Lois Lane: 15 takes on Superman's other half

01 of 15

Superman's rival (Comic debut)

Lois Lane made her debut in Action Comics #1 in June 1938, which also featured the first appearance of Superman himself. (Included was a five-page story about Scoop Scanlon, Five-Star Reporter, a character who clearly requires a gritty Christopher Nolan reboot.) She was introduced as a relentless go-getter and a direct opponent of her fellow journalist Clark Kent. This first incarnation of Lois had the fast-talking no-bull aspect of a Howard Hawks heroine, and was based partially on model Joanne Carter, who would later marry Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel.

02 of 15

Lois finds her voice (Joan Alexander)

When Superman made the jump to radio for a serial series in 1940, voice duties for Lois were originally handled by actress Rolly Bester, and then by Helen Choate. But the longest-running radio Lois was Joan Alexander, an actress who would later be most famous as a regular panelist on the '50s game show The Name's the Same. Alexander's terse, no-nonsense delivery became instantly iconic, and earned her the job of voicing Lois in the gloriously weird and influential Superman cartoons of the '40s.

03 of 15

Lois on TV, Take 1 (Phyllis Coates)

Phyllis Coates and George Reeves on 'The Adventures of Superman'. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in the movie serial Superman and the Mole Men (1951), and continued the role in the first season of The Adventures of Superman, featuring George Reeves as the superhero. Coates was soon replaced, however, by...

04 of 15

Lois on TV, Take 2 (Noel Neill)

Noel Neill and George Reeves. Everett Collection

Noel Neill played the first onscreen Lois in some late-'40s movie serials, and returned to the role for five seasons on The Adventures of Superman. Neill's iconic turn, which emphasized the character's romantic attraction to Superman, was the definitive onscreen Lois for decades, and Neill would return to the franchise playing (appropriately enough) Lois Lane's mother in the 1978 Superman. She would also appear as other characters in Superman-related media, including the TV show Superboy and 2006's Superman Returns.

05 of 15

Betty Friedan would not approve (Superman's "Girl Friend")

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, No. 4. DC Comics

By the '50s, the comic book Lois had undergone a near-complete character transformation: No longer a relentless career woman, she had become primarily focused on winning Superman's heart. The peak of this incarnation of the character probably came in 1958, with the creation of her own solo comic book. The good news: a female supporting character got her own comic book! The bad news: that comic book was called Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane. In short, the '50s were awful.

06 of 15

Lois Lane: The Middle Ages (Margot Kidder)

Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve in 'Superman'. Everett Collection

Margot Kidder's silver-screen turn as Lois alongside Christopher Reeve has a delirious, chainsmokingly unhinged intensity that recalls the character's original incarnation, although Kidder's role also occasionally edged toward farce. (Seriously, does this lady have any journalistic tricks besides putting herself in perilous situations so Superman will save her?) But there's no denying that Kidder's role in the iconic Superman, the enjoyably anarchic Superman II, and two better-left-forgotten sequels is an essential evolutionary step in the character's history.

07 of 15

The hair's not the only thing that's different (Comic reinvention)

In the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC's universe-rebooting crossover series that essentially erased five decades of comic book history, Lois was reimagined in a more adventurous mold. Now, Lois was a military brat with an action heroine's fashion sense — skirts were out, pantsuits were in — and, to cement the difference, her iconic black hair was recolored to a dark shade of brown. She also had an arguably more feminist-friendly outlook on relationships: Whereas earlier versions of the character tended to fall in love with Superman, this new Lois fell in love with Superman's alter ego Clark Kent before she knew his secret identity. Bespectacled pratfall-prone journalists of the world, rejoice!

08 of 15

Look who gets top billing! (Teri Hatcher)

Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain on 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

The four seasons of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman presented a fully realized portrayal of the most iconic super-relationship in comics history: Teri Hatcher's Lois was initially annoyed by Dean Cain's Clark. But the pair gradually warmed to each other, falling in love, and eventually getting married. Taking a page from the Noel Neill playbook, Hatcher would later guest-star on Smallville...as Lois Lane's mother.

