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This article is about the comic book character. For the television character, see Lois Lane (Smallville). For the Dutch girl group, see Loïs Lane.
Lois Lane
File:Loislane comics.jpg
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAction Comics #1 (June 1938)
Created byJerry Siegel
Joe Shuster
In-story information
Full nameLois Joanne Lane
Team affiliationsDaily Planet
Supporting character ofSuperman

Lois Joanne Lane-Kent is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938).

Lois is Superman's chief romantic interest and, in the current DC continuity, his wife. Like Superman's alter ego Clark Kent, she is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet.

Lois's physical appearance was originally based on a model hired by Siegel and Shuster named Joanne Carter,[1] who would later marry Siegel.

Lois's personality was based on Torchy Blane, a female reporter featured in a series of films from the 1930s. Siegel took her name from actress Lola Lane, who portrayed Torchy in one of the middle entries.[1][2] She is also based on real life journalist Nellie Bly.

Depictions of Lois Lane have varied since her character was created in 1938, spanning the 70-year history of Superman comic books and other media adaptations. During the Silver Age, she was the star of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, a comic title that had a light and frivolous tone. However, the original Golden Age version of Lois, as well as versions of her from the 1970s onwards, portray Lois as a tough-as-nails journalist and intellectual equal to Superman. One thing has remained throughout the character's 70-year history, however: she has always been the most prominent love-interest in Superman's life and is seen by many fans as the archetypical comic book love interest.

Publication history

Aspects of Lois's personality have varied over the years (depending on the comic writers' handling of the character and American social attitudes toward women at the time), but in most incarnations she has been depicted as a determined, strong-willed person, whether it involves beating her rival reporter Clark Kent to a story or (in what became a trademark of 1950s and 1960s era Superman stories) alternating between elaborate schemes to convince Superman to marry her and proving to others her suspicion that Clark was in reality Superman. She also traditionally had a cool attitude toward Clark, who in her view paled in comparison to his alter ego. At times, the character has been portrayed as a damsel in distress.

Lois's appearances has varied over the years, depending either on contemporary fashion, or media adaptations. For instance, in the mid-1990s, when the series Lois and Clark began airing, Lois received a hair cut that made her look more like actress Teri Hatcher, and her eyes were typically violet to match the Lois of the television cartoon Superman: The Animated Series after that show began airing. Traditionally, Lois has black hair, though for a period from the late 1980s through the late 1990s, Lois was depicted with brown hair in the comics. She started with red hair in the original Sunday papers.[citation needed]

Lois is the daughter of Ellen (alternately Ella) and Sam Lane.[3] In the earlier comics, her parents were farmers in a town called Pittsdale; the modern comics, however, depict Sam as a retired soldier, and Lois as a former "army brat", born at Ramstein Air Base with Lois having been trained by her father in areas such as hand-to-hand combat and the use of firearms. Lois also has one younger sibling, her sister Lucy Lane.[4]

In most versions of Superman, Lois is shown to be a crack investigative reporter, one of the best in the city and certainly the best at the newspaper she works at. However, despite such brilliance, she has generally been unable to see through Clark's rather primitive disguise of glasses and figure out that he is Superman—despite being the character who is most up close and personal with both Superman and Clark. Sometimes Lois suspects that Clark is Superman, but generally fails to prove it. Sometimes the contradiction is played for humor.

After Clark reveals to Lois that he is Superman, and proposes to her,[5] she accepts and marries him in the December 1996 special Superman: The Wedding Album.[6] She keeps her maiden name for professional purposes.

Fictional character biography

The comics have seen several incarnations of Lois Lane over the decades.

Golden Age

The Golden Age Lois Lane and Superman, from the cover of Superman #27 (March–April 1944). Pencils by Wayne Boring.

In the earliest Golden Age comics, Lois was featured as an aggressive, career-minded reporter for the Daily Star (the paper's name was changed to The Daily Planet in the early 1940s), who, after Clark Kent joined the paper and Superman debuted around the same time, found herself attracted to Superman, but displeased with her new journalistic competition in the form of Kent. Starting in the late 1940s or early 1950s comics, Lois began to suspect that Clark Kent was Superman, and started to make various attempts at uncovering his secret identity, all of which backfired (usually thanks to Superman's efforts).

