Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story by Sarah Kuhn, illustrator: Arielle Jovellanos ~ a Review

by MK French

Lois Lane is from a small town, but she has a detailed life plan to get her out of it. She won't let setbacks derail that plan, which begins with a summer internship in the big city. She uncovers a scandal, then publishes her own website for young women. When she's caught in a scandal of her own, it might destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

April 2023; DC Comics; 978-1779507778
ebook, print (192 pages); young adult

In this comic, Lois Lane is of Asian descent, and part of the diaspora. She's excited and pushed herself to do anything and everything so she would look good enough for the University of Metropolis, hoping to one day work for the Daily Planet. The first hurdle is finding out that her summer roommate is her former best friend Miki; their parents are still friends and hope this will get them friendly again. Her dream internship at Catco for Cat Grant is now for the Comet Media Group, and her internship becomes fetching coffee. She soon realizes that the sliver of opportunity she was trying to squeeze through was never going to be more than that, and only because her new boss needed the optics of looking like he cared about diversity.

The art is bright and colorful, with National City reminding me of a very clean and not quite as populated New York City. The comic deals outright with the microaggressions Lois went through as an ethnically Japanese girl to even earn the internship, then the overt aggressions in her new boss. We see the same fire from the grown Lois of other comics, movies, and animated series: never backing down, always taking notes in a notebook, and searching for the actual truth no matter what. The underlying message is to keep aiming for the truth and to be authentic. Lois gets her reward for doing this, and we get a chance to see how every step toward authenticity is freeing. It's a great message for kids, and especially for minority kids to see.

Buy Girl Taking Over at Amazon

Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story is on sale now and a free Special Edition sampler will be available at comic shops on Free Comic Book Day on 5/6.

 

DC, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, creates iconic characters and enduring stories and is one of the world’s largest publishers of comics and graphic novels. Its creative work entertains audiences of every generation around the world with DC’s stories and characters integrated across Warner Bros. Discovery’s film, television, animation, consumer products, home entertainment, games, and themed experiences divisions and on the DC Universe Infinite digital comics subscription service. Learn more at DC.com.

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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