# Sky Captain--Not Based on a Comic, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880 "2005-04-24T17:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/41 "2005-04-27T03:11:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Currently the director/creator is working on a different movie (“John Carter of Mars”) so it’s anyone’s guess. Whoa, it’s the same dude doing Barsoom as did Sky Captain? That gives me a LOT of hope. That could kick some major butt. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/42 "2005-04-27T12:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > I took the 1941 date from an online site that indicated Margo Lane was brought in later, but a more careful search seems to prove that you’re right and that’s wrong. > > But it still makes no difference, because a closer read of the Dooley article I cited has this to say: > Quote: > It was not until a year later on that famous night in 1934… that the vision of Superman as we know him – his flamboyant cape and costume, his otherwordly origins, and the unattainable Lois – crashed in on Seigel’s brain. > > She was Lois Lane from that 1934 start, before any success with professional publication, and again earlier than the radio show’s Lane. > > Lane must just have seemed a sufficiently WASPy short name to give a character. Two characters, probably independently. To play “zee advocate of zee devil” (as my German professor used to say), you really haven’t proven _that_, either. S and S may have had the character of Lois in mind, but that doesnt mean they’d named her. Even that quote of yours doesn’t cite the last name. Margo _Lane_ was in the public forum well before Lois, and I can’t help but suspect influence. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/43 "2005-04-27T13:20:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whoa, it’s the same dude doing Barsoom as did Sky Captain? That gives me a LOT of hope. That could kick some major butt. So-so. He understands digital FX better than any other director, & he has a grand concept of visuals, but he’s not so hot at getting the best out of actors & actresses. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/44 "2005-04-27T13:35:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > So what about the abundance of Ls, what’s the significance of Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, etc? Given that the other LLs are all girlfriends of the big blue boy scout, I have a theory on Lex’s real motives for ‘hating’ Superman. I mean, they DO have a son together, and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/45 "2005-04-27T13:35:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To play “zee advocate of zee devil” (as my German professor used to say), you really haven’t proven _that_, either. S and S may have had the character of Lois in mind, but that doesnt mean they’d named her. Even that quote of yours doesn’t cite the last name. Margo _Lane_ was in the public forum well before Lois, and I can’t help but suspect influence. Superman wasn’t invented for the 1938 comic. We know that the boys spent years trying to peddle him as a newspaper strip. Even their first sample comic was composed of rearranged panels from the newspaper prospectus. The evidence I have indicates that Clark Kent and Lois Lane were part of the concept from the beginning, which is 1934. Saying that it **might** not be true doesn’t impress me. There’s tons of writing about the origin of Superman including a couple of new books on the beginning days of the comic industry. Do the research and check out your claim. When come back, bring facts. 🙂 Me, I’m going on vacation and I’ll be checking in occasionally, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/46 "2005-04-27T13:55:09Z")
**Exapno** Did research for years. Nothing I’ve read says that they named Lois prior to the 1938 appearance. _You’re_ the guy making the claim that she was named before The Shadow’s Margo Lane, who was demonstrably in the public eye earlier. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880/47 "2005-04-27T14:07:10Z")
By the by, this isn’t intended to be snarky. But I’ve taken it as a given for years that Lois got her last name from Margo. I’ve been a comics reader for almost half a century and a reader of histories of comics for quite a bit, too. It’s not just Goulart who lclaims this. Look at Steranko’s history, as well. The authorized Superman history is silent on it, but you’d expect that. Certainly Seigel and Schuster were peddling their stories prior to 1938. Changhing them, too. I accept that they had a pesky, sexy girlfriend for their hero, and even that they named her after their own childhood heartthrob. But nothing I’ve seen ever gives a name prior to 1938. And here’s a highly visible and popular supernatural crime fighter with a girlfriend surnamed Lane, years before Superman debuts. And, despite its WASPy sound, still not the most common surname. What are the odds that Lois had that last name purely by coincidence? Nope, not buyin’ it. As far as I can see, the burden of proof’s on you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-captain-not-based-on-a-comic-right/300880.md?page=2)