The romance of Superman and Lois Lane goes back over 80 years now. For the majority of that time, the two were caught up in one of the oddest love triangles in literature. Lois loved Superman and Clark, who is Superman, loved Lois. But Clark, being a decent man, wanted Lois to love him for him, not for the feats of strength his alter-ego was known for.
Finally, in 1996 the two lovebirds tied the knot. Since then, the couple has added to their home with the birth of their son, the latest Superboy Jon Kent, while continuing to live up to the standards that the world's greatest champion and the world's greatest reporter must meet. But is Superman better married or single? To this day, fans debate the answer to that question. Here are 5 reasons why Superman being married is better, and 5 reasons it's worse.
10 Better: It Brings Out The Man From The Super
Superman is all about doing super things, from flying up the moon to fighting off hoards of alien invaders to stopping whatever evil plot Lex Luthor has come up with that week. We all love seeing those moments, but when the Man of Steel spends too much time punching things, we tend to forget what had made the character stand out for over eighty years; his humanity.
Being married and having a kid is something most people in the world can connect to relate to, and trying to find a work/life balance is becoming harder than ever. Seeing Superman struggle with these same things reminds us that, like us, he is not perfect.
9 Worse: No More Love Triangles
The love triangle is a tried and true style of soap opera storytelling, and comic books rely on soap opera theatrics a lot more than we like to think they do. The Superman/Lois/Clark love triangle was one of the best-known version of this type of tale in comics, but that wasn't the only one Superman found himself in.
There are the classic Lois/Superman/Lana Lang stories from the Golden and Silver Ages. In the years after Crisis On Infinite Earths, we learned that Lois and Lex Luthor used to have a thing, which added more tension between the villain and the Man of Steel. Maxima, a character introduced in the 90s, was a superpowered warrior who had the hots for Superman, and he kind of had a thing for her too. These stories won't work now because no one wants to see Superman cheat on Lois, or vice versa.
8 Better: No Marriage, No Jon Kent
Jon Kent, the son of Clark and Lois, is one of the greatest additions to the Superman mythos in a very long time. Half Kryptonian and half-human, Jon is more of this world than his father could ever hope to be, but still has the powers and the drive to be a better person.
Arguments will go on for ages about the decision to age up the new Superboy, but one thing everyone agrees on is that the DC universe is better with him than without him. Now that he's helped create the United Planets and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, we can't wait to see what DC does with Jon next.
7 Worse: It Pulls Superman's Attention Away From The World
The biggest piece of heroism that exists in Superman is his lack of bias. He sees everyone as being capable of good, and he believes that with help, even his worst enemy could become a good person. Superman gives his attention to the world at large. That is unless his wife comes calling.
And that isn't a dig at Lois - part of being a spouse is being there for your partner - but sometimes Superman is there for Lois even when she doesn't want him to be, and we can't help but think of the people he isn't there for at that moment.
6 Better: It Helps Everyone See That They Can Have A Life Outside Of Their Work
As we mentioned before, Superman sometimes has trouble with his work/life balance, and that reminds us that, like us, he isn't perfect. Another important part of Superman's life that we can all learn from is that he does make time for his loved ones. He is there for dinner, helping set the table. He takes the Kent clan on vacation, driving across the country and seeing the sights.
If Superman, who saves the world on a weekly basis, can take some time to help his son with homework, surely we can all put away our spreadsheets for a little while and spend some time with our loved ones.
5 Worse: It Makes Him Harder To Relate To For Younger Readers
While being married is a very human thing, for a lot of readers, they may not have reached the age where marriage is something they're thinking about, or maybe they haven't found the right person yet. For them, a married Superman could be harder to relate to. This is why so few superheroes have been married over the decades that they've existed, and why so many of the ones who have been married had those marriages retconned.
Even Superman and Lois Lane's marriage was erased when DC rebooted everything with New 52. Luckily for the loving couple, they came back thanks to Convergence.
4 Better: Superman Has Someone He Can Always Turn To
With his superhearing, Superman can listen to everyone in the world, but who listens to the Man of Steel when he needs to vent? Sure, he can move a planet as easy as you can push a pen, but that doesn't mean the stresses of life don't weigh on him.
With Lois Lane as his wife, a smart and loving woman who knows everything about him, Superman has a person he can confide in. Someone he can share his fears and doubts with. Everyone deserves to have someone they can talk to, and that includes Superman.
3 Worse: It Ages Him (In A Bad Way)
One of the hardest things for superhero comics is the work it takes to keep these characters stay around a certain age. Marvel used to age their characters but stopped not long after Spider-Man reached his mid-twenties. DC usually leaves its main heroes in their early to mid-thirties, but big life events can mess up that idea.
Getting married and being in your mid-thirties isn't hard to buy into. But Superman and Lois have a kid, and while Jon was aged a few years while off-world, but before that happened he was twelve. Obviously, you can have a twelve-year-old and be in your early thirties, but it starts to make the character feel older.
2 Better: It Ages Him (In A Good Way)
Superman is an adult, and showing him doing adult things is good. That doesn't mean we want to see an issue where he carefully does his taxes, but getting married and having kids is the kind of thing that helps grow a character. Yes, some old stories can't be done anymore, but so many new ones open up for the writers and artists at DC to tell.
Seeing Superman and Lois help Jon understand loss and the importance of being careful with his powers when their pet cat died in 2016's Superman #2 is a great moment for all three characters that wouldn't have happened if Superman never got married.
1 Worse: It Made Superman A Team Book
Lois Lane is a great character, one who can easily lead her own series, and she has always been a major part of the Superman mythos. But having Superman and Lois be a married couple makes it harder for writers to not include Lois in stories. This essentially makes the majority of current-day Superman stories be about a duo instead of the singular character.
Over the last two years, writers have come up with weird reasons why the couple can't be together for certain moments - including Lois deciding to go and live in a hotel in Chigaco for no real reason - but the stories still need to have Lois play an essential role in everything Superman does. Sometimes, it may be nice to see Superman just go out alone and handle things himself.