.
O Lex não é louco, como se dizia lá em Bagé; não rasga dinheiro e não caga na sala. Ele só é um filha da puta.
Ele é ganancioso, egocêntrico, megalomaníaco, cruel, ardiloso; acho que ele marca pontos em todos os pecados e mandamentos da tradição judaico-cristã, mas não por loucura, por escolha.
Todos os passos do Luthor são bem pensados e planejados, como o jornalista bêbado Peter Sands acaba descobrindo; não existe acaso na vida do Luthor, existe controle: o que ele quer, quando ele quer, como ele quer ou consequências, tu que sabe.
Claro, Sands descobre mais do que devia e eventos eventuam-se.
A história é muito legal, não só por detalhar a vida do Luthor, mas também por mostrar este lado cru da ganância corporativa, algo que permanece atual, especialmente, na época da glorificação da figura do "bom milionário empreendedor" em que parecemos viver.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, but it could have been a lot better.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is wild that a book about Superman's greatest villain used a cover that alludes to Trump's 'Art of the Deal' in 1989. I've been meaning to read this work for some time, mainly because of the amazing cover, and James Hudnall has crafted quite an intriguing procedural as down-on-his-luck journalist, Peter Sands investigates the origins of billionaire philanthropist, Lex Luthor.

Luthor's rise to power is full of dark dealings and criminal conspiracies, and as Sands uncovers more and more details, he finds his own life is threatened. This is a Superman comic with literally just one frame of Superman (flying away in a blue and red streak), and it is all the better as the focus is on Luthor and the mystery surrounding his power. The framing of Clark Kent is maybe the weakest aspect of this book, and its resolution is a bit too open-ended. But, it does illustrate Luthor's constant scheming and the overwhelming control he has over all of Metropolis (and the world). The parallels with our own modern day Luthor make this book all the more disturbing.

[Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art and a compelling story make for a great comic. It is a short read, but would probably have been less impactful if it were longer.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Sands is a down-and-out journalist looking for a big scoop and decides to write an unauthorised (I'm British, we don't use 'z' there) biography of Metropolis' most famous billionaire. However, the more he investigates Luthor's past the more he realises that there are dark deeds being carefully hidden from the public. Soon Sands discovers that his very life is in danger and he tries to seek the help of the one person Luthor can't have corrupted; Superman.

Lex Luthor is such an iconic villain in comics specifically because we know he's a villain and yet he's able to use his brilliance and his money to seem above reproach to the authorities. In that he's very much a reflection of some of the most wealthy and powerful individuals in our own world.
Here that reflection is made all the more clear by the allusions to the similarities between Luthor's autobiography and Donald Trump's 'The Art of the Deal', suggesting that the real and dark truth is in all the things left carefully unsaid. The irony, of course, is that writing this in 1989 James Hudnall would've had no idea that both of these reprehensible monsters would go on to be President of the United States.

Overall, this a surprisingly dark story to be Superman-adjacent but one which takes a good look at the dark underbelly of Luthor's criminal empire, as well as its real-world equivalents.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Lafcadio · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not the Lex I know. The character of Lex Luthor fascinates me, and this work does a good job of exposing his current utter ruthlessness and the depths to which he will descend to get what he wants, but it ignores Luthor's tortured past. Lex Luthor is not pure evil for evil's sake - there are motivations for his actions, possibly so deep in his subconscious by now that even he would be hard pressed to identify them, but they do exist.

I resisted purchasing this particular Lex story for a long time, but half-price day at the comic book store did me in. This is an interesting little murder mystery, but adds nothing to the appeal or intrigue of Lex for me.

[jcw3-john · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was neat. 8/10, B-. Hard to get too mad at this - good but not great exploration of Lex's character with some solid bits. 'Only room for one god on this planet', Lex sneeringly describing his parents, whom he killed for the insurance money as a thirteen year old , as 'obnoxiously mediocre', Peter and his interviewee's horror as they reveal the kind of man Lex is.

I'm a sucker for good Lex stories, this was one of them. The bits with Clark and Peter Sands kind of fall flat, but it's a very short, easy read and you may as well check it out if you find it in a used bookstore for two bucks like I did.

