Lucy Lane

Lucy Lane
Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane, from her debut. Art by Curt Swan.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #36 (April 1959)
Created by	Otto Binder Curt Swan
In-story information
Full name	Lucy Lane
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth
Notable aliases	Superwoman
Abilities	Kryptonian Powers

Lucy Lane is a fictional character in the DC universe. She is the younger sister of Lois Lane and the most recent person to take on the identity of Superwoman.

History

In the Golden Age comics, Lois was shown as having had a young niece named Susie Tompkins. Susie's main trait was telling tall tales to adults, and getting into various kinds of mischief. Susie's last appearance was in 1955. While Lois' sister (and Susie's mother) was never shown in the Golden Age comics, after the advent of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, later stories such as Action Comics #484 (from 1978) presented Lucy as having had an Earth-Two counterpart (a married woman named Lucille Tompkins), who was the mother of Susie.

Lucy Lane was first introduced in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #36 in April 1959. In the Silver Age stories, Lucy was presented as an airline stewardess who was an on-again, off-again romantic interest of Jimmy Olsen. More so than her sister, Lucy carried a worldly, cosmopolitan attitude about her. Lucy's Silver Age appearances often revolved around Jimmy's various attempts at romancing her.

Lucy was reintroduced into current comics continuity in issue #5 of John Byrne's 1986 miniseries Man of Steel. Lucy was an air traffic controller, but became affected by a mysterious blindness that was cured as a side-effect of the destruction of a Bizarro clone (loosely reflecting the first Pre-Crisis Bizarro story). Lucy returned to her job and had a brief relationship with Jimmy Olsen. After many encounters with super-villains such as Deathstroke, Sleez and even becoming a vampire bride, she eventually started dating African-American Daily Planet staff member Ron Troupe. When Lucy became pregnant, her conservative father was enraged (although Lucy explained "There's not a racist bone in Daddy's body. He hates all his daughters' beaus.") Sam Lane eventually overcame his anger when Lucy and Ron were married and their child was born.

New Krypton

After a long disappearance from the principal storylines, Lucy Lane returns in the one shot Superman: New Krypton. Her past with Ron Troupe is unclear, they are possibly estranged (Troupe having resurfaced in the current storylines, working again with the Daily Planet). Her long disappearance is explained by her joining the military, in a desperate, post-mortem attempt to appease her (presumed) dead father's desire to have a son able to carry on his career in the military. Bitter and angrier than in her former appearances, she still blames Lois for General Sam Lane's apparent death during the war against Imperiex. Essentially, she thinks Lois broke his heart by putting her love for Superman before her duties as a daughter.

Lucy references her former appearances, even mentioning her "dating boys in Lois' circle" as failed attempts to live her life through her more successful sister, but she eventually chooses to sacrifice her life and live the military career her father intended for Lois, driving an even deeper wedge between the two sisters. However, unbeknowst to her, their father is still alive, and working with the government.

Lucy's marriage to Ron Troupe, and the birth of their child Samuel Troupe, may still be in continuity, as a photograph of Sam Troupe appears on Ron's desk.

Superwoman

Lucy Lane as Superwoman. Art by Joshua Middleton.

Lucy first appeared as Superwoman in Supergirl #35, her costume a nod to that of the Silver Age Superwoman Kristin Wells and containing a containment field that simulated Kryptonian powers. However, Lucy's identity was not revealed until near the story arc's end. During her tenure as Superwoman, she was blackmailed by her father, General Sam Lane, into performing acts of villainy such as killing Agent Liberty, who had been spying on General Lane and Lex Luthor. (This resulted in her being the focus of the Supergirl Faces of Evil issue.) She later attacked Reactron, which tipped off readers that Superwoman was not Kryptonian (in that that villain's Gold Kryptonite power source had no effect on her). Supergirl unmasks Superwoman, and accidentally kills her by rupturing the containment field of her suit, causing Lucy's body to contort and explode.

In the Supergirl Annual #1 reveals the current modern backstory of Lucy Lane. In the Story Lucy since the moment she was born has felt overshadowed by her big sister Lois. Lucy always felt that Lois always out preformed her, overshadowed her and was more loved by their father. Lucy never blames Lois she blames her parents Sam and Ella. Feeling that by maybe being closer to Lois her father would pay more attention to her, Lucy moved to the same city but this came at the same time Lois and her father grew apart over Superman. After her father's death Lucy joined the army. Being a great soldier and a woman, Lucy rose qucikly in the ranks. During the Amazon's attack on the United States, Lucy was nearly killed by two Amazons but was saved by Codename: Assassin. Awaking in Project 7734, her father is able to convince Lucy to put on the Superwoman suit, which has magical properties including the ability to steal the life of someone nearby to resurrect Superwoman.

Appearances in other media

Film

Lucy Lane appears in the 1984 movie Supergirl as a friend and schoolmate of Supergirl's alter-ego Linda Lee. Fame actress Maureen Teefy portrayed her here as a peppy teen-ager with a burgeoning relationship with Jimmy Olsen (mimicking their relationship in the comics).

Animated television

A young version of Lucy Lane appears in "Monkey Fun", an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, where she is voiced by Aria Curzon. Lucy and her sister Lois are seen in a flashback playing with Titano the monkey during their childhood. Lucy as an adult is never explicitly identified in person. She is mentioned by Lois while Clark is talking about his trouble with Mr. Mxyzptlk's visits. The Worlds Finest on Toonzone Online believe that a picture on Lois's bed stand is of Lucy. The picture is quite small and her features are not very distinguishable, but the person in the picture has a body shape that is similar to Lois, with reddish hair even though in the flashback Lucy had black hair like Lois and blue eyes.

Animated shorts

Lewis Klahr used the character of Lucy Lane along with Jimmy Olsen in his 1998 animated short The Pony Glass, which was constructed using cut out shapes from comic books.

Live action television

Lois & Clark

Lucy Lane appeared in three episodes of the television show Lois & Clark, where she was portrayed by Elizabeth Barondes and one episode where she was portrayed by Roxana Zal.

Smallville

The Lane sisters, Lucy and Lois, in the series Smallville

Lucy Lane first appeared on the television series Smallville in the season four episode "Lucy"; she was played by Peyton List. In this version, Lucy has been attending school in Europe for some time, and has consequently been out of touch with her sister Lois. Lucy tells Lois and Clark that she is on the run from a German loan shark named Macus Becker. After initially trying to help her, Lois and Clark discover that Lucy is using their friendship with Lex Luthor to con him out of money to pay off her debt. Lucy is resentful of her sister's relationship with their father, and was also using this opportunity to get some revenge on her. Becker decides to hold the two sisters for ransom, but they are rescued when Clark intercepts the truck and stops it. Lucy sneaks away when Lex arrives with the police and speeds off in his Mercedes. She is not seen again and is at one point thought to be in Berlin, Germany.

External links

• Brief bio on the modern Lucy Lane