Action Comics #966 (spoilers)

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Kind of like Superman wearing glasses as Clark Kent.

Kind of, but somehow worse.

As Clark, Superman pretends to be something he's not, human, and omitting information about him being Superman. This becomes an issue when it comes to his journalism career and his romantic life when whoever he's involved with only knows of one of his identities.

Post-Crisis Lois Lane, as far she knows, is going to pretend to be someone else that existed and lived a life. She's going to pretend to be someone's daughter when she isn't, she's going to pretend to be Lucy's sister when she isn't. She's going to pretend to be the Lois Lane, the person that the people at the Daily Planet formed a relationship with.

Clark pretends to be something he's not.
Lois is going to take over someone else's life and present herself as that person.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Kind of, but somehow worse.

As Clark, Superman pretends to be something he's not, human, and omitting information about him being Superman. This becomes an issue when it comes to his journalism career and his romantic life when whoever he's involved with only knows of one of his identities.

Post-Crisis Lois Lane, as far she knows, is going to pretend to be someone else that existed and lived a life. She's going to pretend to be someone's daughter when she isn't, she's going to pretend to be Lucy's sister when she isn't. She's going to pretend to be the Lois Lane, the person that the people at the Daily Planet formed a relationship with.

Clark pretends to be something he's not.
Lois is going to take over someone else's life and present herself as that person.

Actually, Lois has gone undercover several times in pursuit of the truth. In this case, she's going undercover as an alternate version of herself, at the request of that Lois, so that she can uncover the truth behind the mysterious Clark Kent and the various other shenanigans surrounding the Super-characters.

Is it well written? Nope. Is it some outrageous betrayal of the very foundations of Lois Lane that will forever more destroy the entire franchise? Nope.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Actually, Lois has gone undercover several times in pursuit of the truth. In this case, she's going undercover as an alternate version of herself, at the request of that Lois, so that she can uncover the truth behind the mysterious Clark Kent and the various other shenanigans surrounding the Super-characters.

This is different because it goes beyond just investigate journalism.

New 52 Lois asked Post-Crisis Lois to take over her life. She said her father and the Daily Planet gang are going to need Post-Crisis Lois, so that they don't suffer because of the death of New 52 Lois. New 52 Lois says "...And daddy needs his little girl", that is not about Post-Crisis Lois going undercover for the sake of a story, that is New 52 Lois telling Post-Crisis to pretend to be her so that her father doesn't know she died.

If this was one pretending to be another Lois for the sake of uncovering a mystery, it wouldn't be as a big a issue for people. It wasn't last issue, when that's exactly what Post-Crisis Lois was doing.

If this was just about uncovering the truth, Lois and Clark wouldn't have talked for hours. She wouldn't have referred to Lex and the human Clark Kent as other considerations for her taking over for New 52 Lois.

This is one Lois pretending to be another, permanently.

Is it well written? Nope. Is it some outrageous betrayal of the very foundations of Lois Lane that will forever more destroy the entire franchise? Nope.

I don't think much of Lois Lane in the first place so if this in-line for the character then just makes me think I'm all the more right to think so little of the character.

It's not going to destroy the franchise, I don't think it's going to damage the franchise at all.

[tmos]

I'm not comfortable with the story but I'm thinking that the narrative is not over yet. It's like in Superman when Clark raised his voice with Kat's grandpa. After several issues it was addressed. So I'm still in the wait and see mode. Other story possibilities from this include:

- How does this decision affect Lois in a personal level in the foreseeable future? If we believe that this is truly pre-FP/post-Crisis Lois Lane, she will not be that heartless to not be bothered about keeping Gen. Lane and Lucy in the dark about what happened to NuLois.

- Will this have any ramifications with General Lane and Lucy?

- How will the Daily Planet people react if they knew?

- What will NuLex Luthor do? Will he look for the pre-FP/post-Crisis Lex?

I hope we can have a wait-and-see attitude on how the story progresses before we make a judgment. It's like with NuSuperman, I gave it two years to see where the direction was going before I decided it was not my cup of tea. I thought there was no need to vent anymore negativity as a respect to the Silver Age fans who also experienced the same.

I'm hoping that Jurgens is still writing at the level when he wrote Solar, The Man of the Atom. I know his dialogue had always been clunky but before he always makes up for it by showing heart to his stories and big ideas.

This is just my personal opinion, of course. Peace to all.

[Red obin]

Lois stealing lois' place is still not as creepy as hush taking Bruce Wayne place in streets of Gotham.

