Lana Lang is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is a Superman supporting character and love interest of the teenage Clark Kent. She was created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, and first appeared in Superboy #10 (September/October 1950). The character has occasionally gained superhuman powers and assumes the superhero identities of Insect Queen and Superwoman.
Lana has appeared in other-media adaptations of Superman, typically as a teenager. Film portrayals of the character include that by Diane Sherry in Superman: The Movie, Annette O'Toole in its sequel Superman III, and Jadin Gould in Man of Steel. She has been portrayed in television by Stacy Haiduk in Superboy, Emily Procter in Lois & Clark, Kristin Kreuk in Smallville, and Emmanuelle Chriqui in Superman & Lois.
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Publication history
Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10 (September/October 1950). Across decades of Superman comics and adaptations into other media, Lana has most consistently been depicted as Superman's teenage romantic interest growing up in Smallville; as an adult, she is a friend of Superman in his civilian identity as Clark Kent.
Lana is one of many Superman characters with the alliterative initials "LL", the most notable other examples being Superman's primary love interest Lois Lane and archnemesis, Lex Luthor. In the Silver Age, she regularly appeared in comic books depicting the adventures of Superman's teenaged self, Superboy, and also appeared as an adult in numerous Superman titles, vying with Lois Lane for his attention. In modern revisions of DC Comics continuity, she and Clark are shown to have remained friends since their teenage years. The story varies across different revisions of Superman's origin story. For example, in Superman: Secret Origin, Lana becomes privy to Clark's unusual abilities at an early age and becomes his earliest confidant outside of his parents and the futuristic Legion of Super-Heroes.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age and Bronze Age
In the original Superboy stories, Lana was the girl who lived next door to the Kent family in Smallville, and was a romantic interest of Superboy. In the Silver Age stories, Lana often behaved like a younger version of Lois Lane, spending much of her time trying to prove that Superboy and Clark Kent were one and the same.
At one point, Lana once rescued an insect-like alien trapped by a fallen tree in Smallville. In gratitude, the alien gave her a "bio-genetic" ring which allowed Lana to gain insect (and insect-like, such as arachnids) characteristics. Lana created a yellow honeybee-like costume and mask, and took the name "Insect Queen", under which identity Lana had several adventures.
Lana also had various adventures with Superboy, and several with the futuristic superhero team the Legion of Super-Heroes. Also appearing in some Silver Age stories was Lana's uncle, Professor Potter, an eccentric inventor.
After Clark and Lana graduated from high school, Lana went to college, and eventually became a television reporter for Metropolis TV station WMET-TV. As an adult, Lana became a rival to Lois Lane for Superman's affection in various 1960s stories, often appearing in the Lois Lane comics series Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Lana became an anchorwoman for WGBS-TV's evening news in Metropolis, as a co-anchor to Clark Kent. Her attraction to Superman during this time had also died off, leaving Superman to Lois Lane. Lana later became romantically linked to the alien super-hero Vartox. Eventually, she and Clark Kent became romantically involved in stories prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In the early 1980s, with the use of the multiverse system DC had in place, Lana Lang was also shown in several stories to have had an Earth-Two counterpart (Earth-Two at the time the home of the Justice Society of America and DC's Golden Age versions of its characters, versus its mainstream universe of "Earth-One"). The Earth-Two Lana Lang was introduced in Superman Family #203. In this story, Lana Lang joins the Daily Star as a television critic. On Earth-Two Lana's father left Smallville and moved to Metropolis as a young man, so Clark did not know Lana in his youth.
Modern Age
After the 1985-1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths was written, various aspects of Lana's history were retconned, starting with comics writer John Byrne's miniseries The Man of Steel, which was designed to rewrite Superman's origin from scratch. In the post-Crisis version of events, Lana was a childhood friend of Clark, with a certain degree of romantic tension in the air as Lana had long pined after Clark, who had loved her only platonically in return.
