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| “ | You want to see the best in people, John. That's one of the things I love about you. But I know this town. And this kind of blind faith is too much. Even for them. Superman knows what I'm talking about. | „ |
| ~ Prime-Earth Lana Lang to John Henry Irons. |
| “ | There's so much to consider, especially the faith my friends put in me. That I could never quantify, but it sure does add to the equation. I might be weakened, but I'm ready. Ready to own my powers | „ |
| ~ Prime-Earth Lana Lang. |
Lana Lang is a fictional character in DC comics and universe, and is a supporting character and superheroine in the Superman and Superboy comics.
She is often portrayed as the childhood friend and love-interest of Superman, and became the adoptive aunt of Superman's cousin, Supergirl. Lana later claimed the title Superwoman during the events of DC Rebirth, and became a member of the Superman Family.
She was created by Bill Finger and John Sikela, and first appeared in Superboy #10 in September/October of 1950.
Biography[]
Earth-One[]
Lana Lang was born in Smallville, Kansas to Lewis and Sarah Lang, and is the sister to Ronald, Larry and Alvin Lang. She and her brothers were raised on a farm, and Lana befriended and became attracted to her next door neighbor, Clark Kent. Lana was also interested in the local superhero Superboy, becoming obsessive of him during her high school years to discover his secret identity. One day, Lana rescued an insect-like alien trapped by a fallen tree, and was granted a Bio-Genetic Ring as gratitude by the alien, which allowed her to gain insect characteristics.
Afterward, Lana created a costume and adopted the name Insect Queen, becoming a crime-fighter. She and Superboy went on many adventures, and she became a reserve member of the Legion of Superheroes. By the time she went to college, Lana became a love rival of Los Lane for Superman, and became the co-anchor of WGBS-TV with Clark. Though Lana's affection for Superman drifted away when she became romantically linked to Vartox, she and Clark did become romantic in stories prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Earth-One's Lana was erased from existence after the collapse of the original Multiverse during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
New Earth[]
On New Earth, Lana Elizabeth Lang is the daughter of Thomas and Carol Lang, and she found out about Clark's abilities when he saved her life as children. Some of Clark's powers activated for the firs time when he was around Lana, such as when she gave him his first kiss, Clark's heat vision activated. Lana later attended Metropolis University to pursue a degree in business, and as adults, she is one of the few people who is aware that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person.
Lana eventually became romantically involved with Pete Ross, and she decided to marry him after Superman affirmed that Clark would never love her the way she loved him. Lana and Pete married at a small ceremony at the Kent's house, with only a few guest since Clark and Lois were busy in Metropolis. While having a quiet life in Smallville, Lana became pregnant, but complications caused her child to be born premature.
Lana asked Superman to take her baby to a more advanced medical facility, but her infant was taken by Brainiac, who was using Doomsday as a host. Brainiac intended to use the baby to grow into a new body for himself, but Superman managed to defeat the supervillain and rescue the baby. Superman discovered that as part of the process of preparing the infant for Brainiac's experiments, the baby was aged to term. Superman returned the child to Lana and Pete, and Lana decided to name her son Clark Pete Ross.
In 2000, Pete became Lex Luthor's vice presidential running mate in the latter's bid to become the President, and Pete won alongside Lex. Lana moved to Washington, D.C. with Pete and her son, and talked to Superman, promising to keep his secret and to announce that she didn't have any feelings for him anymore. After Luthor was forced out of office, Pete became the President, and Lana became the First Lady of the United States. Eventually, Lana divorced Pete after years of dissatisfaction, and still having feelings for Clark. However, Lana reunited with Pete after Superman saved them from the villain Ruin.
When Lex was voted off as chairman of LexCorp, Lana became the CEO of the company after the board chose her. Her time as CEO was successful, but ended when she attempted to use LexCorp's resources to assist Superman, and was fired by Luthor via a hologram. After being fired, Lana decided to return to Smallville to be closer with her family, but Perry White pursued Lana to take over the business section of the Daily Planet. When Supergirl was upset due to Cat Grant's slander pierce, and was hesitant to create her own secret identity, Lana reached out to her. After gaining a connection, Lana decided to take up Perry's offer and help Kara pose as her niece, Linda Lang.
Soon after, Lana started to develop a mysterious illness, and attempted to keep it a secret until Lois noticed. Supergirl confronted her about the illness, but Lana seemingly dies from it when taken to a hospital. However, Lana was reverted back into her Insect Queen form, and cocooned the hospital. After capturing Supergirl, Insect Queen informs Kara that during her last encounter with Lana, she embedded a piece of her DNA within her in attempt to reposes her body. The two engaged in battle, and Kara eventually expelled the Insect Queen from Lana's body through the use of a Kryptonian machine, and Lana was successfully cured. After Lana was cured, Kara decided she was going to leave home due to Lana not telling her of the illness.
DC Rebirth[]
When Superman died, Lana and Lois both absorbed energy that was released from his body, and the two developed superhuman powers. Lana gained the power to convert solar radiation into electromagnetic energy, super strength, flight and invulnerability, as Lois developed powers similar to Superman's. Lana helped train Lois to control her powers, and the two decided to become superheroines named Superwoman. The timeline was eventually altered so that both the Superman she received her powers from and the Lois Lane she trained were ones from an alternate reality.
Portrayals[]
Films[]
- In the 1978 Superman film, she was portrayed by Diane Sherry.
- In Superman III, she was portrayed by Annette O'Toole, who also played Martha Kent on the WB series, Smallville.
- In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, shew as voiced by Paget Brewster.
- In in the DC Extended Universe, Jadin Gould portrayed Lana young in Man of Steel, and Emily Peterson portrayed an older Lana in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Television[]
- In the 1960s The Adventures of Superboy, she was portrayed by Bunny Henning.
- In Adventures of Superboy, she was voiced by Janet Waldo.
- In the Superboy tv series, she was portrayed by Stacy Haiduk.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, she was voiced by Joley Fisher as an adult, and Kelley Schmidt young.
- In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, she was voiced by Emily Procter.
- In Smallville, she was portrayed by Kristin Kreuk, who also played Margaret Isobel Thoreaux in the same series, and Chun-Li in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
- In the CW series, Superman & Lois, she is portrayed by Emmanuelle Chriqui.
Video Games[]
- In DC Universe Online, she was voiced by Lorrie Singer.
Quotes[]
| “ | When I reveal my true identity, he'll have to admit that I'm really his dream girl! | „ |
| ~ Earth-One Lana Lang. |
Trivia[]
- Many artist have mistakenly colored Lana's eye differently, as some have drawn them blue instead of green.
- Lana Lang and Cassandra in Disney's Hercules the Animated Series both share the same similarities as the main protagonist's childhood friend. Although the difference is Cassandra isn't Hercules' love interests.
