LANA LANG
Real Name: Lana Lang
Class: Human
Occupation: Business editor, former First Lady of the United States
Group Affiliation: None
Known Relatives: Clark Peter Ross (son), Pete Ross (ex-husband), Carol Lang (mother, deceased) Helen Lang (aunt, deceased), Thomas Lang (father, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Metropolis, formerly Smallville, Kansas, Washington, DC
First Appearance: Superboy I #10 (October, 1950)
Powers: Lana was a skilled journalist and investigator.
History: (Adventures of Superman #436 (fb)) - Dr. Whitney delivered Lana Lang. Whitney was an undercover Manhunter and implanted Lana with a microscopic inducer so she could one day be activated as Manhunter sleeper agent.
(Martian Manhunter II #20) - Clark Kent revealed his superpowers to Lana, and he took her on a flight. Martian Manhunter watched them, making sure the Kryptonian was using his powers responsibly.
(Swamp Thing II #68) - 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.
(Adventures of Superman #430) - Lana celebrated the Kents 49th anniversary with their friends. After the party Clark arrived, having been held up by the Fearsome Five.
(Superman II #13, Adventures of Superman #436) - 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 #442) - Lana ran into Supergirl, who'd just arrived in Smallville.
(Superman: The Man of Steel #7) - 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 #11) - With her engagement to Senator Ross, Lana went job-hunting in Washington, D.C.
(Superman II #100) - 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.
(Adventures of Superman #535, Action Comics I #722, Superman: The Man of Steel #57) - Lana and Pete warned the Kents and Superman that a twister was on its' way toward Smallville. The Kents, Ross and Lang went into a storm cellar while Superman handled the threat. Pete wanted to leave the shelter and try to stop the twisters to save Lana, but she reminded him there was nothing he could do except wait it out with her.
(Superman II #201) - B-Tech caused a time storm in Metropolis, threatening to wipe it from the continuum, and Lana was among the citizens caught in the heart of the storm. After the timestorm reached a pitch the B-Tech disappeared and Metropolis was restored to normal. Majestic explained that the storm was a natural phenomenon and times' way of fixing itself, sending the B-Tech back into the future.
Comments: Created by Bill Finger & John Sikela.
Lana Lang received profiles in Who's Who Update '88 #4 and Who's Who in the DC Universe #14.
Land Lang had cameos in Action Comics #0, 711 and Adventures of Superman #435, 524, 527.
LANA LANG (pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths)
Real Name: Lana Lang
Class: Human
Occupation: Journalist
Group Affiliation: None
Known Relatives: Horton (uncle), Alvin Lang (brother), Larry Lang (brother), Lewis Lang (father), Ronald Lang (brother), Sarah Lang (mother), Lorac-K7 (descendant), Phineas Potter (uncle), unnamed ex-husband, unnamed son
Aliases: Insect Queen
Base of Operations: Metropolis, formerly Smallville, Kansas
First Appearance: Superboy I #10 (October, 1950)
Powers: Lana was a skilled journalist and investigator. As the Insect Queen she used a bio-genetic ring that could transform her into gigantic insect and other arthropod forms.
History: (New Adventures of Superboy #19) - 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.
(New Adventures of Superboy #9) - 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.
(New Adventures of Superboy #18) - 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.
(Adventure Comics I #251 (fb)) - 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
(New Adventures of Superboy #8) - 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 I #27) - 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 I #27) - Clark Kent's personal items started vanishing, and he suspected Lana was trying to uncover his secret identity, but in reality 30th century museum curator Jonathan Exo was taking items from the past for his Superman exhibit.
(Superboy I #27) - Clark returned home to find the Kents replaced by imposters, criminal actors who d guessed his identity of Superboy and wanted to expose him so they could blackmail him. After Clark and Pa had an argument about household chores Clark ran away from home, and freed his real parents from the underground cell where they were being held. To throw off the crooks he had Superboy act coldly toward them, telling them he didn't have time to look for a runaway boy, even when Ma claimed to be dying of a broken heart. His act was so good that he even threw off the ever-suspicious Lana. With his ruse complete Superboy exposed the fake Kents and sent them to jail.
