Lois Lane gets a big promotion

art from February's Superman #1
art from February's Superman #1 (Image credit: DC)

She's been employed as a reporter for the Daily Planet for almost 85 years ... it's about time she got a promotion!

Lois Lane is one of the most iconic characters in comic books and she has arguably the most iconic job of any non-superhero character in comics, but now she apparently has a new job. 

Slipped in unmentioned by DC (those sly dogs) in preview pages of February 22's Superman #1 by Joshua Williamson and Jamal Campbell is the above image of Lois Lane in the offices of the Daily Planet with the writing on her door displaying her new title of the news organization's editor-in-chief. That job has also iconically been held by Perry White for most of the last 82 years (Perry was introduced in comic books in 1940 after debuting earlier that same year in the radio serial The Adventures of Superman).

However, Perry suffered stroke-like symptoms and was hospitalized due to Lex Luthor's nefarious plot to make the world forget Superman and Clark Kent are the same person in December's Action Comics #1050 (check out the full explanation) and it looks like Lois has taken over his position.

January 24's Action Comics #1051 suggested Perry was on the mend with his mind on work and Lois was picking up some of his duties while remaining in the field as a reporter, but the Superman #1 page seems to suggest the promotion is official and expected to last long enough to change the office door signage.

Perry will likely return to the Daily Planet someday, but for now, when one of the oldest and most recognizable comic book characters in the world changes jobs, it's worth taking notice.

The new era of Superman that began in Action Comics #1050 and continues in February's Superman features several notable status quo changes for Lois and Clark, including the restoration of Superman's secret identity (Lex's plan worked!) and their adoption of super-powered twin pre-teens from Warworld.

A new promotion, two new children, a big new/old super-secret to maintain ... Lois Lane certainly has her hands full these days but if there's one comic book character equipped to deal with it all, it's her.

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I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.