When it comes to DC couples, it doesn’t get more iconic than Superman and Lois. And yet, they sure took their sweet time getting together. Superman and Lois met in 1938’s Action Comics #1, but they didn’t get married until 1996’s Superman: The Wedding Album #1. That’s 58 years! Obviously, Lois isn’t the type to wait on anyone, so the intrepid reporter considered some other matrimonial options in the meantime. Who were these rival suitors? While waiting for Superman to get his act together, Lois almost married her boss, Jimmy Olsen, her future father-in-law, a horse, Batman, the Penguin, Satan and the mascot of MAD Magazine! (And yes, that last one was worth worrying about.) Here’s a breakdown of Lois Lane’s Legion of Ex-Fiancés.
 

Jimmy Olsen

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #21

I will admit, this one lives in my head rent free. Due to an office misunderstanding, Jimmy thought Lois was in love with him. He proposed marriage, feeling it was the polite thing to do. Lois accepted, because she didn’t want Jimmy to “feel like an utter fool.” So yes, Lois and Jimmy were briefly engaged because both of them were too polite to let the other one down. Jimmy even bought a ring!

Superman engineered a lovers quarrel so that the couple could break up without losing face, but really this whole thing could’ve been solved with a 30-second conversation. I think about this one often because I wonder if Lois and Jimmy ever feel weird about it. Good thing Clark isn’t one to hold a grudge!
 

Alfred E. Neuman

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #14

According to Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #14, this man’s name is Eddie Banning, but you can’t tell me that this isn’t Alfred E. Neuman. Why would Lois marry the guy from MAD Magazine? Alfred—er, Eddie was a soldier in the United States Army, and the son of a famous Hollywood director. He met Lois when she was on assignment at his base and a whirlwind romance followed.

Eddie deserted the Army to follow Lois to Metropolis and propose. Their wedding took place the next week on live television (because, okay), and Lois dumped Eddie at the altar. The poor guy was so distraught that he stole an army helicopter.

Surprise! They were just fooling everyone. Eddie wanted to prove to his father that he could be a good actor, so he and Lois had faked the entire thing. This included wasting everyone’s time with a televised wedding, and somehow convincing the Army not to court martial Eddie for stealing a military aircraft. Of course, we expect that kind of troublemaking from Alfred and the usual gang of idiots over at MAD!
 

Perry White

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #32

Perry White thought that Lois was taking too many risks as a reporter, so he went a bit extra and overreacted. He set Lois on the path of a widow killer named Baron Nightshade, then proceeded to disguise himself as the murderer. Lois pretended to be a wealthy widow to get Nightshade’s (Perry’s) attention, and things kind of escalated from there. They romanced one another, culminating in Perry pretending to make an attempt on Lois’ life, hoping it would scare her away from dangerous stories. Lois saw through the ruse, however, and no lessons were learned.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but it’s really weird for your married boss to disguise himself as a killer so he could date you.
 

Jor-El

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #59

Great Scott! This engagement happened due to a time travel mishap. Lois used a time machine to travel back to Krypton before it exploded, but something went wrong and she got stuck. So naturally, she figured she might as well make the best of the situation and date Jor-El, who hadn’t married Lara yet. Lois began working with Jor-El as a lab assistant, hoping she could help him prevent Krypton’s destruction.

The father of her future husband returned Lois’ romantic advances, angering his ex-girlfriend Lara. Meanwhile, Lois ignored the potential time paradoxes and began planning marriage. Fortunately, a repaired time machine and a trip to the Phantom Zone sent Lois back to the present before she could actually go through with it. I don’t think she ever told Superman about the time she almost married his dad, which is probably for the best. The Man of Steel is way too white bread for that kind of romantic entanglement.
 

