Back in May, readers, and the world, were shocked to hear what happened in the DIVERGENCE Free Comic Book Day issue. There was a big change in Superman's life. His biggest secret had been revealed. The world found out that Superman and Clark Kent were the same person. What made it even more shocking was the fact that Lois Lane, one of Clark's closest friends, was the one that told the story.

This upset many fans. They felt Lois would never betray Clark, and Superman, in this way. When SUPERMAN #41 came out, we formed our own opinion on why Lois might've decided to reveal his secret to the world. Now with SUPERMAN #43 on sale, the Truth is fully revealed.

There will be some spoilers from SUPERMAN #43.

In this series, the focus has been on Before Truth. We've been seeing the events that lead up to the big reveal. What had happened was Clark is contacted by someone that has discovered his secret. With Superman's power fluctuations, there were likely times he was a little slower and more careless. This person was blackmailing Clark to do some simple and almost seemingly innocent tasks or else his secret would be revealed.

When Superman and Jimmy Olsen discover the blackmailer is a man calling himself HORDR_ROOT, Lois comes along to get in on the story. Along the way, Clark is forced to use his powers in front of her, confirming a suspicion she had already pieced together.

What would Lois do next?

As a reporter, she knows the types of questions she and the public would demand to know. We have seen in the other titles how paranoid and betrayed the public and government feels.

She lays out her questions on Superman. She then recounts the video footage she saw of him in an electric chair when her father and Lex Luthor were basically torturing him to find out more (in 2011's ACTION COMICS #2). She confesses how much that footage affected her and that she would never reveal his secret.

Then why does she do it?

Superman is contacted by HORDR_ROOT. Lois is surprised he's still going to do what he says. They visit a specified location and HORDR_ROOT demands Superman use his solar flare so he can absorb the energy. Reminded of when he was in the electric chair, Lois can't help but see the danger he's placed himself in. She makes the biggest decision of her life and career.

Lois releases the information, using the image HORDR_ROOT used to taunt Superman. From her phone, she sends it out. With the leverage taken away, Superman breaks free of his bonds and asks one question.

Superman is rightfully upset. He says he could've figured things out and now the lives of those closest to him are in danger. She said she had to do it to save him, his lives over others. He would've done the same thing.

Our question now is, did Lois do the right thing?

Lois knew Superman would always put the lives of others before his. If someone was threatening those closest to him, it makes sense he'd allow himself to be used for energy. There is the question of what would that energy be used for but Superman simply didn't have time to think of another option. He told Lois he would've figured something out. He's not dumb but what if he couldn't figure something out before it cost him his life?

On the other hand, Lois did what she felt was right. It wasn't her secret to release upon the world. She made it very clear she wouldn't reveal it as a reporter out to tell a story. She was put on the spot. She saw Superman's life on the line.

Do you think Lois made the right call? Let us know in the comments and take our poll.

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The circumstances were so clumsy that I really thing it changed the feel of the whole comic.

If done correctly Lois would have all the right in the world.

Now the whole issue was just awful and idiotic.

Yang has to get a co-writer. His ideas are TOP notch but his execution is amateurish.

Issue 43 was a mess imo. That said I think while her intentions were good Lois didn't do the right thing, it wasn't her secret to tell.

This.

It wasn't her choice to make. So to save his life she destroyed his life when she should have trusted Superman.

I'm sure DC went into this thinking the controversy would get attention then reveal would make everything alright with her fans but it doesn't.

Her intentions may have been good, but her intelligence was not. She had a cell phone and could have called for help. Now she'll be forever known not as Superman's Girl Friend but as Superman's betrayer.

No she was wrong to tell the world who Superman is

soooo, Miss ace reporter decided to use her cell phone to... reveal his secret -.-

not try and contact the JL... or even WW... or hell, anyone :/

Well that justifies my concerns. It feels rushed. The forced justification of '' Oh I almost fell in love with you but now we are just friends , dating other people ! '' . A villain who is probably the personification of the Internet Leaks....Clark not asking for help from people who probably would know much to stop that Wikileaks-wanna-be villain only to have Lois pull '' Only way I know how to save him ...is to do what villain threatens to do before him ! '' move... Even if she wouldn't have done that...What was Clark's plan ? Let the robo-villain harness his solar flare until he threatens the world with Solar Flare bombs just to keep his secret ? And we already see the consiquences of yielding to the Solar Flare pumping, he lost most of his powers probably because of that dumb mistake.

