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
Does it seem odd to you that, on the cover, Jimmy refers to Lola Kent as "the daughter of my friends, Clark and Lois," when Lois is his wife's sister?
Not half as odd as the fact that Jimmy Jr. is making out with Lola.... his FIRST COUSIN! Who goes to a family reunion to look for a date?
YIKES! (Good point.)
Remember they made it a plot point that Superman couldn't marry Supergirl because they're cousins!
"It's probably worthless," he concludes, "but it's an interesting curio! I'll slip it in my pocket!"
At first I thought Jimmy was shoplifting, but I guess not.
Does it seem odd to you that, on the cover, Jimmy refers to Lola Kent as "the daughter of my friends, Clark and Lois," when Lois is his wife's sister?
They thought the term “sister-in-law” would be over the heads of their target audience.
the item is actually a tiny projector Jor-El invented which emits invisible rays that can repel meteors by destroying iron ....the only "mystery" is why Jor-El put it in baby Kal-El's rocket in the first place
Uh, to prevent meteors from destroying the rocket? (P.S.: Why didn’t the rocket become kryptonite?)
There is little more to this story than an excuse for Al Plastino to draw likenesses of Marilyn Monroe, Tuesday Weld, Gina Lollabrigida, Brigitte Bardot and Jayne Mansfield, plus Rock Hudson. The "stars" are really celebrity lookalikes.
Jimmy must be independently wealthy. He risks getting fired so he can hire celebrity lookalikes just to make his (sorta) girlfriend jealous.
As I understood it, every piece of matter actually caught up in the explosion of Krypton was turned into kryptonite. Since baby Kal's rocket left (just barely) ahead of the explosion, it wasn't transmuted. Argo City would seem to be a slightly different case. The ground on which the city stood became kryptonite (well, anti-kryptonite if I remember correctly), but the buildings, people and other above-ground objects were unchanged. Presumably this means that the city was flung away so fast that only a part of it was caught in the transmutation zone.
I think that makes sense, in a Silver Age sort of way?
Uh, to prevent meteors from destroying the rocket?
Well, yes, but Jor-El's involvment wasn't revealed until later.
He risks getting fired so he can hire celebrity lookalikes just to make his (sorta) girlfriend jealous.
Actually, I was going to say that he shouldn't really have any more sway over celebrity look-alikes than the celebrities themselves, but the story makes clear that they were helping him for promised publicity in the Daily Planet, which would help them secure roles.
I think that makes sense, in a Silver Age sort of way?
Indeed it does.
SUPERBOY #92 - "Krypto's Arch-Enemy" by Jerry Coleman and George Papp
Lex Luthor accidentally gives his dog superpowers and Krypto must deal with the fallout when "Destructo" frames him for crimes while Superboy is off on a "space mission." (Because the story cuts to Superboy performing the mission several times, I'm not going to include this on in the official tally.)
When I was in high school, I got a copy of Superboy #138 (Ju'67), a wonderful 80 Page Giant that reprinted this story but when I opened it, the Destructo tale was completely ripped out! Who does things like that?
Later on, I got another one, this one intact!
And I got to read the Dev-Em story as well!
Ah, Dev-Em. That brings back some memories. The very first LSH I ever read was "The Revenge of the Knave from Krypton" (as reprinted in Superboy #177).
I don't think I've ever read his first appearance (Adventure Comics #287), but now that I know it has been reprinted in Superboy #138 I'll seek it out.
I had heard about Dev-Em for years but never read a single story with him. I always thought of him as one those rare Superboy villains like Teen Luthor and the Kryptonite Kid!
Adding to the mystique was that he wasn't seen again until the Great Darkness Saga!
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