Thomas Heald wrote:
> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/8178/doblele.html
>
> THE LEGENDARY LORE OF THE DOUBLE LL'S
>
> In SUPERMAN 204, February 1968, was published an article that answers
to the
> curiosity of many readers about de double LL's in Superman Legend.
Even the
> main story of this issue is about the LL's.
>
> If you are a regular reader of the Superman magazines, the initials
'L.L.'
> on the cover of this issue undoubtedly rang a bell in your mind when
you saw
> them.
>
> For these letters have played a significant part in the life of the
Man of
> Steel. For the benefit or readers who are new to the Superman Legend,
here
> is a rundown on some of the more prominent Double-L's.
>
> Superman's parents, Jor-El and Lara, named their son Kal-El. And that
family
> name, El-pronounced exactly like the English letter L-proved to be a
portent
> of things to come.
>
> When Krypton exploded, young Kal-El was rocketed to Earth by his
father-just
> in time. He landed in the outskirts of Smallville-a town with TWO
> double-L's. There he grew up as Clark Kent, son of Jonathan and
Martha Kent;
> and there he began his crimebusting career as Superboy.
>
> Superboy's first girl friend was Lana Lang, daugther of Prof. Lewis
Lang. At
> one time his best friend was young Lex Luthor, who later turned
villain.
>
> The Boy of Steel became a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the
30th
> century, and among his fellow Legionnaires were still other L.L.'s:
> Lightning Lad, Light Lass, Colossal Boy, Element Lad, Triplicate Girl
(who
> later became Duo Damsel when one of the three bodies into wich she
could
> split was killed), and Star Boy, whose real name is Thom Kallor; One
of the
> member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes is Chlorophyll Kid.
>
> While attending Metropolis University, Clark met and fell in love
with the
> beautifull Lori Lemaris, a mermaid from Atlantis. But they parted and
Lori
> later married Ronal, a Merman doctor from another world.
>
> After graduation, Clark went to work at the Daily Planet, where, two
of his
> fellows reporters were Lois lane and Jimmy Olsen. What's that? You
say Jimmy
> is not an L.L.? But his full name is James Bartolomew Olsen, and he
uses a
> special serum to become Elastic Lad. So Jimmy is actually TWO L.L.'s!
>
> Then there is Superman's cousin, Supergirl, whose secret identity is
Linda
> Lee Danvers. His parents, Zor-El and Allura (another L.L.) live in
the
> bottle city of Kandor. Linda's best friend for some time was Lena
Thorul,
> who, although she doesn't know it, is really Lena Luthor, sister of
the
> villanous Lex. Lena is married now, but still an L.L. Lena Colby.
>
> Lois comes from a family of L.L.'s. Not only her sister, Lucy Lane,
but her
> parents, Samuel and Ella Lane, fit in this category. Lori also has
another
> L.L. in the family her younger sister, Leonora Lemaris.
>
> There have been other romances in Superman's life -and every one was
an L.L.
> for instance, there was Lyla Lerrol, the Kriptonian movie actress
whom he
> met when he went back in time and visited his world before it
exploded. With
> his powers gone, the former Man of Steel resigned himself to dying
when
> Krypton did. He was engaged to Lyla when a fantastic accident sent
him
> rocketing away from Krypton in a ship that was supossed to be only a
movie
> prop. So he escaped the planet's impending doom, but lost Lyla.
>
> Once, when red kryptonite removed his powers and gave him amnesia,
Clark met
> a girl named Sally Sellwyn who fell for him. But he forget her when
his
> memory returned. And later, when a man who looked like him died
saving her
> life, she believed the man she loved had perished.
>
> There where many others -Lahla, a super-woman of another world who
only
> liked Superman when he had no powers; Lyrica Lloyd, the lovely movie
actress
> who died of an incurable disease; Lloru of the planet Moxia, a
red-sun
> planet, where Clark went when he temporarily gave up his Superman
identity;
> and Liza Landis, a female pest whom he met when he went back in time
and
> tried to star over in a new career as a disc jockey.
>
> Besides Luthor, there are other L.L. foes, such as Lightning Lord, of
the
> Legion of Super-Villains, and Lesla-Lar, who was Supergirl's
arch-enemy
> until she was killed by some Phantom Zone criminal.
>
> Superman and his friends have been in stories involving such L.L.'s
as
> Sherlock Holmes, Sitting Bull, William Tell, Achilles, Abraham
Lincoln,
> Apollo, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Halley's Comet, Lord Lucifer (the
Devil),
> Lady Luck, and a Little Leaguer, who once saved Superman from
Kryptonite.
>
> We can add Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, Batman's foe, who also gave
Superman
> some trouble; Barry Allen, who is really Superman's fellow Justice
League
> member, the Flash; Stanhope College, wich Supergirl attends;
Elizabelle Fry,
> whom Clark met in Crater Valley, where a comunity of Cuaquers lives,
sealed
> off from the world; and Lediv and Liada, two sorceresses who once
took over
> the bodies of Lana and Lois.
>
> Even in the Broadway musical, 'It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's
> Superman', there was an L.L. -Linda Lavin, who played a columnist's
> secretary. On radio, the voice of Superman was Bud Collyer, who also
> contributes his voice to the current Superman-Aquaman Hour on TV. One
of the
> long-time Superman artist is Al Plastino. And let's not forget the
most
> important of all -National Periodical Publication!.
>
> In this rundown from 1968 left Luma Lynai, the superwoman from
another
> planet that Supergirl looks for his cousin Superman. Luma can't live
on
> Earth and Superman goes on alone. And Lydia Long, a television
reporter on
> the planet Oceania who bears a resemblance to Lois Lane and who plays
a role
> in the life of Chester King, who is secretly Hyperman, wich closely
> parallels that played by Lois Lane in the life of Clark Kent.
The foregoing summary was a good read and it seems worthy of a
cross-post here. I think it nails just about all of the "LL's".
To some, it will be more "same old, same old..." but it's always
interesting to see someone else's take on the mythos, especially
coming from a group outside of rec.arts.comics.
Footnote: The summary is strictly "Silver Age" (Pre-Crisis)
continuity. Lori's sister is of course, Lenora (not Leonora). And
wasn't Duo Damsel's given first name spelled with 2 L's also??
Best,
D. A. O.
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