In the Golden Age comics, Lois also had a niece named Susie Tompkins, whose main trait was getting into trouble by telling exaggerated tall tales and fibs to adults. Susie's last appearance was in 1955; subsequent comics presented Lois' only sibling, Lucy, as single and childless.

After DC instituted its multiverse system in the early 1960s for organizing its continuity, it was deemed that the Lois of the Golden Age comics (i.e., comics published from 1938 through the early 1950s) lived on the parallel world of "Earth-Two" versus the then-mainstream (Silver Age) universe of "Earth-One." In 1978's Action Comics #484, it was revealed that sometime in the 1950s, the Earth-Two Lois became infatuated with Clark Kent after the latter lost his memory of his superheroic identity (thanks to a spell cast by the old Justice Society of America enemy, the Wizard), with the result of Clark acting more aggressive and extroverted. Clark and Lois began to date each other, and were soon married; however, during the honeymoon, Lois discovered that Clark was indeed Superman, and after recruiting the aid of the Wizard, restored Clark's memory. A series of stories in The Superman Family #195-199 & #201-222 titled "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" presented the further adventures of the now-married Lois and Clark (in several of which Susie Tompkins made a return as a recurring character).

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, the Earth-Two Lois Lane was seen for one of the final times, as she, the Earth-Two Superman, and the Earth Prime Superboy are taken by Earth-Three's Alexander Luthor, Jr. (who himself was the son of Earth-Three's Lois Lane, who had perished, along with her husband Alexander Luthor, Sr., in the first issue of the series) into a paradise-like dimension at the end of the story (after all the parallel Earths, including Earth-Two, had been eliminated in favor of just one Earth), after which this version of Lois was (seemingly) permanently discarded from DC's continuity.

In 2005's Infinite Crisis miniseries, it was revealed that the Earth-Two Lois Lane, along with Superboy, Alexander Luthor, Jr., and Superman, have been watching the events of the post-Crisis DC Universe from their pocket dimension. Out of the four observers, she is the only one who still believes that the new universe is just going through a rough patch; Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor are convinced that Earth is utterly corrupt, and Kal-L is slowly becoming swayed to their way of thinking. This version of Lois is frail, and died for reasons not explicitly revealed, though probably connected to her octogenarian status. This was the main reason for Kal-L's determination to restore Earth-2, as he believed that Lois' health would recover once back on her proper Earth. Despite the restoration of Earth-2, however, Lois Lane died in the arms of Superman in Infinite Crisis #5, regardless of Kal-L's protests that he couldn't let her die. After Kal-L died at the hands of Superboy-Prime at the end of Infinite Crisis #7, he commented that he finally understood Lois' final words- "It's... not... going..."- as meaning that it would never end for them, and one day it would be understood that even the heroes who had been lost in the original Crisis were still out there somewhere. After his demise, they are shown reunited in the stars, while their bodies are buried on Earth alongside Kon-El's, who gave his life to stop Superboy-Prime's attempts to restore his Earth.

Lois later returns as a sinister Black Lantern with her husband in the Blackest Night crossover. Now an undead, Lois is now lacking the compassion she used to have. Her first task is to kidnap Martha Kent with her spouse, and stating that she and Kal-L wish for Kal-El, Connor Kent, and Martha, to be reunited with Jonathan Kent in death. However, she proved unable to deal with the resourcefulness of Martha Kent, and was set ablaze by the widow, but kept regenerating until Krypto came to her aid, ripping the black ring out of her hand and preventing regeneration for long enough to allow Superman and Conner Kent to destroy the Black Lantern powerhouses attacking Smallville, and reaching town to aid others unhindered.[7]

Black Lantern Lois later appears to Power Girl, claiming that she has escaped the ring's corrupting influence, and needs her help. However, this is just a ploy to get close enough to her husband's body, which was being held in the JSA headquarters after his black ring had been removed. Black Lantern Lois "sacrifices" herself by removing her ring and giving it to Kal-L, restoring him to full undead status, and causing her own body to become inert.[8]

