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Donald Trump won his MAGA voters over with promises of a better economy and a secured border. Yet, despite voting for him, some of his MAGA voters do not believe that Trump can truly mass deport undocumented migrants, as he claimed he would.
Kyung Lah, a CNN correspondent, interviewed Greg Moes, a dairy farmer from South Dakota. Half of Moes’ workforce is comprised of undocumented migrants. He claims he needs the workers year-round but still voted for Trump and Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem. Lah asked him, “Are you worried, like some of your other farmers, that if there were a mass roundup of undocumented migrants, you might lose workers?”
Donald Trump won his MAGA voters over with promises of a better economy and a secured border. Yet, despite voting for him, some of his MAGA voters do not believe that Trump can truly mass deport undocumented migrants, as he claimed he would.
Kyung Lah, a CNN correspondent, interviewed Greg Moes, a dairy farmer from South Dakota. Half of Moes’ workforce is comprised of undocumented migrants. He claims he needs the workers year-round but still voted for Trump and Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem. Lah asked him, “Are you worried, like some of your other farmers, that if there were a mass roundup of undocumented migrants, you might lose workers?”
One of the best things about Superman is just how distinctive all his villains look, as each and every one of them has an unmistakable appearance. Bizarro is an inverted duplicate of Superman with gray skin and massive muscles, Doomsday is a spikey monstrosity, and Ultra-Man is a totalitarian version of the Kryptonian. However, almost everyone who heard of Superman would agree that Lex Luthor is one of Superman’s most recognizable adversaries.
Lex Luthor is often portrayed as the greatest bald-headed criminal mastermind of all time, and throughout different iterations of the comics, two things have remained constant: his hatred of Superman and his recognizable bald head. Except that the latter isn’t true, and Lex wasn’t always bald. The villain himself blames his lack of follicles on Superman, and many believe that the criminal mastermind would’ve chosen a different path in life had he retained his hair. But is that true? Does Lex Luthor have “follicle rage” because of Superman?
To really understand whether or not that’s true, we have to dive into Lex Luthor’s history both within the panels of comic book pages and beyond them. The real reason Lex Luthor is bald is simply because the artist that drew probably mixed him with another villain, thus omitting his hair. The original Lex Luthor appeared in Action Comics #23, and unlike his modern counterpart, he was actually depicted with a full head of hair and was only addressed by his last name, Luthor. Subsequent stories revealed his full name (Alexei) and established him as an evil genius.
Sometime later, Leo Nowak, the artist of the Superman comic strip in the newspaper, accidentally drew Luthor as a bald man. Nobody actually knows why Leo Nowak did that, and his reasons remain debatable among the fandom. Fans believe that he confused Luthor with Ultra-Humanite, a villain that was originally drawn as a bald man by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster. Others believe that Nowak confused one of Luthor’s bald henchmen for the evil genius himself.
Whatever the case may be, Shuster preferred bald villains, so he quickly approved of Nowak’s mistake, and following approval from Siegel (the other co-creator), the subsequent stories adopted the more striking appearance that became Luthor’s trademark. In-comics origin of Luthor’s bald head is then retconned in Action Comics #271, providing an explanation for Luthor’s lack of hair as well as his outright hatred for Superman. And no, his dense brain didn’t push the follicles out, and he doesn’t hate Superman because of Kal-El’s perfect hairline.
The story stated that Luthor, a brilliant scientist with a head full of hair, moved to Smallville, and when Clark Kent — then Superboy — went to meet the new Smallville resident, a Kryptonite meteor struck him. The meteor’s radiation would’ve killed him were it not for Lex. As a true Superboy fan, Lex used a nearby tractor to push the meteor away and save Superboy. Driven by a sense of gratitude, Clark helped Lex build a state-of-the-art lab and filled it with some rare and volatile chemicals that even Superboy couldn’t discern.
Some of Lex’s early scientific discoveries were quite amazing: he generated a new form of protoplasmic life and even came up with an antidote for Kryptonite. However, he knocked down the rare and volatile chemicals in his lab, causing a massive fire. Superboy saved him, but the chemical fumes from the fire caused all of Lex’s hair to fall out. Unfortunately, the fires and Superboy’s intervention destroyed the protoplasmic life, the antidote for Kryptonite poisoning, and Lex’s luscious follicles.
