There’s a tendency in superhero comics and associated media to give everyone powers. What’s so interesting about a normal person, right? Except often that normal person is as interesting as a superhero, if not moreso. Smartly, that’s exactly the conflict writer Joshua Williamson and company deal with in DC Comics‘s Superwoman Special #1.
If you’re not up on current continuity, Lois Lane is both Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, and Superwoman, with powers maybe not-quite-equal to but similar to Superman’s. How she got those powers seemed to be a no-brainer, if you’ve been reading DC regularly… At the end of Absolute Power, a bunch of Amazo Robots who had stolen powers let them loose. Some got switched around. Some ended up in the wrong place. Lois Lane got Superman powers. The end, right?
…Except far from it. While in Superman Williamson has been full steam ahead focused on the Man of Steel dealing with his wife entering the superhero trade, the Superwoman Special turns to the lens to Lois’s perspective, and asks — and answers — a number of questions we probably should have been interrogating all along.
The biggest one? How does a woman who has always reported on the story feel about being the story? How does she reconcile the fact that she enjoys flying, and getting in on the action? And how does her superhero life impact her day job? It’s a great emotional hook for the issue, and one that seems to be resolved at the end.
But at the same time as Williamson is telling the “origin” of Lois’s powers and setting her up for this new status quo, he’s also teasing out some big, exciting mysteries for the Superman titles going forward. It’s the sort of forward thinking and planning for Superman, laying multiple tracks for stories to pay out over a long run that we haven’t really seen since the ’80s, and it’s a delight to read.
The one hiccup is that given the deep continuity going on here, you likely need to be reading the ongoing Superman title to really enjoy this — as well as possibly Action Comics, which this links up to as well. But as a story of Lois Lane hanging out with her girls and punching some dudes, it’s a fun time.
Does Lois need to have superpowers? No. Would she be better as a “normal” human? Possibly. But the story Williamson and company are telling is fun, interesting, and pushing the character in new directions.
Superwoman Special #1 Rating:
Superwoman Special #1 Official Synopsis:
The amazing story of how Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Lois Lane got superpowers and became Superwoman is finally told. What does it mean for the matriarch of the Super family to fly alongside her family and friends? And how long will these powers last? And who wants these powers for themselves?! Guest starring the Atom, Mister Terrific, Supergirl, and Silver Banshee!
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