Silver Age

When the reading audience of comic books became predominately young boys in the mid-to-late 1950s, the focus of Superman stories shifted toward science fiction-inspired plots involving extraterrestrials, fantasy creatures, and bizarre, often contrived, plots. Lois' main interests in various late 1950s and 1960s stories became vying with her rival Lana Lang for Superman's affections, attempting to prove Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same, and tricking or otherwise forcing Superman into marriage. Superman's rationale for resisting her matrimonial desires was that she could not be trusted to keep his secret identity hidden, and that marrying her would put her in increased danger from his enemies (of course, this ignored the fact that his romantic relationship with her was already public knowledge). This change in Lois' personality from her earlier 1940s self might also be a result of American society's attitudes toward women and their societal roles in the 1950s. Regardless, Lois married several times in the Superman stories of this era — to other characters such as Batman and Jimmy Olsen. She also married a convicted criminal on death row (and various Superman pastiches). All these marriages were either annulled or otherwise forgotten.

Lois became more and more popular during this decade, and after appearing as the lead character in two issues of DC's title Showcase in 1957, DC created an on-going title for the character, titled Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane beginning in March 1958 and running for 137 issues until September 1974. Most of these placed an emphasis on Lois' romance with Superman, and were drawn by artist Kurt Schaffenberger; indeed, Schaffenberger's rendition of Lois became cited by many[9][10] as the "definitive" version of Lois, and he was often asked by DC editor Mort Weisinger to redraw other artists' depictions of Lois Lane in other DC titles where she appeared.[10]

By the end of the 1960s, as attitudes toward women's role in American society changed, Lois's character changed as well. Stories in the 1970s depicted her as fully capable and less reliant on Superman. She engaged in more solo adventures without Superman being involved, and was much less interested in discovering Superman's secret identity. For example, in her solo stories in Superman Family (an anthology title started in the mid-1970s after the cancellation of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane and Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen), Lois regularly battled criminals and often defeated them using her quick wits and considerable skill in the Kryptonian martial art of Klurkor, taught to her by Kryptonian survivors in the bottle-city of Kandor.[11] There were also several cameos of the New Gods, including Desaad and Darkseid.

After the 1985-1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer and artist John Byrne revised the Superman legend, and eliminated the Silver Age version of Lois from continuity; before this happened, a final non-canonical "imaginary story" Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? was written by writer Alan Moore, meant as a send-off for the "pre-Crisis" versions of the characters, including Lois.

Modern Age

Lois Lane, as she appears on the cover of The Man of Steel (miniseries) #2 (1986). Pencils by John Byrne.

Lois underwent a character alteration beginning with John Byrne's The Man of Steel miniseries, which significantly rewrote Superman's origin and history. In this modern version of events, Lois was portrayed as a tough-as-nails reporter who rarely needed rescuing. She was depicted as strong, opinionated, yet sensitive.

Another major change made was that Lois did not fall in love with Superman (though she may have harbored a slight crush at first). One reason was the revised nature of the Superman/Clark Kent relationship. In the original Silver Age stories, Superman had been the man who disguised himself as Clark Kent. In this new revised concept, it was Clark Kent who lived a life in which his activity as Superman was decidedly secondary. Lois initially resented the rookie Clark Kent getting the story on Superman as his first piece when she had spent ages trying to get an interview, but she eventually became his best friend. Lois' first real relationship in this version was with Jose Delgado, a Metropolis vigilante whose legs are shattered in a battle with a Lexcorp cyborg/human hybrid gone amok. Delgado eventually recovered. He and Lois would have several on and off experiences together before the relationship completely disintegrated, mainly due to Clark and Lois becoming much closer as friends.

Following Clark's brief rampage under the influence of The Eradicator, Lois was hesitant to forgive Clark for "selling out" to Collin Thornton and running Newstime Magazine, but forgave him in a span of mere minutes when he returned to "grovel for his job back." Clark elected to repay Lois by finally letting go of his self-imposed inhibitions and passionately kissed her. The two became a couple, and eventually Lois accepted a proposal of marriage (Superman (vol. 2) #50). Clark shortly after revealed to her that he was Superman.

