Lois Lane

From 1986, here’s one of Gray Morrow’s most interesting projects. All indications make it look as though this was originally meant to be a 4 part LOIS LANE mini-series but that the four issues were ultimately combined into two. That said, for all intents and purposes, it is a 100 page graphic novel that was obviously as much of an obsession for writer Mindy Newell as the story’s subject becomes for Lois.

This is not your father’s Lois Lane, falling out windows, turning into monsters and having Superman save the day. Oh, Clark is around. Not Superman, though. Lana Lang is there, too, but not as a rival for the man of Steel’s affections. The first thing you notice, thanks to Gray’s ultra-realistic art, is that this is an adult tale about young people being forced to deal with adult issues in a very adult world.

In the story, Lois becomes obsessed with a child kidnapping and as she finds out more and more of the sleazy underground world out there where that sort of thing can happen, it puts her through some unexpected changes.

Gray’s work is sincere and serious here and it helps drive home the atmosphere of the piece. I met Mindy Newell once a few years later and she came across as tough and issue-minded, reminding me very much of her version of Lois Lane in this story.