Lois Lane - Publication History

Publication History

Lois Lane made her debut in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) in the first published Superman story. Aspects of Lois' 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 Kent was in reality Superman. She also traditionally had a cool attitude toward Clark, who in her view paled in comparison to his alter ego Superman. At times, the character has been portrayed as a damsel in distress.

Lois' appearance has varied over the years, depending either on contemporary fashion, or media adaptations. For instance, in the mid 1990s, when the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman began airing, Lois received a haircut that made her look more like actress Teri Hatcher, and her eyes were typically violet to match her character on the television cartoon series 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 reddish brown hair in the comics.

Lois is the daughter of Ellen (alternately Ella) and Sam Lane. 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.

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 that is most up close and personal with both Superman and Clark Kent. Sometimes (particularly in Silver Age stories) Lois suspects that Clark is Superman, but generally fails to prove it. Sometimes the contradiction is played for humor.

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