DC had planned on Lois and Clark being married in 1993's Superman (vol. 2) #75.[citation needed] However, with the then-upcoming television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, DC decided they did not want to have the two married in the comics and not married on TV.[citation needed] Partially as a result of this, Superman was killed in Superman (vol. 2) #75 instead, dying in Lois' arms after a battle royal with the monster Doomsday. After a period of time, Superman returned to life, and both he and Lois resumed their relationship, though not without a few problems (such as a brief reappearance of Clark's former college girlfriend, the mermaid Lori Lemaris). Lois eventually decided to take an overseas assignment to assert her independence and not be dependent on Clark, who had begun to overprotect her. When Clark became convinced Lois was in danger, he and her father Sam allied to aid her secretly.

When Lois returned to Metropolis, she had been through several life-threatening exploits, and was slightly amused when Clark informed her his powers had been recently depleted, and that he was her editor (due to Perry White's cancer). Upon discovering Clark still had her wedding ring within a handkerchief, Lois warmly broke down, teasing Clark and finally agreeing to become his wife.

In 1996, coinciding with the Lois and Clark television program, Lois and Clark were finally wed in the one-shot special Superman: The Wedding Album, which featured the work of nearly every then-living artist who had ever worked on Superman. The Wedding Album itself, however, was forced to spend part of its opening pages accommodating and reconciling the then-current comic storyline of Lois and Clark having broken off their engagement (the television program's producers had failed to provide adequate lead time for the Superman comics' writers).[citation needed]

Since their marriage, Clark and Lois' continue to remain one of the stronger relationships in most comic series. In 2007, the couple recently took the 'next step' in adopting a newly arrived Kryptonian boy, who they name Chris Kent. The boy is discovered to be the son of Jor-El's arch-foe, General Zod. Although initially uneasy about raising a super-powered boy, Lois has shown immense aptitude of being 'Mommy Lois'. However, following a devastating battle with Zod, Chris sacrificed himself to seal the Phantom Zone rift, trapping himself inside with Zod's forces, leaving Lois without her son.

When the Titans Tomorrow arrive at the Kent's apartment in order to kidnap Superman, Lois is knocked out, bound and gagged, and hidden in the couple's bedroom. Before Clark can untie her, he is ambushed and beaten into submission by the Titans.[12]

In the second issue of Final Crisis, Lois and Perry are caught in an explosion triggered by Clayface destroying the Daily Planet and apparently Lois is seriously injured or possibly even dead. In the third issue, it is revealed that only Clark's heat vision is keeping her heart beating. Clark is visited by a mysterious phantom who insists that he must depart Earth immediately if he is to save his wife's life. The story is continued in the 3D tie-in comic "Superman Beyond", where the female Monitor Zillo Valla stops time around Lois, allowing Superman to leave her side for a while, recruiting him and several of his multiversal doppelgangers in a mission to save the entire Multiverse, promising immediate care for Lois. After facing off against the dark Monitor Mandrakk, Superman brought back a distilled drop of The Bleed, and administered it through a kiss, restoring her to full health. Lois was later seen in Final Crisis #6, one of the few still free humans.

After the events of Superman: New Krypton Superman must leave Earth for a undetermined amount of time swearing off his Earthly connections in the eyes of his fellow Kryptonians to keep an eye on General Zod the New Kryptonian military commander but secretly tells Lois he still considers her his wife and will come back to her. In recent issues of Action Comics Lois has reunited with Christopher Kent who has aged to adulthood in the past months and became the new Metropolis hero Nightwing and spoke to his partner Thara Ak-Var the new Flamebird on the two's (possible romantic) relationship.[13]

Lois heard that her sister Lucy Lane is killed during battle with Supergirl where Supergirl and Lana visit Lois' apartment to tell her the bad news. Lois doesn't believe that her sister is dead and refuses to accept the news until she has irrefutable proof. Supergirl is very apologetic, but Lois wants nothing to do with her right now. Before kicking her out, Lois asks Supergirl for a recovered piece of Superwoman's costume.[14]