This prompted Luthor to blame Superboy and claim that the Kryptonian destroyed his work deliberately out of jealousy. One thing led to another, and the two ended up becoming enemies, with later stories hinting at the possibility that the hair loss drove Lex to become criminally insane. This story was, for a long time, accepted as canon, but later reboots of the DC Universe stated that Lex lost all his hair due to male pattern baldness, which he briefly alleviated when he created a clone for himself and gave it shoulder-length hair.
The fact that he added hair to his clone indicates that Lex has some personal issues with his self-image while also offering a glimpse into his psyche and why he really hates Superman. Despite his 12th-level intellect, which makes him the smartest person on the planet and quite possibly the entire DC Universe, Lex believes he’s humanity’s greatest mind and its rightful savior. He exhibits perfectionism and an obsessive drive for control, and his ambitions go beyond ordinary narcissism into megalomania, a delusional obsession with power and domination.
Thus, he hates Superman due to their ideological differences. The Man of Steel is everything Lex can’t control, can’t achieve, and can’t be. Superman’s existence challenges Lex’s identity, ideology, and ambition on every level, turning the Kryptonian into an irresistible and perpetual target for Lex’s hatred. Honestly, the very idea of Lex’s hatred for Superman stemming solely from jealousy and insecurity over his appearance is an insulting oversimplification of one of DC Comics’ most complex villains. Lex is much more vain than that.
The post Does Lex Luthor Really Have Follicle Rage Because of Superman? appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
Legendary writer/artist Mike Mignola has been bringing his particular brand of spooky to comics for nearly forty years. Although most famous for his Hellboy universe, Mignola has created other iconic supernaturally-themed comics over the years, like Joe Golem and Baltimore. Now, he’s delving into ancient folklore in his new hardcover graphic novel, Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown. We got the chance to chat with Mignola about his newest dark fantasy book, and the shared universe for Dark Horse Comics he’s started with it, Curious Objects.
Nerdist: When did you first come up with the concept for Bowling with Corpses? Is this something that came to you relatively recently, or has this been brewing in your head for some time, just waiting for the right moment? And was this something you could only tackle with Hellboy now largely in your rearview mirror?
Mike Mignola: For a long time I have wanted to create a place where I could concentrate on very loose adaptations of folk and fairytales. I’ve worked a lot of that stuff into Hellboy but really wanted to do them as their own thing. And as I do feel that I’ve done about everything there is for ME to do with Hellboy, it felt like now was the right time.
Bowling with Corpses is really told as a sequence of fables. It’s like a love letter to traditional folklore. What made you want to switch up from more straightforward comic book narratives like Hellboy to a form of storytelling rooted in something far older?
Mignola: I’ve always loved these old stories, I feel like I’ve been sliding more and more in this direction. So it seemed like just a natural step to concentrate on the stories themselves rather than one central character. I went so far as to create a WORLD before I had most of the stories or characters. I had the one story—Bowling With Corpses—but didn’t want to make that boy in that the central character of the series. so I created a whole new world, its mythology and geography. And I let the new characters and stories grow out of that.
There are a lot of classic monsters in these tales. And you’ve drawn these creatures before in things like Hellboy. And even going back to your adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. How did you approach doing these old folkloric monsters, but in a newer way?
Mignola: My goal isn’t usually to present monsters in a NEW way. If anything I’m usually trying to go backwards, to go back to the folklore roots of the characters. The real joy for me is going back to old stories, and discovering so many fantastic creators that are largely unknown. Those are the things I want to play with—those are the stories I want to tell.
There are a lot of references in these stories to creation myths, and the role of gods in relation to man. These are all obviously big heady ideas here. Did you struggle with finding a way to distill them down into relatively short, entertaining tales?
Mignola: There is a lot of that to do with this world. I created a bunch of gods and a mythology and I did tell a very short version of the creation myth here in the first book. But there is so much more to it. So many more layers. And my goal was to present that as background to be referenced in stories rather than (in most cases) the actual subject of the stories. It’s important for me to know how everything connects. But the reader should never be presented with the complete picture—certainly not all at once. As Ben and I do more stories, more will be revealed. And the reader will, I hope, get a better feel for the world and how it works. But I never want to shine too much light into all the dark corners.
This book begins a new Dark Horse imprint for you, Curious Objects. Will all the books coming out under the Curious Objects banner be a part of this shared universe? Or will any stand alone?
