Ecocomics: Lex Luthor

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor from Superman II, obtained from Wikipedia.org

We all know that Lex Luthor has a great interest in real estate. This was established way back in Richard Donner's first Superman film. In that movie, Luthor's plan was to sink California so the land he had purchased in Nevada and Arizona would be worth a fortune as beach-front property. Superman stopped that plan, but Luthor kept his fixation on land. In Superman Returns, Luthor went the other way in his schemes. He tried to grow an entire continent out of Kryptonian crystal. Planning to rearrange the surface of the Earth and get rich by renting his new continent, Luthor excitedly went along with his plan until Superman tossed his new continent into space.

But the Lex Luthor of the comics also has a fondness for acquiring land. In the year-long Batman crossover "No Man's Land" that ran through the Bat-family books in 1999, Lex Luthor hatched a plan involving seizing control of all of Gotham. Gotham City had just been wracked by a massive earthquake which reduced most of the city to rubble. In the wake of this disaster, the US

government isolated the Gotham disaster zone and prevented anyone from exiting or entering. Inside the city, Batman and Commissioner Gordon tried to maintain control against the gangs and madmen who roamed the streets.

In the midst of this chaos, Luthor identified a way to fill his own personal habit to get that real estate fix he had been needing. Using agents to destroy the original land deed records for Gotham, Luthor tried to gain ownership of the city without paying a cent. He offered to help Gotham's citizens rebuild without telling them that his assistance came with the price of ownership of their land. Eventually Batman foiled his plans, but I'm sure Luthor's desire for real estate has not yet been satiated.

Batman:No Man's Land Volume 1, obtained from Wikipedia.org

Now, you may be asking why I bring this up. I do so because we are in the midst of a world financial crisis. A crisis so enveloping that it affects all of our lives. It almost seems like some criminal mastermind has orchestrated this recession. Someone who values ownership of property above else. Perhaps someone who would be interested in giving mortgages to high risk lendees who would not be able to meet their financial obligations once rates had been raised. Someone who would watch gleefully as he regained control of their repossessed properties while the world markets crumbled.

That's right, LEX LUTHOR engineered the sub-prime lending crisis!!!!!!!!!!!