I Love Lucy: Said Jimmy Olsen and George Tompkins

A fascinating case study in how Earths One and Two diverged yet still mirrored one another is the example of the sister of Lois Lane. Or rather, each sister of both Lois Lanes. Each woman on the surface appeared to be exact duplicates, as were their famous siblings. But upon closer examination, the life choices of Lucy and Lucille resulted in different eventualities for these two members of the Superman Family.

The first to appear was Lucille of Earth-Two. Both were, at least as adults, brunettes... although it seems that Lucy had blonde hair that darkened later in life. Eventually, the Earth-One Lucy would bleach her hair blonde, and later had platinum blonde follicles. And it seemed that unlike Lucy, Lucille did not have 20/20 vision, as she wore prescription glasses. However, Lucy may also have had poor eyesight, and simply wore contact lenses.

The first time Lucy was shown was when cub reporter of the Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen, met her. Learning that she was a flight attendant, Jimmy instantly fell for Lucy and hatched various schemes to sway her to him, including pretending to be a famous cowboy and an inventor. Despite his sincere feelings, Lucy could not reciprocate these, as she had a wandering eye. Besides this, she was resolved to never settle down and marry until first her older sister was married. This is the first main difference between the two Lane sisters, their ages relative to each Lois. Lucy's roommate was Lois. But who was Lucille's?

While Lucy was the second born of Sam and Ella Lane, Lucille appears to have been the first born of the Sam and Ella Lane of her world. How would we know this? Because she already had an adolescent child while Lois was still unattached. When Lucille first appeared, she was already a mother completely flustered with that daughter, Susie Tompkins. Although the name of Susie's mom had yet to be revealed, it was evident that this mother of Lois Lane's niece Susie was Mrs. Tompkins. Indeed, Lucille had met and married her George Tompkins in the mid-1940, shortly after her future husband returned to America from Europe where as Tex "Mister America" Thomson he acted as a spy against the Nazis during World War II (and changed his legal name, to protect his family*). Shortly after, George and Lucille had their daughter Susie.

And it was at this wedding that apparently Lucille met a much younger Jimmy, as she was Lois' maid of honor while he was Clark's best man. Given that she was already married and much older than Jimmy... while the Earth-One Jimmy and Lucy were about the same age... this and a future occasion, while celebrating Clark and Lois' anniversary, were the extent of their interactions.

Lucy never had time to marry, as she would adopt a secret identity as actress Sandra Rogers, and nearly married Jimmy's secret agent alter ego of Magi the Magnificent**. Later, while on an undercover mission, Lucy seemingly died in a  remote jungle, but was revived ... only to become an extremely aged woman. Although this process was reversed, the progressive damage done to her toxic relationship with Jimmy led to the couple finally, permanently, breaking up. Perhaps, if Lucy had met Pete Ross when both were young, they would have had the same romantic chemistry as had their counterparts Lucille and George "Tex" Tompkins. As such, Lucille made a career as a housewife and a mother, and Lucy transitioned from being a flight attendant to a nurse.

* There is precedent in the Superman Family for a family changing their legal name to protect its members from evildoers, as the parents of Earth-One's Lex Luthor changed their last name to Thorul. Lex's sister and the Luthor's daughter Lena Thorul became accustomed to this name as a young girl. Like Lena, Susie was unaware of her father's true family name until possibly later in life.

** Another example of how, just like Tex Thomson became George Tompkins, Lucy Lane became Sandra Rogers and Jimmy Olsen became Magi for a brief period.