Justice League #65 welcomes a significant new member of the DC 'family'

(Image credit: DC)

DC has been teasing the identity of the new espionage character that has been making appearances in his Justice League and Checkmate series, with writer Brian Michael Bendis telling Newsarama a few weeks back that when some of the character's secrets are revealed it will be "delightful to people."

So how are you delighted by this...?

Spoilers ahead for Justice League #65.

The Daemon Rose is Lois Lane's brother...

The character reveals ... or at least claims (hey, because comic books) he is Lois brother and son of the late Sam Lane to Green Arrow and Black Canary, who he's been observing through a scope of a sniper rifle since Justice League #64.

Instead of hunting them, Daemon Rose (he doesn't reveal his first name) tells the couple he needs their help because of Green Arrow's ties to the new Checkmate organization, which Dinah learns about in a scene that has extended over the last issues of two Justice League.

Lois is a member of Green Arrow's covert team.

Daemon (who appears to be relatively young) claims to be an agent of ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Human), the government agency and division of the Office of Homeland Security that serves as something of a support team to superheroes that was created by Geoff Johns and Gene Ha in 2012 in Justice League #7.

Sam was head of the organization as per Bendis' and Alex Maleev's 2019 Event Leviathan limited series and was killed by the secret head of the second incarnation of the villainous Leviathan, the former Manhunter Mark Shaw.

Daemon also claims to have been trained by his father Sam until the day Sam died at the hands of Leviathan.

Bendis also told Newsarama Daemon has a very, very deep connection to the Superman universe.

What he really meant was a very, very deep connection to the Superman family tree.

While comic book characters come and go, there haven't been many major additions to the Superman and Lane families in the 80+ years of their existence.

Sam Lane his wife Ella were introduced in 1959's Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #13 but Sam was reinvented into the more familiar military officer version after 1985-'86's Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Lois's younger sister Lucy Lane was introduced in 1959's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #36.

'Daemon' suggests during the scene that normally he'd never reveal to anyone that Lois is his sister, and his mother isn't mentioned in the scene, leaving the door open that perhaps he and Lois have different mothers.

The scene continues with Deathstroke appearing, on the hunt for 'Daemon' although the conclusion of the scene suggests it isn't Slade Wilson under the mask - perhaps this is a seed to the upcoming new Deathstroke, Inc. series.

That was all the revelations to be had in Justice League #65, although past comments by Bendis suggest he has big plans for the 'Daemon Rose' character.

And given the roles Lois, Sam, and Lucy all play in the CW's DC Arrowverse, it'll be worth watching to see how quickly the new Lane crosses over to TV.

Either way, it's not every day one of DC's premier families welcomes a new member, and July 20, 2021 was one of those days.

The Lanes of course figure prominently in the best Superman stories of all time.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.