Sidecar to the Superman motorcycle

After letters began to appear in the comics from readers who called Clark "stupid," or thought he should be "slapped" for his lack of attention to Lois and his overt attentions to Lori, it was apparently necessary for the comics to do damage repair on Clark's reputation. Unfortunately, it would be at Lois Lane's expense.

A break-up scenario that had started because of Clark's inattentiveness, quickly rotated 180 degrees to Lois wanting Clark to butt out of her life. She became a stereotyped caricature of a feminist who wanted no "macho oaf" interference.

Clark, who had absolutely no time for Lois for months, suddenly was in her face repeatedly trying to repair their relationship. Lois, on the other hand, who had wanted nothing more than to just be able to speak with Clark and spend time alone with him, suddenly spurned all efforts Clark made. Also, for no reason other than it made Lois look ungrateful, she began to resent Clark rescuing her.

This served a two-fold purpose. The first was to make Clark look noble and caring again after months of having time for anyone but Lois. The second purpose was to soften the still painful blow from the Joker comic. On the plus side, however, Lois no longer engaged to Clark, was permitted to have breasts and cleavage again.

The comics didn't seem to know what to do next. Sabotaging Superman had been costly, but trying to repair damage to him by sabotaging Lois wasn't working either.

If they ever hoped to put Lois and Clark back together as a loving couple, the only solution seemed to be to separate them.

Lois was shipped overseas as a foreign correspondent and Clark stayed in Metropolis and would soon double as editor due to Perry's cancer.

It sure seemed as if someone at DC Comics wanted to create a renewed love affair between Clark and Lori Lemaris. Perhaps it was thought that with Lois out of the country and the couple officially broken up, the readers would finally be okay with Clark loving someone else.

However, considering that Lori seemed to vanish aside from a few incidental appearances once Lois and Clark were hastily thrown back together a few issues later, the mermaid may have disenchanted fans with her intimate bids for Clark's attention. Though technically available, Clark was also vulnerable and so Lori continued to look like an opportunist.

Battle stations! Caught off guard by the television series planning a wedding earlier than expected, the comics had to whip up their own wedding. That meant an immediate cessation of hostilities between Lois and Clark. Next