After they graduated from high school Clark took Lana on a private walk, saying that he had to tell her something important, which Lana honestly expected to be a marriage proposal. He then divulged to her that he had superpowers, displayed by flying her around the world, before explaining that he felt he had to leave Smallville to help humanity as a whole. Kissing her goodbye "like a brother", Lana was left in considerable shock, not only over the revelation of Clark's superpowers, but also over the final realization that he held no reciprocal romantic feelings towards her, leaving Lana heartbroken and alone. When Lana finally aired her grievance with him years later (The Man of Steel #6), Clark felt very badly over how he had hurt her.
When Clark appeared in public as Superman some years later, the lonely and depressed Lana deduced his true identity and became something of a stalker, to the extent that Lex Luthor noticed the frequency with which she appeared in the vicinity of the hero and actually had her tortured in an attempt to gain whatever inside knowledge of Superman she might have. Lana bravely kept Clark's identity a secret and upon his rescuing her their relationship became more healthy once again, albeit still at a distance. A long-term conspiracy of the Oan-created androids, the Manhunters, from whose control Lana and the rest of Smallville's children born around the same time as her were eventually freed, proved to be the cause of this stalking. Unlike the pre-Crisis Earth-One continuity, Lana did not go on to have a journalistic career or compete with Lois for Superman's affections, nor play a significant role in Clark's life in Metropolis.
Lana's relationship with Clark is again altered in 2003's Superman: Birthright limited series by Mark Waid, which again revises Superman's origins. This storyline, which takes some inspiration from the TV show Smallville (such as the appearance of Jonathan and Martha Kent), also shows Clark and Lana to have had a mutual romantic relationship during their youth. At the start of the storyline, Lana has already left Smallville prior to Clark's return from his world journey. Upon his arrival home, Clark is told that Lana left some time prior and no one has heard from her since. Following this storyline, there is never again any mention of her history regarding Clark or Superman.
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics rebooted their continuity. In this new timeline, Lana is a childhood friend of Clark and has been privy to Clark's unusual abilities from an early age. They also share mutual romantic feelings for each other during their youth, and they would have gone to the Senior Prom together if that had not been the night that Clark's parents died. Lana eventually leaves Clark behind in Smallville to make her own mark on the world, but not before reassuring him that she will always love him. In the present day continuity, Lana works as an electrical engineer on various projects around the world. It is hinted that adult Clark still harbors romantic feelings for Lana.
In The New 52: Futures End, Lang was among the countless Earth 2 refugees who escaped Darkseid and his Parademon army's destruction of their home world and relocated to Prime Earth. Ending up working in the Cadmus Island sub-basement under King Faraday, Lana was able to conceal her metahuman biology from everyone, except Cole Cash. Lana and Cole eventually escaped the island together but were then forced to visit the Earth Registration Authority, where it was reported that Cole Cash had died nine years prior, forcing him to re-register under the legal name "Cole Lang" - Lana's husband and an Earth-2 native. Shortly afterwards, Lana adopted Susan Lang, formerly Fifty Sue, a super-powered little girl she had met on Cadmus Island.
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics started a company-wide crossover event titled DC Rebirth. A pre-Flashpoint Clark Kent discovered Lana under a memorial for Superman, where she revealed that she had made a promise to move Clark's remains next to his family's in Smallville. The pre-Flashpoint Clark had her take him to the Fortress of Solitude to see if he could revive Superman as he had assumed but realized that he could not. He then took Lana to Smallville and helped her to re-bury Superman's remains.
It is subsequently revealed that, apparently due to their presence at the death of the New 52 Clark Kent, Lana and Lois have acquired powers, each calling themselves 'Superwoman', with Lois demonstrating Superman's traditional powers while Lana manifests a form similar to the more recent 'Superman Red', able to absorb and generate multiple forms of energy. Although Lana initially plans to operate in secret, after Lois is killed, she begins taking on a more active role as Superwoman. She continues to operate as Superwoman but is ultimately de-powered and returns to normal life.
