Sam Lane (comics)

Sam Lane
Sam Lane as seen in Superman: Secret Origin #5. Art by Gary Frank.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #13 (November 1959)
Created by	Robert Bernstein Kurt Schaffenberger
In-story information
Full name	Samuel Lane
Team affiliations	United States Army United States Senate

Samuel Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.^[1] He is the father of Lucy Lane and Lois Lane and the father-in-law of Clark Kent / Superman.

Denis Arndt and Harve Presnell portrayed the character in the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Michael Ironside in Smallville, Glenn Morshower in Supergirl, and Dylan Walsh in Superman & Lois; and Joel de la Fuente voiced him in the animated series My Adventures with Superman.

Sam Lane, along with his wife Ella was introduced in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #13 (November 1959) as a horse farmer in the town of Pittsdale. He was created by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger.

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths he was reinvented as a hard-bitten and outspoken US Army General, with an awkward relationship with his daughters. It was explained that Lane had wanted his eldest child to be a boy, so had treated Lois as a surrogate son, when he was present at all. This version first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #424 (January 1987), the first retitled issue of the former Superman title. He became a more significant character following Lois' engagement to Clark Kent, being highly unimpressed with the mild-mannered reporter despite his obvious commitment to Lois.^[2]

When Lex Luthor became President of the United States, he made Lane Secretary of Defense. This inevitably led to Lois, as an investigative journalist trying to prove Luthor was crooked, opposing her father, especially during the buildup to the Imperiex War.^[3]

During the fight against Imperiex, General Lane was apparently killed by an Imperiex probe, when he detonated the nuclear engine of his tank to crack the shell of the probe and give Black Lightning the chance to get through its armor.^[4]

Set at Halloween, Sam Lane's ghost appeared to Lois while she was trapped in a car, enabling them to talk through their unresolved issues. The last scene of the issue showed the "ghost" leaning against a wall and watching the sunrise, suggesting that General Lane had found lasting peace. Some have also interpreted this as a sign that Sam Lane is somehow still alive.^[5]

While believing that their father is dead, Lois and Lucy still grieve for their father. Lucy decides to try and honor her father's memory and give him the soldier he was denied by joining the U.S. Army. Lucy is wounded during the Amazon's attack on Washington, D.C., and is secretly rescued and brought to a secret facility. General Sam Lane finally reveals himself alive and in charge of a covert operation called Project 7734. Lucy volunteers to become Superwoman and is given a mystically-powered costume that allowed her to pass as Kryptonian. Lucy is to infiltrate Kandor and gathering intelligence on the Kryptonians and New Krypton. Lucy appears to die battling Supergirl when her suit is ruptured but returns to life with Kryptonian Powers, ready to serve her country again.

General Lane drafts the imprisoned Lex Luthor into a secret operation against Superman and the Kryptonians of Kandor. The U.S. government believes the aliens to be a risk for world's security and begins to create countermeasures against them. Though the full implications of the operation are yet known, Lane has apparently been monitoring the activities several new superhumans that have appeared following the most recent Crisis. One of the superhumans of particular note is Icon.^[6]

After Lois prepares to release a very damaging story, Sam has Lois taken into custody. The two finally meet face to face much to Lois' displeasure. Sam tells Lois the only reason he's being lenient with her is that she is his daughter. He threatens to make her disappear forever in a place where not even Superman can find her. To make his point Sam shoots Lois' laptop containing her story. He realizes that she has back up copies but he has made his point.^[7]

When General Zod declares war on Earth after it is revealed Lex Luthor (through one of his robot doubles) aided Brainiac in attacking New Krypton as seen during the "War of the Supermen" storyline, Lane puts his plans into action. The imprisoned Reactron reveals that he allowed himself to be captured as part of Lane's plan. The Luthor robot tampers with Reactron's body chemistry, causing him to explode. The resulting chain reaction leads to the destruction of New Krypton and most of the remaining 100,000 Kryptonians, including Supergirl's mother Alura.^[8]

Under Lane's orders, Luthor transforms the Earth's sun from yellow to red to rob the Kryptonians of their powers. Flamebird neutralizes this countermeasure and the sun reverts to yellow and restores everyone's power. At the same time, Jimmy Olsen and his associates save Natasha Irons and transmit all of General Lane's activities to news sites all over the World Wide Web. The remaining Kryptonians, led by Ursa and Zod himself, begin attacking the Earth, ravaging the planet.^[9] When confronted by an angered Supergirl and his daughter Lois - particularly after Lois points out to him that he has become the monster he claimed the Kryptonians were, as he is one man who destroyed a planet, while Supergirl defies his perception of her people as "rabid dogs" by sparing his life when it would have been easy for her to kill him - Lane commits suicide rather than be made accountable to an international court.^[10]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Sam Lane is re-introduced in the relaunched Action Comics where he is seen attempting to catch Superman believing him to be a menace.^[11] He was willing to help Superman after Lois and a portion of Metropolis was shrunken and taken away by the Collector.^[12] In his next appearance, he has Kryptonite Man released from custody, believing he is necessary to help keep Superman in check. Kryptonite Man agreed under the condition that General Sam Lane helps him locate his wife.^[13] Sam Lane is also seen in the relaunched Superman comics which chronologically takes place five years later in the present day, and his relationship with Superman is not that much different, right to the point where he accuses Superman that his presence in Metropolis is what attracts all the super-powered menaces and for that reason his daughter will always be in danger even though she is now a news producer instead of a reporter.^[14]