[sunofdarkchild]

I'm liking the current books, including Action, more than I've liked any Superman ongoing since Morrison's Action run.

As for the Lois thing, the uncomfortable part is that the dead Lois literally asked Pre-FP Lois to do exactly what she's doing. Asking her counterpart to continue her work is one thing. It's the keeping it a secret from her close family that's the problem, and both versions of Lois had the same thoughts about that. I hope the living one will come to the conclusion that in trying to avoid hurting the family she is actually being cruel to them. But the main question is whether the work of the dead Lois that needs to be completed is important enough to justify this. Until that is answered I'm withholding judgment on how this is being handled.

And I'm thrilled that the Planet staff seems to be being brought back into focus with this development.

[manofsteel1979]

I for one didn't think this issue was as bad as some made it out to be. Maybe it's because I've grown numb to the whole cut and paste aspect of all this. Maybe it's because I'm enjoying the rest of the line so much that I'm willing to look the other way on this for now. I don't know,but I'm not outraged at Lois taking over Lois' life as some here seem to be.( can't believe I just wrote that. Comics.)

Maybe it's also because I barely gave a damn about Nu Lois by the end of her tenure because the powers that be at DC were less interested in writing a fleshed out character for most of her time and more interested in writing her as a plot device to prove how much "different " Nuperman was . She was barely used anyway and when she was it was often poorly. Perez tried. Scott Snyder tried.Pak tried once in awhile,but no one else did. It likely was because for some reason editorial didn't let the writers use her. I used to think it was because of the other 'ship' DC was pushing with all their might for 10 minutes,but im not all that sure anymore. Either way,she was barely a character really and honestly,i can't really get upset about a cypher being replaced by a better fleshed out and defined version that we knew for 20 years. Is it awkward and stupid? Probably. However it's my ongoing belief Superman ,for whatever reason,as a line has been fundamentally damaged for a decade or more now, and they seem to be SLOWLY fixing things...and some of those fixes are going to be awkward and seem stupid in the short term. Huge retcons are coming to fix this eventually I assume,so for now I'm willing to wait and see.

[manofsteel1979]

I'm liking the current books, including Action, more than I've liked any Superman ongoing since Morrison's Action run.

As for the Lois thing, the uncomfortable part is that the dead Lois literally asked Pre-FP Lois to do exactly what she's doing. Asking her counterpart to continue her work is one thing. It's the keeping it a secret from her close family that's the problem, and both versions of Lois had the same thoughts about that. I hope the living one will come to the conclusion that in trying to avoid hurting the family she is actually being cruel to them. But the main question is whether the work of the dead Lois that needs to be completed is important enough to justify this. Until that is answered I'm withholding judgment on how this is being handled.

And I'm thrilled that the Planet staff seems to be being brought back into focus with this development.

Agreed with the last sentence. I think how we got here was stupid,but as I said above,it was never gonna be smooth given how they chose to do it. I'm just glad we HAVE a cast again.

I think eventually Lois will come clean to her sis and father. I don't see her being able to carry the charade for too long .

[BeefBourguignon]

I getcha. And to those digging it, I'm sorry if my complaining is killing your vibe. I'm not upset or looking to pee in the cornflakes of you guys in particular.

I feel more like I am watching others pee into their own cornflakes and wondering in horror why they keep eating it.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I feel more like I am watching others pee into their own cornflakes and wondering in horror why they keep eating it.

In my case, I've been keeping up with the main Superman books since I started reading comics and have gotten into the habit of keeping up with the books no matter how bad they get.

If I could get through Austen's run, I can get through this.

[Kuwagaton]

Post-Crisis Lois Lane, as far she knows, is going to pretend to be someone else that existed and lived a life. She's going to pretend to be someone's daughter when she isn't, she's going to pretend to be Lucy's sister when she isn't. She's going to pretend to be the Lois Lane, the person that the people at the Daily Planet formed a relationship with.

But when someone asks her if she has a father named Sam Lane and a sister named Lucy Lane, she's telling the truth when she says yes. She knew Steve, Alice, and Jimmy with no introductions. They're not the same person down to every moment in their lives, but they are both Lois Lane. For where they don't overlap, she has no need or indication in regards to filling that role. She's not going to go for burgers with that other DP worker for example, because she is her own person as well.

One exception, and I don't get the sense that this is Jurgens' design, is that I don't agree with the rationale for not telling Lois' family about her death. I get keeping quiet to the public at large and even with Perry and Jimmy, but I feel like Sam and Lucy deserve to know.

Yeah, that's clearly something Jimenez has to work out.

