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Lucy Lane
LucyLane
Debut Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #36
(April 1959)
Created by Otto Binder & Curt Swan
Portrayed by see In other media
Statistics
AKA Superwoman
Classification Human
Affiliation US Military
Relatives Lois Lane, Sam Lane
Abilities engineered supersuit

Lucy Lane is the daughter of Sam and Ella Lane, and the sister of Lois Lane.

In her young adulthood, she spent a lot of time with Lois in Metropolis, where she also dated Ron Troupe for a while. She later came to see this as a sign of weakness in herself, as she felt it was only an attempt to get closer to Lois.

Biography[]

In the Golden Age comics, Lois was shown as having had a young niece named Susie Tompkins. Susie's main trait was telling tall tales to adults, and getting into various kinds of mischief. Susie's last appearance was in 1955. While Lois' sister (and Susie's mother) was never shown in the Golden Age comics, after the advent of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, later stories such as Action Comics #484 (from 1978) presented Lucy as having had an Earth-Two counterpart (a married woman named Lucille Tompkins), who was the mother of Susie.

Lucy Lane was first introduced in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #36 in April 1959. In the Silver Age stories, Lucy was presented as an airline stewardess who was an on-again, off-again romantic interest of Jimmy Olsen. More so than her sister, Lucy carried a worldly, cosmopolitan attitude about her. Lucy's Silver Age appearances often revolved around Jimmy's various attempts at romancing her.

Lucy was reintroduced into current comics continuity in issue #5 of John Byrne's 1986 miniseries Man of Steel. Lucy was an air traffic controller, but became affected by a mysterious blindness that was cured as a side-effect of the destruction of a Bizarro clone (loosely reflecting the first Pre-Crisis Bizarro story). Lucy returned to her job and had a brief relationship with Jimmy Olsen. After many encounters with super-villains such as Deathstroke, Sleez and even becoming a vampire bride, she eventually started dating African-American Daily Planet staff member Ron Troupe. When Lucy became pregnant, her conservative father was enraged (although Lucy explained "There's not a racist bone in Daddy's body. He hates all his daughters' beaus.") Sam Lane eventually overcame his anger when Lucy and Ron were married and their child was born.

New Krypton[]

After a long disappearance from the principal storylines, Lucy Lane returns in the one shot Superman: New Krypton. Her past with Ron Troupe is unclear, they are possibly estranged (Troupe having resurfaced in the current storylines, working again with the Daily Planet). Her long disappearance is explained by her joining the military, in a desperate, post-mortem attempt to appease her (presumed) dead father's desire to have a son able to carry on his career in the military. Bitter and angrier than in her former appearances, she still blames Lois for General Sam Lane's apparent death during the war against Imperiex. Essentially, she thinks Lois broke his heart by putting her love for Superman before her duties as a daughter.

Lucy references her former appearances, even mentioning her "dating boys in Lois' circle" as failed attempts to live her life through her more successful sister, but she eventually chooses to sacrifice her life and live the military career her father intended for Lois, driving an even deeper wedge between the two sisters. However, unbeknownst to her, their father is still alive, and working with the government.

Lucy's marriage to Ron Troupe, and the birth of their child Samuel Troupe, may still be in continuity, as a photograph of Sam Troupe appears on Ron's desk. (Action Comics Annual #11)

Superwoman[]

Superwoman

Lucy first appeared as Superwoman in Supergirl #35, her costume a nod to that of the Bronze Age Superwoman Kristin Wells and containing a containment field that simulated Kryptonian powers. However, Lucy's identity was not revealed until near the story arc's end. During her tenure as Superwoman, she was blackmailed by her father, General Sam Lane, into performing acts of villainy such as killing Agent Liberty, who had been spying on General Lane and Lex Luthor. (This resulted in her being the focus of the Supergirl Faces of Evil issue.) She later attacked Reactron, which tipped off readers that Superwoman was not Kryptonian (in that the villain's Gold Kryptonite power source had no effect on her). Supergirl unmasks Superwoman, and accidentally kills her by rupturing the containment field of her suit, causing Lucy's body to contort and explode.

In the Supergirl Annual #1 reveals the current modern backstory of Lucy Lane. In the story, Lucy, since the moment she was born, has felt overshadowed by her big sister Lois. Lucy always felt that Lois always outperformed her, overshadowed her and was more loved by their father. Lucy never blames Lois she blames her parents Sam and Ella. Feeling that by maybe being closer to Lois her father would pay more attention to her, Lucy moved to the same city but this came at the same time Lois and her father grew apart over Superman. After her father's death Lucy joined the army. Being a great soldier and a woman, Lucy rose quickly in the ranks. During the Amazon's attack on the United States, Lucy was nearly killed by two Amazons but was saved by Codename: Assassin. Awaking in Project 7734, her father is able to convince Lucy to put on the Superwoman suit, which possessed mystical qualities. Although seemingly dead, Lucy's remains steal the lifeforce of a woman who comes too close to them. When Lucy is recovered by General Lane's forces, they learn that the suit's mystic energies have somehow transformed her into an actual Kryptonian.

Powers and abilities[]

Although Superwoman has no inherent powers, her powersuit alters her DNA (via a containment field) to resemble that of a Kryptonian and as such would potentially make her capable of all the same feats they possess under the yellow sun. The abilities she has used thus far are: Vast superhuman strength, speed and durability, invulnerability, flight (normal and interstellar), freeze breath and heat vision. The powersuit also protects her from the harmful affects of Kryptonite and grants her the ability to steal the life of someone nearby to resurrect herself. Any other non-Kryptonian abilities the suit may possess have yet to be revealed.

As a result of her resurrection in issue fifty of Supergirl, she is said to have all the inherent abilities and weaknesses of 'Those alien races' which were duplicated by the suit as the result of her return from the dead. While the exact number of alien races whose powers are duplicated by the suit are unknown, Kryptonian powers are among the powerset, as she displayed the ability to use Heat Vision shortly after her recovery by Sam Lane's forces when she was reborn. She also confirms that she possesses super hearing when she murders a scientist working for Lane, though she does so with some form of energy blast from her hand, a power that is not among the abilities of a Kryptonian. If this statement is accurate, Lucy Lane now shares the inherent weakness to Kryptonite which all Kryptonians possess.

The original suit was destroyed by Supergirl, however she appears to have acquired another as of issue fifty of Supergirl, and it is currently unknown if this suit is the same as the one she had been using to masquerade as a Kryptonian, or a non-magical one.

In other media[]

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