Lois hands her exposé in and the government are after her for treason. With agents on her tail, Lois makes a mad dash for it. When Lois is in custody and awakens her father, Sam Lane is there to greet her in an interview room in an unnamed facility. Although Lois is happy to see her father alive her love soon turns to anger when she realizes Lucy was fully aware of her actions and Kara was telling the truth. Sam tells Lois the only reason he's being this lenient with her is that she is his daughter. He threatens to make her disappear forever, never to see the light of day again, where not even Superman could save her, if she continues. He tells Lois, he does love her but the planet will always come first over his family. Lois returns to the Daily Planet under cover of night and explains all to Perry. Lois points out that the whole paper is at risk and everyone connected to it if her exposé runs. Perry understands and though he must protect the paper he is first and foremost a good journalist and nudges Lois in the right direction; he refuses run the story but notes the story must get out to the people somehow. Enlightened, she quits the Daily Planet, as Lois gets her edge back.[15] However, it was later revealed that Lois never really quit the Daily Planet.

Lois finds out that his father's forces destroyed New Krypton. However, Lucy kidnaps her and takes her to her father's secret base. There, Lois argues with her father, saying that the Kryptonians think of him as a genocidal maniac. In the war between New Krypton and Earth, Supergirl finds them and threatens to kill Sam. Lois stops her, saying that her father will be judged for his war crimes. However, Sam takes a gun and commits suicide.

Later, Lois visits the imprisoned Lucy and talks with her. She expresses disbelief on what her sister has become. Lois says that while she won't miss her father, she will miss her sister.

In other versions

During the years (1942–1985) that Editora Brasil-América (EBAL), and the Editora Abril published the Brazilian versions of Superman comics, Lois Lane's name was translated to "Miriam Lane" and later to "Miriam Lois Lane".

Kingdom Come

In the Elseworlds series Kingdom Come (now Earth-22 in the DC Multiverse), flashbacks reveal that ten years prior to the story's beginning, the Joker murdered ninety-three people in the Daily Planet, and Lois was the only woman in that body count. While her face is never shown in any of the flashbacks, her body is seen hunched over her desk.

In the Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman by Alex Ross, the fate of Earth-22's Lois was fully revealed. She actually survived the Joker venom by wearing a gas mask and tried to fight the Joker with a fire extinguisher, only to be bashed in the head with her Daily Planet paperweight. By the time Superman got to the Planet building she was still alive, but dying from the fatal wound. Lois's dying words were thanks for Superman's love for her, and telling him not to cross the line by becoming a killer, or to lose Clark Kent. She died in her husband's arms.[16]

All Star Superman

In 2005, DC launched a new All Star Superman comic series by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. The series takes place outside normal DC continuity. In this storyline, they are not married, and although Superman revealed his secret identity to Lois in issue #2, she didn't believe him. At the end of the issue, Superman (who believed he was dying) presents Lois with a super-powered chemical and a superhero costume and Lois Lane becomes Superwoman for 24 hours.

JLA: Earth 2

In Grant Morrison's 1998 graphic novel JLA: Earth 2, the Lois Lane of a parallel Earth is a supervillain known as Superwoman, and a member of the Crime Syndicate. She is an Amazon by birth, married to Ultraman while carrying out an affair with Owlman, and inhabits the same antimatter universe which contains the planet Qward.

Tangent Comics

In one of the possible origins for the Green Lantern of Earth-9, Lois Lane is shown to be an archaeologist, explorer, and adventurer who is murdered by billionaire playboy, Booster Gold, for trying to protect a group of Sea Devils. She is eventually resurrected as the Green Lantern.