Suffice to say, the justifications were weak...characters felt stupid...and whole thing feels more like just a gimmick now than it first announced. If they wanted to depower and expose Superman...this was not the way to do it

We need a third option '' Neither, this issue was stupid to the point of bad Fanfiction ''

I am more annoyed by Clark letting a robo-villain HARNESS his DEADLY Solar Flare to do, god knows what , just to keep his secret. Sure when that Solar Flare is used as a bomb against innocents, it won't be his fault right ? ..... WHY THE HELL HE DIDN'T GO TO BATMAN OR SOMEONE WHO CAN TRACK DOWN THE DAMN ROBO-GUY ?! No...just let the guy harness your power , you lose your powers so you can't even prevent him from doing stuff...

This whole thing was written so idioticly that characters actually look stupid.

Clark Kent "tweet": Hey everyone check out this awesome cosplay I put together for Halloween. Thanks Ms. Lane for ruining the surprise :)

lol

Lois Lane has no perimeters to her whole outlook and behavior . From since the last issue. Tearing off his clothes like a harpy, pushing herself into his and Jimmy's story, then suddenly from just good friendly work colleagues he is her best friend she nearly fell in love with because he wears a cape now, to the inappropriate fondling, and palming of his er...face as if he wants to get into his pants with invading his personal space to the outing of Clark's ID because she thinks she is Lois Lane. I don't buy the she did it to help him. But then I am not the greatest lover of Lois because she is typically a rather insufferable character and gets away because she gets a pass as his love interest. If Cat Grant did this, don't think people would be very kind to her because she was Cat. What I can't tolerate however is how Yang writes Clark as someone with little brain.

Clark would never ask J'onn to do that. It's just not in him to manipulate people like that. What he would do is ask J'onn turn into Superman and have them stand next to each other.

Yeah doesn't she have Diana's number?

This

Why didn't the "best journalist in the world" just use her ace investigating skills to figure out who the blackmailer was???

Well that's a let down. What a bunch of moronic characters.

Typical CW/Smallville style drama.

Boy, that Superman sure is dumb.

Even in a scenario where Lois is supposed to have a good reason and justification for exposing Superman's secret identity, she still comes off looking like a scapegoat for all of Superman's woes. I found it preposterous that Lois just broke her promise to not reveal Clark's secret just because she saw an electrocuted guy and freaked out about the time Clark was tortured by Lex and the government. Having Lois' actions driven by an emotional compromise hardly depicts the strong willed and resourceful character that Lois has been for years in a good light. Nor does it absolve her from being the original cause of all the poor characterisation and woes Clark has gone through during Truth. So the big reveal that's been promoted and teased up until yesterday falls flat on its face the way I see it.

I definitely loved his reaction to her doing the reveal. I was expecting the normal superman white bread response like "it's okay Lois" and then fly off all sad. I like how he straight up told her she fucked up and had no right.

But I thought she knew? Or was that before New 52? Wow I need to check this stuff out soon!

Of course not. When you first think about the best way to deal with Superman's situation in this issue, of course the easiest option is to just get rid of the leverage and tilt the whole thing in your favor, but that's way too easy, and can easily blow up in your face when ill-considered.

Lois did what she thought was the easiest way to solve Clark's problem at the moment. She was motivated by fear; fear of losing both Clark Kent and Superman. One for herself, and one for the world. And to all the people saying it feels rushed, I'm inclined to agree with you, if only because the torture of Superman at the hands of Lex Luthor and General Lang was sort of thrown in there- of all the things they could have chosen. In fact, the writer could have just gone with literally all the other times he was getting his ass kicked (in the form of a little montage, maybe) by the likes of Darkseid, Doomsday, Ulysses, etc.. The only difference between then and now is that now, he's at his weakest. His energy is expended, he's being held in the grip of someone who knows almost everything about his double life, and he has no choice but to comply if he wants to keep it secret.

Lois was thinking about what would be the easiest way to keep him safe and remove all obligation to hordr. She didn't stop to think about how this would affect the people around him, or what his many, many, many enemies would do with this information. Her train of thought was, "Superman's in trouble", and then it just sort of derailed from there.

Still, being trusted with that kind of secret is kind of like being told that your brother is a secret agent, and not to tell anyone. Telling people would be the easiest way to keep that information from being used as a means of coercion, so as to ensure that he can never be blackmailed, but you've also just slapped the biggest, boldest, largest font typed sign on the backs of his friends and family that says, "SHOOT ME". You've also given him a shit ton to worry about. Part of his job was about subterfuge for the sake of defending the people he cared about, and being able to distinguish between who he is on the job, and who he is off it.

