A Q&A Interview with Gwenda Bond

Can you sum up Lois Lane Fallout for us?

Fallout is about a teenage Lois Lane who’s bounced around with her Army General father and the rest of her family her whole life, constantly getting in trouble. The book begins on her first day of school in Metropolis, where the family is settling long-term. She’s determined to fit in and fly under the radar…which goes about as well as you’d expect. Soon enough she’s got a new job at a publication the Daily Planet is doing for teens called the Daily Scoop and is pursuing a story about a girl being bullied in a high-tech virtual reality game. Oh, and chatting with her long-distance, mysterious friend SmallvilleGuy.

What made you decide to make a young Lois Lane the central character?

I was approached about whether I’d be interested in writing a teen Lois Lane and of course the answer was yes. Lois Lane is long overdue for an origin story of her own, and to be the star attraction.

Where/are you a big fan of comics? What would you say was the inspiration for the book?

I am! I love comics, and have since I was a kid. And I’ve always loved the character of Lois Lane; she was a huge influence from the moment I saw Margot Kidder in the role in Superman: The Movie. After that, I snatched up all my brother’s Superman comics and kept an eye on the character. So I’d say the inspiration is everything about her over time, and wanting to honor both her and the Superman myths’ tradition while also (I hope) expanding on them in a new way.

In the book, online gaming is shown to offer both exciting escapist entertainment, and to have its own particular set of dangers – what’s your opinion?

Technology isn’t innately good or bad, it’s what we do with it, obviously. Certainly, there are issues with misogyny and the gaming world is not always the most welcoming or safest place for women. But I hope it will get better. I have tremendous admiration for the people fighting to make that happen. I’m not, however, a gamer myself—I wish I was, but I am uniformly terrible at videogames. I do love a Ms. Pac-Man machine though.   

How important was it to you that Lois is someone who will always speak for herself, and stand up to bullies?

Very important. I think standing up to bullies and being confident and unapologetic are core characteristics that Lois can’t be herself without.

Are there more adventures to come and what’s next for Lois?

There is a sequel, Double Down, which I believe is out in the UK next spring. It raises the stakes for Lois in both personal ways and at the Scoop. And hopefully more to come after that. We’ll see!