Guest Post: Ultra Woman

Posted on May 24, 2013 by

The Super-Humanity of Lois & Clark’s Lois Lane  (And Why it’s So Important).

Pamela Bodziock

When Lois & Clark premiered in 1993, my ten-year-old self was instantly transfixed. Not, mind you, because of Superman (though I quite liked Dean Cain’s Clark Kent – and his super alter-ego). No, my heart belonged to one character and one character alone: Lois Lane. In a show about a super-man, it was Lois who was my hero.

Back then, I would have been hard-pressed to explain to you why I so admired her. Sure, there’s plenty to admire in the character: her command, her confidence, her humor, her kick-butt karate skills. Throw in an ace career in journalism and a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee (my dream car for a decade), and you’ve got a character I couldn’t help but admire. Still, looking back on it now, I find myself wondering if it didn’t go deeper than that. What is it about this Lois Lane that makes her so, well, super?

While Siegel and Shuster will always be responsible for her creation (with some inspiration from the 30s film character Torchy Blane, ace female reporter), credit must also go to three other individuals who brought Lois so uniquely to life in her Lois & Clark incarnation: comic book creator John Byrne, television writer and producer Deborah Joy LeVine, and actress Teri Hatcher.

It was John Byrne’s rebooted version of Superman that Lois & Clark borrowed its inspiration from – including such ideas as Clark Kent being Clark’s true identity, with Superman merely a disguise of sorts (it had been the other way around for Superman for a long time, cumulating in the portrayal of a fumbling, bumbling Clark Kent by Christopher Reeve – an identity only meant to mask Clark’s real life as Superman). Deborah Joy LeVine, the show creator of Lois & Clark, may have had inspiration thanks to Byrne for the character she wanted portrayed – but there is no denying the importance of her vision to the version of the characters we saw on our television screens from the pilot episode on. From an emphasis on the alien Clark Kent’s humanity, to the makings of a real woman – a real person – in Lois Lane, LeVine ensured that the emphasis of the show would be on the characters at its center, and not on the superheroics themselves. (Though replaced as showrunner after Season One with Robert Singer, LeVine’s influence was long-lasting: the relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent always remained the heart of the show.)

Teri Hatcher, who brought Lois to life, was the final piece of the puzzle that made the character work so absolutely. Hatcher made Lois smart, courageous, and capable, but with a realness at the heart of the character that kept Lois from being a cardboard cutout of The Ideal Woman. She may prove to be Clark Kent’s ideal woman, of course, but I’d argue that’s precisely because Lois herself is so completely human. Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial-Guest Post | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Lois Lane: Hero or Villain?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by

Golden Age Lois and the psychology of superhero romance.

Michael May

I’m thrilled that Lois Lane is getting her own celebration during the 75th Anniversary of Action Comics #1, but I haven’t always felt that way. It took me a long time to warm up to her. Some of that is my fault, but most of the blame falls on the storytellers who’ve made comics about her over the years. I can take responsibility for my own lack of empathy, but in order for readers to feel something about a character, there first has to be some effort from the creators to make a character worth having feelings for. Lois hasn’t always had that, and the problem goes all the way back to her first appearance.

-2To be fair, Action Comics wasn’t created for adults to read and analyze. No one involved in it had any idea that any person ever would be looking at it with a critical eye towards social commentary and gender issues. It was made for kids and the relationships are all very straightforward. Everything is centered around Superman, of course. He’s the protagonist and readers are supposed to root for him without questioning it. Even when he breaks the law – which he did nearly every single issue in the early days – it’s understood that he’s doing it on behalf of the oppressed and needy. Anyone who helps Superman or cheers him on is a good person. Anyone who gets in Superman’s way is bad. Unfortunately, Lois fell into that second category for decades.

It’s not quite as simple as that. Even in its childishness, Action Comics presented Lois as a confusing character. Superman desires her, but has no idea how to treat her. By creating the outrageously meek persona of Clark Kent (and in those early comics, it was definitely Clark who was the fabricated personality, not Superman), Superman intentionally pushes Lois away with his timid behavior. But whenever he has an opportunity to relate to her as Superman, he still gets in his own way by being snobbish and indifferent to her, if not outright hostile.

Young boys with a developing interest in girls would be able to relate to what Superman’s doing of course. Clark represents the way they fear being treated by the girls they want to get to know. Superman, on the other hand, represents how they wish things were: a flipping of roles so that the boy has the upper hand and is able to reject the girl. The Clark/Lois/Superman triangle makes complete sense in that context. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense in the context of how healthy, functional adults really act.

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorial-Guest Post | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lois Appreciation Begins!

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

Thanks to a series of strange and unfortunate events (some involving me weeping on the floor of a server room–the less said, the better), our celebration is getting off to a bit of a late start. But don’t worry, we’ve got a week of awesome Lois Lane posts queued up, and a blog carnival to share with you.

When I was putting together this week’s guest posts, I asked my aunt, a Lois & Clark superfan, if she wanted to contribute something. She sent me this email: 

Thanks for asking me about Lois.  I’d just like to share with you that Lois always seemed to me not dumb about recognizing Clark but subversive.  After the second world war, the American-British culture slammed women back into the box–housewife and mother, not career.  The removal of options was brutal in its pervasive, unexamined invasion of women’s rights.  Lois could work, and incidentally have a voice as a reporter, only as long as she was single. Why would she want to give that up?  So as long as she “failed”–ie refused–to recognize her “super” man, she could continue to be a real person.  Lois & Clark was great to me, because it recognized the cultural change that made it possible for Lois to see and acknowledge the whole man but still have her life.  The most cultural troglodyte of my acquaintance at the time of Lois & Clark only liked the first year when Lois was unable to see both Clark and Superman.  Some people work hard to not grow.

