Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Lana Lang
She and her parents came to move to the town of Smallville where they became next door neighbours to Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent. Whilst there, she came to meet their son Clark Kent who was her age with her finding him to be a timid boy. In the town, she came to meet the hero Superboy where she came to be enamoured with him. (Superboy v1 #10)
One day, she returned home to find her father had returned from his archaeological expedition to Easter Island. He brought with him a number of artifacts and gifted a necklace to Lana where she found she had gained superpowers from them. This confirmed her fathers theory that Easter Island was once inhabited by a race of superior beings from another worlds with the advanced relics left behind conferring powers to the wearer. Lana then used these items to fashion a superhero identity for herself as the masked Sky Girl who operated in Smallville. (Adventure Comics v1 #189)
The Kents took young Clark to an Easter-Egg hunt, and warned Superbaby not to use any of his powers. Lana Lang was winning the game, and Clark discovered jewels hidden under a tree that he thought were enough Easter eggs to win the game. The jewels were buried by crooks who were watching the hunt, and dismayed when they saw Clark dig them up. They offered Clark a quarter for them, and suspecting something wasn't right, Clark put a loudspeaker up to their mouths. Officer Parker, who was officiating the hunt, quickly apprehended the criminals. (Superboy v2 #19)
Bash Bashford spilled milk on Clark's clothes and Lana upbraided him for being such a pushover. Bash s actions caused problems when Clark had to leave school as Superboy to stop a robbery. Bash found Clark's abandoned clothes and wondered if he was Superboy, but the Teen of Steel used his heat-vision to dry the milk-stain, returned home, and changed into another set of clothes that he stained. Bash had to admit he was barking up the wrong tree. (Superboy v2 #9)
Lana and Clark prepared for their first year in high school, and Lana suggested he get a new look. Clark took her comment to heart and redesigned his Superboy costume, but the new yellow costume reflected the sun rays that gave him his powers, and he never again wore it. (Superboy v2 #18)
Clark was deathly ill, and a tearful Lana visited his bedside with flowers. Clark had kryptonite poisoning, and once he realized the radioactive material was deadly to Kryptonians he was saved by his Superboy Robot. (Adventure Comics v1 #251)
Superboy s heroic career was hindered when the Kents memory of his secret identity was erased by Phantom Zone villains, and he made the dramatic decision to fake Clark Kents death. Lana attended the funeral after Clark was seemingly vaporized by a geyser. After the Kents memories were repaired Clark returned to Smallville, announcing that Superboy had to fake his death because three dangerous criminals were after him. (Superboy v2 #8)
Superboy tried to keep kids on summer break off the streets with the Superboy Recreation Center, but found that attendance was down. Most kids preferred loitering, but Superboy came across hobo musician Jerry Howe, who called himself the Pied Piper. He entertained the kids, so Superboy built a theatre for him. Superboy received a plaque for his work with children, but Jerry was ignored because he was a hobo and he swore that Smallville would be sorry. Small-time Metropolis crook Gaff Lomar overheard him, and got an idea. He kidnapped and impersonated Jerry, telling the local kids, including Lana, that he was filming a movie called the Piped Piper, and if they followed him to dangerous locales like blasting areas and unfinished bridges they d be rewarded and in no real danger because Superboy would save them. They followed, and Superboy prevented disaster, but the parents were outraged. The impersonator told the parents he'd leave town for $50,000, and that while Superboy had no legal right to arrest him his power came from his wooden reeds that were carved from wood by the original Pied Piper of Hamlin. Superboy uncovered his ruse and brought him into custody. (Superboy v1 #27)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Lana Lang
Dr. Whitney was responsible for delivering the baby Lana Lang. Unknown to anyone, Whitney was an undercover Manhunter and implanted Lana with a microscopic inducer so she could one day be activated as Manhunter sleeper agent. (Adventures of Superman v1 #436)
Lana found out about Clark's abilities when they were children, after he saved her life. (Superman: Secret Origin v1 #1)
Clark Kent revealed his superpowers to Lana, and he took her on a flight. During that moment, the Martian Manhunter observed them to make sure the Kryptonian was using his powers responsibly. (Martian Manhunter v2 #20)
Superman pursued Manhunter Lana Lang flying above the city of Metropolis. The sight of the hero made the terrorist Alan Bolland have a change of heart about bombing Galaxy Communications. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
Lana celebrated the Kents 49th anniversary with their friends. After the party Clark arrived, having been held up by the Fearsome Five. (Adventures of Superman v1 #430)