(Adventure Comics I #250) - The Kents watched TV at breakfast, and a message came through a time barrier sent by Inspector Edaw-8 of the 30th Century Scotland Yard. Criminal Lorac had traveled back in time, seeking cobalt, which was outlawed in the 30th Century, to create a doomsday weapon. Lorac knew Superboy's identity, and was disguised as one of his friends or neighbors. Superboy went into action, and visited the Smallville hospital, where they used cobalt in place of radium for medical treatment. He flew the cobalt into the sun, turning it to radium, so it could be used at the hospital without being a target for Lorac. He began to suspect Pa, who was acting forgetful after bumping his head, and Professor Lang, who was nervous about a speech he'd prepared for a science convention. Lorac was at school, and stole cobalt from the science lab, but was hiding it from Superboy with a lead box. The school went on a field trip to the steel mill, and Lorac struck once again, stealing cobalt used to make special steel. Superboy realized Lana was present every time cobalt was stolen, and Lorac spelled backwards was Carol, so Lorac must have been a female. He trapped "Lana" in a cage, and forced her to hand over the cobalt, telling her the thing that convinced her she was an imposter was the fact that she hadn't once tried to uncover his secret identity that day. Lana turned out to be Lorac's ancestor, so she hadn't hurt her, and after Superboy checked in on his friend he sent Lorac back to the future to answer for her crimes.
(Adventure Comics I #304) - Superboy volunteered to help the army test a new type of artillery by offering himself as a living target. After the test an adult version of Superboy, a Superman flew down from the sky. He showed Superboy that the artillery had cracked open a nearby mountainside, exposing red kryptonite, and it’s effect was to create the adult duplicate. Superboy introduced the Kents to Superman, and they were thrilled to now have two children. For the Kents’ wedding anniversary Superboy crafted a new line of Superman robots, and Superman concocted a potion that gave the Kents temporary superpowers. Superman told Superboy that his super-intellect had figured out that the two of them coexisting would cause spacetime disruptions that would destroy the solar system unless one of them left Earth in the next 48 hours. They were going to flip a coin to decide who staid, but as it was coming down Superman melted it with his heat vision, claiming it was an accident. They agreed to have the Kents decide, but Superboy used a dream projector on his sleeping parents, saw them dreaming about being superheroes once Superman made the effects of his potion permanent, so the next morning Superboy announced that he’d leave Earth after one last stroll around Smallville. Clark and Superman, posing as his uncle “Charles,” visited Lana Lang who wanted to show off her violin-playing skills, telling them she had an upcoming recital. Her high pitched playing caused the glass around her to break, but she thought her playing was pretty good. Krypto returned from one of his space jaunts in time to say goodbye to Superboy before Superman had him enter a space capsule and hurled him beyond the atmosphere towards a planet with a red sun. The Kents realized Superman was an imposter when the civilian glasses he used as Charles proved to be cracked from Lana’s music, which could never happen to Superboy’s glasses, which were made from unbreakable Kryptonian plastoid from the window of the ship that brought him to Earth. “Superman” revealed that he was actually the Kryptonian criminal Roz-Em, who’d paid a plastic surgeon to make him look like Kal-El’s uncle Nim-El in an attempt to raid the armory of forbidden weapons that Nim-El guarded. His plot was uncovered by Jor-El and Nim-El, and he was put into suspended animation inside a space capsule until it drifted near a yellow sun, giving him superpowers. He’d seen Krypton explode and baby Kal-El rocketed to Earth, so he was determined to avenge himself for his imprisonment by targeting Jor-El’s son, fabricating fake red-K and concocting his spacetime in danger story. Pa Kent had gotten Krypto to fly into space to warn Superboy that they were in danger, and Superboy returned to Earth and used the Phantom Zone Projector to exile Roz-Em. Lana later told Clark she missed his handsome uncle who clearly appreciated her musical talent.
