I haven't been looking forward to this collection quite as much as the upcoming Superboy one, but still I'll likely get around to reading it sooner rather than later, hence the stub. (If anyone else wants to delve into it ahead of me, please feel free to do so.) This one includes Action Comics #266 & #277-278, Adventure Comics #287, Superman #142-143 & #147, Superboy #87, #90 & #92, Lois Lane #19-28 and Jimmy Olsen #47-56. I don't know why these issue in particular, but at least their choice demonstrates that someone has put some thought into it.
I used to like those b&w DC Showcase and Marvel Essential collections... at least I liked the idea of them. Although I would have preferred color, I bought the ones I didn't have and didn't expect to see reprinted in color any time soon, including the DC Showcase edition of Superman Family. I am pleased to report there there is very little duplication between the DCF volume and the four Showcase editions:
- Vol. 1 - Jimmy Olsen #1-22 and Showcase #9
- Vol. 2 - Jimmy Olsen #23-34, Showcase #10 and Lois Lane #1-7
- Vol. 3 - Jimmy Olsen #35- 44 and Lois Lane #8-16
- Vol. 4 - Jimmy Olsen #45-53 and Lois Lane #17-26
That's only 15 issues of duplication, and only with Showcase volume four.
(All covers illustrated by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye unless otherwise noted.)
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I had them both before I sold my LPs back in the '80s. I was moving a lot and got tired of lugging those heavy crates of records around. Yes, yes, I regret it now. Sad.
I love that Elvis photo playing guitar...
Yes, that's the cover of his first album. Inspired by Cap's post, I listened to it on my way to my LCS today.
Back then, the NASA rockets were still blowing up on the launch pads, but a movie studio successfully builds a rocketship and life-sustaining spacesuits. O---kay.
Very good point.
This reminds me of the way they later handled Barbara Gordon. For story purposes she was sometimes a teenager dating Robin and other times she was an adult librarian contemplating running for Congress.
You only have to be 21 to run for Congress, and Dick was in college by then, so they could have been contemporaries … but when Batgirl debuted, she was clearly post-college (maybe post-grad school) and Robin was in junior high or high school. I always thought of her as considerably older, until they began to date in Batman Family and I just tried to ignore it.
So, Jimmy is a growing boy who dates Lucy Lane? Is Lucy a pedophile?
Sometimes it sure looks that way!
After I got out of the Army at the end of 1969, I was struck by a newspaper article that used the term “youths” to refer to those up to age 25.
“Youth” is used in one of the stories we’ve covered so far in reference to Jimmy. I guess it was a pretty elastic term back then that tells us nothing.
The 1950s movies that have the grotesque aliens attracted to human women (never men) always tickle me. They should find them hideous, too.
My friends and I used to laugh about that, too, like in the Creature from the Black Lagoon movies. We thought he would view the hot chick as dinner more than love interest.
This reminds me of an Amos and Andy episode I saw on TV (that’s how old I am).
I saw a couple of Amos and Andy reruns when I was too young to understand them. But it was quite a novelty to my young eyes.
A valuable dime was the subject. It was inserted into a pay phone. The character who thought he had the right to it walked away unhappy. The character who put it into the phone asked the operator to return it, and he received the same dime back. Even as a kid I didn’t think that was likely. He would get a dime back, but the same one?
Not a chance! That was written by somebody with no mechanical knowledge.
No wonder Superman isn’t in a hurry to marry Lois. Even with super senses, he can’t tell his girlfriend from an electronic facsimile.
Bwah-ha-ha!
I wonder how often Superman was tempted to just let Lois hit the concrete?
The Li’l Capn thought Lois was a pain and wouldn’t have been too upset if Superman had been on a “space mission” during one of those window episodes.
You only have to be 21 to run for Congress
Back then, you had to be 21 to vote, everywhere. The 26th Amendment changed it to 18 in 1971, at which point I was 23.
The Constitution has always said that to run for the House you must be 25; Senate, 30: President 35.
Richard the Elections Geek
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I Googled that, and got 21. I guess I didn't read it closely enough. Thanks for the correction!
It has been pointed out that Joe Biden ran for Senate when he was only 29. You can run, but you have to be the required age when sworn in.
...the mention of “hip-swinging” means Elvis the Pelvis, who was famously shot from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1957. And mention of a “sneer” would refer to this famed expression
I will concede that Chip O'Doole is mainly Elvis.
...she really does have a good heart.
...it just doesn't pump enough blood to her brain.
When was she established as a “TV newscaster” (her description in the Super-Lana/Super Lois story)? Was there ever an establishing story of her moving to Metropolis and becoming a thorn in Lois’ side? Or did she just start showing up in stories like these?
You're asking me!? According to The Essential Superman Encyclopedia by Robert Greenberger and Martin Pasko...
After graduating from Hudson University (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #109, April 1971), Lana went into broadcast journalism, eventually arriving in Metropolis to find work in television. Instead, she wound up gaining employment employment as a spokeswoman in commercials at TV station WXR (Showcase #9, July-August 1957). But she had lost even that job when Liois Lane spottted the destitute Lana months later (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #7, February 1959). the mercurial friendship between the two women was set from these first encounters with Lois and Lana alternating between great empathy and deep jealousy over their unrequited love for Superman.
