Superman is perhaps the single-most iconic superhero of all time, and DC Comics will stop at nothing dishing out one threat to the next in order to test both the strength and inner morals of humanity’s “definitive” superhero. And when the odds get stacked so much against the Man of Steel, sometimes DC Comics whips up a way to ensure even Lois Lane swoops in for the assist.
While in most cases a reporter at the Daily Planet and Superman’s love interest, Lois Lane did at times help Superman do literal superhero business in the direst of times. And in the wackiest of ways, Lois Lane has gotten herself abilities that put her on par with Superman and some members of the Justice League. Just what superpowers did Lois Lane have in the past?
7 Superwoman: Kryptonian Physiology
Being the partner, and now wife, of Superman, fans of the Man of Steel would at some point expect Lois Lane to become a superhero. And while writers kept Lois Lane an ordinary journalist, for the most part, there were a lot of instances where Lois Lane herself gained Kryptonian physiology. And whenever she gained these powers, Lois Lane would almost always become Superwoman.
Lois Lane first gets her powers in “Action Comics” #60 (1943), when a dream sequence would have Superman transfuse his blood to Lois. While Lois would gain and lose Kryptonian powers over the years via inventions, alien plants, and Superman’s DNA, her most notable power-gaining was in DC Rebirth (2016), when New 52 Lois Lane gained superpowers after the death of New 52 Superman caused a solar power explosion. While Lois Lane also became Superwoman back then, her career was short-lived as she died soon after.
6 Red Tornado: Cyborg Physiology, Aerokinesis
In the events of Earth-2 (2012), an invasion from Apokolips would have an Apokolips assassin kill Lois Lane. It’s soon revealed that her father Sam Lane and Robert Crane had uploaded her consciousness into a robot body, assuming the identity of Red Tornado. As Red Tornado, Lois became one of the heroes at the forefront of stopping the Apokolips invasion up until the eventual destruction of Earth-2.
As Red Tornado, Lois Lane possesses a durable android body as well as its innate aerokinetic abilities. While Earth-2 Lois's powers aren’t emphasized in the comics, it helps to note that the original Red Tornado has sensors that vastly improve its senses. Moreover, the original Red Tornado can spontaneously generate F5 tornado winds as well as winds as powerful as Category 5 tropical cyclones.
5 Elastic Lass: Elasticity
While ordinarily powerless like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen’s many adventures also led to him receiving powers on occasion. One such occurrence was the Elastic Lad serum, which gave him incredible elasticity and allowed him to assume the superhero identity of Elastic Lad.
At some point, Lois Lane would find herself borrowing the same serum in “Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane” #23 (1961). Courtesy of Professor Potter, Lois Lane ingests the Elastic Lad serum to become Elastic Lass, using her newfound powers of elasticity to fight the Wrecker in Metropolis. Albeit short-lived, this would see Lois Lane demonstrate incredible elasticity, allowing her body and limbs to assume various shapes without any visible distress on her part.
4 Blue Lantern: Hope, Healing, Energy Constructs
In “Nightwing: The New Order,” readers see a dystopian future where almost all superpowers get neutralized by Nightwing himself. Under the “guidance” of Nightwing and his Crusaders, these 2040s had all superpowers marked as illegal, with all metahumans forced to take inhibitors to suppress their powers. Unfortunately, this storyline doesn’t explain how Lois ended up with the ring.
Eventually, an accident would have Nightwing in the hospital and visited by his older colleagues from the Titans. Among them is Lois Lane, equipped with a Blue Lantern Ring. Embodying Hope, Blue Lantern Lois demonstrates healing abilities, as well as the construction of energy constructs.
3 The Twenty: Psychokinesis
During the events of “Superman: Psi-War” (2013), Superman finds himself in conflict with the U.S. Senate due to the discovery of the Fortress of Solitude, as well as a misunderstanding with the New God Orion. On top of all of this is a seemingly odd occurrence of psychic attacks from an unknown source, which is soon revealed to be Brainiac.
While a helpless Superman is seen fighting Brainiac, Lois Lane stumbles upon Senator Hume, who turns out to be one of Brainiac’s chosen Twenty. Apparently, Brainiac bestowed powers upon them to help him repopulate his homeworld, Colu. A dying Senator Hume bestowed his powers to Lois, granting her psychokinesis. As part of the Twenty, Lois Lane had limited degrees of telepathy and astral projection, something she trained but eventually lost while helping Superman end the Psi-War.
2 Green Lantern: Goddess Of The Dead
During the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, a recreated Multiverse was composed of 51 divergent realities that split off the New Earth. Earth-9 (1997) was one such reality, serving as home to the Tangent Comics imprint that housed some one-shots that featured new takes on superheroes. It’s also in Earth-9 that the Green Lantern had quite a different role and three origin stories.
The first story involved the archeologist Lois Lane, murdered by Booster Gold after an expedition. With methods unknown, Lois Lane resurrected as the Green Lantern. Unlike the exoplanetary Green Lantern Corps, Lois Lane as the Green Lantern had her eponymous lantern in the form of a Chinese lantern that glowed a green light. As long as she had the lantern near her, Lois can resurrect the dead to settle unfinished business. Aside from these, she possesses powers of intangibility, enhanced senses, teleportation, and dimensional travel.
1 Goddess Of Integrity: Divine Empowerment
At some point during “Pantheon” (2002), Lois Lane would have to deal with the trauma of the death of her father, General Sam Lane. Unfortunately, being the wife of Superman means being dragged into Superman’s day-to-day shenanigans, with the most recent at the time involving a group of gods wanting to add Superman to their Pantheon. However, in some sort of mix-up, they instead transform Lois Lane into the Goddess of Integrity.
While Lois Lane doesn’t do much as the Goddess, the story does show a touching way of how superheroes and ordinary people deal with grief. As the Goddess of Integrity, Lois Lane does have a myriad of incredible supernatural abilities. These include flight and teleportation, as well as a degree of omnipresence and even the ability to manipulate the weather.