(Adventure Comics I #305) - The school boxing champ Joe bullied Clark and Lana was disappointed in him for not standing up for himself. Clark got tired of staying under the radar by pretending to be a pushover and a below-average athlete, and the final straw came when he saw Lana and Pete Ross attending Bud cowin’s party; realizing he was never invited to anything. Clark and the Kents moved to Rail City as the Dentons. Clark ditched his glasses, and as “Mark Denton” became an outstanding athlete and popular student. When he went on patrol as Superboy he wore a mask so no one would suspect his secret identity, but his newfound popularity made it extremely difficult to get away from his admirers when Superboy needed to fly into action, and he decided to return to Smallville as meek and mild Clark Kent.
(Adventure Comics I #306) -In the 5th Dimension Master Mxyzptlk and his rival Ququrlz were competing for top grades in practical joking, and were assigned to perform a joke outside of school as their final. Mxyzptlk knew he could play the best jokes on Earth, but that Superboy would try to foil him, so he went to Smallville and used his magic to make sure anyone saying their name backward would send them to the 5thDimension for 90 days, not just him. Smallville celebrated the anniversary of Superboy’s first appearance in town with a giant birthday cake, and Mxy rearranged the letters to spell Yobrepus, but two naughty children ate the “S” so Superboy didn’t end up saying his name backwards, and he immediately suspected Mxy. Lana Lang questioned Superboy about why Clark Kent wasn’t at the celebration, so Superboy rushed home, changed into Clark, and told Lana he’d been kept busy with chores from the Kents. Lana decided to secretly follow him some more to prove he was Superboy. Mxy gave every machine in Smallville an electric brain and made them rebel against the public, causing belligerent cars and elevators to cause panic. Superboy flew to a mountaintop, and shouted his name backwards, causing Mxy to show up, but the imp was disappointed that his magic didn’t work, because Superboy hadn’t spoken his real name Kal-El backwards. Lana’d lost track of Clark a while back but caught up to Superboy on the mountain, and Mxy tricked her into saying her name backwards, telling Superboy he’d have to go to the 5th Dimension to save her. Krypto returned from a space jaunt, and Superboy feigned worrying that Mxy would give Krypto the power to speak and ruin his plan to save Lana. Mxy fell for the trick, and Superboy told Krypto to keep Smallville safe while Superboy traveled to the 5th Dimension. Before saying his name backwards Superboy told Krypto to do the same if Mxy came up with anything he couldn’t handle. In the 5th Dimension an adult told Superboy and Lana that because they were new to the dimension and minors they’d be assigned foster parents and have to start attending high school. Superboy used his powers to simulate magic, wowing the teachers with his practical jokes, while Lana kept getting sent to younger and younger classes because she possessed neither magic abilities nor superpowers, and Superboy hoped she’d learn a humbling lesson and stop snooping on him. Superboy got top grades in the school, surpassing Mxy and Ququrlz by carving a mountain into a replica of the school, making the teachers think school had been petrified. In Smallville Mxy gave everyone a Superboy costume and the delusion that they were Superboy, so Krypto knew it was time for Superboy to act. After hearing Krypto’s plea, Superboy fashioned a Mxy robot and had a teacher observe it playing hooky. The teacher activated the robotic dimensional truant officer to bring in Mxy, so it traveled to Smallville and brought him back. Superboy announced that trick as his final project, and was awarded top practical joking honors, infuriating Mxy, who happily sent him, Krypto and Lana back to Smallville. Superboy asked Lana if she’d learned her lesson, and she promised to stop hounding him, but kept her fingers crossed.
