Whatever happened to Lex Luthor's Lair?

[Michel Weisnor]

It struck me, why don't villains have cool hideouts or headquarters, anymore? In the modern era, Lex has been shown in a lab working on gadgets but I don't believe the complete layouts been devulged. On this website, I read "the Death of Superman". We find, Lex owned an abandoned museum where he concocted nefarious schemes. While Superman used a key, Lex shakes hands with a statue of Julius Caesar! So, why don't baddies get sweet digs today?   

[nightwing]

Well, the heroes don't really get "sweet digs" any more either, do they?  The Fortress has survived, but in the 90s it had a totally different vibe; it was a creepy place designed to remind us of how awful Krypton was.  I didn't get the impression Superman was overly fond of it, or that he spent much time there.  Similarly, I always saw the JLA watchtower as ominous more than "cool."  Green Arrow lost his cave a long time ago (there's a story idea...whatever happened to the Arrow Cave?) and the other big guns never really had much of an HQ.  Over at Marvel, there's Avengers Mansion and Xavier's school, two fancy houses...big whoop.

The only hero HQ that's proven immortal is the Bat-Cave, really.

I miss Luthor's lairs, too.  One of my favorite Legion stories is the one where the LSH ends up on the run from the authorities and sets up operations in one of Luthor's forgotten lairs underneath 30th Century Metropolis.

Also, who else here remembers the Joker's Ha-Hacienda and his Ho-Ho-Home on Wheels? 

[Gangbuster]

For my money, the Legion of Doom's Swamp Headquarters is still the best one. Did any of you ever read the "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" stories? I thought their hideout was pretty cool too...a wired trailer hidden behind a wall of junk cars, with a phone that could dial Alfred Hitchcock. I wanted one of those as a kid.

[Michel Weisnor]

Well, the heroes don't really get "sweet digs" any more either, do they?  The Fortress has survived, but in the 90s it had a totally different vibe; it was a creepy place designed to remind us of how awful Krypton was.  I didn't get the impression Superman was overly fond of it, or that he spent much time there.  Similarly, I always saw the JLA watchtower as ominous more than "cool."  Green Arrow lost his cave a long time ago (there's a story idea...whatever happened to the Arrow Cave?) and the other big guns never really had much of an HQ.  Over at Marvel, there's Avengers Mansion and Xavier's school, two fancy houses...big whoop.

The only hero HQ that's proven immortal is the Bat-Cave, really.

I miss Luthor's lairs, too.  One of my favorite Legion stories is the one where the LSH ends up on the run from the authorities and sets up operations in one of Luthor's forgotten lairs underneath 30th Century Metropolis.

Also, who else here remembers the Joker's Ha-Hacienda and his Ho-Ho-Home on Wheels? 

Green Arrow's headquarters returned and subsequently was blowed up (real good) in issue 59? 

With classic elements returning in the pages of Superman and Action Comics, I hope Johns or Busiek find room for Luthor's museum. While Superman's Fortress appears a shiny tribute to a lost world, Luthor's crumbling hideout is a celebration of human achievement from his perspective. I mean, it practically writes itself.   

The Joker's Ha-Hacienda and Ho-Ho-Home? I've got a lot of back issue reading to do!   

[TELLE]

The 1970s Secret Society of Supervillains had some sort of hang-out --Sinister Citadel?  And doesn't the Penguin have a nightclub or something?  Iceberg Club?  The Legion of Super-Villains ran a school for villains.  That's all I can think of.  Marvel had more residences but maybe not as many unique ones for villains.  I'm thinking of the Defenders' ranch, Baxter Building/Four Freedoms Plaza, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, etc.

Always liked Dr. Fate's windowless, door-less tower.

It's nice to know that Luthor's Lair shows up in a future Legion story (pre-Crisis, I hope?).  Supermanica has articles on several other lairs.

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Hide-Outs

[Super Monkey]

For my money, the Legion of Doom's Swamp Headquarters is still the best one.

I agree this was the coolest:

http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/wallpaper/cartoons/mike/legion-doom.jpg

[TELLE]

Hands down.

Great sound effects, too.

Who was it here posted the "that's what you think, super jerks" montage from the Superfriends?