2015 Comic Book News Archives

June 24, 2015: Yang and Romita Jr. Discuss Lois Lane in "Superman"

Superman #41 With "Superman #41" available today, ComicBookResources.com caught up with writer Gene Luen Yang and artist John Romita Jr. to find out the extent of Lois Lane's involvement in the "Truth" arc, and their thoughts on her longevity as a character. Here's an excerpt from the interview... which may not sit well with some Lois Lane fans...

    CBR News: Lois Lane plays a major role in "Superman" #41 and will be heavily featured in this current cross-title arc, "Truth." She's a comic book character that's as old as Superman. She has no superpowers, no secret identity and no secret origin. Why has Lois Lane endured for 75-plus years? What makes her such a special comic book character?

    Gene Yang: Lois Lane is an amazing character. I think, as you stated, one of the things most appealing about her is that while she has no powers, she is able to hold her own against Superman - the most powerful being on the planet. In part of preparation for writing this series, I went back and read a lot of those early "Superman" comics from the late 1930s and early 1940s, and Lois Lane's tenacity and hunger for knowledge, and her courage has been there from the very beginning. It was not a response to any of the social changes between the 1940s and now. All of the buildings of who she is have always been there since the beginning. She was well ahead of her time when she was created, and that's what makes her relevant today.

    John Romita, Jr.: I think she's annoying. [Laughs] She has the exact same hair and color as Clark Kent. I draw them in the same panel, and I'm screaming because I can't change her hair.

    Honestly though, yes, she's a strong character. But if you overthink it and do the exact same thing that people want, that's bad. Now that's it's established that she's a strong character, there is nothing wrong with doing something different with her, as long as you don't tie her to the railroad tracks.

    Personally, I think that she shouldn't get into any kind of romantic relationship with Clark Kent ever again. Ever. It's just too damn easy. Finding out who he is should irritate [her] to no end. I think, to make her different, you have to make her completely independent of any cliché ever written about this female character, because she's original female heroine. And there is no way of doing anything original with her unless you take what everybody else expects her to do and don't do it. If she decides to be a bitch, let her be a bitch. That's her prerogative, because Clark is a doofus. [Laughs] She should call him an "asshole," when she finds out he's Superman. And there should be no romantic involvement. She should also be running the Daily Planet. In the 1940s, sure, she could have said, "Ooh. You're my big, strong superhero." But screw that. We don't do that anymore. It's time for her to say, "You lied to me, you bastard. I should have known. And how come I couldn't tell it was you with your glasses on?" [Laughs] "I'm so stupid. You look exactly the same."

    She should have known 25 years ago. I think we should throw everything out the window and change her hair slightly. We're actually going to change her hair in a couple of issues, so we won't have to worry about that anymore.

Read the complete interview at the CBR website.



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