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.)
Replies
"Lois Lane and the Babe of Steel" can be found reprinted in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane Archives Vol. 1.
It is also reprinted (in b&w) in Showcase Presents Superman Family Vol. 2.
That synopsis was so detailed and specific I knew it must have been an actual story.
Thanks for reporting back here after you ran across it.
"Lois Lane and the Babe of Steel" was even cover-featured on issue #3.
How can Lois tell that the baby has X-ray vision? This seems to suggest that there are visible beams shooting from the baby's eyes, but at other times X-ray vision seems not to do this. And even if the beams are visible, how can she tell it's X-ray vision rather than telescopic, microscopic or something else?
This cover, I think, comes from the time before heat vision, when Superman used "the heat of my X-ray vision". Maybe the kid is setting fire to something off-cover, and Lois is assuming X-ray vision is the cause?
It could simply be that "Superman's slate of super-powers" trope: if he has one, he has them all.
And if he doesn't have one, he doesn't have any. On/off.
SUPERBOY #90 - "Pete Ross' Super-Secret!" by (unknown) and George Papp
I have "always" known that Pete Ross discovered Superboy's secret identity, but this is the story in which it actually happened. What I didn't know is the extent to which this story is charged with gay subtext.
I don’t know how old I was when I read this, but I was obviously too young to notice any gay subtext, because I didn’t. I just thought Pete was a swell friend.
As a 21st century adult, my take is that, just like Lois and Jimmy in their stories, Clark and Pete are written here for youngsters, and think and behave like youngsters. (Like that earlier story of teens at a party playing a version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, instead of drinking beer and making out in the woods, like normal rural teenagers.) The fact that they’re depicted as teenagers while thinking and talking like children adds subtext to the modern eye that, I think, wasn’t intended.
Over in Batman and Detective, Frederick Wertham found gay subtext in Bruce, Dick and Alfred all living together in a mansion over the Batcave without any women. What he saw as “gay wish dream,” countless 8-year-olds, myself included, saw as the coolest clubhouse on earth, where you could play all the time with your bestest friends and never be told to go to bed.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
SUPERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND, LOIS LANE #27:
"Lois Lane's Super-Brain!" - by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger
"Gosh, Lois! M-maybe you shouldn't..." warns Lucy, to which Lois replies, "Don't be silly, Lucy! What can go wrong?" (I think you can figure out the rest.)
I think “what can go wrong” should have been the “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” of Superman comics, and used in every story.
Naturally, the story is predicated on Lois’ vanity, which induces her to do dumb things to hide her condition. A grown-up — which Silver Age Lois Lane is manifestly not — would end the story on Page 2 by owning up to her mistake and taking a day off from work to recover.
Further, if Superman was “repulsed” by her temporary big head, and couldn’t see past it, a grown-up would realize he isn’t much of a catch.
Let’s not even get into how silly it is that her brain would grow from all this knowledge, and that her SKULL would grow with it. And how that same skull would mysteriously SHRINK when the brain-power wore off. And that her hair would grow back overnight! With the same salon-created hairdo! That is some incredible machine!
Despite the utter preposterosity™ of this story, I had to laugh several times. One time was, yes, the “what can go wrong?” line. Another was when Lois’ super-brain suggested to her that sticking her head in the ground like an ostrich was a brilliant plan. Gee, I could have thought of that without a super-brain … and rejected it as the dopey idea it is. Plus: Garry Moore! DC misspelled his name “Gary,” but Moore was a popular game-show host in 1961, on “I’ve Got a Secret.” He had a long run on “To Tell the Truth” as well. That’s where this Boomer knows him from, but his career began in the ‘30s and he did many things before I was old enough to be aware of him (like “The Garry Moore Show,” which I’ve never seen).
"The Battle of the Sisters!" - by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan
I must admit I missed a couple of clues as to what was really going.
Same. With my vision, I wasn’t likely to catch the torn cape. But I did notice the specificity of the rock music and nightstand photo, and knew they meant something. I had no idea what, tho.
I don't know which airline Lucy works for, but I suspect their planes are manufactured by Boeing.
Bwah-ha-ha!
Let me add a couple of observations:
“Early one evening, in Metropolis, in the apartment Lois Lane shares with her sister, Lucy Lane …
It was just a few issues ago that Lucy had a house of her own, and Lois visited for dinner. Earlier in this book, Lucy crashes at Lois’ apartment when she’s in town between flights. Mort Weisinger was very careful to keep a lot of the details in the Superman mythos consistent, but this isn’t one of them.
“These rock-n-roll records Jimmy gave Lucy certainly are loud!”
It was just a few issues ago (“Alias, Chip O’Doole”) that Jimmy hated rock ‘n’ roll music. This is another inconsistency, but it’s one that fascinates me. When a teenager like Jimmy Olsen hates rock ‘n’ roll in 1960, I hear the editor talking. My parents’ generation loathed rock ‘n’ roll with the heat of a million, million suns; they blamed every ill but the black plague on it. To the “Greatest Generation,” this was NOT what they fought for.
But here in 1961, Jimmy’s giving Lucy rock LPs. It’s just a plot device, I know. But maybe public acceptance of Elvis and Frankie and Annette is changing editorial policy a little? I’m going to stay tuned!
“Sob! I never knew Lucy could be so selfish, or … or cruel … Sob!”
