Executive Producer Josie Campbell revealed Lois Lane was race swapped to Korean in DC’s new anime inspired rom-com My Adventures with Superman.
Created by Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 artist Jake Wyatt and co-produced by Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power writer Josie Campbell and storyboard artist Brendan Clogher, the Studio Mir-animated series follows the early days of Clark Kent’s life in Metropolis as he attempts to balance his secret identity with his developing career as an investigative reporter alongside Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.
Making her debut in 1938’s Action Comics #1, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for Metropolis’s The Daily Planet was based off of actress Glenda Farrell’s portrayal as the fictional journalist Torchy Blane and modelled after Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s wife Joanne.
Throughout her over eight decade tenure in the DC universe, Lois Lane has generally been depicted as a Caucasian woman.
Similar to other classic DC characters like Jimmy Olsen, the latest anime-inspired iteration of Superman has race swapped the iconic Caucasian reporter to Korean which is the same race as Lois Lane’s South Korean voice actress Alice Lee.
Josie Campbell confirmed the race swap as part of her My Adventures with Superman behind the scenes twitter thread where she revealed Lois Lane’s black tie gala outfit worn in the fourth episode Let’s Go to Ivo Tower, You Say was inspired by a traditional Korean hanbok.
Campbell tweeted, “Also shoutout to Dou Hong and Intindra for Lois’ hanbok inspired gala outfit! We wanted to reflect our Lois’ Korean heritage, and the design department made a showstopper of a fit.”
In a retweet to Campbell, the artist behind the gala hanbok design, Jane Bak aka Intindra, elaborated on her artistic process with the assistance of sketches dating as far back as 2021 confirming Jake Wyatt, Josie Campbell, and Brendan Clogher planned Lois Lane’s Korean race swap during the early stages of My Adventures with Superman‘s production.
“I wanted some time to think about what to say about this outfit in particular,” she explained. “I remember feeling strongly about wanting to inject some aspect of her Korean heritage without disrupting her characteristic as a spunky and resourceful intern/reporter.”
“So why not push the idea she would wear a Hanbok to a Gala/date night?” she continued. “I have to thank @38___sr and Dou Hong for helping spin my hay into gold with Lois’s Gala design and Jake Wyatt, Brendan, and Josie Campbell for letting me go for it!!!”
Bak then tweeted her 2021 initial sketches depicting Lois in a hanbok inspired suit “Aannndddd my first drawings back in 2021 of Lois when I heard she was going to need an outfit for the Gala.”
New episodes of My Adventures with Superman premiere Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT on Adult Swim and Fridays on Max.
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