(Adventure Comics I #307) - The Langs went away on a trip, but couldn’t take Lana with them, so they arranged to have her live with the Kents until they returned. Clark reminded Lana of how foolish she looked the last time she tried to prove he was Superboy, causing her to instantly break her recent promise to stop hounding him, and making her more determined than ever to expose him as Superboy. During a walk outside she hurled herself into a river, telling Clark he’d have to prove he was Superboy and change her. Clark tunneled under the earth, found a salt mine, and brought a huge chunk of rock salt to the bottom of the river. The super-saline water kept Lana from drowning, and she accused him of being behind saving her. After more attempts to expose Clark failed to pay off she exposed Clark to red kryptonite she got off a nearby rare rock collector, and she soon realized Superboy had lost his voice. Clark fooled her into thinking he could still talk until the red-k wore off by using a telepathic helmet gifted to him as a trophy by the aliens of planet Yhalla. Clark thought she’d gone to far by exposing him to kryptonite, and decided to teach her a lesson. Clark stumbled into the police station and told Chief Parker he’d lost his memory. Parker called Lana to pick him up, and for a second she wondered if the red-k gave him amnesia. At the mention of Superboy he confessed to being the hero, proving his powers by shooting himself with a gun at the police station and lifting a safe. The gun and safe turned out to be props from a recent police show, so Lana was now convinced Clark wasn’t Superboy, but was a danger to himself. He jumped off a building, dressed as Superboy to show he could fly, but used his super-breathe to fly a clay figure of Superboy under him, catching him and dropping him off at another rooftop. Clark pretended to regain his senses, and Lana reasoned he’d temporarily snapped due to stress from too much school work, and made him promise her not to get the foolish idea that he was Superboy in his head ever again.
(Adventure Comics I #308) - Lex Luthor was given permission to build a prison radio station to broadcast music to Smallville, and on a day pass he visited Pa Kent’s general store for some radio parts. He assured Pa he had no hard feelings even though Pa was on the board that turned down his parole. An oil field was built outside Smallville, and when the oil driller hit a gusher it kicked a boulder into the air. Superboy smashed the boulder, preventing it from hitting a plane flying overhead. The rock turned out to be red kryptonite, and Lana Lang and Pete Ross collected the fragments and handed them over to Chief Parker so the kryptonite couldn’t harm Superboy. The Kents listened to Lex’s first broadcast on WPEN, and he dedicated a song to Chief Parker, who Lex said was a big man. Chief Parker grew to an enormous size, bursting through his police car. He soon shrank back to normal size, and asked Superboy if the red-k affected him, which puzzled Superboy, since red-k usually only affected Kryptonians. Luthor dedicated “Smoke Gets in Your eyes” to Pete Ross who started breathing fire in chemistry class, and “Reaching for the Moon” to Lana Lang who gained temporary super-stretching powers. Clark told the Kents he suspected Lex of being behind the red kryptonite virus spreading through town, but they thought he was jumping to conclusions. Luthor dedicated “It’s a Small World” to the Kents, who shrunk down to the size of dolls for a time, and “There’ll be some Changes Made” to Clark who showed up to school to find a Bizarro Clark Kent had taken his place in class. Superboy visited Lex who said he had nothing to do with the virus, his songs just predicted the red-k’s effects and said the song he picked for Superboy “Yoiu Leave Me Breathless” predicted that red-k radiation from Superboy’s body would destroy all of Earth’s oxygen. Lex said his one hope was to find a rare undersea plant that would eliminate the red-k virus, and gave Superboy undersea coordinated. Lex was actually working with the renegade Atlantean Kronn, who’d given Lex a mass hallucination transmitter that he used in WPEN’s broadcasts to simulate the red-k plague, even the red-k kicked up from the oil rig was an illusion. Superboy suspected the truth since a Bizarro Kent had turned up at his school instead of him being transformed into a Bizarro. He used his x-ray vision on Lex’s headset and discovered the transmitter. Superboy copied the transmitter, creating an illusion of Superboy discovering the undersea plant, ands Kronn sprung his trap, having placed clamshells filled with green kryptonite around the plant. Kronn saw the illusory Superboy die and sent a telepathic message to Lex, telling him he was safe to break out of prison. Superboy turned Kronn over to the Atlantean police, and returned to Smallville. Superboy and Chief Parker caught Lex escaping prison, and sent him right back to his cell.