@dondave said:

That could actually work. Come up with some kind of thing that Clark was brainwashed into thinking he's Superman and so on, "Superman" was in space at the time this was happening, and if someone even brings up that Clark and Superman look so much alike due to the no glasses thing.... Well? He's an alien who looks like a human and everyone has a lookalike out there somewhere. Hell they did a similar story where some random guy who looked a LOT like Clark was mistaken for Superman early in the New 52 so it's not gonna be too hard of a sell to think people will buy that again.

Exposing Superman's secret while he is totally depowered proves what? The whole concept is a detriment to Superman rather than building the character.

Clark would have figured something out. Oh really? New 52 Supes has been anything but smart. He's petulant. Impulsive. Works out of fear and loneliness. Doesn't know who he is half the time. And he's going to figure out how to get out of Hordr's clutches after turning over all the power of this superflare (which is the stupidest power ever). Did I mention New 52 Supes is a drunk (thanks to jrjr) and an addict (which jrjr never fails to mention)?

Lois has always been the brains of the couple. She has saved Superman countless times - yes, in the New 52. Lois obviously had a plan or at least the faith they could figure something out together. But Mr-Life-Experience-with-superpowers since he was at least an adolescent apparently hasn' t any maturity! He throws a temper tantrum and scoffs. He's 'figured out' that Lois doesn't need to be in his life. And she's let him figure out for himself that's the exact opposite of what he should be doing.

When he finally 'figures out' that he needs Lois to put his life back on track, then he'll actually have that keen mind of his back.

We have another Superman who has been laying low and monitoring immature Superman. He's been on Earth 0 for 9 years which includes the 5 year gap readers never got to see. No reason he can't show up and New 52 Clark show up at the same time showing the world they are 2 different people. Easy fix.

PR and editorial set out to make Lois the villain. But we all know who the true villains are. DC Entertainment and the treatment of Superman since 2011. AND that's the TRUTH!

'Superman is rightfully upset.'.

You're rather swaying the vote there, @G_man!

Superman has been dumb throughout this story, Lois made the right decision.

He needs Lois to put his life on track? Excuse me. Superman had a mother. She was called Martha Kent. Clark does not need to be dumbed down so Lois can have something to do. You're talking about a character who Morrison wrote that is highly intelligent and has an analytical brain and faultless memory and super senses. If anything DC undermines HIM for her. He also is a character that never needed Lois to learn how to care for people and protect them. Lois lacks boundaries and is full of herself. Plus Mr Sit and Monitoring sounds like a bigger idiot.

THAT is the truth.

NO

I agree with those who thought the issue was a bit of a mess. That said, I understood why, it came from a place of love (platonic love!). They showed how upset she was by what her father did to him and how worried she was about him. I think this was a "not on my watch" situation, mainly because of what her father did to him. There was that guilt added to the mix. So how could she stand there and watch it happen to him again? She couldn't.

I personally don't think of this as "right or wrong" because it's a far more nuanced situation.

I really thought they were going to go the wikileaks road here, in that this would be journalistic decision based on shutting down hordr.

Instead they made it about saving his life, which for me at least make it all the more sympathetic. She made an instantaneous decision and I think the conversation which happened in the beginning of the issue foreshadows why. As I said above, I really felt it was tied to what Sam Lane did. Then of course General Lane shows up, rather quickly, at the end of this.

I also think Superman hasn't shown he's operating on all cylinders lately, so when he said he would have figured out a way out of this, I personally had my doubts.

In one of the titles we see Diana using the truth lasso on all his friends with Lois being the last one as the issue ends. I'm wondering there if she'll say it's was out of love? Which then opens the door for 'shipping drama.

Meanwhile, I did wonder at what Lois said to Clark, saying to him that she knows he'd do the same for her. I couldn't help but remember when she was possessed by Braniac and his first concern was his secret not her safety. Jon, the amazing vanishing and appearing boyfriend, even called him out on that. So, I don't know Lois, I don't know if this incarnation of Superman would.

Uhm No. DC and most comic franchises in general are full of people being resurrection.

I agree.

At some point in the comic someone should ask Lois why she didn't call for help.

Lois was between a rock and a hard place in this situation, it was I think fundamentally flawed that this plot put her in this position.

You have your best friend, a man you almost fell in love with, the hero and saviour of the world, this guy is being drained of essentially his life force, and is in danger of dying... What else could she have done?

She had to save his life.