In other media

Radio and animation

File:Stas-lois.jpg
Lois as she appeared in Bruce Timm's Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.
  • Actress Dana Delany played Lois Lane in the Superman animated television series of the 1990s and in the character's subsequent appearances on Justice League and its successor Justice League Unlimited, all of which are a part of the DC animated universe. In this version, series creator Bruce Timm and character designer James Tucker portrayed Lois more like her original comic counterpart, in that at first her relationship with Clark was very much a rivalry about which was the better reporter, and she would at times actively attempt to trick him out of stories, but Lois eventually learns to respect Clark, and in episodes like "The Late Mr. Kent", takes a faked death of Clark significantly hard, admitting to Superman (unaware he is Clark) that she regretted never telling her rival she respected and loved him as a person and a reporter.
    At first, Lois was skeptical about Superman, but she grew closer to him throughout the series. She previously dated Lex Luthor before she broke off the relationship. Lois also had a relationship with Gotham City's Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne, but it didn't last after Lois discovers that he is the infamous masked vigilante Batman. Superman and Lois did not share their first kiss until the final moments of "Legacy", Superman's last episode (although Lois had kissed an alternate version of Superman in "Brave New Metropolis"). Superman and Lois are shown to be dating by the time of Justice League Unlimited. In the episode "Divided We Fall", the writers planned to have Superman reveal his secret identity to Lois, but the decision was reportedly vetoed by DC., October 2010 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) Delany based her performance of the character on Roz Russell's character in His Girl Friday.In this version Lois constantly teases Clark by calling him "Smallville" (a line since adapted for mainstream comics).
  • Dana Delany reprises her role as Lois in Season 5 of The Batman. She, along with Jimmy Olsen, are in Gotham City reporting on Superman's visit to deliver a check from Metropolis, when Metallo attacks Superman. She and Jimmy follow the fight to the junkyard where she takes a picture of Superman with Batman after defeating Metallo. Back in Metropolis, she is kidnapped by Clayface and Black Mask for Lex Luthor to infuriate Superman. After being rescued, Lois tells Superman that Black Mask was working with Luthor. Superman leaves to confront Luthor. This appearance is not part of the DC Animated Universe.
  • Actress Anne Heche plays Lois Lane in the 2007 WB Animation DVD Superman: Doomsday. The animated feature is based from the award-winning DC Comics storyline The Death of Superman trilogy, with Adam Baldwin as The Man of Steel and James Marsters as Lex Luthor. In this story, Lois is shown as being in a relationship with Superman, but is only 'unofficially' aware of his identity as Clark Kent; she reveals to Martha Kent after his death while fighting Doomsday that she knew about his secret identity, but he never told her himself.
  • Actress Kyra Sedgwick plays Lois Lane in the WB Animation feature Justice League: The New Frontier. In the film she is seen as a radio and TV announcer, and is shown to love Superman, as shown when she breaks down on national TV after he dies.
  • In the Batman: the Brave and the Bold episode "The Super-Batman of Planet X!", Vilsi Velar, reporter for the Solar Cycle Globe from the planet Zur-En-Arrh is based on Lois Lane and she shares the same DC Animated Universe voice actor, Dana Delany. Lois herself, along with Clark Kent make a cameo at Bruce Wayne's and Selina Kyle's wedding in "The Knights of Tomorrow!".

Broadway musical

Live-action films

  • Actress Kate Bosworth played Lois Lane in the 2006 Bryan Singer-directed film Superman Returns, opposite Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. In this version, Lois has given birth to a son named Jason White, who is later revealed to be Superman's son (conceived during Superman II).

Live-action television

  • Phyllis Coates continued the role of Lois Lane in the first season of the Adventures of Superman television program (1952–1953). She also portrayed Ellen Lane, the socialite divorcee mother of Lois Lane in the first season of the 1990s television program Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
  • Teri Hatcher played Lois Lane on the ABC television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman for four seasons, starting in 1993, with the two leading characters getting married during its run; this is the first television or film series that showed Lois and Clark's romance fully realized. She was often put into damsel in distress sequences, often being kidnapped, bound and gagged. When Teri Hatcher hosted Saturday Night Live, she participated in a sketch where she pretended not to recognize well-known SNL cast members who joined her on stage when they wore glasses, poking fun at the fact that Lois Lane never seemed to realize that Clark Kent is just Superman wearing glasses. In 2010 she made a guest appearance on the television series Smallville, playing Lois Lane's mother Ella Lane.
  • Erica Durance plays Lois Lane on the television series Smallville. She first appeared in season four as a recurring character but was made part of the regular cast after several episodes. She started out as an annoyance to Clark Kent during season 4 but slowly their relationship evolved and she became his love interest by season eight and fiance in season 10. Erica Durance has been recognized as the best portrayal of the character by many Superman fans, as well as critics.
File:Lois (Erica Durance).jpg
Lois Lane (Erica Durance) as she appeared in Smallville in the episode "Savior".

