Action Comics #34 spoiler/discussion thread

[Lax]

A picture is worth a thousand words, but I added a few of my own anyway.

Why so salty Lane? You've got the wonderful Mr. Carroll waiting for you back at the crib!

[misslane]

correction: the exact line (ww to ll) was "WE nearly killed each other." it was lois and metallo who first attacked wonder woman. clearly, their intention was to eliminate her upon braniac's bidding. diana tried her darnest to convince lois to "fight brainiac and not her." i mean, she could've decapitated the latter but she never used excessive force during the fight, even with corben.

No need to correct me, as I didn't suggest my paraphrase was a direct quote and my claiming Wonder Woman said she tried to kill Lois conveys the same meaning as "we nearly killed in each other" in that it indicates that in Wonder Woman's mind she could have killed Lois. There is more onus on Wonder Woman here than Lois because Lois has the excuse of being Brainiac at the time while Wonder Woman's killer intent is all her. I disagree that Diana "tried her darndest" to sway Lois, and I'd like to believe the whole time she was fighting Lois she never had any intent to kill her (you seem to want to believe this as well given your point about Diana not using excessive force).

By itself, this comment may not have been so jarring, but when it follows Wonder Woman nearly killing Superman it draws extra emphasis to Diana's reliance on killing as an option during difficult conflicts. What was by far the worst part, though, was the last bit: ""Last time we met, we nearly killed each other. But now I know what you've endured." NOW that she knows what Lois endured?! She should have known that before when she first encountered her in the Brainiac form, but instead she said things like "Enough Lois. Something has happened to you, and I'll help you--if you need help--but people are dying. I don't have time."

I appreciate that during their clash as Wonder Woman and Brainiac that Wonder Woman instructed Lois to fight Brainiac and not her, but she didn't give Lois anything to work with. She kept assuming that Lois was reachable and in control. By saying "Enough, Lois" and "this cheapens you" to Lois, and even using Lois' name instead of Brainiac's, she was laying the blame for the bad behavior on Lois and not on Brainiac. She should have just ignored what Brainaic was doing -- reacting to it without judgment -- and only expressed compassion toward Lois. I hate that Wonder Woman, in this issue of Action, presents it as if only now she has an appreciation for what Lois has endured and that it somehow affects how she views her nearly killing Lois in hindsight. As if had she realized Lois was enduring great suffering and fighting Brainiac as hard as she could before, she wouldn't have engaged with her the way she did.

[misslane]

Why so salty Lane? You've got the wonderful Mr. Carroll waiting for you back at the crib!

I suppose the implication from the panel is that Lois has feelings for Superman/Clark even though she's with Jonathon currently. A similar message, but from Clark's end, seemed to be made in Superman #19 and #26.

Despite being with other people (Lois with Jonathon, Clark with Diana), both appear to have latent feelings for each other that creators seem to want to allude to every now and again. At the very least it lays a measure of groundwork for their relationship if/when the powers that be are ready to develop it more explicitly and more fully.