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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SUPERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND, LOIS LANE #26:
"The Day Superman Married Lana Lang!" by Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger (cover story) - "A Brand-New 'Imaginary' Story!" This one shifts the emphasis from Lois to Lana. (For details see the "Imaginary Stories on Infinite Earths" thread.) It strikes me that these "imaginary stories" often snag the coveted cover spot.
What 10-year-old could resist those imaginary story covers?
I didn’t care for the ending as a boy – I thought it a little weak of Superman to be embarrassed that his wife was stronger. Embarrassed enough to end their marriage! As an adult I care for it even less.
"Lois Lane's Childhood!" by Jerry Siegel and and Kurt Schaffenberger - After nearly 40 years of "Col. Sam Lane" in various media, it's odd to see Sam & Ella Lane as small town (Pittsdale) farmers. This is really two stories running parallel: baby Lois's and baby Kal-El's (actually, they are toddlers). Basically, Kal-El drops a toy into one of his father's experimental rocketships, which finds its way to Earth. the toy ends up saving Lois's life, just as Superman will continue to do in the future.
It's pretty preposterous that the toy somehow saves Lois on another planet. So much from Krypton ends up on Earth that I think they established at some point that there was a space warp between the two planets, but don’t quote me on that.
What the hey, the point is inquisitive baby Lois, and she’s sufficiently charming I don’t mind. I loved Mrs. Lane’s remark that Lois might marry someone from far away – maybe “thousands of miles!” You mean like, I dunno, Phoenix? Wow, that would be quite a coup for a girl from Pittsdale!
"The Mad Woman of Metropolis!" - by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger - This is basically a hoax to drive Lois mad and cause her to commit suicide. I actually didn't recognize the set-up which explained the reason behind the plot because it was embedded in one of the smaller hoaxes and I simply dismissed it. I kept trying to figure out why Clark and her "friends" were trying to convince her she was insane. Then the suicide angle came in and I knew I was one the wrong track, but was my inital suspicion really all that far off base?
That’s half the fun of these stories. Needless to say, this is a pretty elaborate plot by a gangster, one likely to fail in multiple ways. But we, the readers, are challenged to figure it out. I knew “Father’s Day” would enter into it, because it was a very specific reference by the actor playing Kent that he didn’t have to make – he could have said his other line was ringing, or Perry wanted him, or he had a dental appointment. No, he specifically, and unnecessarily, referenced Father’s Day, which is a clue in these stories.
But no, I didn’t figure it out, either. I was having too much fun to worry about it. Schaffenberger, in particular, amused me with his “crazy Lois Lane.”
BTW, if I ever start doing a count like you’re doing on space missions, I’d do it on “Lois falling out a window and Superman catching her.” There’s two in this issue alone.
BTW I also want to point out for the record that the Father's Day feature is on the front page, with gigantic mug shots. I mention this because being on the front page of a newspaper in a comic book story is meaningless. Every feature, edtiorial, cartoon, classfied ad or minor news story in comic books ends up on the front page.
So much from Krypton ends up on Earth that I think they established at some point that there was a space warp between the two planets...
Indeed. Such a warp was mentioned in this very story (page six, panel two): "Far off in the universe, Jor-el's rocket suddenly flashes into a strange space-warp, a cosmic phenomenon which reduces the vast distance between Krypton and Earth from light-years to only a caomparative short distance...!" I mean, there woud have to be, wouldn't there?
Oh, I meant a permanent one, that I seem to remember explaining all the kryptonite. Well, maybe I was thinking of this one and it grew in my mind over the years.
Oh, like DS9's "stable wormhole"...
Some comments on "The Battle of the Super-Pets!":
If the plan was that Linda was NEVER to be adopted, why put her in an orphanage? Was she supposed to sabotage any effort until she turned eighteen?
I think we got into that a little bit in the DC Finest: Supergirl thread. The adoption process was depicted as virtually cruel, with would-be parents making snap decisions to adopt, and then changing their mind when the child showed any flaw. Linda kept sabotaging her own adoption, enough that I’d think people who were not in Mort Weisinger comic books would start asking questions.
Commander Benson has, to my mind, successfully defended Superman not installing her in his Clark Kent bachelor pad, and an orphanage (for 2-3 years) to learn Earth habits seems on the surface a legitimate alternative. But the execution was sometimes appalling. All of it was in service to whatever nonsense was happening in this issue’s plot, but wow, what a despearate and depressing place it would have been in the real world.
Krypto showing up just as Linda needed something, anything to stop her from being adopted was so against the odds yet not as high as Krypto doing the one thing to save the day!
My first thought when Krypto was announced as flying by on patrol was “Krypto goes on patrol?”
And Krypto was so precise with his heat vision not to melt the entire bust! Didn't even muss the hair!
You can do anything with X-ray vision! Not only see through things (with no harm!) but turn on robots and melt stuff in a very precise manner! And all of it invisible to human eyes! It’s not as good as Martian Vision (see J’onn J’onzz and his new-power-a-month adventures in Detective Comics), but it could have been labeled Writer’s Fiat Vision.
The "x-kryptonite marble" that gives Streaky his powers is hidden in the orphanage's cellar. Good thing that they don't have mice!
I don’t know why Supergirl or Superman didn’t turn the place upside down to find what was giving Streaky powers. Earth animals suddenly flying around with no explanation should be very concerning.
Superman's dialogue is in full "Describing What We Can Plainly See" mode!
And his solution to the issue is to have the animals compete, instead of learning to get along. And then bails for an “emergency” so Supergirl has to figure it all out.
The Mayor of Metropolis apparently shops at the same place as the Penguin!
And the Monopoly Man.
Technically Krypto should outclass Streaky based on experience alone.
Plus, he’s bigger.
When Streaky loses his powers, he should also lose his "super-cat" intelligence.
As a dog lover, I must hold my tongue when discussing cat intelligence.
Super-Monkey should be one of the universe's biggest menaces!
Good lord, yes. I never thought about that. A Super-Monkey would be a Super-Menace. And Superman just lets him gallivant all over the galaxy, probably eating people’s faces and throwing Super-poop through buildings.
Super-Monkey should be one of the universe's biggest menaces!
Good lord, yes. I never thought about that. A Super-Monkey would be a Super-Menace. And Superman just lets him gallivant all over the galaxy, probably eating people’s faces and throwing Super-poop through buildings.
It just hit me that Beppo should be as old as Superman! I know Krypto got rejuvenated but Beppo wasn't. Of course, he's an alien monkey.
Also, what if Beppo found other alien primates and was able to breed over a thirty year period? Yikes!
If the plan was that Linda was NEVER to be adopted, why put her in an orphanage? Was she supposed to sabotage any effort until she turned eighteen?
As the phrase goes, the elephant in the room is that it wouldn’t require a superdog to prevent Linda from being adopted in the real world. Virtually everyone who adopts a child in our reality is looking for a baby or a toddler.
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