An alternate account of the first meeting was depicted in Superman [first series] #78(September-October 1952), wherein Lana sought a reporter's jobwith the Daily Planet but was ultimately hired byt the Federal Syndicate,
After initially writing a novel (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #11, August 1959) and a nostalgia column about Superboy for the Daily Planet (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #17, May 1960), Lana finally found success as a television reporter with WMET (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #21, November 1960). She failed, however, in her efforts to win Superman away from Lois Lane, and ultimately accepted an offer from Galaxy Broadcasting's WGBS-TV to serve as one of their European consultants (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #109, April 1971).
He could have sold the castle and retired a millionaire...
Or he simply could have not visited during pollen season.
But seriously, has this machine appeared before?
I'm pretty sure I remember reading that story from the "Silver Age Superman" discussion, but I was hoping someone else would cite it for me.
There are a number of stories of Perry sending Lois and Clark to expose frauds.
He also told them that he would run it on the front page.
I will concede that Chip O'Doole is mainly Elvis.
Don't worry, some of your other suggestions are about to come into play. A coming story features ... Ricky Avalon!
This reminds me of the way they later handled Barbara Gordon. For story purposes she was sometimes a teenager dating Robin and other times she was an adult librarian contemplating running for Congress.
Earth-One continuity seems to be indeed undecided about Barbara's age and particularly on how it contrasts with Robin's. Curiously enough, she seems to have become younger with the passage of time. Or maybe the perception of what would be age-appropriate for her changed along time. Probably some of both
Early on she used corrective glasses for reading (implying farsightedness or strong astigmatism) and had a very conservative hairdo - see for instance Detective #359, her origin issue, or #369, where she first team-ups with Robin. She also lives with her father. Fortunately for her, the Gotham City Public Library is very accommodating; she has enough privacy and freedom at her workplace to sew her costume there, to create at least one secret room, and even to improvise a gym with a huge maize bag in the basement storeroom. Good thing Commissioner Gordon does not complain about her late hours at work.
In "The Brave and the Bold" #78 (1968) Batman asks her and Wonder Woman to both pretend to be in love with him.
In Detective #392 (1969) she is dating Jason Bard.
In Detective Comics #424-425 (1972) she becomes a Congress candidate almost accidentally and wins, leaving Gotham for quite a while and ending her regular appearances in the book for years.
In Superman #268 (1973) Batman actually tries a bit of matchmaking between Barbara and Clark Kent.
The 1975-1978 of "Batman Family" series is to a considerable extent about developing a relationship between Barbara and Robin. Oddly enough, Robin is also dating Lori Elton seriously during the whole time, as shown in various of the issues of that same book. Mostly the even-numbered ones, with the team-ups happening in the odd-numbered issues. Make of that what you will.
#1 is of particular interest, because it has a scene between the two that must have changed meaning several times since. It starts with Robin trying to convince Barbara that crimefighting is too dangerous for a woman and ends with her shutting him up with a sudden kiss. It is billed as the origin of their team and their first "official team-up", which I found odd; they have met aplenty before, haven't they?
#2 clarifies the matter with a reprint of their first "unofficial" team-up from Detective #369 (1967).
The two learn their respective secret identities in #3, in a scene with facial expressions that to me strongly suggest teenagers discovering mutual attraction. The narration talks of them being "destined to meet again", furthering that effect.
#11's team-up between the two has to be seen to be believed. I will just say that it ends with a flirtatious scene that involves Robin attempting to appear older. Lori Elton would not be pleased.
In Detective #487-488 (late 1979) she loses her re-election bid. In #489 she loses her memories of the secret identities of Robin and Batman.
Earth-One continuity seems to be indeed undecided about Barbara's age and particularly on how it contrasts with Robin's.
My estimation of their ages, as presented in the debut of Batgirl, was high school (Robin) and late 20s (Batgirl). About a 10-year age difference.
In "The Brave and the Bold" #78 (1968) Batman asks her and Wonder Woman to both pretend to be in love with him.
She's clearly an adult here, while Robin is still the Boy Wonder. As you note, she also later dates Jason Bard (an accomplished adult) and is seen as a potential match for Superman. In those years, she was presented as on the "adult tier" with Justice Leaguers, whereas Robin was still in the "juvenile tier" with the Teen Titans. She did, in fact, guest-star in Justice League of America.
I don't remember any romance between Dick and Babs (although I think Robin might have been depicted with a crush in a story or two) until Batman Family and the examples you present. When suddenly they were on the same tier.
In Detective Comics #424-425 (1972) she becomes a Congress candidate almost accidentally and wins, leaving Gotham for quite a while and ending her regular appearances in the book for years.
As Richard Willis notes, this makes her at least 25. Maybe older, if she went to grad school for a Master's in Library Science.
Curiously enough, she seems to have become younger with the passage of time.
Currently, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon seem to be about the same age. Of course, there have been multiple reboots since Detective Comics #359. Maybe one of them re-set Barbara's age. The "Batgirl of Burnside" run (Starting 2014) put Barbara back in college.
#1 is of particular interest, because it has a scene between the two that must have changed meaning several times since. It starts with Robin trying to convince Barbara that crimefighting is too dangerous for a woman and ends with her shutting him up with a sudden kiss. It is billed as the origin of their team and their first "official team-up", which I found odd; they have met aplenty before, haven't they?
I would guess what they meant by this is that it was the first team-up of just the two of them (without Batman) and the begining of an ongoing team-up. I liken it to Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter, who had had been in Justice League of America stories together, but then had what looked like their first official team-up in Brave and Bold #50. (The proposed ongoing team-up never materialized.)
In Detective #487-488 (late 1979) she loses her re-election bid.
This puts her at 27 years old at minimum. Again, probably a few years older than that.-
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