Obviously, Lois hasn’t been reading Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, or she’d know just how selfish and cruel Lucy could be.
Lastly, it should be noted that Superman stayed in Kandor for no real reason. I propose it was to get away from Lois and Jimmy for a while. No “space mission” required!
"The Last Days of Lois Lane!" - by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger
- Clark Kent and Lois Lane witness a nuclear detonation by the "Atoms for Peacetime Project." (I know, I know...)
War is peace! Up is down! Black is white!
I'm getting better at this.
Yes, you are! And I’d like to think that it was all the Superman and Stan Lee comic books I read as a youth that lifted me and millions of other kids into the 99th percentile in reading comprehension. You had to pay attention!
Several days later Lois begins undertaking a series of increasingly dangerous assignments. It's almost as if she has a death wish.
Which varies from her usual behavior … not at all.
Superman discovers that "Lois Lane" was the name of one of the Guinea pigs! (Others included "Superman," "Jack Paar," "Bob Hope" and "Jerry Lewis.")
DC was publishing Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis comics, so no lawyers needed. I assume “Jack Paar” falls under fair use.
This one is a hard nut to crack, because Lois is ALWAYS getting into lethal situations pursuing stories. The only difference here is her attitude. I mean:
Superman, page1: “Has Lois flipped? Why is she risking her life just for the sake of a scoop?”
You don’t know her very well, do you, pal?
Lois, page 1: “I know I’ll never return from the one-way trip …”
Girl, your boyfriend is Superman. How many times has he already rescued you from a runaway rocket?
So, really, it’s just her attitude that’s changed.
Anyway, I want to note that two of the mountain climbers are shown falling to their deaths before Superman arrives, which was pretty unusual at ND Comics (“Nobody Dies”). And Lois, conveniently, has a black crayon to write her goodbye note. Like any adult does.
Superman: “I’d better keep an eye on her.”
Especially if she’s near any open windows. But really, doesn’t he have to keep on Lois and Jimmy all the time?
Again, the silliness is a feature, not a bug, so the above are not complaints.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
I still say that "Pete Ross' Super-Secret!" is the most unitentionally gay comic book story I have ever read.
“These rock-n-roll records Jimmy gave Lucy certainly are loud!”
That's not necessarily the records, Lois. There's a little knob over on the right that controls the volume.
I assume “Jack Paar” falls under fair use.
Actually, only "Paar" was visible; it could have been Bill Parr for all I know.
“I know I’ll never return from the one-way trip …”
That scene where Lois went up in that rocket reminded exactly of Gayle King before boarding that Blue Origin flight.
I don't have much to say about either of the next two stories, so I'll post my thoughts on both of them to save time.
ADVENTURE COMICS #287: "Jimmy Olsen's Kookie Scoops!" by Jerry Siegel and John Forte - This is part of the "Tales of the Bizarro World" series, and if you've read one Bizarro story you've read them all. Me love this story so much on Htrae-J me rip it out of book!
SUPERMAN #147: "Krypto Battles Titano" by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino - I thought I had read all of the SIlver Age "Titano" stories, but here's one I didn't know about.
I don't have much to say about either of the next two stories...
...but I feel I should say something.
Tracy also took on a dwarf criminal named "Jeremy Trohs."
In addition to Junky Doolb and Edward Nuremoh and Jerome Trohs, in 1937 The Blank was revealed to be Frank Redrum. In Warren Beatty's horrible 1990 movie adaptation, The Blank was Breathless Mahoney, for pretty much the same reason The Joker was revealed to be Jack Napier in Tim Burton's horrible 1989 movie adaptation of Batman. In Mad Cave's current comic book Dick Tracy adaptation, they seemed to be hinting that The Blank was, again, Breathless MaHoney (as if that were "canon" now), but they swerved at the last minute in the current issue.
I only wish The Blank had been revealed to be Breathless MaHoney.
in 1937 The Blank was revealed to Frank Redrum.
ADVENTURE COMICS #287: "Jimmy Olsen's Kookie Scoops!" by Jerry Siegel and John Forte - This is part of the "Tales of the Bizarro World" series, and if you've read one Bizarro story you've read them all. Me love this story so much on Htrae-J me rip it out of book!
Sometimes the Bizsrro logic is perfectly on the money, where it takes you where the plot needs to go, but makes prefect backwards sense. Sometimes it's just ham-handed in doing so. When a writer nails it, it does make me laugh.
In the beginning, Jimmy races into a rocketship about to blast off, because that always turns out so well.
There was some lovely foreshadowing, with "man bites dog" and so forth. But backwards logic would suggest Krypto wouldn't fight the invaders, at least to me. But he had to for the plot to work, so he did. I imagine eight-year-olds found nothing contradictory about it and just enjoyed the foolishness. But we adults demand our foolishness be consistent!
SUPERMAN #147: "Krypto Battles Titano" by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino.
I don't have much to say about this one, either.
I have to say that a little Forte and Plastino go a long way. The panel where Jimmy is laughing at his own cleverness in bed on Bizarro world is ghastly, like he just got hanged. Plastino is doing his best Wayne Boring imitation, when he ought to just do his own thing. Boring's importance as the primary Superman artist of the '50s is undisputed, but on the list of the Li'l Capn's favorite Superman artists in the early '60s, he was No. 4 (Swan, Shaffenberger, Plastino, Boring, Forte). Plastino disengaged from ghosting Boring isn't too bad.
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