In light of the fact that, as reported by the Voice of America, a copy of the comic from 1938, in which Superman and Lois Lane appear for the first time, was bought for a record six million dollars, let's remember the significant role of the heroine Lois Lane, and how she much more than "Superman's girlfriend".
In an era where we see young actresses facing the question of whether or not they are feminists, Lois Lane is more relevant than ever. I think her response would be, "Yeah, aren't you?" She is a character that speaks to all of us ordinary girls and women, a character that tells us that we can or be anything, that we can have everything, no matter how hard the world tries to get in our way, says Gwenda Bond writing for the Guardian.
As with most iconic characters, it's easy to name the things that make Lois Lane, and her traits go all the way back to when she debuted alongside Superman in Action Comics #1.
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster, inspired by the fictional reporter, Torchy Blaine, and the real-life Nellie Bly, she is an aspiring reporter who will always follow the big story. She is smart, brave, fearless. She rushes headlong into danger, which occasionally creates the need for Superman to save her (he also routinely saves the planet, so we can't blame her). Lois hates bullies. She respects truth more than authority.
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"But if your first reaction to her name was, 'Oh, Superman's girlfriend,' you wouldn't be the only one. When Lois had her own comic from 1958 to 1974, it was in the top ten comics she had over 550.000 copies of the issue in its most popular edition, and it was called 'Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane.''It more than says that her 'love interest' status came first, as if that was the most important thing about her character. Lois Lane's relationship with Superman/Clark Kent is important; at its best, it's a true partnership of equals, each making the other better. But Superman—like him or not, I do—was never what makes Lois such an important character." , writes Gwenda Bond for the Guardian.
She says she first met Lois Lane as Margot Kidder in Superman as a little girl.
"Who is this funny, bold reporter who talked fast and argued with her boss?" she asked.
She points out that like Clark Kent, she was charmed the moment she saw it.
"Here was a confident, competent professional woman. She reminded me of my other heroine - my mother - and yet I've never seen a woman portrayed like this on screen," adds Bond.
"Wired" cites the thought of American comic artist, Greg Ruck, who says that sexism is involved when Lois Lane's confidence is questioned, which in this case is considered - arrogance.
"I actually think one of the reasons why Lois is there, one of the secret glories of Siegel and Shuster's work, whether it was intentional or not, is that we don't just see her as a love interest for Clark, but through Lois we see the wonder of Superman. It's easy to take it's a given that bullets are bouncing off Superman. When Lois sees this as a reporter, she's like, 'Wow. Bullets are bouncing off him,'" Cancer says.
However, it wasn't all Pulitzers when it came to Lois. It would be easy for her haters to come up with a list of negative traits that they could claim define her.
In "Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane", Superman frequently lectured her, she pursued him relentlessly in hopes of getting him to propose to her. Other stories pitted her against women who were defined as romantic rivals, such as Lana Lang or Kat Grant.
Clark/Superman admires Lois and respects what she can accomplish just as Bruce/Batman finds Jim Gordon indispensable as his friend and a window into what the common man has to deal with when fighting crime, according to "Wired."
"To take Lois away is to remove something essential from the Superman mythos, and I'm not talking about a marriage or even a romantic relationship. Superman doesn't have to be 'grounded,' as J. Michael Strazinski wrote in a recent Superman piece titled 'Grounded,' or in many other stories where they're trying to find a missing man in Superman," Corina Lawson tells Wired.
They are missing a key point, which has been there since the character's first appearance: Lois Lane.
You get it wrong Lois, you get Clark Kent/Superman wrong. That's a good part of why "Superman Returns" failed. The film's Lois was colorless, reduced mostly to a bystander, and definitely didn't have the inner fire or outer experience that she would need to have to be someone that audiences imagine with Superman.
On the other side of writers like Marguerite Bennett, writers like Greg Ruck and Kurt Bushek have written the First Lady of DC Comics to be memorable, and her many incarnations in mass media are rightly loved. Erika Durance, Dana Delaney, Teri Hatcher and Margo Kidder command legions of fans for their portrayals, the Guardian points out.
If Watson is great, Holmes will be great. Write Jim Gordon well, the Batman stories will be better.
Spell Lois wrong or out of the picture and you miss something absolutely essential when it comes to Superman.
The Guardian cites Tim Hanley, who examines Lois' 78-year history through a critical work, "Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter" and points to the changing versions of Lois over time and notes that she "embodies the progress and struggle of American women, a continuous cycle of progress and regression".
"Superman and Lois Lane refuse to tolerate bullies and will always stand on the side of the oppressed. They believe in Truth and Justice with capital letters and fight for them every day. Lois does this without superpowers or a secret identity, as Clark hopes they would, even and without his incredible gifts Unlike everyone with power (physical, financial, political, intellectual) that Lois has ever encountered, Superman is the only character on Earth with enough power to save the world, who actually jumps at the chance to do so . The incorruptible power of a fearless mortal's happiness. Marriage ensues. They're the best romance in all of superhero comic book history, and they only make more sense the more you think about them," says Dean Tripp, creator of "Rooftop," which introduced "Lois Lane, girl reporter" "DC Comics" series.
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