Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
 

Lois Lane’s place in the history of the DC Universe is just as storied as Superman’s. After all, she too debuted in 1938’s Action Comics #1. As much as I love a Superman story, I do relish any chance to read a story that’s focused strictly on Lois. She has inspired generations of journalists, myself included, but how did she develop her trademark assertiveness and confidence in her field? Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story by Sarah Kuhn and Arielle Jovellanos captures this heroine’s coming-of-age story. This young adult graphic novel also a perfect read for AAPI Heritage Month, as Lois in this story is half Japanese.
 

The Premise:

Girl Taking Over follows a teenage Lois interning at CatCo in National City for the summer. Just like her adult self, Lois is self-assured and has a plan for the professional and academic milestones she hopes to achieve over the next few years. But when she begins her internship, she is horrified to learn that her hero, Cat Grant, has been fired by her company. Instead, the company that Cat built is now run by a new boss with a less-than-stellar track record. Can Lois adapt to a series of wrenches thrown into her life plan?
 

Let’s Talk Talent:

Girl Taking Over is written by Sarah Kuhn, who also wrote the YA graphic novel, Shadow of the Batgirl, starring Cassandra Cain. As a half-Japanese writer herself, Kuhn brings this version of Lois to life with special attention to the relationship our heroine has with her mother. As the story progresses, Lois’s mother comes to terms with raising her daughter to have a “spine of steel” in order to cope with the fact that they were outsiders in a predominantly white neighborhood. By adding this element to Lois’s cultural backstory and origin, Kuhn sheds new light on a part of Lois’s personality that remains consistent across all versions of the character.

The story is illustrated by Filipina American artist, Arielle Jovellanos. Girl Taking Over is Jovellanos’s DC debut, after her previous work for publishers like Oni Press, Archie, Dark Horse, IDW and BOOM! Studios. Jovellanos’s vibrant art excels at capturing both the excitement that Lois has for her burgeoning career in journalism as well as the personal growth that she experiences as the story progresses. There are so many aspects of growing up that feel intangible or difficult to represent visually, but Jovellanos captures it all with simplicity and ease.
 

A Few Reasons to Read:

• While Lois is the star of the book, she’s supported by a charming cast of characters who make the world of National City feel lived in and vibrant. If you’ve ever wondered what the experimental theatre scene was like in National City, look no further.
   
• Kuhn’s writing and Jovellanos’s artwork capture the sense of limitless energy that one has at that age, when anything and everything seems possible. It’s a format that is completely new to a character like Lois Lane, but it works beautifully.

• The story honestly captures what it’s like being an intern or a young professional and not quite having enough life experience yet to recognize when there’s something “off” about a workplace. Of course, Lois now would have no problem calling out her boss if he ever mistreated her. But it’s important to show young adult readers the types of problems they can run into at the workplace. I would have benefited a lot from reading this book when I was young!
   
• Girl Taking Over is full of hilarious moments that had me giggling as I read. There’s a clear sense of joy that went into making this book, and it radiates from every page.
   

Why You’ll Love It:

Come on, who doesn’t love Lois Lane? (Lex Luthor probably, but you’re not him, are you?) She has been a role model for so many fans since 1938, and it’s immensely refreshing to see a young Lois struggling with many familiar young adult problems. It just goes to show that legends like Lois Lane aren’t forged overnight. Their struggles and their will to win are what make them the characters we look up to today. Superman has been reimagined and interpreted in endless ways, and it’s time Lois Lane also got that chance.
 

Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story by Sarah Kuhn and Arielle Jovellanos is available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and can be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Jules Chin Greene writes about comics for DC.com, and his work can also be found at Nerdist, Popverse and Multiverse of Color. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @JulesChinGreene.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.