Superman has many noteworthy villains that make up his rogues’ gallery, with the genius, yet sadistic, billionaire Lex Luthor taking the title of his archnemesis. From using technology and schemes to compensate for his lack of powers to his guttural hatred for the Man of Tomorrow, Luthor has more than earned his spot as a menacing villain. However, there is another enemy of Superman that is so conniving and hate-filled that he even puts Luthor to shame.
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This villain is none other than Lois Lane’s father, General Sam Lane. His warped sense of duty to his country has allowed Lane to commit some of the worst atrocities in DC Comics. Although he doesn’t make many appearances in comics and his character has in recent times, General Sam Lane has easily been one of the biggest threats to Superman.
As the father of Lois, Superman’s girlfriend-turned-wife, Sam Lane has a close tie to the Man of Steel, a fact that he despises. Sam’s life has consistently shown that he prioritizes his job over his children. Lois and her sister, Lucy, grew up constantly having to move from one military base to another. After their mother died, Lois had to care for Lucy and manage household chores while their father was constantly away on top-secret missions. This country-before-family mentality led to Sam becoming estranged from his children as they grew up. However, that meant very little to him because in his eyes, something of much greater significance arrived. A walking, talking threat to America’s interests: Superman, whose alien heritage and immense power led Sam to consider him an existential menace who must be confronted and eliminated.
General Lane has Hurt the Superman Family Like No Other
The storyline that cemented Sam Lane’s place as one of Superman’s most dangerous adversaries is “New Krypton.” The event begins when Superman rescues the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor from the clutches of Brainiac. Using the villain’s own technology, Superman restores Krypton and all 10,000 of its citizens to their regular size. Unfortunately, tensions quickly escalate when an entire city of people with Superman’s abilities appears on Earth. Many people were terrified of a Kryptonian invasion. Things only got worse when Zor-El, Supergirl’s father, was murdered by the supervillain Reactron. The people of Kandor soon leave Earth and create a new planet called New Krypton on the other side of the Sun. Even with the distance, many people still feared a potential Kryptonian invasion. It was this fear that Sam Lane exploited from the shadows.
By the time of New Krypton’s arrival, Sam Lane and his daughter Lucy were presumed dead from two separate events. However, as the reporter she is, Lois discovered that not only were they alive, but also that they were working together on a secret government operation dubbed Project 7734. This secret project sought to destroy New Krypton and its people, including Superman. It was revealed that Reactron had killed Zor-El under the orders of Sam. Sam wanted to build animosity between the two races to justify a war. When Lois planned to expose her father’s plan, Sam revealed just how evil he truly was. He abducts Lois and threatens to kill her if she dares to publish the story. It’s also revealed that he had manipulated Lucy into undergoing a cruel super soldier experiment that turned her into Sam’s cruel enforcer known as Superwoman. Between threatening one daughter and weaponizing another, Sam showed that he doesn’t view his children as family; he only sees them as potential soldiers and enemies.
Sam then recruited Lex Luthor into his scheme. With Luthor’s technological expertise, Sam tried to kill every Kryptonian, including Superman. Sam allowed Reactron to be captured by Supergirl, who wanted him to face justice for killing her father. She brought him to New Krypton for judgment. However, unknown to Supergirl, Sam had turned Reactron into a living bomb. Once Reactron arrived on New Krypton, he detonated and annihilated the planet and all its inhabitants. Supergirl survived thanks to her mother, Alura, who gave her life to put Supergirl into a protective shield.
To deal with the Kryptonians flying through space, Sam had Luthor turn the Sun into a red star. This negated the Kryptonians’ powers and left them unprotected in the vacuum of space, killing hundreds more. One of the few Kryptonians that still had yellow sunlight energy in their body, Superman’s friend, Flamebird, sacrificed her life to turn the Sun back into a yellow star. With her sacrifice, Superman and Supergirl were among the lucky few to survive. Unfortunately, the other Kryptonian survivors included the villain General Zod and his followers, who declared war on humanity and slaughtered countless people. In the end, Superman and his allies defeated Zod and exposed Sam’s scheme. To prevent himself from being held accountable for his actions, Sam killed himself.
With the backing of the United States government, Sam had successfully led a planet-wide genocide and hurt the Superman Family in ways no other villain has. He killed most of Superman’s people, destroyed the lives of his own daughters, and made Supergirl unwittingly partially responsible for the destruction of New Krypton. Even Lex Luthor was a mere pawn in Sam’s sick conspiracy. And in his fear of a future Kryptonian invasion, Sam made it a reality when he provoked with his heinous genocide the few remaining Kryptonians who unexpectedly survived his plan. Countless innocent people died when the Kryptonian villain General Zod attacked the planet. Still, none of it mattered to Sam because it was all for “the greater good” of exterminating the Kryptonian race. Even if he didn’t kill all of them, he still made humanity turn against Superman and his people.
Sam Lane Represents the Worst of America
Ever since his creative conception, Superman has been intrinsically tied to America’s history and its highest values. From fighting Nazis in World War II to defeating the Ku Klux Klan, Superman stands as a symbol of what America and humanity are capable of when they fulfill their promise and come together to help others. However, while Superman represents the best of America, Sam Lane represents some of any country’s worst traits, namely blind nationalistic militarism and xenophobia.
As a general in the United States Army, Sam Lane embodies America’s long history of a might-makes-right mentality, both domestically and abroad. Sam’s blinkered view of America’s superiority and that every obstacle must be met with force and warfare is one of his most consistent traits. Even after the New 52 reboot retconned the “New Krypton” event, Sam still showed disdain for Superman and what Superman stands for. Part of the reason Sam hates Superman is that the hero is not blindly loyal to any nation and instead fights to protect all of humanity. He even chastises the Man of Steel for not killing in the name of America.
In Sam’s eyes, Superman is either with America or against it. His America-only mindset also damaged his relationships with his children. For example, he prioritized his status as a general in the US Army over being a father to his daughters. And when New Krypton arrived, he treated its mere existence as an act of war and a reason for genocide instead of trying to build peaceful relations. It doesn’t matter how many Americans suffer or die in the conflict, because to Sam, every atrocity is worth it if it means destroying his perceived potential enemies of America.
As an alien, Superman embodies the immigrant story, illustrating how people, regardless of their origin, can make America their home and can make a positive impact on the world. However, Sam represents a deep-seated xenophobia that has plagued the world throughout history. Many of Superman’s human villains, including Lex Luthor, hate the Man of Tomorrow because he is an alien, despite appearing and acting like a human and embodying humanity’s greatest ideals. Sam represents how such bigoted mentalities can and have shaped governmental and societal treatment of immigrants.
When Sam sees Superman, he doesn’t see a selfless man with countless acts of heroism; all he sees is an alien who must have nefarious ulterior motives. Because, of course, to someone of Sam’s mindset, if Superman’s not from America, he must be evil and therefore must be destroyed.
Since the Rebirth reboot, Sam’s characterization as a dangerous, prejudiced xenophobe has been changed to merely a gruff but well-meaning father. But this homogenization of Sam’s character loses much of what made Sam such an appealing vehicle for storytelling and commentary. It also loses a powerful enemy and a contrast to Superman. Because General Sam Lane is best as a character when he represents how militarism and xenophobia can destroy a family and hurt a country.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
