Lois Lane, Girl Reporter

March 27, 2011 6:34 PM

Lois Lane, Girl Reporter - an awesome proposal for a series of YA books that didn't happen.
posted by Artw (45 comments total)

Man, I love this concept so much. Shame it didn't work out.
posted by tjenks at 6:49 PM on March 27, 2011

Smart and smartly dressed independent, ambitious, helpful, and capable girl...I would have loved it...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 6:50 PM on March 27, 2011

This is such a cool idea.
posted by xingcat at 6:53 PM on March 27, 2011

I'd read those, and I'm hardly the target audience.
posted by Curious Artificer at 6:54 PM on March 27, 2011

Every person I know would have read those, so...
posted by Huck500 at 6:55 PM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Where the hell is Jimmy Olsen?

(I know, I know, Clark Kent's basement man-cave, wearing a smoking jacket and a straw boater...)
posted by jonmc at 6:56 PM on March 27, 2011

If Lois is 11, Jimmy’s a gleam in the milkman’s eye.
posted by kipmanley at 6:59 PM on March 27, 2011 [6 favorites]

You mean I can't have it? But I want it! I want it so much!
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:08 PM on March 27, 2011 [5 favorites]

Dittoing how awesome this would have been!
posted by Calzephyr at 7:13 PM on March 27, 2011

Agreed. I want to buy this book! I wonder if DC's ill-fated Minx YA line would have fared better if it had a book like this as a flagship out of the gate. (Also if it wasn't called "Minx." Eeesh.)

I'm also very heartened by the fact that the proposal didn't have the words "love triangle between young Bruce, Clark, and Lois" anywhere in it. High five, Mr. Trippe!
posted by greenland at 7:17 PM on March 27, 2011

I would LOVE my 11 year old daughter reading this. Then I'd read it too.
posted by SPUTNIK at 7:20 PM on March 27, 2011

GODDAMN IT DC

GODDAMNIT

YOU GET ON THIS SHIT

RIGHT

NOW
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:36 PM on March 27, 2011 [9 favorites]

WANT
posted by pointystick at 7:51 PM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

can she hang out with Chloe Sullivan?
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:51 PM on March 27, 2011

Greenland: Minx was aimed at teenagers. Teenagers that didn't seem to exist (mostly, the books seemed like they were for some grown-up's conception of what teenage girls should be rather than what they actually were. Only Water Baby and The New York Four seemed like things teenage girls would read. The New York Four has found a non-Minx sequel in the Vertigo title The New York Five and Ross Campbell continues to be awesome, so there's that at least.)

I am not the target audience for this either, but with all the positive reaction it's received, I'm still (naively) hopeful it may happen eventually. I would read it. I would even befriend preteen girls in a totally non-creepy way so I could give them copies of it. We need this comic.
posted by darksong at 7:51 PM on March 27, 2011 [2 favorites]

That’s why Clark Kent is a reporter. Lois Lane is his hero.

SOLD

Throughout the rest of the series, we’d have seen that whenever Lois encounters power, it has corrupted its wielder. The government, corporations, the military (poor Gen. Lane), they’re abusing their power. Until she meets the most powerful being on Earth. And he’s incorruptible. Superman’s therefore the most attractive man she’s ever met. Someone she can believe in, who fights her same fight with flights and tights

a great message for kids and a dig at Smallville. DOUBLE SOLD

and i'm not even a teenage girl and I can picture myself crushing on handsome, brooding Bruce Wayne. *sigh*
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:55 PM on March 27, 2011 [6 favorites]

Oh, Jesus, DC, make this now. With that art.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:05 PM on March 27, 2011

I've seen this going the rounds several times and it continues to boggle my mind that this wasn't approved. At this stage I'm convinced that Warner Bros/DC and Disney/Marvel don't actually want to bring in new readers to revitalize their audience even though they say they do, because kid/teen-friendly (and especially teen-girl-friendly) concepts like this are repeatedly passed over (the Wonder Woman shoujo manga) or horribly mishandled (Minx, Her-Oes, the original OR current Spider-Girl series, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane).
posted by bettafish at 8:08 PM on March 27, 2011 [3 favorites]

My 10-year-old daughter NEEDS to read these. Make it happen, DC, toot sweet.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:10 PM on March 27, 2011

It sounds like an interesting concept - but if Lois is 11, why has the artist given her the breasts of a 15-year-old? Can't we just have a smart, brave, flat-chested heroine, or do even child heroines have to be sexy? even when 11 year olds have developed somewhat, like I had, they look more like children than these drawings.
posted by jb at 8:13 PM on March 27, 2011

First, I stopped watching live TV, because when good shows died, it was too painful. Now, I find out about awesome comics that will never even exist in the first place.

I can only hope that no one posts about forms of media that will never be invented, because I'm pretty sure the singularity happens at that point. Grey goo, as far as the eye can see!
posted by dvorak_beats_qwerty at 8:36 PM on March 27, 2011

Shit I want to give this to my friends' kids. I want to read it myself. I want this to be a thing.

