Lucy Lane is the younger sister of intrepid reporter Lois Lane and sometime love interest of photographer/reporter Jimmy Olsen. She was introduced to comics by Otto Binder and Curt Swan 65 years ago in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #36 (April 1959). She was originally a flight attendant, then a soldier, and for a while she carried the mantle of Superwoman.
Lucy debuted as Superwoman in Supergirl #35 (January 2009), though her identity as Lucy Lane was not uncovered until near the end of the story arc. While her identity was unknown, her father General Sam Lane tried to get her to kill Agent Liberty because he had been spying on the military man. In another story, she attacked Reactron and when the gold Kryptonite of his power source did not affect her, readers got a major clue that the new Superwoman was not Kryptonian. When Supergirl unmasked Lucy as Superwoman, she accidentally killed her by damaging the containment field in her suit, which contorted and blew up Lucy’s body.
Her modern backstory was told in Supergirl Annual #1 (October 2009), starting with Lucy always feeling overshadowed by Lois and like her father loved his eldest daughter more. Always trying to prove herself, Lucy enlisted in the army, quickly rising to become a decorated officer. When the Amazons attacked the US, Lucy almost died in the event. She was saved by Codename: Assassin, and when she woke, her father convinced Lucy to put on the mystically powered Superwoman suit. After one life threatening encounter, the suit’s mystic energy not only healed Lucy, but it also turned her into a Kryptonian.
The new abilities and power of the suit started to have a negative effect on Lucy and she was taken into custody at STAR Labs where Kimiyo Hoshi and Gangbuster tried to turn Lucy back into a regular human. When an object crashed into Metropolis Park, it damaged her cell, leaving a crack that Lucy could possibly use to escape. The storyline went unresolved, and when DC revamped their universe in The New 52, Lucy did not have the power of a Kryptonian and was no longer Superwoman.
