Lois Lane #2 preview

Or more pre-preview (I guess we'll see the regular preview Monday): [URL="https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/08/02/lois-under-fire-in-lois-lane-2-preview/"]two pages from Lois Lane #2[/URL] is up at Bleeding Cool.

Some comments.

Rucka continues to be subtle as a brick with his social commentary.

I like HeroWatch. It is a natural way to include a meta-commentary on the narrative. I'm sure it has been used before, but it can certainly stand to be used a lot more.

I'm less taken with Zatanna's presence in the show. One is that I think her participating there feels a little off-brand for her. Not that she'd be averse to participate in television, but in what seems like a gossiping show? Another is that she seems ineffective in debating. Rhetorics is a huge part of stagecraft.

I mean, it’s exactly what would happen to a person in Lois’s place. And it even mirrors what some comic readers say about her character even to this day. So I’m not sure subtleties really are even possible or what good it would do. Superman definitely would get a pass publicly and she would get the brunt of the abuse directed at her. Hell, even a married man in that situation wouldn’t get half the vitriol Lois gets direct at her here.

Zatanna would definitely make the rounds on shows like The View which is what I think that show is being modeled after. As for her debate technique I don’t know that there’s enough there to say she’s bad at it. But she’s also in a weird position as I think she knows Superman and Clark Kent are the same person. It be a weird spot to be in no doubt.

Edit: Though I’m not sure that’s even Zatanna talking. I think she’s mentioned by the hosts, not as a guest.

I can't wait.

I'm so freakin down for this book, man. Really fascinating to see how this subplot is handled.

And can we just marvel for a moment at how the best picture of Clark Kent they could find was one were he got mustard on his shirt. *Muah* Perfection. Love it.

I still hate that her dating Lex Luthor is a thing again. Regardless if its only in the past. Not the fault of this book though, its in so might as well reference it considering the context of what's going on.

[QUOTE=Sacred Knight;4496372]I still hate that her dating Lex Luthor is a thing again. Regardless if its only in the past. [/QUOTE]That's never worked for me. I rather like her as one those people who saw through Lex immediately. Though I admit, I also like Lex as a person that was easy to realize was evil and dangerous if you spend any significant time with him not-in-the-public-eye. Like be his secretary for a couple months, and you know this is not a good man (think early post-COIE, where he didn't much try to hide how skeezy he was as with when he propositioned waitress and such). But if you go the version that actually long-term fools lots of people that have actually met him, then yes, I still like Lois as the one twigs to what he is more quickly than almost anyone else, because she's very good at seeing how things fall his way and realizing that someone is manipulating things to that end, and he's the obvious suspect there. I like her the one that sees the story that no one else notices.

I've never been fond of the idea of Lex as truly attracted to Lois for very long. He might want to dominate her (that's a thing with him - see how he killed the trainer who put him down during the time Superman was dead), but he doesn't want an equal. And Lois shows soon enough that she's not going to be one he can play with like a toy. Once she starts getting in his way (and Lois must get in his way to me), she's just an obstacle/irritant. I'm not saying he necessarily wants a weak, idiotic woman (for anything other than a short-term sex toy, anyway). I think he may well like brains and ambition - but not up to his level, and not if they are not in service to himself, rather than in challenge to him.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4496416]That's never worked for me.....[/QUOTE]


Nor for me, but we can't do much about it. *sigh* :mad:

[QUOTE=Yoda;4495906]
Edit: Though I’m not sure that’s even Zatanna talking. I think she’s mentioned by the hosts, not as a guest.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, when you look at the women talking in the last panel, none of them have Zatanna's dark hair and visuals.

If she'd be on the show, she'd be promoting herself, not talk about Superhero gossip.

[QUOTE=Yoda;4495906]Zatanna would definitely make the rounds on shows like The View which is what I think that show is being modeled after. As for her debate technique I don’t know that there’s enough there to say she’s bad at it. But she’s also in a weird position as I think she knows Superman and Clark Kent are the same person. It be a weird spot to be in no doubt.

Edit: Though I’m not sure that’s even Zatanna talking. I think she’s mentioned by the hosts, not as a guest.[/QUOTE]

I checked an extra time, and saw that they had a bunch of channel switches between "Hero Watch" and Zatanna's introduction. Yeah, it's more than a little confusing even in the last panel, due to the way the speech bubbles are positioned. But I can't see why Zatanna's name should be mentioned if she isn't there to participate in some fashion.

[QUOTE=Frontier;4496520]Yeah, when you look at the women talking in the last panel, none of them have Zatanna's dark hair and visuals.

If she'd be on the show, she'd be promoting herself, not talk about Superhero gossip.[/QUOTE]

I think Zatanna would relish being on television, but she'd also be quite careful in what she participated in, especially when talking about superheroes. Joining something like SNL or the late-night talk show as a sole guest would be a natural for her. But being a peer in a discussion about superhero with a celebrity chef? I can't see her doing that. If the person opposite her is Lois Lane or James Gordon, then sure, but that's not the case here.

And all the lines are without speaker, but if I make my best guess, all of what might be Zatanna's lines are rather defensive. That's not a good place for her to be, and not something I expect of her.

I interpreted it as "The Perspective" and the segment involving Zatanna and the celebrity chief being two separate things. Something along the lines of "coming up later: Interview with Zatanna & Johan but now it's time for the Perspective".

[QUOTE=Sacred Knight;4496372]I still hate that her dating Lex Luthor is a thing again. Regardless if its only in the past. Not the fault of this book though, its in so might as well reference it considering the context of what's going on.[/QUOTE]

Doesn't have to be a thing again
That program isn't exactly a reliable source.

Zatana is announced as a featured guest. All those bubbles belong to the hosts from what I can tell.

[url]https://www.cbr.com/exclusive-lois-lane-2-do-ability-superman/[/url]

Full preview from the main page.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. I really do like Rucka's take on how Lois & Clark are dealing with this. At least so far, it's not being played as a major threat to them but just something that they have to deal with. I was initially very negative on having this folded into a part of the "Clark Kent" ID or essentially Lois' stake in the secret identity, but seeing it played out - probably because Rucka is much more sensitive to these things than a lot of other writers would be - it is working really well here. I mean, it even works as a meta commentary on Lois' character in comic fandom on top of the current event commentary mixed in. Lois as a character is just situated so well to make this commentary, that while it's definitely not subtle, there's no real reason it should be. A "Lois Lane" in today's media climate would be treated like this.

[QUOTE=Stardust;4498498]Doesn't have to be a thing again
That program isn't exactly a reliable source.[/QUOTE]

I've seen it referenced previously before this, I think the gossip columnist at the DP brought it up in an earlier issue of Action, so I think its back in. Now one could say she might not be the most reliable narrator either, but neither that instance nor this one is actually being refuted in the narrative. Its not something anyone's challenged as a myth when brought up. Each time its been stated its pretty much rolled off the tongue without and a refute, which makes me think its just a common knowledge truth.

[QUOTE=Sacred Knight;4496372]I still hate that her dating Lex Luthor is a thing again. Regardless if its only in the past. Not the fault of this book though, its in so might as well reference it considering the context of what's going on.[/QUOTE]


I'm the exact opposite on this one.

I love that Lois (pre-Clark) dating (i.e. doinking) Lex is still canon.

I totally buy it, with a couple amendments.

One, it's got to be in the distant past and over with long before Superman even publicly debuts.

Two, neither of them harbor even a shred of romantic feelings for each other any longer.

Three, when they were dating, no matter how serious or long it was, both of them were surprisingly different people back then and have obviously changed so much since then.

Meet those 3 requirements, and "Loex" can be a thing.