Lana and the other Manhunter sleepers were activated to foil the Guardians Millennium project. Lana went to Metropolis, warned Clark not to interfere and tried to expose his secret identity to his Daily Planet coworkers. She failed and fled to Smallville, with Superman close behind. The Manhunters captured him, but Superman broke his bonds and destroyed the Manhunter android Dr. Whitney. (Adventures of Superman v1 #436)
Lana ran into Supergirl, who'd just arrived in Smallville. (Adventures of Superman v1 #442)
Pete found Lana an apartment in her building, and when a rainstorm damaged her ceiling he let her stay with him. He hoped she'd fall for him, but gave up when he saw the one thing she saved from her apartment was a photo of Clark. Lana eventually realized that although she'd never be with Clark she was lucky to have a man like Pete in her life, and they had a romantic night. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #7)
With her engagement to Senator Ross, Lana went job-hunting in Washington, D.C. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #11)
Conduit sent a bomb to Lana and Pete hidden in a champagne bottle. The bomb destroyed their house, but Superman saved their lives and warned them to lay low until he took care of Conduit. (Superman v2 #100)
After Lex Luthor was formally ousted from LexCorp, Lana Lang was named by the company as its new C.E.O. (Superman v1 #654) The company faced heavy financial losses that threatened its continued operations thus forcing Lana to agree to a government contract whereby they built Kryptonite-based weapons for the U.S. government. (Superman/Batman v1 #49)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Lana Lang
She later headed south towards Venezuela where she was hired as an electrical engineer to help a non-profit collective build a drilling rig to tape into a new source of geothermal power. The drilling broke into a chamber that awoke a giant beast that went on a rampage with the people at the site saved only by the intervention of Superman. (Action Comics v2 #26)
Exposure to Superman's energies caused both Lana and Lois to develop superpowers of their own with Lang's taking the form of control over various forms of electromagnetic energy meanwhile Lane's gained a similar abilities as Superman. The two then decided to work with one another as both took the identity of Superwoman. (Superwoman v1 #1)
After Clark Kent revealed he was Superman to the world, Lana Lang was given an exclusive to interview him as he felt that it showed some impartiality by talking to a representative from the Daily Star. (Superman v5 #25)
Overview
Personality and attributes
At one point, she took the superhero identity of Sky Girl. (Adventure Comics v1 #189) She later took on the identity of Gravity Girl. (Adventure Comics v1 #285) For a time, she and Lois both came to share the identity of Superwoman when the two gained superpowers. (Superwoman v1 #1)
Some had said that she was as beautiful as Lois Lane. (Superboy v1 #10)
It was said that she was as inquisitive as Lois Lane. (Superboy v1 #10)
One incarnation of her father was said to had been an explorer. (Superboy v1 #10)
After losing her powers, she sometimes had dreams of still being able to fly and even on occasion thought that she felt that they were returning. (Superman v5 #25)
Powers and abilities
Once, her father had discovered relics of an advanced alien civilisation that once resided on Easter Island with these including a belt that seemingly provided powers to the wielder. In reality, the belt had anti-gravitational powers allowing the wielder to fly and lift heavy objects thus seemingly conferring superstrength. It was also anti-magnetic thus repelling any objects made of metal with this mistakenly being considered a form of invulnerability at first. (Adventure Comics v1 #189) On another occasion, her father uncovered another belt created by an unknown alien civilisation that had anti-gravitational abilities allowing for flight, superstrength and invulnerability. (Adventure Comics v1 #285)
One incarnation of her gained superpowers after exposure to energies emitted from Superman. This gave her the ability to transform solar energy into other kinds of energy such as electricity. She was able to manipulate electromagnetic energies and electrical fields allowing her to achieve such feats as removing cold plasma and heat from a fire to snuff flames out. (Superwoman v1 #1)
Notes
- Lana Lang was created by Bill Finger and John Sikela where she made her first appearance in Superboy v1 #10 (September/October, 1950).
- In Adventure Comics v1 #189 (1953), she briefly took the superhero identity of Sky Girl.
- In Superboy v1 #48 (1956), it was shown that Lana had a brother named Alvin Lang.
- In Superboy v1 #63 (1958), reference was made to Lana having a cousin named Andy Lang with Superboy masquerading as him after he lost his memory.
- In Adventure Comics v1 #250 (1958), Lorac-K7 was a criminal from the 30th century who was a far future descendant of Lana Lang.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Adventures of Superboy, Lana Lang appeared in the setting of the 1966 live-action television series where she was voiced by actress Janet Waldo.
- In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Lana Lang appeared in the 1996 live-action television series where she was portrayed by actress Emily Procter.