Being Lois Lane

The DVD box set for the fourth season of Smallville includes a featurette entitled Being Lois Lane. It is a retrospective examining the manner in which the character has been depicted over the years in film and on television. Three of the actresses who have portrayed Lois Lane in live action are featured: Noel Neill (Superman serials, Adventures of Superman), Margot Kidder (Superman film series), and Erica Durance (Smallville). Dana Delany, who provided the voice of Lois in Superman: The Animated Series, also appears. Phyllis Coates (Adventures of Superman), Lesley Ann Warren (It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman), and Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) do not participate, nor does Kate Bosworth (whose appearance in Superman Returns occurs the year after the release of this DVD box set).

See also

Nash Rambler Convertible "Landau" Coupe c.1950, with retracting roof and rigid doors, featured car of Lois Lane of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman [18][19][20]
  • The secondary female lead in the 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate is named Lois Lane; she plays Bianca in the show-within-a-show's production of The Taming of the Shrew: The Musical. Whether she was named after the Superman character is unknown.
  • Several parodic or homage versions of Lois Lane have appeared in Marvel Comics, usually unnamed or with the first name Lois and no surname, and often in the company of a similarly unnamed Clark analogue. A more indirect homage was Terri Kidder, a reporter for the Daily Bugle who was named after two actresses who have played Lois: Teri Hatcher and Margot Kidder. The character was soon murdered by Spider-Man's archenemy, the Green Goblin.[21]
  • The American sitcom Seinfeld made numerous references to Lois over its nine-year run:
    • In the 1993 episode The Outing, Jerry tells a female reporter for a college newspaper: "I was attracted to you, too. You remind me of Lois Lane."
    • A 1994 episode "The Mom & Pop Store" has Elaine tell Jerry she's been doing some snooping for him. "Ah! What'd you find out, Lois?" he replies.
    • In the episode "The Race", Jerry dates a woman named "Lois" and makes several Superman-related references to her name.
    • In "The Face Painter" (1995), George discovers that a woman he is dating is deaf in one ear and therefore might not have heard him tell her he loves her. "Don't you see what this means?" he says. "It's like the whole thing never happened. It's like when Superman reversed the rotation of the earth to save Lois Lane!"
    • The 1998 episode "The Cartoon" has Jerry make fun of Elaine's drawings, leading her to reply: "It's better than your drawings of naked Lois Lane."
    • In "The Strong Box" (also 1998), Elaine dates a man whose mysterious ways lead Jerry to joke that he is a crimefighter protecting his secret identity. When they find out the man is poor, Jerry and George comment, respectively, that his "super power was lack of money" and that "maybe his girlfriend is Lois Loan."
    • In a 1994 episode, "The Marine Biologist", when Elaine accuses Jerry of helping a strange woman just so he can take her out on a date, Jerry replies that Superman is never suspected of such intentions when saving a woman's life, prompting Elaine to comment "Well, you're not Superman", to which Jerry responds, "Well, you're not Lois Lane..."
    • There was also an episode where actress Teri Hatcher became Jerry's love interest because she reminded him of Lois Lane. He became obsessed with knowing if her breasts were "real" or not and had Elaine check in the spa steam room. Elaine tripped and mistakenly felt her up, which ended Jerry's relationship, since Hatcher's character deduced it was his plan all along. Jerry deeply regretted the result, as the Hatcher character was the only girlfriend to fulfill his Lois Lane fetish.
  • In Just Jack's 2007 single Writer's Block the verse "Im lovin' Mary Jane, flyin' with Lois Lane" features.
  • The Spin Doctors' 1991 album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, takes its title as a reference to the album's first song, "Jimmy Olsen's Blues." The song is sung from the point of view of a Jimmy Olsen who's in love with Lois Lane and jealous of Superman because of it.
  • In the USA Network television series Monk, Adrian Monk's nurse, Sharona, reveals to a date that her job as the nurse assistant to the obsessive-compulsive detective makes her feel like Lois Lane. Later in the episode, when Sharona follows the killer they've been after, police captain Stottlemeyer snaps at Monk, "Who does Sharona think she is?" Monk answers sheepishly, "Lois Lane."
  • In the movie One Fine Day (1996), the editor of the newspaper reporter Jack Taylor (George Clooney) has a cat named after Lois Lane.
  • In the song "Do Ya Thang" by rapper Ice Cube, Lois Lane is mentioned in the line: "I forgot this hoe's name, I'll call her Lois Lane."
  • In the song "Anybody Seen The Popo's" by rapper Ice Cube, Lois Lane is mentioned in the line: "His girlfriend's Lois Lane and if you f--k with her you must smoke Cocaine, brother."
  • In the song "Superman" by the band Peggy Sue, Lois Lane is mentioned in the line: "I'm in love with Lois Lane, but she doesn't even know my real name"
  • In the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, Lois Lane is mentioned in the line: "I said, "By the way, baby, what's your name?"/She said, "I go by name of Lois Lane". According to the song, the rapper Casanova Fly tells Lois Lane why he would make a better boyfriend than Superman.
  • The song "Lois Lane" by Sloppy Seconds is about the death of Lois Lane.
  • The song "Superman" by Robin Thicke has the line "I'm a Superman thanks to Lois Lane".
  • In Jeff Dunham's comedy stand up special "Spark of Insanity" his dummy Melvin, who is a superhero, says his wife met Lois Lane once and said she was an "H-O-R-E". Jeff corrects him by saying "You mean a W-H-O-R-E" to which Melvin replies "What's a wha-hore?"
  • In the song "Superman" by the band Stereophonics, Lois Lane is mentioned in the line : "Superman on an airplane, sitting next to Lois Lane".
  • In the song "Love Fight" by Dannii Minogue, featured on the album The Hits & Beyond, Lois is referenced in the line "Heavy breathing always makes me feel like I'm Lois with the Man of Steel."
  • In the movie A Time to Kill (1996), Jake Brigance consults with Ellen Roark about the case and the judge is clearly annoyed and says "If Lois Lane will let us continue".
  • In the song "Deeply Dippy" by Right Said Fred, featured on the album Up there is a line that says "I'm your Superman, I'll explain you're my Lois Lane"
  • In the song "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem Ft. Rihanna, featured on the album "Recovery" There is a line that says "Cuz when it's going good, it's going great, I'm Superman with the wind in his back, She's Lois Lane".
  • In the movie Megamind, the reporter Roxanne Ritchi is heavily based on Lois Lane.