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

HQ muito bom contando a história de Lex Luthor, de sua infância até o rico doido que quer superar o superman. O trama é muito bem contado, não é uma narrativa contada pelo próprio Luthor mas sim o que seria uma biografia feita por um jornalista. O jeito que a biografia é escrita no HQ é muito boa, com uma pegada de detetive (poderia ser um HQ noir). O ponto fraco é que a historia é bem curta, é possível ler em menos de 1 hora, mas mesmo a historia é bem desenvolvida, vale a pena.

[Rizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Superman comics from the 80's are generally pretty lame, but this stands out from the crowd quite a bit. It's actually pretty good. It's not literally a biography of Luthor, but a comic story about a guy who is trying to write said biography. Through his perspective, we get all sorts of juicy details about Luthor's past. It's simple, but entertaining. The art is quite good, much better than the ongoing titles at the time.

[Jack Bumby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a brilliant story. A down-on-his-luck journalist needs to make a quick buck, so decides to write a tell-all book on Metropolis' second most powerful man. Obviously, it doesn't go well for him, or Clark Kent who is soon caught in a murder plot.

With some truly stunning art that works to exaggerate the hard-boiled vibe, this is a really interesting story that I'm glad I picked up.

[Johnathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb and underrated gem in the Superman franchise that plays more like a gritty crime story than a comic book one. Hudnall's writing is crisp and gritty, detailing the seedier side of Lex Luthor's life as Peter Sands tries to write the definitive biography on him, only to get more than he asked more. His writing is matched by Eduardo Barreto's equally gritty yet realistic art, pulling no punches as some bad things start to happen. A great read and a must for Superman fans.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is 2 stars. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s not developed at all, skating only over superficial aspects of what could’ve been better character development. The art is cool and, even if not earth-shattering, elevates this to 3 stars. It reminds me of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s “Joker” almost 20 years later.

[Rey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but not great either.

Follows a journalist looking into Lex Luthor's shady background.

Had some moments but its not something extraordinary.

Just about does the job. Shows how Lex is fully in control of things.

Not much for Superman here.

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down and gritty Superman, with a noir tale of when genious become madness. A reporter follows the crumbs to find the murderous childhood of the most powerful man on the planet, who isn't an alien from Krypton. This was just great!

[Max Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphics adds a lot to this oneshot.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant fun.

[Scott Waldyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is great, and it's nice to see more of a grounded suspense-thriller when it comes to Lex Luthor. This is more Luthor the murderous business tycoon and less Luthor the mad inventor.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't read as much like a biography in the way I was expecting.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is EASILY the most terrifying Lex Luthor has ever been.
EVER.

[Kay ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Phenomenal cover but I found the story to be dull and the artwork very choppy looking.

[gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ ‘twas okay but lacks depth and character motivations in my opinion

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great origin story !!!!!

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is a one shot 'prestige' style comic book. Yes, it was admitted by the creators to mirror trump's art of the deal.
Yes, it is very very good.
It's essentially a modern origin for Mr. Luthor.
In the silver age Lex was a Smallville resident like Clark Kent/Superboy.
One day his lab caught fire and Superboy's superbreath spilled chemicals that made Lex's hair fall out. It may have made him extremely vain also; not sure.
After this he vowed vengeance on Superboy for the loss of his hair. Yup. He became a mortal enemy because of hair loss.
That origin changed after John Byrne's mid-80's reboot. This origin is more wicked. Lex is born with hate. Hate for his parents, his station in life, everything. So, he's smart and does something about that. He then builds an empire and hates Superman because the public likes The Man of Steel more than Lex. Oh, well. Recommended. Find this in comic book stores or amazon.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great story, but it was ok. An ok read. For a character book, this seemed quite light on the character part of the story. It's done in a noire style but runs light enough of the development of the personalities to seem more of a caricature. Overall, if it's cheap and you don't have high expectations, sure.

[Marcos_e.e · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nota 6,75.
É bem legal, vibe noir do Batman Ano Um explorando a infância do Lex.
Mas sei lá, a história passa rápido, é bem simples e esquecível no fim das contas.
Além dessa versão do Lex Luthor ser bem ultrapassada, parecendo só um "Rei do Crime tipo" de vilão.