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

Sam 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 .

Publication history

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.

Fictional character biography

Post-Crisis

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 becomes President of the United States, he appoints Sam Lane as Secretary of Defense. This leads to Lois, as an investigative journalist trying to prove Luthor is corrupt, opposing her father, especially during the buildup to the Imperiex War. ^[3]

During the war against Imperiex, Sam Lane is apparently killed by Imperiex's probes. ^[4] He is later revealed to have survived and is recruited into Project 7734, where he assists Lex Luthor in a secret operation against Superman and the Kryptonians of Kandor. ^[5] After Supergirl and Lois Lane confront him, Sam commits suicide rather than be made accountable to an international court. ^[6]

The New 52

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. ^[7] Following the death of US Senator Hume, Sam is chosen as his replacement and becomes a member of the United States Senate. ^[8]

In Event Leviathan (2019), Sam Lane is hospitalized after being injured in an attack by Leviathan. In the hospital, Sam is attacked by an agent who believes him to be a member of Leviathan. Zatanna rescues Sam and teleports him away, but he dies soon after without life support. ^[9]

Other versions

All-Star Superman

An alternate universe variant of Sam Lane appears in All-Star Superman #1. This version temporarily pulled Lex Luthor from prison to work for the U.S. government. ^[10]

Flashpoint

An alternate timeline variant of Sam Lane appears in Flashpoint . This version was in charge of Project: Superman, which involved capturing and studying Kal-El. He attempted to bond with him before Sam pulls an escaped prisoner named Neil Sinclair into the Phantom Zone. The pair later emerge on a deserted island, where Sinclair murders Sam. ^[11]

Earth 2

An alternate universe variant of Sam Lane from Earth 2 appears in the alternate Earth's self-titled series. This version is a member of the World Army who works with Robotman to create Red Tornado before he is killed in a cave-in. ^[12]

In other media

Television

• 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. ^[13] This version is involved in the United States space program and originally owned Titano.
• 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.
• Sam Lane appears in the first season of Supergirl , portrayed by Glenn Morshower. ^{[14] [15]} 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.
• Sam Lane appears in Superman & Lois , portrayed by Dylan Walsh. ^[16] 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.
• Sam Lane appears in My Adventures with Superman , voiced by Joel de la Fuente. ^[13] 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.

Film

• Sam Lane appears in Superman , portrayed by Kirk Alyn.
• 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. ^[13]
• Sam Lane appears in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis , voiced by Jay K. Johnson. ^[13]
• Sam Lane appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom , voiced by James Arnold Taylor. ^[13] This version is mistrusting towards extraterrestrial life.
• Sam Lane appears in Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants , voiced by John DiMaggio. ^[13]

Miscellaneous

An alternate universe variant 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.

Reception

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." ^[17]

References

1. Adventures of Superman #593 (August 2001)
2. Adventures of Superman #424 (January 1987)
3. Superman (vol. 2) #166-168 (March - May 2001)
4. Action Comics #781 (September 2001)
5. Superman #688 (July 2009)
6. Superman: War of the Supermen #4 (July 2010)
7. Action Comics (vol. 2) #1 (November 2011)
8. Superman (vol. 3) #26 (February 2014)
9. Event Leviathan #5 (December 2019)
10. All-Star Superman #1 (January 2006)
11. Flashpoint: Project Superman #1 (June 2011)
12. Earth 2 #17 (January 2014)
13. "Sam Lane Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 8, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
14. Arrant, Chris (September 2, 2015). "Supergirl Recruits Veteran Marvel Actor As General Sam Lane". Newsarama . Archived from the original on September 4, 2015.
15. Wickline, Dan (August 10, 2015). "No Flash/Arrow Crossover, but Supergirl is Getting Red Tornado and General Zod (Updated)". Bleeding Cool .
16. Mitovich, Matt Webb (April 2, 2020). "Superman & Lois Casts Dylan Walsh as Lois' Father, General Sam Lane". TV Line.
17. Derdowski, Chad (October 7, 2010). "10 SUPERMAN Villains Snyder Could've Used". Mania.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2013.

External links

• Sam Lane at DC Wikia