Clark Kent/Lois Lane

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Pairing
Pairing: Clark Kent/Lois Lane
Alternative name(s): Clois, CK/LL
Gender category: Het, M/F
Fandom: DC Comics, DC Comics Animated Universe, Superman, Superman Returns, Smallville, Man of Steel, Justice League
Canonical?: Yes
Prevalence: popular
Archives:
Other:
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Clark/Lois is a pairing of Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane in the DC Comics universe and the various other versions.

Canon

Comics

Clark/Superman and Lois debuted in Action Comics #1 in June 1938. In a preview of things to come, Superman rescues Lois in the first story.

For decades, the comics played around with Clark/Superman and Lois's relationship with a two-person love triangle. At this time, Superman was the dominant personality, and Clark the "creation". The scene in Action Comics #1 where Clark seems to cowardly duck away from a man attempting to mug her, only for Superman to save her, established their relationship; the shy Clark and the confident Superman. Lois was often more interested in Superman than his mild-mannered alter ego. This stifled their relationship for decades because Clark/Superman could not tell Lois about his true nature.

Things changed in the 1980s, with the publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths and "The Man of Steel" by John Byrne. The former tied of years of DC Comics continuity by merging its multiverse into a single universe, the latter was the first post-Crisis "reboot" of the character. In "Man of Steel", Clark was the dominant personality, Superman the creation. This allowed Lois to finally fall in love with Clark and Superman, clearing the way for more stories between the two, and they eventually fall in love. Clark even proposed to Lois in 1990 and revealed his alter-ego just a few weeks later.

In 1996, decades of flirting finally ended. "Superman: The Wedding Album was released in December of that year. It is famous not just for bucking decades of comic book conventions and letting two characters get married, but also because of the roster of talent contributing to it, including every living Superman artist who could hold a pencil contributing to the artwork.

Since then, Clark and Lois have been in a steady marriage. In 2006, in the storyline "Last Son" involving "Superman: The Movie" director Richard Donner, they adopted a boy, Christopher Kent, aka Lor-Zod, the biological son of a longtime Superman foe General Zod.

The New 52 shook things up for Clark and Lois. In this new rebooted continuity, Clark and Lois were younger, and no longer married. Fans were disappointed, not just because they broke up Clark and Lois, but because it looked like DC had wasted decades of development. To add insult to injury, New 52 Superman entered a romantic relationship with Wonder Woman, and Lois even exposed his true identity. While not the biggest reason, it is a possible factor in the New 52's low sales. To save face, the pre-New 52 Clark and Lois were re-introduced, this time with a son, Jon, who has become a popular character in his own right.

With DC Rebirth, this pre-New 52 Clark and Lois are back to status quo, and it looks like things will stay steady for them in comics continuity.

Lois & Clark

The early seasons of the show revolved around the couple's UST and the love triangle with Superman, even though Lois nearly marries Lex Luthor and both date others (Mayson Drake, Dan Scardino). Once Lois learns Clark's alternate identity, they soon get engaged, but there's a weird & unpopular arc where Clark accidentally marries a frog-eating Lois clone before the couple finally marry. Most of the final season has them working together as husband and wife.

DCAU

Smallville

Lois and Clark originally only had a brother/sister relationship in the first couple seasons together (both also officially paired off with other people). They become canon in Season 9, officially dating, while in Season 10 had them getting engaged.

Films

DCUAOM

Supergirl and the Arrowverse

My Adventures With Superman

Fandom

A Juggernaut Ship, the pairing is one of the most iconic couples in all of popular culture[1] and their relationship is integral to all Superman media. Breaking them up is considered sacrilege, even by laypeople.

Comics

Lois & Clark

The pairing is almost completely dominant in this fandom, with very little else written, except occasionally as a prequel to the "true" relationship. Tropes include:

DCAU

Smallville

With Lois Lane's first appearance in Season 4, the pairing took off in a big way. Some fans had already shipped them together do their comicsverse relationship and the fact that it was more than likely endgame, however a lot of other fans were disappointed the series went that way due to them shipping Clark with Chloe, Lana or Lex. The pairing is sometimes referred to as 'Clois'.

Most common tropes/storylines:

DCUAOM

Films

In the Reeveverse fandom Clark/Lois is the most popular pairing.

In the Superman Returns fandom Clark/Lois is the most popular pairings, and the threesome pairing with Richard White has a few fanworks.

In the DCEU fandom Clark/Lois is one of the most common het pairings in the fandom under Diana/Steve Trevor and Joker/Harley. It is sometimes in a threesome with Bruce Wayne. One of the most common storylines take place Post-Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Supergirl and the Arrowverse

Since the beginning of the Supergirl (TV series), the Clark/Lois pairing was often referenced to for parallels between Kara Danvers ships and Clois (namely Kara/Lena now). The pairing often appeared as a background pairing or sometimes secondary pairing in fanfiction set within Supergirl's universe and the rest of the Arrowverse, often piggybacking on their comicsverse history or other Lois/Clark fandoms namely Man of Steel/DCU and Smallville. Due to the lack of the physical presence/screentime of Superman in Season 1, there were a few fanworks that focused solely on Clark/Superman/Lois's journey before Kara/Supergirl.

My Adventures With Superman

Fanworks

Comics

Lois & Clark

Fics

Fanart

DCAU

Fics

  • Static by Kasuchi, Rated Explicit, "You haven't forgotten that we're partners, have you?" When Clark gets sent on a round-the-world assignment detail, he and Lois communicate via phonecalls.
  • Volar (Or, Flight) by Kasuchi, When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.
  • Somos (We Are) by Kasuchi, We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.
  • Integration (Five People Who Had Lois and Clark Figured Out) by Kasuchi, though love be a day and life be nothing, it shall not stop kissing.

Fanart

Smallville

DCUAOM

Films

Superman Returns

Man of Steel

Arrowverse

Other

The above list of fanworks are separated by fandom. However if there are any that are multi-fandom, an AU, or it is unclear what it is place it below:

Fanart

Fanvids

Recs

Archives and Communities

LiveJournal

Fannish Links

Fansites/Fanlistings

Tumblr

Resources

References

<references>

  1. ^ https://ew.com/gallery/26-true-fictional-lovers-pop-cultures-best-couples-0/
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