Diana Stride

**Diana Stride** is a villainess in the series.

She was a television news reporter for Top Copy as well as an assassin for the criminal organisation known as Intergang who wanted to expose Superman's identity on national television.

She was also one of the few villains to survive knowing Superman's true identity.

## History

Not much is revealed about Diana's past except that she was previously in the army and then hired by Intergang and became a journalist rising to fame in Omaha as an undercover assassin who interviewed several rich and powerful people who were also made as targets by the criminal organization and then killed.

She soon became a media sensation becoming one of Top Copy's most famous journalists with even Jonathan Kent finding her attractive and talented.

Diana sought out news stories and filmed them with the help of her cameraman and assistant Rolf. She also retired from Intergang.

### Season 2

When Superman arrived in Metropolis, Diana saw this as her greatest story yet and decided to find out every detail she could of the Man of Steel including his real identity.

She wanted to lure Superman to her, so she set an abandoned building on fire and then purposefully jumped off it.

As expected, Superman flew in to save her and she rubbed a tracking fluid on his neck.

After introducing herself and Rolf to the Man of Steel and thanking him, he left. Diana then activated a device to track the residue she had left on him, but Superman flew right out of range. Diana, however, was convinced that they would find him again.

The next day, she held a meeting in the Top Copy studio saying that she would find all the dirt on Superman as well as his secret identity and then expose it on television,

She and Rolf then arrived at the Daily Planet with the tracking device giving off a strong signal indicating that Superman was indeed in the building. However, unbeknownst to them, Clark Kent who was Superman's secret identity heard them as they were going up in the lift with his super hearing and quickly changed before Diana and Rolf arrived.

Diana was shocked to find Superman standing right in front of her. She then told the Daily Planet staff that Top Copy was doing a surprise tribute to Superman and that she would interview everyone. Superman then used his laser vision to destroy the tracking device and then confiscated it from her.

Later she spoke with Rolf saying that Superman may indeed have a secret identity by working at the Daily Planet as someone else. Suddenly one of her lamps began to blink. Knowing that Intergang was calling her, she sent Rolf home.

She then switched on a tv monitor and it was revealed to be her old Intergang boss who told her that she was needed for another assassination. At first, Diana refused saying she was retired,  but her boss told her that it wasn't her choice of when to retire from the organization.

He then revealed the man who had been arrested, was wearing a hood and called Mr X that he was her former partner Michael DeSanto who would be testifying in a week about Intergang which included Diana's involvement with the organization. After hearing this, Diana at once decided to track him down.

Diana then heads to the government safe house where DeSanto is being held and guarded along with two lawyers and a judge. After knocking down one of the guards, Diana fired a rocket into the building and then shot DeSanto as he was coming out. However, Superman attended to the wounded man and took him to the hospital.

Diana fled, but in the process, she dropped her lucky charm necklace that was found by Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen who also worked at the Daily Planet and had been with Clark to discover DeSanto's whereabouts. Lois recognized it at once as Diana had worn it while she had been visiting the news building.

Back at the Top Copy studio, Diana watched a news broadcast of Superman warning the people who had attempted to kill Desanto before that he was now responsible for him and would hunt down the killers if anything happened to him.

She then called Intergang and told her boss that she knew of a rock that could physically hurt Superman that Lex Luthor had previously managed to keep at Lex Labs and she would kill him for nothing. She then asked him to get a hold of it and then get in touch with the scientific division.

Diana appeared at the Daily Planet building again and was introduced to Clark and Lois by editor Perry White. Lois then asked her about the necklace, but Diana denied it was hers and knew at once that the two reporters were onto her.

Her boss then said that their people at the lab didn't know much about the Kryptonite but they had made it into a paste as Diana requested and the tracking device that she had sent them would be fixed. She then manufactured the paste into a container of lipstick.

After leaving a message on Clark's answering machine saying she wanted to meet Superman one on one, Diana proceeded to make herself attractive by wearing a lovely long black dress with silver dangling earrings.

When Superman arrived, he told her that he knew the real reason why she was often visiting the Daily Planet and warned her to drop the Superman exposé,

She pretended to be sorry and told Superman that her show was all she had, even crying. While his back was turned she applied the Kryptonite induced lipstick to her lips then kissed him so that it entered his bloodstream.

At once Superman felt weak and painfully flew away, warning Diana that she really didn't want him for an enemy.

Diana watched him go and laughed to herself; "I've got you under your skin."

The next day, she called her boss and assured him that Superman would soon die a slow and painful death within a day or so. She then thanked Intergang's lab boys for fixing the tracking device promising that she would have her Superman story and get DeSanto. She then set off with Rolf to track down Superman again.

They arrived at the Daily Planet once again, but Clark saw them coming and sped out of the building. The signal from the device then lead them to Clark's apartment and through the window, they saw him still extremely weak from the Kryptonite and changing into his Superman costume. Diana was delighted as she now knew the truth, but unfortunately, the battery pack in Rolf's camera was out before they could get a shot.

She angrily berated Rolf for his stupidity told him to get a fresh one immediately. They then snuck into the apartment after seeing Lois calling some ambulance men to carry Superman to the hospital. Diana then discovered that Clark's closet had a secret compartment filled with numerous Superman costumes and began filming her show.

Back at Top Copy, Diana gave the film to be spliced in with the interviews with Superman's friends to be broadcasted that very same night. She then headed for the hospital to get rid of DeSanto once and for all.

After knocking out a  security guard and stealing her uniform, Diana headed for the main heating area where she placed a knock out gas bomb next to a ventilation grill.

While most of the people were knocked unconscious, Diana discarded the uniform to reveal her next disguise as a nurse. She then entered the room where DeSanto was receiving treating and attempted to kill him with a syringe filled with poison. However, Lois who had not inhaled most of the gas intervened and the two fought with Diana hurling a knife at the reporter before escaping through a nearby window. A search as made, but Diana had got clean away.

Thanks to a large amount of radiation from the Metropolis Power Plant, Superman managed to burn the Kryptonite out of his bloodstream and continued to search for Diana.

Meanwhile, Diana's story on exposing Superman as Clark Kent was broadcast on every station in Metropolis. All the Daily Planet staff are at a loss for words. However Clark gave a press conference and with the help of his parents and a light projector, he was able to convince the public that Diana's story was false. They also gave information on who Diana really was and her involvement with Intergang.

Knowing she had been found out, Diana decided to leave the country with Rolf who didn't understand what was going on, but Superman arrived with the police. Diana tried to reason with Superman and even kiss him with the Kryptonite induced lipstick again, but he was having none of it. She then threatened to reveal who Superman was if he arrested them, but Superman gave her a copy of the Daily Planet newspaper with the headline "**DIANA STRIDE'S SUPERMAN HOAX EXPOSED!**"

Diana angrily tossed the paper away, telling the Man of Steel that she didn't care what it said because she and Rolf still knew the truth.

Superman told her again that she didn't want him for an enemy and took her and Rolf to the police. They were presumably imprisoned after this.