I don't think we know if Lois will ultimately be happy or at ease keeping up the charade. I think right now she and everyone else the other Lois left behind are focused on honoring her dying wishes, but it's not clear if the fiction can be sustained for long. I expect the lie will continue until the Superman line sees fit to bring back Lucy or Sam Lane. Until these comics invest in telling Lois Lane stories, then a quick and no fuss fix like this was always going to happen. It's honestly why I am so disappointed with Superwoman because I thought that would be the best title to deal with the two Lois Lane problem. It still is, in my opinion.

Agreed, especially the bolded.

[misslane]

I for one didn't think this issue was as bad as some made it out to be. Maybe it's because I've grown numb to the whole cut and paste aspect of all this. Maybe it's because I'm enjoying the rest of the line so much that I'm willing to look the other way on this for now. I don't know,but I'm not outraged at Lois taking over Lois' life as some here seem to be.( can't believe I just wrote that. Comics.)

Maybe it's also because I barely gave a damn about Nu Lois by the end of her tenure because the powers that be at DC were less interested in writing a fleshed out character for most of her time and more interested in writing her as a plot device to prove how much "different " Nuperman was . She was barely used anyway and when she was it was often poorly. Perez tried. Scott Snyder tried.Pak tried once in awhile,but no one else did. It likely was because for some reason editorial didn't let the writers use her. I used to think it was because of the other 'ship' DC was pushing with all their might for 10 minutes,but im not all that sure anymore. Either way,she was barely a character really and honestly,i can't really get upset about a cypher being replaced by a better fleshed out and defined version that we knew for 20 years. Is it awkward and stupid? Probably. However it's my ongoing belief Superman ,for whatever reason,as a line has been fundamentally damaged for a decade or more now, and they seem to be SLOWLY fixing things...and some of those fixes are going to be awkward and seem stupid in the short term. Huge retcons are coming to fix this eventually I assume,so for now I'm willing to wait and see.

Agreed. You've echoed my thoughts exactly; although I've never been as bothered by the cut and paste aspect as you have. It's difficult for me to be upset about this when it gets me what I want. I want Lois Lane to be a reporter for The Daily Planet. I don't want her to be a television producer and boss like the New 52 gave me for awhile (and a corrupt one at that) or sitting at home feeling like a part of her is missing because, despite loving her family and being a mother, she also loves her job and needs it to feel like herself and feel whole. I can't feel upset when Jurgens' writing and the artwork honored New 52 Lois' life and point of view far more than Jimenez and all of Lana's contrived grieving friend narrative has been able to do in a few issues of Superwoman.

The issue also basically aligns with current sentiment for the most part. It acknowledges how frustrating and sad it is that the New 52 characters died, it acknowledges that it's weird to take someone's place, and it also acknowledges problems (Lois wanting to be a reporter again, the Clark and Lex mysteries, etc.) whose resolution could partially be found in Lois taking on her counterpart's life with her family and co-workers. These individuals choosing to keep this secret for the time being to get some answers and spare some temporary hurt feels a lot better then Superman risking Lois' life to potentially cure her of her psionic power induced coma and save his secret identity with Parasite or having to deal with a months of marketing and lingering hatred and misconceptions to this day (from readers and from Lana in Superwoman, for example) that Lois was a horrible friend to betray Superman's secret in "Truth." It's not ideal, in other words, but it works for me in a way other story beats haven't.

[Tony]

I feel more like I am watching others pee into their own cornflakes and wondering in horror why they keep eating it.

This made me laugh. I don't know why people hang around being negative. If I'm on the fence about something I tend to be kinder than my thoughts since I'm hoping they win me back. My most negative posts are usually why I'm dropping a title, then I usually give the reasons and move on.

In the case of Action I just flip right past certain posters knowing how they feel. I think it just feeds into it debating people who will never change. The interaction is quicksand in this case.

[Tony]

The issue also basically aligns with current sentiment for the most part. It acknowledges how frustrating and sad it is that the New 52 characters died, it acknowledges that it's weird to take someone's place, and it also acknowledges problems (Lois wanting to be a reporter again, the Clark and Lex mysteries, etc.) whose resolution could partially be found in Lois taking on her counterpart's life with her family and co-workers. These individuals choosing to keep this secret for the time being to get some answers and spare some temporary hurt

I think this was good and important to address. I was happy with the Lois Arc's progress.

[Zero Hunter]

Why not just tell Sam Lane the truth? The same man who is already a rabid xenophobe and now you want to tell him his daughter died due to an alien? The last thing you want is that racist on the warpath.