Her motivation is driven by heart. By love.

Lois knows that this is done for the greater good.

However, while I think the plot point of "Lois saves Superman" is a good one, I think the execution of the story is just... Dull. It's flawed and down right stupid.

I enjoy Gene Yang's writing, it's the best thing to happen to Supes in a few years. But he ultimately makes Superman incapable of sorting out his problems and thus places people like Lois in a difficult situation.

I hope this plays out well for Lois and Clark.

Lois is obviously right Superman was being a pushover for his identity not only was he going to let them absorb his power he would also be powerless afterwards and probably tortured/killed. It's not her fault that Mr. "I can accomplish anything without help because I'm Superman" didn't call anyone for help. Cyborg could probably stop the leak and end the threat whereas MMH would mind-wipe the rest.

@cloislover: You make a lot of statements for Lois's motivations which actually the narrative does not back up at all. I have read the new 52 Superman comics...and many people would challenge you on a lot of these statements. Her nearly falling in love with him being the most laughable and head scratching one and that SHE needs to save him. This is not saving him. This is stupidity. She's behaving like a girl with a high school crush on a guy who she never really gave much thought to in a romantic sense, but the moment she finds out he is Superman we have a total 180.

This is disappointing. Not very meaningful at all either. Makes very little sense. Screw why lois didnt call anyone, why the hell did superman when he first started being blackmailed. Pretty simple to ask WW(who is a god), to track down the fool messing with her boy toy.

Just throwing this in there. Pre-52 superman would have NEVER been put in this situation. Much less abide by the blackmailer's demands.

No Pre new 52 Superman would have just cried, whined or navel gazed. Lets be clear Pak and Tomasi are writing the Truth story far far better in their books. Let's not make this a oh this is the whole reboot fault. It is not. It is Yang's misfire.

@mark_stephen: Or maybe someone should ask Superman why HE didn't ask for help? From super-thinker Batman, or IT-God Cyborg, for example ... he had an hour, Lois had to make a split second decision.

Yep, that too. In my opinion this entire storyline was more stunt than story.

I have mixed feelings on the issue.

On the one hand, I was almost completely sold on the issue with the opening dialogue between Lois and Clark. You can count on one hand how many meaningful interactions Lois and Clark/Superman have had in the New 52. Although I was shocked to hear Lois say that she almost fell in love with Clark. My reaction was, "when did this happen?" So I was hooked from the start.

While I can understand why Lois revealed Superman's secret to the world, I think it was grossly short-sighted on her part. Plus, it shows (to me at least), that she doesn't believe Superman will figure out a way to get himself out of trouble. It's as if everyone feels like they need to come to Superman's aid when his powers are down. Yet he's been figuring out how to get out of deadly situations for a few years now. So I would think that if Lois TRULY knew Superman, she would know that he didn't need her to get him out of a jam.

Lois is improving in the New 52, but she still hasn't quite "gotten there" yet IMO.

@dangermart: I disagree on Lois making the right decision. Lois also acted stupidly in this instance too IMO. She got emotionally frazzled by an electrocuted guy at HORDR base and impulsively decided to reveal his identity because she was reminded of Superman's torture by Lex and the government. Moreover, she's jeopardised Jimmy, The Daily Planet Staff, Lana the town of Smallville and more through her rash decision. Plus, it doesn't excuse Lois' behaviour or absolve her from blame, it makes her the scapegoat for impressionable fans to pin the blame on.

made my day

Everybody acts stupid for the sake of the plot, right?

Ha! I was right!

Lois endangered more people than she helped because she felt emotionally compromised, even though she shouldn't be.

Superman lets this happen instead of contacting Cyborg or MM because he's stupid like that.

And here I am, finally seeing if I should give Nu52 Superman one more shot, and I see this massive pile of disappointment.

Good Riddance DC...

Seriously a lot of effort goes into trying to redeem Lois. lol

@johnqestion: Lois was shown to be very interested in pursuing Clark Kent, not Superman. Go read Andy Diggle's run in Action Comics, they were in a tender moment where they almost kissed if Clark didn't fly off.

At the end of the day, if Lois had not interjected at that moment Clark would have died or gone into a coma. So that in the pure essence of that statement means that Lois Lane saved Clark's life.

I'm not making things up, I've actually read every single issue that Superman has appeared in since the New52 started. Not just the Superman comics. This is not the first time Lois has saved Clark (Superman issue 4 and the recently concluded Superman: Doomed arc to name a few) people can challenge me, they will be wrong, I have comic pages to back me up.