Saturday, August 17, 2019

Happy Birthday, Lois Lane

According to long-lived Superman site The Superman Homepage (it's old enough to still be called a Homepage!), it's the birthday of everyone's favorite comic-book intrepid reporter, Lois Lane!



Lois is having a pretty good year.  She's been key to the entirety of the Rebirth efforts around Superman as the comics squared the Superman/ Lois romance/ marriage once again, and gave them a son in Jon Kent.  Since Bendis came on the Super-books, he's put Lois back at the fore, first as someone Superman missed as she left for space, and then as a source of consternation as she's deposited herself in Chicago rather than Metropolis.

There's no question Lois's storyline is just getting bigger, and it sure doesn't hurt that she's starring in the super-books, deeply involved in Event Leviathan and currently has her own 12-issue maxi-series by Greg Rucka (a great fit for Lois) that I'm actually really enjoying.



I mostly enjoy every incarnation of Lois for one reason or another, including the Silver Age I Love Lucy-style, gettin' into trouble take on Lois.  The take I like best is the one that started off in the Golden Age in the comics and was refined in the Fleischer cartoons and surfaces again from time to time, including right now:  Lois as a "driven to the point of recklessness", brilliant, gutsy reporter who is as driven for the story and the truth as anyone in the DCU.  Clark/ Superman mostly just stands back and watches her go, because what else are you going to do with a force of nature like that?  And she's not attracted to Superman's power, but that he actually is here to do the right thing carries a lot of water for Lois. 

Lois in "Action Comics #1"
from the Fleischer produced cartoons pre-dating WWII
"and how did you two meet?"



Of course, Lois is also Superman's main co-star and love interest in the movies as well  Just a smattering of the women who've brought her to life in TV, film, radio and animation.

Ms. Noel Neill starred with Kirk Alyn in the serials and then in seasons 2-6 of the George Reeves TV show

current Lois is Elizabeth "Bitsy" Tulloch, but has only appeared in "Supergirl" for a couple of episodes.

Margot Kidder played Lois for 4 feature films and is kind of "my Lois"

Teri Hatcher from "Lois & Clark"

Erica Durance was really much better than the show surrounding her on "Smallville"

I mean, we got Amy Adams.  If you ask me for a highlight of the Snyderverse, this is my #1 item

Anyway, we have a lot of good Lois stuff going on these days, which isn't always true.  Sure, she's not DC's most toyetic character*, and we've struggled for a single model for Lois over the past 30 years, but when the pistons are all firing, she's still one of the best characters in comics and beyond.




I did enjoy the "Lois is writing books and raising a son" era, but that era is moving into the past at lightspeed.


And I don't know how two very high profile reporters are going to explain away how their son is now several years older to their colleagues (or when he disappears to go to the 31st Century)


But DC will figure it out one way or another.  I look forward to seeing where Lois Lane is in August of 2020.  



*but seriously, I will buy all the Lois Lane toys, so... let's have 'em

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