Sam Lane (comics)
| Sam Lane | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance |
Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #13 (November 1959) |
| Created by |
Robert Bernstein Kurt Schaffenberger |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Samuel "Sam" Lane |
| Team affiliations |
United States Army United States Senate (New 52) |
Samuel "Sam" Lane[1] is a fictional character appearing in Superman titles published by DC Comics. He is the father of Lois Lane and Lucy Lane, and the father-in-law of Clark Kent (Superman). Along with his wife Ella, he was introduced in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #13 (November 1959) as a horse farmer in the town of Pittsdale. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, a rebooting of DC Universe continuity, Lane has been portrayed as a US Army General. His relationships with his daughters and Superman have also been increasingly uneasy.
Fictional character biography
Following Crisis on Infinite Earths Sam Lane was reinvented as a hard-bitten and outspoken US Army General, with an awkward relationship with his daughter. It was explained that Lane had wanted his eldest child to be a boy, so had treated Lois as a surrogate son, when he was present at all.
This version first appeared in Adventures of Superman #424 (January 1987), the first retitled issue of the former Superman title. He became a more significant character following Lois' engagement to Clark Kent, being highly unimpressed with the mild-mannered reporter despite his obvious commitment to Lois. This almost, but not quite, extended to refusing to attend the wedding.
When Lex Luthor became President of the United States, he made Lane Secretary of Defense. This inevitably led to Lois, as an investigative journalist trying to prove Luthor was crooked, opposing her father, especially during the buildup to the Imperiex War. During the War, General Lane was apparently killed by an Imperiex probe, when he detonated the nuclear engine of his tank to crack the shell of the probe and give Black Lightning the chance to get through its armour.[2]
In Action Comics #832 (December 2005), set at Halloween, Sam Lane's ghost appeared to Lois while she was trapped in a car, enabling them to talk through their unresolved issues. However, the last scene of the issue showed the "ghost" leaning against a wall and watching the sunrise, implying that General Lane might still be alive.
Project 7734
While believing that their father is dead, Lois and Lucy still grieve for their father. Lucy decides to try and honor her father's memory and give him the soldier he was denied by joining the U.S. Army. Lucy is wounded during the Amazon's attack on Washington D.C. and is secretly rescued and brought to a secret facility. General Sam Lane finally reveals himself alive and in charge of a covert operation called Project 7734. Lucy volunteers to become Superwoman and is given a mystically-powered costume that allowed her to pass as Kryptonian. Lucy is to infiltrate Kandor and gathering intelligence on the Kryptonians and New Krypton. Lucy appears to die battling Supergirl when her suit is ruptured but returns to life with Kryptonian Powers, ready to serve her country again.
General Lane drafts the imprisoned Lex Luthor into a secret operation against Superman and the Kryptonians of Kandor. The U.S. government believes the aliens to be a risk for world's security and begins to create countermeasures against them. Though the full implications of the operation are yet known, Lane has apparently been monitoring the activities several new superhumans that have appeared following the most recent Crisis. One of the superhumans of particular note is Icon.[3]
After Lois prepares to release a very damaging story, Sam has Lois taken into custody. The two finally meet face to face much to Lois' displeasure. Sam tells Lois the only reason he's being lenient with her is that she is his daughter. He threatens to make her disappear forever in a place where not even Superman can find her. To make his point Sam shoots Lois' laptop containing her story. He realizes that she has back up copies but he has made his point.[4]
War of the Supermen
When General Zod declares war on Earth after it is revealed Lex Luthor (through one of his robot doubles) aided Brainiac in attacking New Krypton, Lane puts his plans into action. The imprisoned Reactron reveals that he allowed himself to be captured as part of Lane's plan. The Luthor robot tampers with Reactron's body chemistry, causing him to explode. The resulting chain reaction leads to the destruction of New Krypton and most of the remaining 100,000 Kryptonians, including Supergirl's mother Alura.[5]
Under Lane's orders, Luthor transforms the Earth's sun from yellow to red to rob the Kryptonians of their powers. Flamebird however neutralizes this countermeasure and the sun reverts to yellow and restores everyone's power. At the same time Jimmy Olsen and his associates save Natasha Irons and transmit all of General Lane's activities to news sites all over the World Wide Web. The remaining Kryptonians, led by Ursa and Zod himself, begin attacking the Earth, ravaging the planet.[6] When confronted by an angered Supergirl and his daughter Lois- particularly after Lois points out to him that he has become the monster he claimed the Kryptonians were, as he is one man who destroyed a planet, while Supergirl defies his perception of her people as 'rabid dogs' by sparing his life when it would have been easy for her to kill him-, Lane commits suicide rather than be made accountable to an international court.[7]
The New 52
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Sam Lane is seen in the relaunched Action Comics where he is seen attempting to catch Superman believing him to be a menace.[8] He was willing to help Superman after Lois and a portion of Metropolis was shrunken and taken away by the Collector.[9] In his next, appearance he has Kryptonite Man released from custody, believing he is necessary to help keep Superman in check.[10] Sam Lane is also seen in the relaunched Superman comics which chronologically takes place five years later in the present day, and his relationship with Superman is not that much different, right to the point where he accuses Superman that his presence in Metropolis is what attracts all the super-powered menaces and for that reason his daughter will always be in danger even though she is now a news producer instead of a reporter.[11]
Following the death of US Senator Hume,[12] Sam Lane was chosen as his replacement and has now become a member of the US Senate.[13]
Other versions
All-Star Superman
General Sam Lane appeared in Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. In his sole appearance in Issue 1, he talks to Luthor about how he pulled him out of prison to work for the US Government, but Luthor again threatens to kill Superman, before he dies. Lane then has Luthor incarcerated in Stryker's.[14]
Flashpoint
Sam Lane appears in the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event.[15] The character is voiced by Danny Huston. In this version, he appears to be an Air Force officer.
