Some of Earth-1's other super-geniuses.

[llozymandias]

Alexis "Lex" Luthor was not the first super-genius born on Earth-1, just the greatest.  Here are two who slightly predate him:



       1.) Lewis Padgett/MicroWave Man;  in the 1930s found a way to give himself superpowers.  He used those powers for crime.  His power sources were radio waves & microwaves, and probably other forms of energy as well.  He was also able to contact aliens who took him with them on their travels throughout the universe.  In the late 70s (or early 80s) he returns to earth an old man.  His alien friends make him young again, so he can fight Superman.  The process that rejuvenates him also kills him.  Or so the aliens say.  His power sources exist throughout the universe.  leaving earth should not have cost him his powers.  Unless his "friends" removed him from earth in order to protect others from him.  Or his friends could be cosmic criminals who recruited him to join their group.  Over the years they hear stories about Superman.  Curious about wether Lewis could defeat Superman, they take Lewis back to earth.  When the battle is over, they know that Lewis is no match for Kal.  The "Lewis" that died could have been a short-lived mindless "remot-controlled" clone of some kind.  Then the aliens (along with the real Lewis, who is still alive & physically young) leave earth, And go back to exploring the universe.  Or quietly looting it.



          2.)  The scientist/inventor family friend to the waynes.  I call him that because i don't remember his name.  He invented a super-telescope that enabled him to see people & events on Krypton.  Literally as they happened.  When he learned of krypton's impending doom, he found a way to neutralize atomic reactions.  His device was able to affect a planet the size of krypton.  And it could beam its energies instantly over an unspecified number of lightyears.  He came close to saving krypton.  Somehow he came to believe that his device caused krypton's explosion.  Would explain why it seems that he has invented nothing since.


     These are characters i wish had been used in more than one story each.

[dto]

llozymandias, let's not forget scientist Ray Palmer (aka The Atom).  

As for your #2, here's a summary from DarkMark's excellent Comics Indexing Doman at http://darkmark6.tripod.com/indexintro.html


World’s Finest Comics No. 146
December 1964

Cover: Batman and Superman looking at two photos of young Bruce Wayne as “Bruce-El” //Curt Swan / George Klein
Story: “Batman, Son of Krypton” (Part 1; 8 pages)
 Part 2: “The Destroyer of Krypton” (9 pages)
Editor: Mort Weisinger
Writer: Edmond Hamilton
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein

Feature Characters: Superman (last appearance in ACTION COMICS #319; next appears in SUPERMAN #174), Batman (last appearance in DETECTIVE COMICS #334; next appears in SUPERMAN #174; also appears as young Bruce Wayne in flashback; see Batman index for chronology; origin details revealed), Robin (between DETECTIVE COMICS #334 / 335)

GA: Supergirl (between ACTION COMICS #319 / 320), Kandorians
Supporting Characters: Jor-El, Lara (in flashback; see Comment under MORE FUN COMICS #101 for chronology)

Intro: Thal-Arn (in flashback), Dr. Thomas Ellison (only appearance for both)

Cameo appearance: Zinn-Zal (a Kryptonian hero; first and only appearance; as a statue)

Villains: Jax-Ur, Prof. Vakox (both between ACTION COMICS #310 / 321 (Supergirl story))

Comment: This story features the first appearance of the Kryptoniad, the epic poem of the civilizing of Krypton, of the Red Tower, the Kryptonopolis capitol building, and of the Three Sisters of Krypton, three synchronized fire-geysers.

Synopsis: When Batman remembers bits and pieces of Kryptonian culture and history and comes upon pictures of himself as a child apparently demonstrating super-powers, he is convinced that he may be another refugee of Krypton, whose powers were stolen by a Gold Kryptonite exposure.  But he and Superman learn that his memories come from his association with Dr. Thomas Ellison, a scientist whose powerful telescope had enabled him to view Kryptonian life, who attempted unsuccessfully to thwart the explosion of Krypton with a ray, and who posed young Bruce Wayne, whom he baby-sat and taught Kryptonian lore, in photos that made him appear to have the powers of a Kryptonian native on Earth.
----------------------------------

Question:  some consider "World's Finest" and "The Brave and the Bold" stories outside mainsteam Earth-1 continuity.  So did the above story actually take place on Earth-B?  