References

  1. ^ a b Richardson, James. "The Early History of Lois Lane: Superman's Girlfriend is Forever Needing Rescuing From Peril," Suite101.com (Dec. 16, 2008). Accessed Apr. 5, 2009.
  2. ^ Letters to the Editor, Time magazine (May 30, 1988), pp. 6-7.
  3. ^ Mark Waid bio, DragonCon comic book convention program.
  4. ^ Byrne, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Beatty, John (i). "The Power That Failed!" Superman, vol. 2, no. 19, p. 2/6 (July 1988). DC Comics.
  5. ^ Superman (vol. 2) #50 (1990)
  6. ^ Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, David Michelinie, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern. Superman: The Wedding Album DC Comics; (December 1996)
  7. ^ Blackest Night: Superman #1-3 (August - October 2009)
  8. ^ Blackest Night: JSA #1-2 (December 2009 - January 2010)
  9. ^ Voger, Mark and Voglesong, Kathy (PHT). "Front Page Romance," Hero Gets Girl!: The Life and Art of Kurt Schaffenberger (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003).
  10. ^ a b Eury, Michael. "Kurt Schaffenberger: Ladies' Man," in "The Superman Mythology," The Krypton Companion: A Historical Exploration of Superman Comic Books of 1958-1986 (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2006), p. 67.
  11. ^ Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #78 (Oct. 1967).
  12. ^ Teen Titans (Vol.3) #50
  13. ^ Action Comics #875 (2009)
  14. ^ Supergirl (vol. 5) #42 (June 2009)
  15. ^ Action Comics #884
  16. ^ Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman
  17. ^ "Comic Book & Sci-Fi Movie News - Heat Vision - The Hollywood Reporter". Heatvision.hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  18. ^ "1951 Rambler Custom Landau". Howstuffworks.com.
  19. ^ "Lois Lane's 1950 Nash Rambler Custom". Articboy.com.
  20. ^ "TV Cars". Hemmings Classic Car, June 1, 2005, Jim Donnelly.
  21. ^ The Pulse #2 (June 2004).

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