 

Much love, 

Claire Hess. 

There is something more to Lois Lane, than being Superman’s girlfriend, or the archetypal plucky girl reporter. There is something more to her than her 75 year publishing history, or numerous screen and animated portrayals. She’s a character of tremendous cultural and personal significance for so many women, and we’re going to explore that, and celebrate it, this week. 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lois blog carnival approaching!

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

LL75-large

The Lois carnival is fast approaching. Have you started your post?

Posted in Carnival-Announcement | Tagged , | Leave a comment

News & Things: Books, comic books, and fake books.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

Megan Purdy

bv2I don’t have a Kickstarter pick for you guys this week. But what I do have is this nifty link.

Brandon Graham and Emily Carroll did a Betty and Veronica comics jam. Whaaaaa. I’ve loved B&V since I was old enough to sneak a Double Digest into the shopping cart, and I continue to love them to this day–mostly unironically. To your right is one of Brandon’s pages. Emily’s are also quite cool.

They riffed on the classic story “Boo Hoo Deja Vu”–which I actually remember–where Betty and Veronica shop in a neighboring town, and meet their male counterparts, and it’s too much for them. Their minds blown. Oooeeoooeeoo.

News

  • DC Women Kicking Ass kicked off her weeklong celebration of Lois with this great interview with Larry Tye, author of Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero. We’re all excited to see what else she has up her sleeve.

Interviews and Editorials

  • What Does Kickstarter Failure Look Like?, Ian Miles Chong (Gamefront): Ian looks at five high-profile game Kickstarters that could have been a success, but weren’t. Understanding why crowdsourcing fails, I think, even more important than looking to high profile successes for inspiration, so this should be useful to anyone putting together their own Kickstarter.
  • Steve Urkel Glasses, Suspenders & Social Awkwardness: What Makes Someone A Nerd?, J. Broadnax (Madame Noire): “Close your eyes and think of an image of your typical nerd. I mean it. Think of your stereotypical nerd that you have seen in every movie, photographed in every magazine, and described in every book. What image do you see? Is your nerd black? Chances are your image of a nerd is an undeveloped white man or boy, in outdated clothing and unfashionable glasses. I want you to try another experiment. Go to Google images and type the term “Nerd.” You may see a small sprinkle of us in there, but not that much.”

Your Read of the Week Forever

When Dickens met Dostoevsky, Eric Naiman (TLS): So you’re not a book nerd. Shut up. Read. Read. This is the greatest tale of sockpuppetry and professional jealousy that I’ve read in years. It should be a novel. A movie. Something. I don’t want to give away too much, but suffice it to say that convincing scholars that Dickens and Dostoevsky met (impossible, btw) was only a tiny part of a much larger scheme that spanned numerous literary journals, both real and imagined, and much of one poor soul’s academic career.

It’s a long read, but the greatest long read you’ll find this week, I promise you.

Posted in News & Things | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Call for submissions: The history of Lois Lane

Posted on April 5, 2013 by

Looking for a few good guest posts.

As part of 75 Years of Lois Lane (Lois 75, for convenience), we’re putting together a series of posts on the history of Lois Lane, but there’s so much history that we can’t cover it all! We’re calling out to all you Lois experts, to make sure Lois is celebrated as she deserves to be: thoroughly, provocatively… and only after fact checking.

  • Subject: Overview of a specific era or adaptation, thematic essays, comparative essays, or a spotlight on a particular relationship or aspect of the character. Or something else amazing.
  • Length: 1500-3000 words (but it’s negotiable).
  • Deadline: May 13.

Get in touch with WWAC editor Megan Purdy for more details.

Posted in Carnival-Announcement, Carnival-Lois Lane 75 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Blog Carnival: 75 Years of Lois Lane

Posted on April 5, 2013 by

Celebrating 75 Years of Lois Lane (in May)

Lois LaneAction Comics #1 was released in June of 1938. It featured the debut of not only Clark Kent and Superman, but plucky, independent reporter Lois Lane. Love interest, competitor, sometime thorn in Clark’s side, and full time journalistic superhero, Lois has been an integral part of Action Comics, Superman, and the superhero mythos ever since.

In honour of the property’s 75th anniversary, Women Write About Comics is dedicating May 19-25 to a celebration of Lois Lane. 75 Years of Lois Lane will include essays, creator interviews, and a blog carnival featuring–we hope–you.

What’s a blog carnival, you ask? Basically it’s a giant blog crossover, where a bunch of people get together to share their views on a specific topic–in this case, a celebration and exploration of the long history of Lois Lane, and your relationship to the character. What we want to know is: what does Lois mean to you? The carnival is open to established bloggers and journalists, and especially to all fans. Just write, vlog, podcast, or comic, and get a link to us by the 19th. We’ll go live on WWAC with  a master post on the 22nd, linking to all submissions.

It’s been awhile since we’ve run a blog carnival, and we hope you’re as excited about Lois 75 as we are!

Check out the carnival FAQ for more details on the mechanics, and our Back Issues for past carnivals.

Use #wwacomics and #lois75 to talk about the carnival on Twitter.

Posted in Carnival-Announcement, Carnival-Lois Lane 75 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment