Warning! Spoilers for Earth-Prime: Superman and Lois #2
Although The CW’s Superman & Lois framed Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s reporter careers as the show’s backstory, the time they spent at the Daily Planet is explored in a new comic. The Arrowverse has focused on the couple’s years of parenthood, but Earth-Prime: Superman & Lois #2 returns to a familiar era.
Throughout Superman & Lois, the titular couple navigate parenthood with their teenage twin sons. Taking a note from the comics’ Jon Kent, fans can see Clark and Lois enter their next phase of life, after having been familiar with their younger years. In the series’ pilot, they both are on a trajectory of leaving Metropolis for a variety of reasons. They both do the unthinkable, as they leave the Daily Planet behind, in spite of their highly successful careers as reporters. With the new comic miniseries set in the Arrowverse titled Earth-Prime, writers of the show have the opportunity to expand their version of the DC Universe.
In Earth-Prime: Superman & Lois #2, the couple returns to their roots as reporters at the Daily Planet during a sequence of flashbacks. As they begin their marriage, they are still working as journalists, and are learning to work things out with Clark’s double life as the Man of Steel. Lois even interacts with Perry White, who receives yet another iteration in the comic which contrasts the live action version, and bears some resemblance to the Richard Donner Superman movies’ Jackie Cooper. The issue is written by Adam Mallinger, Jai Jamison, and Andrew Wong with art by Tom Grummett, inks by Norm Rampund, and colors by Hi-Fi.
In the series, an episode in the first season titled “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events” also shed some light on the couple’s early days, incorporating Superman’s origin and explaining his secret identity. It proved to be a popular storyline, which fans can now find elaborated upon in the latest chapter of Earth-Prime. Similarly, the issue revives the fan favorite Superman costume featured in the Fleischer cartoons, incorporating a black and red emblem.
Although some readers might find such a backstory repetitive or unnecessary, as Superman’s beginnings are well-known, the Arrowverse features a handful of differences from the mainstream version. However, the most recognizable components of the Superman mythos are left in tact, making the issue feel like just as much a love letter to the Man of Steel as The CW series itself. Earth-Prime: Superman & Lois #2 is currently available for purchase in print and digital.