Superman and Lois Lane

Superman and Lois Lane
Superman and Lois Lane
	Art by Gary Frank
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #1 (June 1938)
Created by	Jerry Siegel; Joe Shuster
In-story information
Full name	Superman/Clark Kent; Lois Lane
Team affiliations	Daily Planet

Superman and Lois Lane are a fictional couple and the first superhero comic book romance. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, both characters including Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent, first appeared in DC Comics' Action Comics #1 (June 1938). They have remained in a complicated relationship ever since. A supercouple, they are among the best known fictional couples and have appeared in multiple media adaptations.

The characters' relationship was based for a long time in a love triangle in which Clark was interested in Lois who was smitten with the superhero Superman. Clark, unable to reveal to Lois that his mild-mannered demeanor was a ruse, was unable to compete for Lois' affection. The irony being he was his own rival in that Clark and Superman are, in fact, the same person. This love triangle and the dual identity were originally conceived in 1934. Following John Byrne's 1986 reboot, The Man of Steel, Clark's character became not only the more dominant personality of the Clark Kent/Superman character and more outgoing, aggressive, and assertive. This allowed a more natural romance to develop between Lois and Clark.

In the 1990s, Clark proposed marriage to Lois and revealed his identity as Superman to her.^[1]^[2] They began a long engagement, which was complicated by the death of Superman, a breakup, and several other problems. The couple married in Superman: The Wedding Album (December 1996). Clark and Lois' biological child in DC Comics canon was born in Convergence: Superman #2 (July 2015), a son named Jon Kent, who becomes Superboy.

Lois is the character most prominently featured with Superman, she appears in virtually every Superman comics and media adaptations and continues to be an essential part of the Superman mythos. Across decades of comics and other media adaptations, in some stories, Lois knows or suspects that Clark is Superman, sometimes this is explored for humour or plot development.^[3]

^ Ordway, Jerry (w), Jurgens, Dan; Breeding, Brett; Gammill, Kerry; Swan, Curt; Byrne, John; Ordway, Jerry; Janke, Dennis (p). "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite Part 4: The Human Factor" Superman, vol. 2, no. 50 (December 1990).
^ Stern, Roger (w), McLeod, Bob (p). "Secrets in the Night" Action Comics, no. 662 (February 1991).
^ Superman (1978) Delete scene: Lois suspects and attempts to prove Clark is Superman by jumping out a window at the Daily Planet. Superman II (1980) Lois attempts to prove Clark is Superman by jumping into a river at Niagara Falls. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006) Lois suspects and successfully proves Clark is Superman, by shooting him with blank gun.

[1] Ordway, Jerry (w), Jurgens, Dan; Breeding, Brett; Gammill, Kerry; Swan, Curt; Byrne, John; Ordway, Jerry; Janke, Dennis (p). "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite Part 4: The Human Factor" Superman, vol. 2, no. 50 (December 1990).

[2] Stern, Roger (w), McLeod, Bob (p). "Secrets in the Night" Action Comics, no. 662 (February 1991).

[3] Superman (1978) Delete scene: Lois suspects and attempts to prove Clark is Superman by jumping out a window at the Daily Planet. Superman II (1980) Lois attempts to prove Clark is Superman by jumping into a river at Niagara Falls. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006) Lois suspects and successfully proves Clark is Superman, by shooting him with blank gun.

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