And you know what else, while I'm at it? I love Lois, and I love Bruce's characterisation, but I want to see full-on farmboy Clark. He was raised on a farm in Kansas. I want him in Wranglers and a buzzcut with a wrench hanging out of his back pocket. I feel like I've seen ringer-T Clark. I read Birthright. Give me the Clark that goes mudding in his buddy's F250 on the weekends. Give me Boy Scout Clark. He doesn't have to be the one "cool" guy at school who can't wait to make it to the big city. He can be the kid who's just trying to be like everybody else, and it's burning him up inside that he can't be.
posted by penduluum at 8:56 PM on March 27, 2011 [6 favorites]

Clearly someone must travel to the Alternate Earth where this comic was made and retrieve copies.
posted by BlueJae at 9:18 PM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

It sounds like an interesting concept - but if Lois is 11, why has the artist given her the breasts of a 15-year-old? Can't we just have a smart, brave, flat-chested heroine, or do even child heroines have to be sexy? even when 11 year olds have developed somewhat, like I had, they look more like children than these drawings.

What? I looked like that at 11.

This sounds incredibly awesome. Incredibly. Awesome.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:25 PM on March 27, 2011

Also, while we're making wishes, can we have a Veronica Mars book in the same universe? WITH CROSSOVERS?!
posted by axiom at 10:41 PM on March 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ooh, awesome. Like a modern-day Nancy Drew, but with all the history of the Superman and Batman universes behind it.

Make it so, DC. Make it so.
posted by Georgina at 10:44 PM on March 27, 2011

Man, what's with the Spider-Girl hate? I thought it wasn't half-bad, especially the Anya/ Sue mentorship Tobin was developing

And yeah, I'm convinced DC just doesn't want to do any good books any more. I rather share Wil Wheaton's opinion on the DCU; there's nothing there that particularly interests me, and the books that used to grab me invariably went off on weird bitches-be-crazy tangents as soon as the creative team got shuffled (I'm looking at you, Green Arrow and Black Canary).

They'll get my money for Kelly Sue DeConnick's upcoming run on Supergirl, but that's because I know DeConnick turns out a damn solid comic every time she puts her hand to it.

Trippe getting screwed on an awesome Lois Lane book just... doesn't even surprise me, though. Current DC seems uneasy with women, children, POC, and everyone else who isn't the target demo for a Geoff Johns Green Lantern book.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:52 PM on March 27, 2011 [2 favorites]

So, they'll greenlight Neal Adams' embarrassment of his and DC's legacy and even print the damn thing after the editor gets a look at the finished product. But something that's completely made of awesome like this gets the shaft?

Bite me, DC.
posted by ursus_comiter at 3:33 AM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nancy Drew meets Teen Titans? Really?
posted by ...possums at 3:54 AM on March 28, 2011

Honestly? DC Editorial's decision makes a hell of a lot of sense from a business and marketing standpoint.

Because while Trippe's idea has appeal to a bunch of 30-year-olds with kids or who know kids, it's basically "Baby's First Elseworld," and would require Uncle Neckbeard to patiently explain "no no you see this is who these people really are" over and over again for it to make any sense as a DC property. "Is it like that show Smallville that has been airing since before I was born, Uncle Neckbeard?" "Well, yes and no, and let me explain the key differences to you in this 45-minute PowerPoint presentation."

Its market would be a niche -- parents or similar -- within a niche -- DC Comics fans -- within a niche -- comic-book readers. It's not much of a market, or at least not enough of one for a company as focused on profit and ROI as Warner to roll dice on.

I'm all for comics that embrace new readerships, but I think working with new additions to the canon, new characters, or new takes on characters like Jaime Reyes, makes a lot more sense than to create another pocket universe. I'm painfully aware of DC's shitty track record in that area as well, but I think new and interesting is better than trying to sledgehammer something else into hoary old origin stories.

And if this is a great idea, it'll have its own legs.

Girl Reporter, friends with boy who might just be a super-powered alien, with a foil in a dark, brooding billionaire child with a psychotic streak. Sound good? Sounds great to me. No DC required.

So why couldn't this happen? Trippe can always write a series about an intrepid girl reporter in a slightly askew world where amazing things happen, and Lynn Lassiter always seems to be in the middle of things. Self-publish on the Web, $0.99 Kindle editions, and POD for those who love the look and feel of a book.

Yeah, you don't get the name recognition and out-of-the-gate sales of a branded property, but it's yours.

If Trippe's in love with this idea, he can do it. I think he should do it. He'll just have to work a bit harder to find an audience instead of having one waiting for him out of the box.
posted by Shepherd at 6:17 AM on March 28, 2011 [6 favorites]

The story premise is like every Scooby Doo episode ever. Color me unimpressed. I can see why it wasn't approved. Get past the initial shock of a young, independent girl and there is no original content.
posted by Malice at 6:41 AM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I looked like that at 11.