In other media
Television
- In Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Sam Lane was a cyberneticist, and he and Ellen were divorced. He first appeared working reluctantly in illegal "augumentation" of boxers. In subsequent appearances he had created a robot girlfriend. In his first appearance, Dr. Sam Lane was played by Denis Arndt, and in later episodes by Harve Presnell.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, General Sam Lane (voiced by Dean Jones) is involved in the space program. He appeared in "Monkey Fun", with a flashback to when he was a lieutenant, then the current Sam Lane appears to aid Lois after the monkey Titano wreaks havoc in Metropolis.
- In Smallville, Lieutenant General Sam Lane appeared in the second and third episodes of Season 4 played by Michael Ironside. When Chloe Sullivan and her father were put in protective custody, Lex Luthor managed to get General Lane in to shield her from the blast when they got into the "safe" house. In the fourth season episode "Lucy" it is noted that "the General" (as both his daughters call him) was unable to cope with raising his daughters alone after the death of his wife. He modeled his parenting on that of his Army career where he implemented a chain of command. He was in charge of Lois and Lois was in charge of Lucy. Both his daughters resented their father for this. At the end of the episode, he sent Lois to Europe in order to locate his younger daughter Lucy, but it is unclear if the efforts were successful. In subsequent episodes, Lane has been casually referenced by other characters. Chloe states that General Lane provided her with covert surveillance equipment in "Mortal". With it, she helps Clark Kent infiltrate the LuthorCorp building and rescue his family. In the sixth season episode "Prototype", Lois told Clark and Chloe that Wes Keenan was the only soldier that the General ever respected. Ironside reprised his role as the General in the Season 10 episode "Ambush", where Clark becomes the first person to pass the 'tests' the General has arranged for Lois's previous boyfriends, the two bond despite their initial disagreement over General Lane's role in the Vigilante Registration Act.
Film
- Sam Lane makes a brief cameo appearance in Superman: The Movie from 1978. Kirk Alyn, the first actor to portray Superman in live-action (in two low-budget serials from the 1940s) is seen when Lois witnesses young Clark Kent racing the train on which he and his wife (portrayed by his serial co-star, Noel Neill) are riding.
- General Sam Lane appears in All-Star Superman, voiced by an uncredited Steven Blum.
- Sam Lane appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, voiced by Danny Huston.
- Sam Lane appears in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis voiced by Jay K. Johnson.
Reception
Chad Derdowski of Mania.com felt that Sam Lane would have been a formidable villain to use for a film stating that he driving a wedge between the relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane would create a little more dramatic oomph for the film.[16]
References
- ↑ Adventures of Superman #593 (August 2001)
- ↑ Action Comics #781 (September 2001)
- ↑ Superman #688 (July 2009)
- ↑ Action Comics #884 (February 2010)
- ↑ Superman: War of the Supermen #1 (July 2010)
- ↑ Superman: War of the Supermen #3 (July 2010)
- ↑ Superman: War of the Supermen #4 (July 2010)
- ↑ Action Comics (vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Action Comics (vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Action Comics (vol. 2) Annual #1
- ↑ Superman (vol. 3) #2
- ↑ Superman (vol. 3) Annual #2
- ↑ Superman (vol. 3) #26
- ↑ All-Star Superman #1 (Jan. 2006)
- ↑ Flashpoint: Project Superman #1 (June 2011)
- ↑ Derdowski, Chad (October 7, 2010). "10 SUPERMAN Villains Snyder Could've Used". Mania.com. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
External links
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