Warning: SPOILERS for Action Comics #1050Years after telling the world his secret, Superman has finally admitted his one regret about revealing his secret identity. Superman has always believed in telling the truth, but so has his wife, celebrated investigative journalist Lois Lane. By revealing his identity as Clark Kent to the world, he accidentally reduced Lois to "Superman's wife" in the eyes of the public.
Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent has been an essential component of his story and character from his very first appearance in 1938's Action Comics #1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He has revealed that secret to a few people over the years: his parents, of course, as well as the Justice League and its affiliates. Lois Lane was also eventually let into the secret shortly before she married Clark Kent. But both Superman and journalist Clark Kent wholeheartedly believe in the power of the truth, and so Clark decided to reveal his identity (and so his family's identities) to the public in a moving story from 2019. Since then, the whole world has been aware that both Clark Kent and Jon Kent are the world's Supermen—and prize-wining journalist Lois Lane is Superman's wife.
But Superman's identity is a secret once again as of Action Comics #1050 by Tom Taylor, Joshua Williamson, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Clayton Henry, Nick Dragotta, Mike Perkins, Frank Martin, and Dave Sharpe, and with its return Clark reveals his one major regret about sharing the secret in the first place. As Clark frets about once again hiding his identity from the broader public, Batman points out that Clark couldn't have been happy that "a powerful force for good like Lois Lane has been reduced to being the wife of Superman in so many people's eyes." Clark completely agrees with Batman and says he never "anticipated" that part of "going public."
Superman Knows Lois Lane Is More Than Just His Wife
Lois Lane has always been a “real world” kind of superhero—an investigative journalist that didn't need a mask or superpowers to champion truth, justice, and a better tomorrow. This moment between Superman and Batman finally admits that the revealing of Superman's secret identity was a true injustice against Lois, who, like many women, was promptly reduced to her relationship to powerful men instead of celebrated for her own accomplishments. But by saying this was an outcome he never "anticipated," Clark suggests that he loves and believes in Lois so much that he could never imagine the rest of the world reducing her to “just” the wife of a hero instead of the superstar she is.
Lois Lane is a character as old as Superman—she also debuted in Action Comics #1, after all—and she is just as heroic. Now that Superman's identity is "back in the bag", Lois (and Clark, for that matter) can finally remove herself from the public eye and do her own essential work as a journalist. Lois Lane deserves to be recognized for her own "real world" superheroics—Superman knows that better than anyone.
Check out Action Comics #1050, available now from DC Comics!