- In the DC Animated Universe, Lana Lang made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
- In Superman: The Animated Series, Lana Lang first appeared in the animated television series where the young version was voiced by actress Kelley Schmidt whilst the adult version was voiced by actress Joely Fisher. Lana Lang was one of the oldest friends Superman had in Smallville. As a little girl, she owned the entire line of Darci dolls which were very popular at the time. Like Clark's Earth parents Martha and Jonathan Kent, Lana was with Clark from the beginning: She saw his transformation from country boy to superhero happen firsthand. She was the first person Clark went to when his latent powers began to surface. She saw firsthand his X-Ray vision and witnessed his acute hearing. As Clark dashed to the scene of an accident, Lana saw not only his super speed, but his super strength and invulnerability. However, in Lana's eyes, something more existed than just friendship. An attractive girl, she was always able to garner the attention of any man she was interested in, except Clark Kent. He had always considered her a good friend, and though the two did date for a time, the relationship didn't last. While she vocally expressed her continued level of interest in Clark, the two never permanently clicked; regardless, they remained close throughout high school. Lana went on to become a fashion designer, and achieved international fame with her fashion house, Lana Lang Fashions, with one building in Metropolis and at least offices in Paris and Gotham City. She was known as a jetsetter; keeping residences in several cities. Her celebrity status, combined with her indisputable physical beauty, caught the attention of Lex Luthor, who, in classic Luthor fashion, sought out and began a relationship with her immediately. Unlike many of his dealings, their relationship was genuine; Luthor actually expressed gratitude to Superman when he saved Lana from an attempted murder. Despite being a famous designer, she kept an eye on Clark's whereabouts over the years and correctly deduced he was Superman when both of them appeared in Metropolis at the same time. However, like any other relationship, things change. Lana learned of Luthor's less-than-admirable qualities, and began informing Superman of his behind-the-scenes activities, despite his objections to the danger she was putting herself in. Unbeknownst to Lana, Mercy Graves had been observing her for some time, and informed Luthor of the relationship Lana and Superman appeared to share. Though he initially doubted Mercy's findings, his opinion changed as he saw Lana kiss Superman after revealing her feelings for him. Ever quick to anger, Luthor quickly arranged for Lana to be assassinated. Lana, thinking she was again aiding Superman, fell victim to Luthor's ploy and had sent Superman to Central City to stop another arms deal. Alone and trapped within a lead refinery, Lana was drawing her final curtain. Fortunately, Superman intervened. Never having left for Central City, he instead trailed Lana and aided her escape.
- In Justice League, Lana Lang made a brief non-voiced appearance in the animated television series in the episode "Hereafter".
- In Smallville, Lana Lang appeared in the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actress Kristin Kreuk.
- In Superman & Lois, Lana Lang appeared in the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actress Emmanuelle Chriqui.
Films
- In Superman III, Lana Lang appeared in the 1983 live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Annette O'Toole. Lana later became a single mother raising a son named Ricky and trying to ward off the unwanted affections of her ex-boyfriend Brad Wilson, who was an alcoholic security guard. Clark returned to Smallville for their high school reunion, and Lana developed a strong friendship with Clark over a short period of time, to the point where Clark felt comfortable being a father figure to her son Ricky, but it was clear that Clark was falling in love with her. Lana even convinced Superman to appear at Ricky's birthday party. Lana often felt timid when asking for Clark's help or advise, however Clark assured her that she was important to him and that he was always willing to help her. She later decided to move to Metropolis with Ricky and there became Perry White's new secretary at the Daily Planet. Clark Kent presented Lana with a diamond ring which he, as Superman, made from a hard-pressed chunk of coal, which Brad oversaw believing that Clark was making a proposal of marriage to Lana and became incredibly jealous.
- In Superman: Red Son, Svetlana appeared in the setting of the animated film adaptation where she was voiced by actress Winter Ave Zoli. Svetlana was a childhood friend of Kal-L and often protected him from bullies. Svetlana was a childhood friend of Kal-L and often protected him from bullies. Once after she protected him Dmitri Romanovich and his gang of bullies, She told Kal to start fighting back as she couldn't always protect him. He however stated that he did not fight as he could injure them, though she didn't believe him. When he demonstrated his superhuman powers and took her for a flight, she encouraged him to serve the Soviet Union as the people needed him. She was later imprisoned in an underground gulag under Joseph Stalin's regime alongside others who knew who Kal was before becoming Superman. She eventually became ill while working in the gulag, but Superman found it after receving a top secret American file on Stalin's gulags from Lois Lane. After he took her outside as she started to die, she stated that she held on for long just so she could see him again. Before dying, Svetlana asked him to use his powers to protect the people.
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the film Superman: Red Son and is an adaptation of Lana Lazarenko. The original character was created by Mark Millar and first appeared in Superman: Red Son #1
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Lana Lang appeared in the MMORPG video game where she was voiced by actress Lorrie Singer.
Appearances
- Superboy v1: (1950)
- Action Comics v1:
- Superman v1:
- Adventure Comics v1:
- Superman/Batman v1:
- Supergirl:
- Action Comics v2:
- Superwoman v1:
- Superman v5: (2020)
External Links
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