Explain it to me. Why do some think Lois Lane is suddenly detrimental to Supes?

[Francisco]

I don't want them to get rid of Lois. Just to tone down her impact on Superman's life. Stop with the "she is his anchor" shtick and the "she humanizes him" shtick.

[Agniwolf]

War, Politics and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film p.162

[GreenLanternRanger]

Honestly it comes down to they simply don't like the character. Lois is in no way a detriment to Superman, she's a strong confident woman more then capable of supporting/protecting hersrlf & her family.

[SiegePerilous02]

I'm not a massive fan of Stable-Love-Lives in continuous fiction in general.

Mary Jane was an awesome character until she and Peter hitched.

But are characters who go on a string of dates or trapped in will they/won't they romances all that compelling in the long run either?

Mary Jane was the same awesome character. She was still a firey, party girl who by then had depth and more fleshed out backstory added to her, and the maturity to not put on the party girl act 24/7.

It's not Lois' fault - ultimately because she's fictional - , but I find spouses and long term partners seem to end up getting short shrift. They tend to end up playing little more than cheerleader (I'm looking at you Jurgens!). That's the cardinal Sin for characters for Lois because they bring so much to the table long before Cupids Arrow strikes. In fact; I've found it's usually because they are such popular characters that people want them hooked.

While this is true, there are also probably some examples of Lois from the married era that treat her better than, say, All Star Superman. Gail Simone's brief run on Action Comics depicted Lois and the couple very well. Like with Peter/MJ, treating the female partner with disrespect is a trap that a competent writer who is passionate about both characters can easily avoid.

I don't want them to get rid of Lois. Just to tone down her impact on Superman's life. Stop with the "she is his anchor" shtick and the "she humanizes him" shtick.

That's what a marriage is though. All of Superman's relationships help to humanize him and anchor him, but as his significant other, Lois is naturally going to be the one who does it the most. And now we can add Jon to the same tier of importance.

[13th Superman]

Honestly I have no real opinion of her. She's always just been in the background to me like Perry and Jimmy which I just gloss over. I will admit that she has been mistreated in the past 15 years or so. If I had some control, I would have played up the rivalry with Clark Kent had they been working on different papers. The only time I liked her was in the DC Nation cartoon short with her and Batman and in American Alien. I agree with some of the other posters that I really hate it when "she is the one who humanizes him or anchors him."

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I wrote a 2000 word college essay entitled 'Lois Lane - The worst thing to ever happen to women in comics?'.

It's a few years old, and doesn't account for more recent developments but it's still relevant when it comes to my overall thoughts on the character. I'll copy/paste it here if I can find a backup copy.

Otherwise getting into it will be too time consuming.

[Tayswift]

I wrote a 2000 word college essay entitled 'Lois Lane - The worst thing to ever happen to women in comics?'.

It's a few years old, and doesn't account for more recent developments but it's still relevant when it comes to my overall thoughts on the character. I'll copy/paste it here if I can find a backup copy.

Otherwise getting into it will be too time consuming.

very nice that a man get to affirm that lois is the worse thing for women in comics, while majority of women love her. of course everyone is entitled to their opinion

I thought the greatuitous rape/fridging much worse

[Kid_Quantum]

But are characters who go on a string of dates or trapped in will they/won't they romances all that compelling in the long run either?

That's not the only thing to do with characters, tho. I find having the opportunity for multiple and varied relationships opens up the characters to multiple and varied conflicts. Story is driven by conflict. The same old of anything is what festers boredom.

[Francisco]

That's not the only thing to do with characters, tho. I find having the opportunity for multiple and varied relationships opens up the characters to multiple and varied conflicts. Story is driven by conflict. The same old of anything is what festers boredom.

Exactly.. How long would it take for they to reboot again just to get rid of the marriage and the boy... Again.

[Tayswift]

That's not the only thing to do with characters, tho. I find having the opportunity for multiple and varied relationships opens up the characters to multiple and varied conflicts. Story is driven by conflict. The same old of anything is what festers boredom.

on theory it looks good, but on practic story telling? no. new 52 superman had nothing interesting going, neither peter parker after one more day.
there is also something friendship, characters doesn't need to change girlfriends like they change clothes to great new relationships and conflict

[Vanguard-01]

Seriously. Lois is every bit a Wonder Woman as Diana is, in my book.

Agreed. The first DCEU director who gives me a scene of Diana and Lois doing something together will win my undying devotion forever. I don't normally care about the Bechdel Test, but if that scene can pass it? Even better.

I don't want them to get rid of Lois. Just to tone down her impact on Superman's life. Stop with the "she is his anchor" shtick and the "she humanizes him" shtick.

I definitely don't mind saying that she's one of his strongest connections to humanity, but I agree that I am SICK of "Superman loses Lois and immediately turns into a monster" stories.

Yes, Lois is important to him. Losing her WOULD hurt him badly. But to say that the loss of ANY one person in his life would completely unmake him as a hero is totally unacceptable. It's tantamount to saying that Superman isn't really a hero at all without some outside influence to keep him on the straight and narrow.

[Superlad93]

That's not the only thing to do with characters, tho. I find having the opportunity for multiple and varied relationships opens up the characters to multiple and varied conflicts. Story is driven by conflict. The same old of anything is what festers boredom.

I get what you mean by this, but I disagree because it's a bit too shallow for me. Every new relationship put in place just to created some predetermined conflict, and do it all over again. Eventually it starts to not have as much impact no matter how you shake up the conflict because it's all ephemeral.

I think that same sense of introducing new people and new conflicts can be achieved with simply adding new friends, rivals, and foes into the mix. You cultivate some sort of relationship and then you shake it up by adding conflict or resolution depending on the person opposite of Superman. You get the same effect but with the added bonus of having new dynamics outside of "this is my new girl friend."

I also think an active marriage/long term relationship can have conflict and resolution introduced to it as it evolves and grows. Same ol same ol is and oversimplification and underappreciated of what can be done.

I'm not the worlds biggest supporter of the marriage, but I'm also not married to the idea of a perpetually single Superman. I think there are strengths to both takes, and weaknesses that can be worked on. But as far as the comics go, right now, I'm very much enjoying Lois in at least the Superman book.

[Flash Gordon]

"Lois Lane" is as intrinsic to the character/mythology of SUPERMAN as "Clark Kent" is. She is his anchor, in so much as people in healthy relationships are happy together and give/take from each other. They're separate people though, I think some creators have a hard time showing them as characters. They get caught up in the real world associations of Superman and Lois Lane. We, the audience, knows they're destined for each other- that doesn't mean "destiny" has to play a role. They can just love one another.

They're peanut butter and jelly. Both are delicious on their own, but better together.

Oddly I loved seeing Cat Grant and Clark Kent develop feelings for each other in Lobdell's run, and was interested in seeing that go somewhere. Mainly, cause it was a fresh timeline and there was still a lot of road to travel to get to, bold font, LOIS AND CLARK.

Wonder Woman/Superman is excessive.

[Francisco]

I liked Lois as she was portrayed by Teri Hatcher in that old Lois and Clark tv series. She was neurotic as all hell but they made her likeable as all hell too. More important Clark never went insane without her... Well there was that episode in which Lois traveled to a parallel world in which Lois died before Clark got to know her so he never became Superman. I guess nothing is perfect.

[Sacred Knight]

I'd rather they just be dating or returned to the will they/won't they status quo as opposed to making them married again. But beyond that, got no problem with Lois.