Comic Book / Superman: Lois and Clark

This looks like a job for Superman!
...And his family!

Superman: Lois and Clark is an eight issue comic book Superman mini-series written by Dan Jurgens that began in 2015. It is one of a number of spin-offs from the Convergence storyline, as part of the DC You initiative. In the aftermath of stopping the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois Lane, along with their son Jonathan Samuel, have somehow ended up in the New 52 universe. Trapped in a universe not their own, they've taken new identities and are trying to eke out a new life. But new threats are arising and this may be a job for Superman. At the same time, though, Jon is starting to realize there's more to his life than what his parents have said...

This, along with Titans Hunt, are both collected in trade as "Road to DC Rebirth" titles, since they both set up a new status quo of the DC Universe.Later during the Dawn of DC iniative, Jurgens returned to Action Comics to write a series of backups titled Home Again set during this time period, and explore more of Jon's childhood.

Do not confuse with Lois & Clark, the TV show from The '90s starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher, though the title is indeed a Shout-Out to the series.

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Tropes:

Lois & Clark

• Action Girl: Lois, though she's older and not as spry as she used to be.
• Alternate Self: Plays a major part, as Clark and Lois engage with the New 52 versions of people they know from their universe, and have to operate around the existence of their own counterparts.
• Asshole Victim: The Intergang killers who trapped Lois and Jon and set a fire to kill them get themselves killed by the follow-up explosion after Lois and Jon escape and Clark then flies them clear.
• Author Appeal:
  • The series is almost like reading the series from the early 1990's with the character as established by Jurgens and John Byrne.
  • According to Jurgens, Dan DiDio always wanted to have a series with the Lois and Clark title.
• Badass Family: The story focuses on the adventures of Superman, Lois, and their son Jon who has his Dad's powers.
• Big Bad: The comic features several villains, most of them having little to do with one another; the two with the best claim are Hyathis and Bruno Mannheim, each posing a threat in one facet of the story.
  • The portions of the story with Clark dealing with Hank Henshaw involve the Oblivion Stone sought after by Hyathis, an alien Warrior Queen. She is seen massacring multiple aliens before providing a physical confrontation with Superman.
  • Lois and Jonathan are being menaced by Intergang, and Bruno Mannheim briefly appears a few times. Intergang's efforts end up revealing Jonathan's superpowers, although they utterly fail at killing Lois.
• The Bus Came Back: The entire premise of the book is the return of the fan-favorite Superman and Lois that fans had followed between 1986-2011. However, their old supporting cast is not returning. As well, it is unknown what happened to the pre-Crisis Barry Allen, Kara Zor-El or Parallax. The first issue reveals that pre-Crisis Kara and Barry no longer died in the Crisis and they and Parallax went off somewhere else while Clark and Lois were transported to the Earth Prime. In Green Lantern, it is shown that Parallax is in this universe too.
• Canon Immigrant: A more literal example in that these are two characters from a past version of the DC continuity now forced to live in the current one. And they're staying there.
• Calling the Old Man Out: After Jonathan learns about his powers and who his father is, he calls his parents out on not telling him sooner. To their credit, they tell him that they had every intention to when he was an adult. They just didn't expect his powers to manifest so soon (or at all), as Clark's came later in life.
• Crapsack World: The initial assessment of the New 52 Earth from the Kents, circa the formation of its Justice League, is that this is a very doubtful, suspicious, and edgy world with little trust given towards the superheroes that live in it, which is another reason Clark has needed to be more stealthy in his endeavors. May also count as Leaning on the Fourth Wall as the description Lois gives echoes the complaints fans have had about the direction of the New 52. The reaction both Lois and Clark have to the events of Superman: Truth also reinforces this assessment.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The shadowy bespectacled man in the shadows spying on Lois Lane aka Author X is not from Intergang. It's nu-Clark Kent aka Mr. Mxyzptlk.
• Easily Forgiven: Jonathan completely forgives Dad when seeing him fly off for the first time. Lois notes she still gets the same feeling watching him fly, even now.
• Foreshadowing: Issue #5 had Jon listening into a conversation by Clark and Lois, with a close-up on his ear. It was unclear at the time whether it was super-hearing or not. Issue #6 confirms, yes, he was eavesdropping using super-hearing.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: The Iron Giant's head is in Superman's Himalayan Fortress of Solitude.
• Mad Artist: Blanque claims that death and destruction is art, so he does his best to make his killings as creative as possible.
• Mysterious Protector: Clark can't help but be a guardian◊, even if it means no one knows he's doing it. Talk about Chronic Hero Syndrome.
• Mythology Gag / Call-Back:
  • Clark's black-and-silver Superman costume is a reference to the outfit he wore in Reign of the Supermen.
  • Lois discovering Jon being superpowered when his hand goes unharmed through fire was how Clark's secret got revealed to her in Superman II.
  • Jon and Lois getting trapped by criminals and then Jon breaks open the door, inverts a similar scene with Lois and her son in Superman Returns.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Superman and Lois are alone in this universe, and forced to live entirely new lives with new identities. Even worse, after this universe's Superman has his Secret Identity revealed, which complicates matters for the older Superman.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Clark rescues a crashing space shuttle. As he throws open the door, his eyes go wide as he sees the nametag on the first astronaut out: HENSHAW.
  • When Clark's battling Blanque for the second time, Henshaw sneaks aboard an alien shuttle. When the villain's distracted, Henshaw fires a laser at him. Clark comments he didn't know the shuttle still had operational weapons. It hadn't. Henshaw has the subplot's alien crystal.
• Population: X, and Counting: Blanque is introduced wiping out the small town of Rusty Ridge. When he passes by the town sign, which reads "Population: 3106", he pulls off the 3, 1, and 6 so it now reads "Population: 0".
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Supes' power fluctuates. Clark doesn't care - he'll get the job done any way he can.
• The Power of Trust: Supes comes that close to making Batman a Secret-Keeper. He trusts him that much.
• Revision: The Kents ended up in the New 52 at around the same time the Justice League first got together and fought Darkseid which, in universe, was five years ago. In fact, it's revealed Clark was actually there during the battle and ready to step into the fight if he absolutely needed to.
• Retired Badass: Averted. Clark and Lois haven't stopped doing what they do to save the world, but they've had to do it more quietly. Clark's been averting disasters and making sure certain people don't become villains like they did in his universe, and Lois is a famous writer dubbed "Author X" responsible for exposing Intergang's illegal activity through her books, raising the ire of New 52 Bruno Mannheim.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Clark has been keeping his eyes open to see if there are any possibilities to ensure that the Start of Darkness events which created some of the villains from his universe can be averted in the New 52. The first issue focuses on Hank Henshaw, who was the original Cyborg Superman.
• Spinoff: The limited series was the start for Super Sons, about the adventures of Damian Wayne and Jonathan Kent.
• Trapped in Another World: Subverted. Superman and Lois believe they are refugees in the New 52 universe. According to DC Rebirth, it's the opposite. The world changed on them, and according to Superman Reborn, they had changed, too, being one half of the original Clark and Lois.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: The Big Bad leaves in issue #8 when it turns out Supes is too much for her to handle. It's strongly hinted she'll be a new recurring villain in upcoming Superman comics.
• Wham Episode: Issue #6 has Jon bursting out of ropes using super-strength and showing an immunity/high tolerance to fire. Even more, Jon asks why his dad looks like Superman and why Lois looks like the lady that outed him.
• Wham Shot: The very last image of the final issue of the miniseries is Jon learning to fly.

Home Again

• Sequel Episode: Both to the original Lois & Clark series, and to the 30th Anniversary issue of The Death of Superman.