My Superman reading has been limited. I only started reading DC (occasionally read Marvel until Brand New Day, when I dropped it) in 2015. I intentionally went with back issues, for binge-reading ease. Read some newer stuff since. I really enjoyed Tomasi Superman for the family dynamic, but would have liked more of the DP. Liked competent Jimmy of a certain era. But I've only read scattered issues from golden age through present, is my point.
And I wasn't around when so many things happened, so I don't know how the fans liked or disliked them. I'm doing a build-my-own-reboot for DC. Just to world-build in my head, for fun. But when it comes to minor characters, I don't always have ideas. I usually try to find out what fans think, and get recommendations for what they think is the best to read for those characters and such.
I have not read any of the issues where Pete and Lana are a couple, because all I heard about them is a very unhealthy dynamic where Lana considering him second-choice and tries to break up Clark and Lois’ marriage.
I have seen occasional other post-Crisis issues with her (and Silver Age issues with him) where they were not an item and each seemed to be good people, but they weren’t romantically involved.
Are there any issues where they have a healthy romantic relationship? Does anyone ship them?
Does anyone have particular characterizations of the characters they like? I don’t like either of them being bad guys or bad people. I deeply dislike when reboots or retcons or revisits-after-long-absences make for heroes (usually minor ones) or hero supporting characters into villains or losers. So many writers seem to think a character can't be interesting without being either immoral or having a deeply rooted psychological issues.
On the topic of individual characters:
Pete, obviously, was a very minor character for a very long time. His silver-age self was very one-note. But it was a likable one note. I'm one of those people that really doesn't enjoy reading about characters that I don't like - unless it's a love-to-hate thing.
Lana, of course, has much more history to her. I read a post somewhere once about how their was no definitive version of an adult Lana Lang. And I think it's true. She was created to sub-in for Lois, and with Lois there, something else needs to be done with her. But not her and Lois fighting over the guy, please. So I'm not really into her being a reporter. I've seen her as such in some bronze age comics. And then she popped up in a '90s Superboy where he met silver-age-Superboy. She was likable there.
I'm really more interested in developing her teenage self as a non-Lois-expy. I kind of prefer Lana and Pete as people in Clark's teenage years, not adult ones. Sure, they see each other if they are in Smallville at the same time. Go to the same gatherings, maybe get dinner and drinks and catch up. If we're set in the appropriate era, then they're Facebook-friends. Maybe trusted secret-keepers. But not part of Clark's day-to-day adult life.
Actually, when I thought about it, I couldn't think of any fictional, mixed-sex trios where there was no dating or romantic interest, so I thought that'd be a good idea for those three. Though, of course, they weren't a trio in the old comics at all. Some of the new ones have indicated it, though. But then that might alienate people because Lana is pretty much defined as teenage-love-interest. Even though in the silver age Superboy often seemed to have no interest (mirroring silver age Superman).