Following the death of US Senator Hume,^[15] Sam Lane was chosen as his replacement and has now become a member of the US Senate.^[16]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Sam Lane is seen conferring in a bunker under Gotham City with Amanda Waller and Hugo Strange.^[17] He is later seen as the official U.S. military representative when a nationwide crisis arises. Along with others such as Mr. Bones, Steve Trevor, Waller and Father Time they try and defeat the threat with technological means. This fails with a mystically powered alternate universe Bruce Wayne crashes through the wall and brainwashes the entire group.^[18]

In Doomsday Clock, Sam Lane is seen pulling his troops out of Qurac.^[19]

General Sam Lane appeared in Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. In his sole appearance in Issue 1, he talks to Luthor about how he pulled him out of prison to work for the US Government, but Luthor again threatens to kill Superman, before he dies. Lane then has Luthor incarcerated in Stryker's Island.^[20]

Sam Lane appears in the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event. In this version, Lane was the officer in charge of Project: Superman. He attempts to bond with Kal-El during the latter's time in captivity. When Neil Sinclair is freed from captivity and trashes the lab, Lane sacrifices himself by pulling himself and Sinclair into the Phantom Zone. The two eventually emerge from the Phantom Zone onto a far away island, and Sinclair murders Lane before leaving the island.^[21]

In Earth-Two, Sam Lane is a member of the World Army. He works with Robotman to create Red Tornado before being killed in a cave-in.^[22]

• Sam Lane appears in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, initially portrayed by Denis Arndt and later by Harve Presnell. This version is a cyberneticist who is divorced from his wife Ellen and has an estranged relationship with his daughter Lois Lane, though he attempts to improve both relationships in later episodes.
• Sam Lane appears in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Monkey Fun", voiced by Dean Jones.^[23] This version is involved in the United States space program and originally owned Titano.
• General Sam Lane appears in Smallville, portrayed by Michael Ironside. After his wife died, this version struggled to raise his estranged daughters, Lois and Lucy, having modeled his parenting style on his army career and implemented a chain of command that saw him taking charge of Lois, who in turn took charge of Lucy. In the tenth season, Sam is promoted to a four-star general and becomes involved in the Vigilante Registration Act.
• General Sam Lane appears in the first season of Supergirl, portrayed by Glenn Morshower.^[24][25] This version possesses anti-alien views. In pursuit of his goal of exterminating all aliens, he attempts to take over the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) for their resources and approves the creation of the unstable Red Tornado until he is saved by Supergirl several times and assists her in stopping her uncle Non from taking over National City. Following this, Sam and the U.S. military take Non's device, the Omegahedron, into their custody and deliver it to Maxwell Lord.
• General Sam Lane appears in Superman & Lois, portrayed by Dylan Walsh.^[26] This version is a member of the Department of Defense (DOD) who is aware of Clark Kent's identity as Superman and often works with him despite their stiff and impersonal relationship. Throughout the first season, Sam works with Superman to stop Tal-Rho before retiring from active duty. In the second season, Sam assists Superman when he starts having visions due to an "invasive cosmological event", attempts to help his daughters Lois and Lucy Lane reconnect, and secretly trains Superman's son Jordan Kent in better utilizing his powers. In the third season, Sam returns to the DOD and gives Jordan a suit and his father's goggles to protect his identity. In the fourth season, Sam sacrifices himself to save Superman after the latter was killed by Doomsday.
  • Additionally, Sam's Bizarro World counterpart appears in the second season episode "Bizarros in a Bizarro World", also portrayed by Walsh. This version is the head of his version of the DOD until Ally Allston's Bizarro counterpart takes over, leading Bizarro Sam to join a resistance movement against her.
• General Sam Lane appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Joel de la Fuente.^[23] This version is a Korean-American founding member and co-leader of Task Force X alongside Amanda Waller. Twenty-two years prior, he and Waller survived "Zero Day", during which a Kryptonian invasion force led by an armored warrior they dubbed "Nemesis Omega" killed their military comrades. Following this, they repurposed leftover Kryptonian technology and founded Task Force X to prevent threats of similar magnitude. However, his unwillingness to endanger civilians puts him at odds with Waller. Throughout the first season, he initially leads a manhunt against Superman, who he believes to be "Nemesis Omega". However, after capturing and interrogating him, Lane begins to doubt Superman's involvement with "Zero Day", for which Waller demotes him on Checkmate and the U.S. government's behalf. During the second season, Sam goes into hiding to protect his loved ones before eventually resurfacing to help Superman thwart Brainiac's invasion of Metropolis.

• General Sam Lane appears in All-Star Superman, voiced by an uncredited Steve Blum.
• The Flashpoint incarnation of Sam Lane appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, voiced by Danny Huston.^[23]
• Sam Lane appears in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, voiced by Jay K. Johnson.^[23]
• Sam Lane appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom, voiced by James Arnold Taylor.^[23] This version is mistrusting towards extraterrestrial life.
• Sam Lane appears in Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants, voiced by John DiMaggio.^[23]

An alternate universe incarnation of Sam Lane appears in the Justice League: Gods and Monsters prequel comic.^{[citation needed]} This version was a war physician who died amidst a battle that Superman was involved in.

Chad Derdowski of Mania.com felt that Sam Lane would have been a formidable villain to use for a Zack Snyder Superman film, stating that "Lane would provide a little more dramatic oomph for the film, driving a wedge between the relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane and turning the whole thing into a family affair."^[27]

• Sam Lane at DC Wikia