(Superboy I #160) - Lana s teacher introduced the class to Cleops Amahdi, supposedly the daughter of Egypt s ambassador Abduhl Amahdi. Cleops flirted with Clark Kent , making Lana jealous, and she reminded him that he was her date for the costume ball. That night Cleops put herself in peril by releasing a panther from the zoo, and Clark, as Superboy, rescued her, and seeing that she was so upset he agreed to be her date for the ball. They went to Pop s Soda Fountain, and Lana disliked the idea of Cleops going after Smalville's most eligible bachelors. They had a catfight, and Lana told Pete Ross she s take him to the ball, because she was disgusted with both Superboy and Clark. At the ball Cleops challenged Lana to meet her on the rooftop. Cleops flung herself from the rooftop, making witness Pete Ross think Lana d pushed her. Superboy found Lana on trial, and figured out that Cleops was actually the resurrected Cleopatra, and had faked her death. Abdul Amahdi was actually Prof. Tingly, who d found Cleopatra s tomb and resurrected her for the express purpose of ruining Prof. Lang s life because he was bitter at his former associate s accolades.
(Superboy I #161) - Clark and Lana attended a football game at Smallville Stadium, and Lana s eye was caught by star quarterback Bash Bashford. At the victory ball Bash made time with Lana, and although Clark wanted to stand upfor himself, he needed to change to Superboy and save an airliner from crashing. Wishing he was like normal teens he challenged Bash to a boxing match after school the next day and developed a kryptonite diffuser lens to weaken himself gradually until his superpowers were obliterated, all for the love of Lana. He beat Bash at boxing, once again winning Lana s affections. He tried out for the football team, and Bash looking for revenge tried to hurt him, but ended up with a serious skull fracture, causing Lana to be furious at Clark. Clark risked his life to restore his powers, and flew world-renowned brain surgeon Dr. Franz Hgaller to Smallville to save Bash s life. Bash made friends with Clark, and Lana was awed by Bash s good graces and gave him a kiss. Clark knew petty teen drama wasn't what he was meant for, and was happy to once again be a hero.
(Superboy I #190) - Clark tried to back out of leaving Smallville to be a summer camp counselor at Dwarf Mountain, but Lana told him she d never speak to him again if he chickened out because of his fear of wild animals.
(New Adventures of Superboy #1) - Lana and Pete celebrated Clark s 16th birthday with the Kents.
(New Adventures of Superboy #2) - Prof. Lang brought the Twins of Kokra statue back from the Middle East and was possessed by the evil god Ahriman, who plotted to destroy his brother Ahura Mazda s image from the statue, freeing him from persecution by the god of light. He gave Lana the Kokra Necklace, so she could see his true demonic identity, and in a hysterical fit she sought out Superboy for help. Superboy initially thought she was delusional and saved Lang / Ahriman from mystic flames sent by Mazda to destroy his rival. Ahriman tried to convince him to use his heat-vision to melt Mazda s image, claiming it was Ahriman's, but Superboy had read Lang s field notes and realized he was being manipulated. He melted Ahriman s image, freeing Lang from possession and forcing the demon from the earthly plane.
(New Adventures of Superboy #3, 4) Lana kissed formerly meek and mild, but suddenly dynamic Joe Silver at the Smallville County Fair, and then needled Clark to make him jealous. Silver had become the superhero Astralad thanks to his future self manipulating dreams and time, and he was eager to reveal his identity to Lana. He tried to unmask before Lana Lang, but Superboy used his heat vision to blur his face, and when he tried to shout his name Superboy disrupted his voice using superspeed Superboy eventually convinced him of the folly of altering the past.
