Hi Mary! Catching up on my reading…
Lois Lane's Travels
Part 1: Hooray for Hollywood
So…alt-world with Lois trying to make it in Hollywood while keeping her clothes on?
She was supposed to have arrived in 1972 with HG Wells and Clark—well, not Clark, but the Clark who looked like Clark.
Oh dear. Is she now all alone in 1972?
She was definitely in the middle of the Daily Planet newsroom, although some things about it seemed a bit...off.
/scratches head/ Hollywood film set?
had a strange, curvy monitor with a logo of a half-eaten pear on it.
Pear? Is it an oMac?
The phone, on the other hand, looked like it could have been a hand-me-down from her mother.
/scratches head/ was 70s retro in at the time?
She picked up the receiver and listened, twirling the rotary dial experimentally. There was no dial-tone. Was she in another universe? Or maybe the Twilight Zone?
Yeah, I forgot the movie idea again…
“Places, everyone!” someone shouted from across the room. The bullpen erupted into chaos as people hurried to different positions at desks and file-cabinets and water-coolers, some of them grabbing random sheets of paper and pretending to carry them around.
But not for long
Perhaps this *was* the twilight zone!
No, just an overabundance of Ralphs in the office.
Someone came over and nudged her away from her desk. “Sorry, honey, but we need this spot for Lois Lane. Go stand somewhere else.”
“Hold it!” the distant voice bellowed. “Will someone move that extra?!”
Yeah, that chick doesn’t fit. Besides, she’s way too old to be playing Lois Lane.
He sighed. “I'm not surprised. It's a cheap comedy about a man and a chimp who get switched at birth.
And the chimp never wondered about the ugly baby?
So naturally, being in a flick about Superman is a major step up, even if I only have a tiny part.”
A movie about Superman?! Lois tried not to appear surprised. “Oh?” she asked. “And what part do you play?”
Keith beamed at her. “Clark Kent!”
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/o080.gif)
Also, is this a Linda King movie?
The doors opened, revealing a young, dark-haired woman in a classy business suit.
Oh look! It’s the movie’s star — Catharine Grant.
The newcomer strode confidently towards the bullpen with the cameras following her progress, but when she got to the top of the ramp, she froze. She looked straight at Lois, and her jaw dropped.
/scratches head/
“Oh, for--!” Les dragged a hand down his face and grimaced. “You're not pregnant again, are you?!” he snapped. “We're still cleaning the vomit out of the Lovers' Lane III sofa!”
So, is she a slutty actress not capable of using birth control?
She came to a stop right in front of Lois. At first, the woman only stared at her, opening and closing her mouth as though she wasn't quite sure what to say. She finally opened with “Hi.”
Is Charlotte this dimension’s Lois Lane?
“Would I be correct in guessing that you come from...another time zone?”
The other woman took in a sharp breath. “And...would your name happen to be Lois?”
So, she the Lois from universe #3?
She spent a moment frantically dialing, but then must have changed her mind, because she pocketed the phone again without waiting for it to ring.
Yeah…either that or she’s texting her…Superman?
*her* maiden name...” She took a breath, and her voice fell to a near whisper. “...was Lane-Kent. I'm your great-granddaughter.”
Also, does this mean, 2072 instead of 1972?
“What?! Why on Earth is Superman here?!” the small man demanded. His underling tried to hide behind his clipboard.
While the tirade went on, Superman's gaze finally landed on Lois and his eyes widened.
Oh dear. Do we have a Home-situation here?
Les' response was incomprehensible.
Too blue for Lois?
Furthermore, if he could just grab other Clarks at the drop of a hat, then why couldn't he just let the New Kryptonians take *this* Clark so that hers could stay home?
It wasn't as if the other Clark had a fiance waiting for him,
No? Did something happen to Luis?
Did he vanish in the Congo like that Lois Lane from the alternate universe?
Charlotte pulled her into a hug. “It'll be okay, Grams,” she said. “Trust me.”
Lois pulled away to look into her great-granddaughter's eyes. “But what if he never comes--” She stopped. It clicked. “--back,” she whispered.
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/midi/froehlich/d025.gif)
She looked at these two people in the room with her. Her great-grandchildren. Her and *Clark's* great-grandchildren.
Hey, they could be hers and Alt-Clarks?
“I kind of wished that you'd show up, Grams,” she explained. “Maybe it worked? Although I actually wished that both of you were here, so...” She trailed off, uncertainly.
WELLS: /taps oil lamp/ It does sound like it’s made of copper and that trader in the Bagdad market promised me it *is* made from copper. What’s going on with you, hmm? Do you not like being used as a conductor in my time machine?
“Well, then!” Lois smiled at them. “There you go. That gives you all the damage control you need.”
That's why it's written into the foundation's charter that Superman gets to have the final say on all official Superman products, including but not limited to books, toys,”--She grinned at them--“and movies.”
And how do they explain “Uberman vs Superwoman – An Xtreme Encounter”?
SUPERMAN: Umm…that wasn’t an officially licensed production and they didn’t use my costume…exactly…
LOIS:
Yeah?
SUPERMAN: They *didn’t*! And it’s not like Superwoman was *wearing* a lot of costume to begin with which compare to yours in some court case.
“This necktie,” Lois said, reaching towards Keith and taking the offending article into her hand. She held it up a little. “It needs to go.”
It’s straight red and blue stripes?
“No, no,” said Lois, “he needs something louder. More obnoxious.” She turned to the wardrobe woman. “Dani, right? Do you think you could find a necktie with a print of dogs playing poker?”
CLARK: Obnoxious?
Jordan cleared his throat. “Mr. Donner, this woman is now working for me. As an expert on the time period you're covering, she'll be helping to assure the quality and accuracy of this film.
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/midi/frech/g042.gif)
He does realize that when he gives power to Lois Lane…
“But he *does* have the right to veto the finished film if he doesn't like it,” Lois stated, “flushing all that time and money you've spent right down the drain. Trust me, you're better off working with him *now*.”
See?
“Superman wasn't anywhere around when the papers were drawn up and signed. I do not have to answer to him!”
Lex is not very smart, is he?
“And by the way, it's *my* desk.”
Also, does Charlie have powers, too?
Oooh, this is looking like it’s going to be a fine piece of comedy
Michael