Mignola: I believe the Curious Objects imprint is just a place to gather all the books I’ve created or co-created together. So all the new stuff, as well as Hellboy, Baltimore, Screw-On Head, etc.
Bowling With Corpses is described as the start of a shared universe. How will your shared universe differ from all the others currently out there?
Mignola: Ben Stenbeck and I will share this world. So far I’ve done the bulk of the “world-building”—creating the rough origins, mythology, drawing up the maps. But as Ben contributes, all that will become richer and more complicated. Most of my stories in this first book take place in a certain area, but it’s a whole world. Ben’s first story starts in a place I haven’t touched on. The plan is that eventually we will flesh out the world. There are a lot of places to go—a lot to play with, create, a million stories to draw upon. I hadn’t thought to start anything this huge following 30 years of Hellboy, so I’m very happy to share this thing with Ben. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun here.
Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown is now available from Dark Horse Comics.
The post HELLBOY Creator Mike Mignola Talks His Creepy New Graphic Novel, BOWLING WITH CORPSES appeared first on Nerdist.
General Motors (GM) has entered the all-electric luxury SUV market with the launch of the Cadillac LYRIQ, marking Cadillac’s debut in the electric vehicle (EV) space. Beyond the limited-edition Hummer EV, the LYRIQ is GM’s first mainstream model built on its state-of-the-art Ultium platform.
The LYRIQ has emerged as a strong contender in the luxury EV market, appealing to car lovers who value luxury, practicality, and advanced technology. According to a statement released by GM, the LYRIQ was the best-selling vehicle in its class during the first three quarters of 2024, selling over 20,000 units in the U.S.
The LYRIQ is known for three crucial factors: range, design, and price. With an EPA-estimated 314 miles of range and DC fast charging capable of adding up to 77 miles in just 10 minutes, the EV offers drivers convenience and peace of mind for long journeys. It also features a meticulously crafted interior designed for comfort and elegance.
Here are three more reasons that make the LYRIQ a standout vehicle.
STRIKING STYLE
The LYRIQ’s bold design sets it apart from other EVs and GM models. Its sharp, angular lines give it a commanding presence that breaks from the norm of soft curves. Plus, the five-passenger LYRIQ exudes confidence and sophistication.
Inside, Cadillac’s commitment to premium materials shines through. The cabin features high-quality leather, layered wood, and metal finishes. The 33-inch curved LED infotainment screen dominates the dashboard with crisp graphics and responsive touch controls.
Though the interior impresses with its thoughtful layout, some functions—like requiring the infotainment screen to open the glovebox—may irk some drivers. On the other hand, the climate and audio controls still have tactile buttons.
Furthermore, the vehicle includes safety features such as vibrating seat alerts that indicate the direction of moving vehicles, cyclists, or pedestrians.
SMOOTH DRIVING
Driving the LYRIQ is an absolute joy. While it boasts up to 500 horsepower (in AWD configuration), this EV is more about refined cruising than aggressive performance. The suspension strikes a balance between firmness and forgiveness, handling bumpy city roads with ease while maintaining composure at higher speeds. The ride feels smooth on optional 22-inch wheels, and regenerative braking ensures effortless acceleration.
The luxury SUV also features Super Cruise hands-free driving assistance and a hands-free, semi-autonomous highway driving system. Super Cruise handles lane changes, overtaking, and maintaining distance with precision. However, it requires GM’s built-in Google Maps to function fully.
AFFORDABLE LUXURY
Starting at $58,590 (plus a $1,395 destination charge), the LYRIQ makes luxury affordable for drivers seeking a premium all-electric experience. Incentives like federal tax credits and lease offers can also lower the price significantly, sometimes by as much as $13,000.
Drivers also have the option to control the amount of convenience and luxury with the following three trim options:
- Tech ($58,590): Standard features include 20-inch wheels, a fixed-glass roof, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated seats, and wireless phone charging.
- Luxury ($62,690): Adds adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera, ambient lighting, and more interior color options.
- Sport ($63,190): Builds on the Luxury trim with sportier accents and styling.
The Cadillac LYRIQ blends cutting-edge technology with signature Cadillac refinement, offering a smooth, luxurious driving experience at a competitive price. Despite its limited physical controls, it delivers a compelling mix of style, comfort, and value. Whether you’re an EV enthusiast or new to the segment, the LYRIQ proves Cadillac is serious about the electric future.