Bruce Wayne

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #59

Remember that tragic moment in Tom King’s Batman run where Selina Kyle left Bruce Wayne at the altar? Apparently, Lois beat Selina by a few decades. Superman was out of town, so he asked Batman to watch over Lois while he was gone. However, he asked Batman to do it disguised as Superman, because…reasons. Anyway, Lois saw Bruce Wayne change into Superman and immediately got the wrong idea.

Believing that marrying Bruce would make her Ms. Superman, Lois romantically pursued the playboy. Eventually, Superman and Batman caught on to her plan and decided to mess with her. Bruce proposed to Lois and surprised her at their wedding by making Superman the best man. This led to an awkward moment at the altar, as Lois realized her groom wasn’t Superman.

She awkwardly broke up with Bruce, who then went into the next room to laugh his head off with Superman. It’s a long way to go for a prank and a waste of time for all the wedding guests. Honestly, if she found out about this little stunt, could you really blame Selina for ditching Bruce?
 

The Penguin

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #70

This particular engagement is the reason I wrote this article. Catwoman had brainwashed Lois into thinking she was Catwoman. She then dressed Lois up in one of her Catwoman outfits and sent her out on a caper. During the heist, Lois ran into the Penguin, who believed Lois was the real Catwoman and popped the question. Lois agreed, but seconds later, she double-crossed him with an “engagement present”—a catarang to the face.

Yes, it was under false pretenses. Yes, it was a case of mistaken identity. Yes, Lois only pretended to accept so she could betray him. But for ten seconds in the DC Universe, Lois Lane was engaged to Penguin…and that’s wild.
 

Comet the Super-Horse

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #92

Yes, Lois Lane almost married Superman’s horse. To be fair, he wasn’t a horse at the time. Plus, Supergirl has also had a weird romance with him, so it’s not like Lois was the only one. Let’s face it, for a while there, Comet had some serious game.

How it happened was a passing comet activated a magic spell that temporarily turned Comet into a human named Biron. He fell in love with Lois and confessed that he was really a horse. To her credit, Lois kept an open mind and didn’t dump him on the spot. Instead, she also fell hopelessly in love with him and wanted to get married to Biron after one date. But there was the whole horse thing, so they appealed to the goddess Circe to make Comet’s human transformation permanent.

Circe left their request on read, but a magical trickster named Maldor turned Lois into a horse. Comet and Lois had fun doing horse-couple stuff for a bit and probably intended to go through with getting married (which was legally recognized in Silver Age comic books), until Superman transformed Lois back into a human with the power of rainbows. Yes, seriously.

Look, the ’60s were a wild time full of free love and experimentation and if you weren’t there, you wouldn’t understand, man.
 

The Devil

Engagement Announcement: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #102-103

“The Devil’s Bride” has some crazy revelations about Satan. It turns out he’s part of a group of aliens who came to Earth years ago from the planet Nferino. (Which sounds kinda like a nickname a star football player might get from his teammates, but I digress.) Satan fell in love with Lois Lane and created the human identity of “Satdev” (get it?) to court her. It worked for a little bit, but Lois began to suspect that her new boyfriend might be Satan after discovering his horns and hooves.

After drinking one of Satdev’s forbidden elixirs, Lois grew some spiffy horns of her own. Believing she would be a freak on Earth, she followed Satdev back to Nferino to live out her days as his bride. Only, she got cold feet during the ceremony, which maybe if the elixir had also given her hooves, wouldn’t have happened. (First the Fall and now this. He may be the King of Darkness and all that, but clearly his plans are never thought fully through.) Anyhow, Satan, ever the softy, sent Lois back to Earth.
 

So, it’s a good thing Superman eventually got his act together and married Lois Lane because with this track record, she was heading for trouble. Also “Satan and Lois” or “Alfred E. Neuman and Lois” just don’t have the same ring as “Superman and Lois.” Speaking of rings, I wonder if Lois secretly held onto any of her engagement bands? My money’s on Comet’s.

Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, "Gotham Gazette." Follow him on Bluesky at @joshualapinbertone and on X at @TBUJosh.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone 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.