I think Tank did a good job pointing out that the comics - which I consider the one and only true canon source for Superman, any incarnation - prove that while Lois ends up being the one for Clark/Superman in the end, she wasn't always. Nor was Clark/Supes portrayed to be a one-woman-only character, and never was it implied that he was any less of a hero for having loved Lori Lemaris or Lana Lang in addition to Lois. Those who claim that Superman without Lois isn't the
real Superman should restate their comment correctly as Superman without Lois isn't
their personal favorite version of Superman, the one they prefer. I would argue that only Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel are truly qualified to state which is the true, correct Superman that they originally envisioned, and for anyone else to do otherwise is more than a little presumptuous.
I don't like the Smallville relationship between Lana and Clark not because I don't think Clark could have (or should have) had a sweetheart in his past, but rather because the Smallville PTB are trying to shoehorn Lana into the entire Superman mythos. They give her significance far beyond being the girl Clark loved as a teenager. I could handle Clark believing Lana is his one true love, losing his virginity to her, and, heck, even wanting to marry her, all of this because he has yet to meet Lois. He's immature and this is his first experience, so he has nothing to compare it to. When he meets Lois, he learns what real love is all about. What I can't swallow in Smallville is how they've given Lana a key role in
creating Superman. Not to mention they've made her such an unappealing character I don't know why any young man would want to be with her.
I did choose - and do believe - for question 1 that in the end, Clark/Superman belongs with Lois. Whatever path he (or she, for that matter) takes to get there, no matter how many people it is littered with, I do believe that these two are meant to be together. They compliment each other and complete each other, and I enjoyed LnC:TNAOS because it allowed me to watch their relationship unfold in a way that made sense to me.
But I'm firmly in the camp that there is no such thing as One And Only One Love for anybody, even mythical icons like Superman. I don't think that makes me an anti-Lois fan, nor does it make Clark/Superman any less of a hero. It makes me a person who prefers a more human version of Superman than the more two-dimensional plastic paragon of virtue that many others prefer. I think this is known as different strokes for different folks, and that's all.
Lynn
