She had no super-powers. Someone else always had to bail her out of the trouble she got into. And she never got what she really wanted.
As the star of a comic book, Lois Lane had some serious limitations. But for 137 issues, writers managed to overcome those limitations--many through an endless rotation of near weddings, strange spells and "imaginary stories."
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, published by DC Comics, began in the early 1960s and lasted until 1974. Lois' adventures would last for another eight years in Superman Family. While, outside of Wonder Woman, it was unusual for a female character to have own comic book, Lois leaves a lot to be desired as a proto-feminist role model. Yes, she's an ace reporter who'll go to any lengths to get a story, but it's easy to be fearless when Superman's always there to save you. Besides, Lois spends much more energy trying to land Superman than she does trying to land the big story.
Somehow, it doesn't matter though--the joy of reading issue upon issue of inspired silliness more than makes up for Lois' shortcomings.
Triangle
Actually, despite the title, Lois doesn't have a clear claim on Superman's affections throughout much of the comic's run. For the first 80 issues, Lois must compete with Lana Lang for Superman, who plays them against each other in a rather unseemly way (and occasionally forgoes them for someone else altogether).
Who Superman loves may seem like a no-brainer--after all, it's Lois' name on the comic, and even those who've never read a single comic book in their lives know that Lois Lane is Superman's girlfriend. But in the early years, readers (mostly male) were divided about who should win the Man of Steel's heart.
"I think Lana Lang would make a much better wife for Superman than Lois Lane for the following reasons: She is prettier than Lois...She is not as inquisitive as Lois...She is not as jealous as Lois...She doesn't get into as much trouble as Lois...," one reader wrote. Poor Lois even had to suffer the indignity of having the letters column of her comic book called "Letters to Lois and Lana" for a long while.
In a rare burst of character development, this issue finally comes to a head in issues 80-81, when Lois resents wasting her life pining for Superman and does something about it. She changes her name, moves to another town and becomes a nurse, having served as a "volunteer nurse" in Metropolis. (I just love the cover on which she rips "Superman's Girlfriend" right out of the title.) She quickly finds love, of course, and undergoes one of her many strange transformations--this time she becomes telepathic, which allows her to read Superman's mind and learn that it really is she that he loves.
Lana still turns up from time to time, but she's gradually phased out of the comic.
Changing Times, Changing Hair
As the late '60s and early '70s developed, Lois' stories sometimes included "relevance," often in the form of her taking a slightly more independent stand, which would bring disgruntled cries of "women's lib" in the letters column.
By far the most hilarious attempt at relevance, though is issue 106, in which Lois becomes black for a day!
Along with such changes, Lois' look changed with the times--she became prettier and more youthful looking with passing years as her prim haircut and neat suits gave way to long, flowing hair, hot pants and mini-skirts.
By the end of her run in Superman Family in 1982, Lois was very much the man-tailored, angular, Margot Kidder-style.
Same old story?
While looks changed, stories tended to follow predictable formulas, although their execution would become more and more outlandish.
Lois would become disfigured or incapacitated (say, given a huge bulbous head or turned to snow) thereby ruining her chances with Superman, at least until he invariably saved her. Or, by some design, Lois would almost get Superman to the altar. Occasionally, the tables would be turned and Lois would have to cope with an incapacitated Superman--the best example was in an issue with Catwoman where he was turned into a kitty!
Or, best of all, the writers would indulge in an "imaginary
story" that would enable us to see Lois as the wife of Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, even Satan!
In tales of their imaginary marriages, Lois and Superman would usually have little super children, through whom we would learn that the writers thought children under the age of about five could not master the personal pronoun: "Mommy, me want to go fly with Daddy!"
Superman may be able to resist making her his wife, but Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane is an irresistably fun read.