09 of 15

Lois gets animated (Dana Delany)

Dana Delany; 'Superman: The Animated Series'. Pixplanete/PR Photos; Everett Collection

On the '90s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series, Lois was voiced by Dana Delany. The series returned the character to her roots, playing up her journalistic competition with Clark Kent and keeping the Superman-Lois romance mostly implicit. (The couple didn't even kiss until the series finale.) Delany would continue to voice the character on various DC animated series.

10 of 15

The adventures of Lois Lane...when she was a girl! (Erica Durance)

Erica Durance on 'Smallville'. Lorenzo Agius/The CW

When a teenaged Lois arrived in Smallville's fourth season, Erica Durance was only a guest star, but the character quickly became a lead. And it's easy to see why — in contrast to Kristin Kreuk's tragically orphaned girl-next-door Lana Lang, Durance's Lois was an immediately energizing presence, and her relationship with Clark (Tom Welling) was rife with screwball love-hate chemistry that impressively fused the earlier interpretations of the character.

11 of 15

Oh, dear... (Kate Bosworth)

Kate Bosworth and Brandon Routh in 'Superman Returns'. David James

Of all the desperately misconceived ideas that went into Bryan Singer's underrated-but-still-not-great Superman Returns, none is more confusing than the decision to cast 23-year-old bubbly blonde ingénue Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, the cynical brunette single mother to a 5-year-old son. The character, who was intended to be an updated version of Kidder's Lois, didn't make very much sense. In fairness to Bosworth, that pretty much sums up the movie.

12 of 15

Wife, mother, and full-time journalist (Superman: The Wedding Album)

Lois Lane officially became Lois Lane-Kent in 1996, and although the character still didn't have any superpowers, she had essentially become a superhero herself, complete with her own tragic parental backstory (her father, Gen. Sam Lane, even became one of Superman's chief antagonists for a while.) Still, marriage and the arrival of a foster child didn't domesticate Lois — she was still a hard-charging journalist, and even reverted to the black hair.

13 of 15

Mad woman (Christina Hendricks)

'All-Star Superman'; Christina Hendricks. Albert L. Ortega/PR Photos; Warner Bros.

In this direct-to-DVD adaptation of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's acclaimed comic book All-Star Superman, Mad Men's Christina Hendricks provided the voice for The Daily Planet's star reporter. At the time, we all thought, "Oh, if only she could play Lois Lane onscreen! But of course, they would never cast a red-haired actress as Lois." Then, next thing you know...

14 of 15

DC Extended Universe (Amy Adams)

Amy Adams in 'Man of Steel'. Warner Bros. Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

News that Amy Adams had been cast as Lois in 2013's Man of Steel was exciting for many reasons, not the least of which is that Adams had already proven adept at playing a Lois Lane-esque mix of spunky (Night at the Museum 2) and charming (Enchanted). While this incarnation of Lois didn't receive universal praise due to middling material in subsequent films, Adams' grounded portrayal earned plaudits.

15 of 15

Into and beyond the Arrowverse (Elizabeth Tulloch)

Elizabeth Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin on 'Superman & Lois'. Colin Bentley/CW/Courtesy Everett Collection

With the rise of the Arrowverse hub of interconnected DC TV shows came the arrival of yet another incarnation of Lois Lane. Elizabeth Tulloch first appeared as an alternate version of Lois in the "Elseworlds" and "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover events, which spanned Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Arrow, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow. This was followed by Superman & Lois, starring Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin as the titular couple living in Smallville in an adjacent universe to the Arrowverse. While this lack of continuity may be wonky to some, Tulloch's take on Lois Lane is one of full clarity as she balances professional duties with familial issues. —Kevin Jacobsen