Professional rivalries are common in every industry. This is particularly true in the fast-pace world of media, where there is a constant need to beat the competition to a story. This is even true in the DC Universe, where a preview for The Flash #8 hints at a rivalry between Lois Lane and Iris West.
Written by Simon Spurrier, with art by Ramón Pérez, The Flash #8 opens with Iris West appearing on a superhero podcast titled “PowerPad Live.” As she is introduced, Iris makes reference to her being described as the “Corn Belt Lois Lane.” She then damns her rival with faint praise, praising her patented technique of getting scoops by falling off buildings.
The main cover and first five pages can be viewed below.
Why The Flash’s Iris West Might Envy Lois Lane
The reporter love interest is a frequent trope in superhero comics. That’s largely due to the success of Lois Lane. Many of the early Golden Age comics borrowed heavily from the Superman formula. This resulted in a glut of “plucky girl reporters” regularly endangering themselves so the hero could save them. Also, there were few jobs women could work at that time that could realistically put them in peril like reporting.
By the time Iris West made her first appearance in 1956’s Showcase #4, Lois Lane had gotten into a rut treading the same ground Iris would cover in the pages of The Flash. It didn’t help that there was little effort to develop Iris as an independent character. Lois Lane was a work rival to Clark Kent and frequently risked exposing his secret identity with her snooping. By contrast, Iris had little to do beyond be rescued and complain about Barry Allen being late for their date. Again. And again. And again.
Given that, Iris West being catty about Lois Lane is a meta way of commenting on her own status as an exemplar of the reporter girlfriend trope. It is also a reflection of Iris’ personality in the few The Flash comics where she had a personality. It is also possible, based on the text, that Iris is gently ribbing a colleague. In any case, there’s a story just waiting to be told teaming the two reporters, as friends or as rivals.
The Flash #8 arrives in comic shops everywhere on April 23, 2024.