Pics or it didn't haOH GOD YOU PUNCHED MY SPLEEN
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2011

Clearly someone must travel to the Alternate Earth where this comic was made and retrieve copies.

We would never get them -- who would ever want to come back from that Alternate Earth?
posted by Etrigan at 7:53 AM on March 28, 2011

Honestly? DC Editorial's decision makes a hell of a lot of sense from a business and marketing standpoint.

Actually it really doesn't, considering that DC is basically a giant lab for movies, including direct to DVD stuff, and TV shows. This has the makings of a great animated series in it. I wouldn't just read the shit out of it, I'd watch it.
posted by immlass at 8:13 AM on March 28, 2011

Pics or it didn't haOH GOD YOU PUNCHED MY SPLEEN
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:49 AM on March 28 [+] [!]

Something something eponysterical.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:36 AM on March 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

My first reaction when I read this was "holy shit, I totally would have read this, DAMN YOU DC!"

But then I started thinking... if they had actually made this, I think I really would have just thought "nice concept, DC, too bad you're going to fuck it up." I just don't trust them anymore. And that lack of trust would have kept me away from this awesome book, even if it had existed.

The same dynamic actually played out for me with Freaks and Geeks. I didn't watch it when it originally aired because I just took it as a given that NBC would make it crass, shallow, and annoying. Man, I felt like a chump when I finally saw the DVDs.
posted by COBRA! at 8:44 AM on March 28, 2011

Wonderful premise, but agreed that the stories seem a bit slim. There's potential, but it would have to be really clever to pull off 11. 15 or 16 would be much easier.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:01 AM on March 28, 2011

if they had actually made this, I think I really would have just thought "nice concept, DC, too bad you're going to fuck it up."

I totally get that perspective, and it's not like they couldn't screw things up in the indeterminate future even if it works OK in the present (see, for example, the current efforts to incorporate Vertigo elements like the Sandman characters in mainstream DC continuity, which hasn't produced any major disasters just yet, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop). But it still has the potential to really develop the characters as characters and not just as people who can leap tall buildings in a single bound or whatever. It would also give more alternatives to all the grimdark bullshit that has taken over both major comics companies, and they can't have enough of those IMNSHO.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on March 28, 2011

OMG I want these to exist so bad, so I can buy them for my daughter and secretly read them myself. :)
posted by luvcraft at 10:09 AM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

But then I started thinking... if they had actually made this, I think I really would have just thought "nice concept, DC, too bad you're going to fuck it up." I just don't trust them anymore. And that lack of trust would have kept me away from this awesome book, even if it had existed.

I get where you're at. It is a sad statement on where we're at with accessible all-ages comics content right now, though-- "we can't have nice things because even if we had nice things, they probably wouldn't continue being nice things."

I do note that creator-owned all-ages books-- Atomic Robo, Owly, Gunnerkrigg Court, Takio-- seem to get a better foothold. People are willing to seek out the good all-ages stuff even when the Big Two aren't willing to give it market share (Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Captain America: The Fighing Avenger, Lois Lane, the continually fluctuating status of projects like Minx).

And yes, I know, Takio is a Bendis/Oeming book and thus gets the Bendis sales boost. Doesn't matter; it's still a ton of good fun, well-executed.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:01 AM on March 28, 2011

It got a renumbering but DC's Brave and the Bold is still going and pretty damn good. I don't know if it's going to outlive the TV show.
posted by Artw at 11:16 AM on March 28, 2011

Oh, and Tiny Titans is great.
posted by Artw at 11:19 AM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I actually liked the Super Friends comic quite a lot as well, not least because there was a lot less punching than B:B+B often has, but that turned out to be the euthanised runt of the DC Kids litter. Also I suspect Lois Lane was going after a different market than the DC Kids All Ages stuff.
posted by Artw at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2011

Who has pale violet eyes?

According to Wikipedia,"Although the deep blue eyes of some people such as Elizabeth Taylor can appear violet at certain times, true violet eyes only occur due to albinism."

I dare the author to make her an albino, especially since no one will publish her stuff anyway.

I apologize. Descriptions of girls in books give me Sweet Valley High flashbacks. "Beautiful with sun-streaked blonde silky hair, blue-green eyes and a tiny dimple in the left cheek." Vomit vomit vomit.
posted by anniecat at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2011

> If Trippe's in love with this idea, he can do it. I think he should do it. He'll just have to work a bit harder to find an audience instead of having one waiting for him out of the box.

Absolutely. Lower YA/upper MG (which is in fact what this sounds like) is full of novels about spunky young girls who go on adventures and use their smarts, and many of them are hugely popular. I could easily see this series sitting beside things like Skulduggery Pleasant.

Perhaps I should revise my original comment of "Make it so, DC": Make it so, Trippe!
posted by Georgina at 7:58 PM on March 29, 2011