Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane

The motive of preserving a private rivalry became clear when a third party intruded on Lois and Lana's turf. They made a truce ending their personal hostilities so that they could work together to get rid of the invader.

In a way it was more historic than seeing the leaders of the cold war nations of that era shaking hands. Though, like the cold war, an alliance would only be formed if another nation was suddenly seen as more powerful and thus a greater danger than either nation could handle separately.

For the most part, however, Lana and Lois only battled each other for supremacy and did so with uniquely different combat styles.

Lois Lane's weapon of choice was psychological warfare. This humorous cover depicts Lois and Lana drawing cards for Ideal-Man, the new hero on the block. Superman is clearly labeled Earth's former hero.

Lana draws the queen of hearts and Lois, though drawing the ace of diamonds, lies, "You win, Lana! I drew the two of clubs! Ideal-Man is all yours!"

It's clear Lois has no interest in the new hero, not that he was actually what he appeared to be, but that was part of Lois' psychological advantage over Lana. Lois knew Lana wanted whoever she wanted, or whoever she pretended to want.

Lana, on the other hand, was a bit more cutthroat in her approach. In this case she sent Lois to the Phantom Zone and the cover depicted Lois as being fully aware of her surroundings, but incapable of communicating.

In the early days of the Lois Lane comic book, the rivalry with Lana Lang became a story crutch the writers leaned on heavily. They couldn't conceive of women wanting anything beyond snagging a husband to "rescue" them from earning a paycheck.

With that narrow view in mind, the writers chronically churned out stories where Lois and Lana battled bitterly over Superman. Catfights were a specialty.