(New Adventures of Superboy #5) - Lana saw a UFO over the Kents house and alerted them. Pa Kent distracted her so Clark could change to Superboy, and he found that the aliens were peaceful farmers who d lost a cargo of alien spores on their last visit to Earth.
(New Adventures of Superboy #12) - Clark was on a botany field trip with Lana when he snuck away and saw P.J. Huxley s car going off the road. He didn t have time to change into costume, but pulled the car back onto the road, and fled at superspeed. Huxley wanted to thank his benefactor, and after recovering Clark's shoe impressions he hired private detectives who located Clark. Clark pretended that it was a burst of adrenalin that let him save the day, and turned down an offer of one million dollars in reward, which he told Huxley to donate to Smallville charities. Huxley went on TV to tell the world that Clark was Smallville s greatest hero, not Superboy, because he d risked life and limb to save Huxley, while Superboy was never in danger during his heroic exploits. Clark was suddenly popular and Lana demanded he take her to a Smallville dance and turn away any other female attention.
(New Adventures of Superboy #13) - Lana invited Clark on a dig with hjer father for Indian arrowheads, but he didn't like the attention he was getting from her since saving P.J. Huxley. Tigers being transported to the circus were freed in a traffic accident, and Clark changed into Superboy and rounded them up, but quickly changed back and hid under a car to convince Lana he was still a coward.
(New Adventures of Superboy #15) - The Kents got a visit from Rupert Thaxter, who played college football with Pa, and his wife Aggie. They were oil tycoons, but unsatisfied because they were childless, and Thayer planned to arrange a meeting with Superboy and adopt him. He took Clark and Lana on a hot-air balloon ride, and steered the balloon into a storm, causing their ride to plummet. Thayer was sure Superboy would save them, and Clark surreptitiously used his super-breath to allow them a rough landing on Mallow Mountain. Clark caused a cave-in as they sought shelter in a cave, changed to Superboy and rescued them. He realized how sincere Thayer s desire for a son was, but didn t like the way he went about meeting him. He changed back to Clark, and pretended to be falling off a cliff. Thayer rescued him, and suddenly realized how his selfish plan could have gotten someone killed. He decided to return to Texas and adopt a child.
(New Adventures of Superboy #16) - Lana was thrilled when Nobel-prize winner Dr. Elaine Crosley acted as a guest lecturer at Smallville High, demonstrating her anti-ions that levitated objects.
(New Adventures of Superboy #17, 18) - Moosie Draper used speech class to rail that people shouldn't honor Superboy until he d fought a supervillain equal to himself in power. Draper was trying to impress Lana, but she was repulsed by his jealousy of Superboy, and although she d always been nice to him even even though she was never interested in Draper, she told him off. Draper did made Clark think, and in order to test himself he programmed an experimental Superboy Robot, Kator, as an enemy and unleashed him on Superboy Day, fighting him and getting the worst of the encounter, but loving every minute of being challenged. The next day Kator confronted Clark and Lana, knowing Clark couldn't reveal his secret identity. He burned his K insignia into the park grounds, making it clear he intended to replace Superboy. Superboy destroyed Kator, but the android knew he might perish and created a machine to pass on his powers to Carl Draper, who desperately wanted to destroy Superboy to win Lana s love. Moosie lured Lana and Clark to a sporting stadium and engaged Superboy in combat. Superboy prevailed, and used his Kryptonian mind-prober to erase Draper s memories. He also used the machine on Lana so she would forget Draper's brief career as a villain.
(New Adventures of Superboy #21) - Lana was delighted watching Superboy perform at a fireworks display, using pyrotechnics to create his insignia in the sky.
(New Adventures of Superboy #22) Lana and Clark went on a date at the amusement park and went through the Tunnel of Fright. Clark saw a robbery outside using his x-ray vision, so he feigned terror and jumped into the tunnel s moat. Lana jumped in to make sure he didn't drown himself, and bumped her head. She would have drowned if Clark didn't quickly foil the robbery and rescue her. Clark s super-feats had been backfiring lately due to lack of caution, and this was the last straw. He vowed to exile himself from Earth.