Any opinions?

[dto]

Another scientific super-genius who pre-dated Lex Luthor was (is?) Dr. Phineas Quayle (1881- ?).  Attempting to discover a future solution for the Great Depression, Dr. Quayle began work on a telechron apparatus in December 1932.  Months later he successfully transported himself to the 1960s, where he was appalled by the social unrest of the times.  Not being a social scientist, Dr. Quayle noted the emergence of superheroes and immediately identified THEM as the culprits.  

Finding that his time machine could only travel one way, Dr. Quayle went further to the 1970s, where he again despaired over America's moral decline.  Seeing that the Justice League were now "little tin gods" overseeing Earth from their satellite, Dr. Qualye vowed to overthrow the superheroes' domination and reverse their harmful effects on society.

Armed with his time-bending devices, "Dr. Anomaly", the self-annointed "Scourge of the Superheroes and Future Savior of the World" captured some members of the JLA and was about to imprison the rest when the tide of battle turned.  Facing defeat, he made a "blind jump" into the timestream, where he remained until STAR Labs accidentally freed him in 1985.  Vowing to continue his crusade, Dr. Anomaly vanished.  His subsequent activities are still unknown.

Dr. Anomaly only appeared in Justice League of America #240 (July 1985), just before the Crisis.  His creator, Kurt Busiek, was kind enough to answer my questions concerning this affable antagonist in another thread on this forum:

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1720&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=dr+anomaly&start=40

[Continental Op]

Dr. Will ("Doc") Magnus from METAL MEN and Niles Caulder (The Chief), from DOOM PATROL were definitely shown to be consistently two of the most brilliant scientific minds of Earth-1.

Professor Potter and Professor Pepperwinkle were both supposed to be way up there too, but their "absent minded" shtick kept them from inventing anything really of lasting significance. Professor Carter Nichols went from hypnotizing people into having weird dreams to building a REAL time machine.

Steve Dayton (Mento) was said to be one of the biggest geniuses around also, but other than the Mento helmet he was rarely shown to invent anything. Apparently he devoted most of his intellect to financial matters.

Hector Hammond was evolved to have a computer-like brain milennia ahead of normal humans.

Gizmo of the Fearsome Five was short in size, huge in intelligence.

Simon Stagg was another super-genius inventor who usually stuck to the financial stuff.

The early Justice League enemies all seemed capable of creating fantastic devices centuries ahead of real-world science: Professor Ivo, Doctor Destiny, the Key, Brain Storm, Libra, Professor Amos Fortune, that guy who created the machine to wipe out all evil in the world...

Really, if you go by the ability to surpass real-world science, half the super-villains around on Earth-1 qualified. The key was "specializing" in something. Any ordinary crook who had been practically a high school dropout could go on to easily whip up a teleportation device, time machine, weather control satellite, death ray projector, dimensional gateway, particle accelerator, anti-gravity generator, or whatever... but ONLY so long as he created it in the form of his particular "specialty". Mirror Master's had to be created from a mirror, Captain Boomerang's had to be in the shape of a boomerang, Chronos had to make his look like a watch or clock or hourglass, and so forth.

Barry Allen must have been one sharp cookie to create the Cosmic Treadmill and shrinking/expanding costume with only an ordinary police scientist's education and salary!

And I shouldn't forget the original Newsboy Legionnaires. They were dirt-poor street kids who grew up to perfect cloning and mastermind the DNA Project! Sure didn't learn that in the schools of Suicide Slum... if they even WENT to school.

[llozymandias]

I think of most tech-based super-villains as super-idiot-savants.  for the most part their intellects are average (or slightly above).  But in whatever obsesses them they are super-geniuses.

[TELLE]

I think of most tech-based super-villains as super-idiot-savants.  for the most part their intellects are average (or slightly above).  But in whatever obsesses them they are super-geniuses.

Probably right, but wasn't it suggested at various times that there were scinetists who supplied the Rogues Gallery villains with, just as there were tailors who provided them with costumes?

[Klar Ken T5477]

Telle, in the classic Flash series everytime the Mirror Master or Capt Boomerang got sprung jail, they saw their tailor for new villain duds. :roll:

[NotSuper]

Let's not forget Superman himself.  

Another super-genius was Alexander Mason AKA The Planeteer.