#comickergirl

[artingdreamers]

Got to work on a commission piece for @comickergirl ! Thanks for the work dude, always fun to draw Clea, and in such a dapper outfit. Glad you enjoy the artwork~

I'm open for work as always here.

[greenjacketwhitehatdocmui]

Lois Lane--Development of a Career Woman and Parent

Fair warning: This is a long one.

     For many years, Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been quite the pair.  In the 50’s through roughly the 70’s, their dynamic was mostly defined by what we would consider a dysfunctional relationship.  Lois was gaga over Superman, the perfect man.  Clark loved Lois, but had to pretend to be the timid milksop.  Lois could not imagine unreliable Clark with his excuses and apparent lack of spine.  And there were many, many stories where Lois attempted to prove that Clark and Superman were the same, only to be foiled by Clark or Superman stand-in in the form of Batman, a Superman/Clark robot, or even (in one infamous story due to the timing of the story’s release), President John F. Kennedy.

     Were there stories about Lois and Clark getting together?  Yes, but they were mostly imaginary stories.  The Earth 2 Superman and Lois did get together.  But overall, there was such a history of gaslighting and histrionics that would make modern-day readers cringe at how dysfunctional it all looked. One of my favorite Youtube channels, Casually Comics, often discusses the early Silver Age comics and the shenanigans that often ensued.

     (To their credit, DC’s solo series for Lois Lane during that time was a long-runner.  It showed that she had more depth than just “Superman’s Girlfriend”—though it was still on the title of the book.)

     That changed after Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985.  The last vestiges of the pre-Crisis continuity were wrapped up in “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow.”  Superman has been dead for 10 years and Lois is happily married to an Average Joe, Jordan Elliott.  She recounts to a reporter the events of Superman’s last battle, and that she never saw him again.  Only after the reporter leaves is it revealed that Jordan is Superman—albeit one depowered by Gold Kryptonite.  He and Lois are happily living an ordinary life, one that previous writers would have been loath to approach.

     After John Byrne’s reboot of the character and his universe in “Man of Steel,” the initial dynamic holds between Clark, Lois, and Superman.  However, instead of timid Clark being the disguise and Superman the real person, there are more nuanced aspects.  Clark, down at the farm with his still-living parents, is a different person than timid Clark at the Daily Planet.  Superman is more of a person who’s there for the crisis of the moment.  One thing leads to another and Clark reveals his identity to Lois—and it’s handled rather well.

     By this time, Lois is more fleshed out.  She’s the daughter of General Sam Lane, a military brat who has a black belt in karate.  She takes no guff and she will see the truth told.  And she may still take crazy risks to get stuff done.

     One dimension of Lois that writers have been reluctant to touch (outside of imaginary stories) is that of motherhood.  They seem to think that Lois Lane as a mother is a downgrade from being a badass, fearless reporter.  Maybe those writers thought that she’d be content to stay in the kitchen, making sandwiches for Clark and their children, thankful that her hectic days as a reporter are over.

     In 2006, Lois got her first taste of motherhood.  Lor-Zod, the son of General Dru-Zod and Ursa, arrives as an amnesiac boy who can only speak Kryptonian.  She and Clark adopt the boy and name him “Chris Kent.”  Eventually, Lor-Zod is aged up due to his odd metabolism (or, to be honest, due to plot necessity) and eventually sacrifices his freedom.  He takes himself and his father back to the Zone.  When last we see of Lor-Zod, he’s walking with Mon-El.

     Then the character got rebooted.  But that’s neither here nor there.

     The “aging up” thing would repeat itself with Jon Kent.  In this case, it wasn’t so much a matter of plot necessity as it was of egos and other factors.  I’ve expressed my displeasure at how this was done more than a few times.

     The Rebirth era (which included the Super Sons comic) showed that Lois could be a badass mother and a successful reporter.  One moment, she’s piloting a modified Hellbat suit to protect Jon, the next moment, she’s consoling Jon on the consequences of his powers.  Shades of Ellen Ripley!

Jon’s age-up was partially meant to de-emphasize the mother aspect of Lois’s character.  Unfortunately, there were times when Lois as a mother wasn’t written very well.  For comparison, here’s Lois as the authority in the family.  Note the slightly pugnacious attitude that others thought that motherhood would have diminished:

     And note that she’s just as sentimental as anyone else in this situation:

     And…then there’s this bit from “Dark Crisis:  World Without a Justice League – Superman # 1”, a one-shot comic.  In it, Superman is shown his idealized world.  Lois is not treated kindly in this book:

     Is it relatable?  Have many working mothers done this sort of thing?  Yes, but it’s just now how Lois would do it—at least, not how she was back when Peter Tomasi wrote her.  I mean, motivating young Jon by telling him that people are dying is a bit much.

     And then, there’s this bit from Action Comics 1100:

      Okay, since when did Lois think that poorly of Kon-El?  For that matter, why is she not saying a word to the boys?  As a military brat, her father would have drilled in cleanliness and order into her.  So, here’s how the situation should go:

Lois:  Jon?  Pause it.

Jon:  Mom?

Lois:  I want this mess cleaned up.  Now.  Conner, you’re helping.

Conner:  Hey, wait a sec.  Why--?

Lois:  I’m sure that Ma taught you better.

Conner:  (grumbles)  Fine.

(The mess is taken care of in under 30 seconds.  Then the boys resume playing.)

Kara:  How did you do that?

Lois:  (smirks)  That’s my superpower. (On a personal note, I don't care for the tight bun on Lois. It looks like she's trying to channel Debbie Grayson from Invincible. But that's just me.)

Anyway, I guess the upshot is that Lois is a multifaceted character with many depths.  It is entirely possible to write her well as both a mother and reporter.  I’m sure that Tom King and Sophie Campbell tried for a more “relatable” version of Lois.  The thing is, that just didn’t work for me.

For another good example of a functional Super-family dynamic, I highly recommend "Supergirl's Family Vacation" (found here and here, among other places) by Brandon T. Snider, @cootiekid and illustrated by Sarah Leuver, @comickergirl . It balances everyone's traits out nicely so that no character dominates the scene.

(Yes, Sarah, I had to plug your stuff.) :)

What do you think?

--Doc

(Edit: Added some pictures and reworked a bit of text. Also did a shameless plug.)

[cardboard-writer]

By comickergirl:

Link

[glennmandagi]

Superman Family

Art by @comickergirl

[frozenprocedural]

To celebrate the completion of @couragedontdesertme 's Big Hero 6 AU, (and as a bribe to get her to finish it! 🤣), I commissioned @comickergirl for this GORGEOUS piece!

Go read the AU here! And as always, thank you so much @comickergirl for your amazing work!

[princessesfanarts]

Windswept by ComickerGirl

[nihilisticsavage]

[the-spaztic-fantastic]

Iduna and Agnarr chillin’ up in the Enchanted Forest.  For reasons.

Many thanks to @comickergirl for letting me commission this and the remarkably quick turn around!  If anyone is ever thinking of getting any kind of fan art, I can not recommend her highly enough.