(New Adventures of Superboy #32) - Lana attended class with Clark and "Pete," who was actually the disguised Superboy Revenge Squad alien Trohnn.
(DC Comics Presents #11) - Lana reported on a battle between Superman and Hawkman, who'd been mind-controlled by the villain Frank Rayles.
(DC Comics Presents #12) - Lana covered a challenge between Superman and Mr,. Miracle for the right to be Metropolis champion for GBS. It turned out that Miracle s bravado was a set-up to help Superman capture Intergang mobsters who s used a Mentropy Machine on Miracle, keeping him from warning Superman about their plans to use the machine on him.
(Superman in The Computers That Saved Metropolis ) - Lana interviewed Superman after he defeated Major Disaster, and he told her he couldn't have done it without elementary school Whiz Kids Shanna and Alec and their TRS-80 computers.
(DC Comics Presents #32) - Eros was spurned by Wonder Woman, and as revenge he shot her and Superman with his arrows, making them fall passionately in love. The heroes used their willpower to keep their attraction from going too far, knowing in their hearts that they loved Trevor and Lois Lane respectively. They flew off to finally express their love, with Wonder Woman kissing Trevor at the Pentagon, and Superman kissing Lois Lane in front of Galaxy Communications. Superman s kiss was televised, and covered by Lana Lang. The jealous Wonder Woman threw Lois in front of traffic, but Superman saved her. The heroes again fought the urge to find a secluded place to be together, and traveled to Mount Olympus to confront Eros. Lois broke down in tears, thinking they d run off together, and she d never get her chance with Superman. Lana embraced her and sobbed as well, unable to bear anyone besides the two of them winning Superman s heart. Eros mother Aphrodite was unhappy with her sons actions, and lifted his power over them.
(Action Comics I #553) - Lana covered the change that turned Metropolis into a prehistoric jungle. Vandal Savage talked to reporter her and claimed the time-reversal in Metropolis Park was due to a time-flux, and that Abraxes placed a forcefield around it to study it and find a way to get fossil fuel from it. He went on to say that Superman destroyed the force field because he didn't think things through, and undid Abraxes' work. In truth Vandal masterminded the time-flux and Superman was not around to defend himself because he traveled to the Big band to undo the damage Vandal caused.
(Action Comics I #561) - Lana turned Clark onto a new story, Toyman claimed to have reformed and was hosting the Great Toyman Trivia Contest television program.
(Action Comics I #561) - Lana and Clark did a consumer report piece on gem Unlimited that passed off red kryptonite as rubies.
(Action Comics I #562) - Lana, Clark and the Daily Planet employees got tickets to Steve Lombard's play "Damn Yankees" and they wanted to support their friend in his new venture by seeing him even though they knew he was no actor.
(Action Comics I #565) - Lana covered a battle between Superman and the Wizard City Warrior.
(DC Comics Presents #81) - Lana did a WGBS news report, and introduced the new show Boggles, Boo-Boos, and Boners.
(Action Comics I #573) - Lana and Clark gave a report about an oil tanker fire on metropolis bridge. Lana told Clark's she'd grown up and gotten over her infatuation with Superman.
(Action Comics I #574) - Lana covered the sporting events between Superman and extraterrestrial Rad Zonan.
(Action Comics I #574) - Mr. Mxyzptlk was so proud of the birth of his son Kytsbtn that he threw a party and the Daily Planet, forced Lana and other friends of Superman to attend, and decided to commemorate the decision by freezing time and keeping the day from ever ending. Clark reminded him that if he froze time he would never have the pleasure of seeing his son growing up. Mxy saw the logic in this, set things right, and returned to the 5th Dimension.
Comments: Created by Bill Finger & John Sikela.
Insect Queen received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #11.
Lana Lang had a cameo in New Adventures of Superboy #23, Superman I #169.
All characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please visit The Official DC Comics Site at: http://www.batman.com