Dawn of DC
In the Dawn of DC series Steelworks, Lana Lang marries John Henry Irons and is exposed to zero-point energy that causes her to regain her powers.
Other versions
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang from Earth-31 appears in The Dark Knight Returns. This version is an editor at the Daily Planet.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang from Earth-3839 appears in Superman & Batman: Generations. This version is Superman's wife who became an immortal metahuman from constant exposure to magic and biochemicals.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang from Earth-898 appears in JLA: The Nail. This version is a doctor who studies metahumans.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang from Earth-30 appears in Superman: Red Son. This version is Lana Lazarenko, a Ukrainian woman and tour guide at a Superman museum.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang from Earth-10 appears in The Multiversity. This version is Overman's consort.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang appears in Superman: Year One.
In other media
Television
Lana Lang appears in The Adventures of Superboy (1966), voiced by Janet Waldo.
Lana Lang appears in Superman (1988), voiced by Russi Taylor as a young girl and by Liz Georges as a teenager.
Lana Lang appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Kelley Schmidt as a teenager and by Joely Fisher as an adult. This version is a fashion designer who briefly dated Lex Luthor. First appearing in Superman: The Animated Series, she later makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Justice League episode "Hereafter" Pt. 2.
Lana Lang makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Battle of the Superheroes!".
Lana Lang appears in The Adventures of Superboy (1961), portrayed by Bunny Henning.
Lana Lang appears in Superboy, portrayed by Stacy Haiduk. This version attended Shuster University and joined the Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters alongside Clark Kent.
An alternate universe version of Lana Lang appears in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Tempus, Anyone?", portrayed by Emily Procter. This version hails from a universe where Clark Kent and Lois Lane never met and he became engaged to Lana, who encourages him to keep his abilities secret out of fear that he will be captured and experimented on by the government. After the primary Lois travels to the alternate universe and convinces the alternate Clark to become Superman, Lana breaks up with him.
Lana Lang appears in Smallville, portrayed by Kristin Kreuk. This version is Clark Kent's next-door neighbor and initially unaware of his affections for her. Throughout the series, they enter an on-off relationship until she gains superhuman abilities through a Kryptonite suit that renders her physically incompatible with Clark. Following this, she eventually leaves to use her powers for global humanitarian efforts.
Film
Lana Lang appears in the Salkind Superman films. She first makes a cameo appearance in Superman (1978), portrayed by Diane Sherry, in which she is a cheerleader at Smallville High and in a relationship with a football player named Brad. Lang later appears in Superman III, portrayed by Annette O'Toole, in which she has had a son named Ricky and is divorced from her high school sweetheart Donald while Brad still vies for her attention despite her despising him.
Lana Lang appears in films set in the DC Extended Universe. She appears as a child in a flashback in Man of Steel, portrayed by Jadin Gould, and in a cameo appearance as an adult in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, portrayed by Emily Peterson.
Lana Lang appears in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, voiced by Paget Brewster. This version is a commentator and editor of the Daily Planet show Point vs Point.
Svetlana, adapted from the source material's Lana Lang analog, Lana Lazarenko, appears in Superman: Red Son, voiced by Winter Ave Zoli. After befriending and convincing the young Kal-El to use his powers to help Russia, Svetlana is captured and imprisoned in a secret gulag by Joseph Stalin for knowing Kal-El's secret identity. By the time Superman locates and rescues her, she has been greatly weakened and dies in his arms.
Video games
Lana Lang appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Lorrie Singer.
Lana Lang appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
Reception
The character of Lana Lang has been analyzed as a portrayal of women in American comics. Her depiction in comics is seen in contrast to Lois Lane, in that "everything that woman are thought to be that the plot does not allow Lois spills over into Lana's character. Thus, the exaggeratedly feminine nature of Lana's speech and appearance- her form-fitting, sometimes revealing outfits for example- stands in contrast to Lois' sportier clothes and straightforward speech."