Episode #254: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated November/December 1958: Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #5!

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #5!

Download Episode 254!

SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE 5, November/December 1958, was published around September 11, 1958. All three stories have been reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN FAMILY vol. II and SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE ARCHIVE vol. I. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.

- SUPERMAN'S GREATEST SACRIFICE (9 pgs.), dcindexes.com does not list a writer, but comics.org identifies him as Robert Bernstein, but both websites identify the artist as classic Lois Lane artist Kurt Schaffenberger. This story was also reprinted in 80 PG. GIANT 3, September 1964, published around July 30, 1964.

- THE GIRL OF 100 COSTUMES (8 pgs.), was drawn by Al Plastino.

- THE FATTEST GIRL IN METROPOLIS (8 pgs.), written by Otto Binder and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. This story was also reprinted in GIANT SUPERMAN ANNUAL 1, covered in Episode 222.

Since this episode only covers one comic book issue, also highlighted will be the other ads and features in this issue, including what might be the first letter page for Lois Lane, LETTERS TO LOIS.

Elsewhere in DC Comics, 32 titles also carried the November or November/December 1958 cover date. They were covered in Episode 176, according to Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics.

Next Episode: SUPERMAN COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED OCTOBER 1961: SUPERMAN 148 & ACTION COMICS 281!

In 2 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED DECEMBER 1958: SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 33 & WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 98!

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Tuesday at http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk. Adam Dechanel, another contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE, also writes and draws E. O. S. for Clockwork Comics, and new pages are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Clockwork Comics is the home website for amazing web comics and e-books!

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Episode #147: How Clark Kent Met Lois Lane!

As DC Comics continues to celebrate 75 years of publishing, this episode features two stories, separated by a number of decades, that reveal how Clark and Lois first met.

The first story was first published in Adventure Comics #128, May 1948, published around March 26, 1948. After his earliest stories in More Fun Comics, Superboy moved over to Adventure Comics. He would not get his own title for another year. Jack Schiff was the editor, and the cover was drawn by Win Mortimer.The ten page story, How Clark Kent Met Lois Lane, was written by Bill Finger and drawn by George Roussos.

Clark Kent, reporter for the Smallville high scool newspaper, was one of two winners of the Daily Planet's contest for high school newspaper reporters.The grand prize was a week at the newspaper's offices writing for the Daily Planet. At the newspaper's building he met the other winner, Lois Lane. From the very beginning Clark thought she was pretty, and Lois thought he was boring. Nothing will change in the future. Clark found out where he stood in her eyes when Lois asked about Superboy. He realized Lois was all about the Boy of Steel, and not about him.

The Editor gave the two young reporters their challenge: the best story will get a front page byline. Lois let Clark know in no uncertain terms that girls were better and she would win, and that he was no Superboy. Clark thought, if only she knew. They made a bet: the loser would buy the winner an ice cream sundae.

As they walked the streets of Metropolis, a street cleaning truck drove by. but instead of spraying water it sprayed sleeping gas. Bandits jumped out of the truck and robbed a jewelry store. Quick thinking Lois covered her face with a wet handkerchief, while Clark pretended to faint from the gas. He changed into Superboy as soon as Lois left. Superboy stopped out of control cars from crashing into each other, after their drivers were knocked out by the gas. He then took a billboard and used it as a fan to disperse the fumes, then returned the billboard to its place.

Lois got the story because Clark couldn't risk revealing his identity, but he felt a little frustrated anyway. Lois toured the Daily Planet offices in the "Morgue", the file storeroom of old stories. She read a week old clipping about the owner of a road construction company who left his business to his nephew Paul, who was a convicted burglar. Lois smelled a story and left to investigate.

At the company's property, Lois saw the same water truck from the robbery. She eavesdropped on the conversation inside the building, and overheard Paul talking about using the construction equipment to commit robberies. Of course Lois got captured, as she would do as an adult many times. The gang planned to use the wrecking ball crane to rob a bank, and the steam shovel to rob a warehouse.

Clark searched for Lois at the Daily Planet offices, and saw the same article in the Morgue. As Superboy he appeared at the bank in time to save Lois from being crushed by the wrecking ball, saving her life for the first of many times. After capturing the criminal, Superboy captured the rest of the gang who were operating the steam shovel.

For his efforts, Clark got scooped again by Lois. Being the man, or boy, of honor he was, Clark paid his debt at the ice cream shop, where Lois "scooped" him two more times.

The second story about Clark and Lois's first meeting was published in Superman & Batman: Generations #4, published on February 10, 1999. It contained 48 pages and sold for $4.95. It was the final issue of an Elseworlds mini-series. This series looked at Superman and Batman in a series of stories, beginning in 1939, following them in decade long jumps, as they aged naturally. The series incorporated the changing superhero styles of the subsequent decades.

In the final story, titled 1929, Batman, flying in a Bat Spaceship, found Superman's Fortress of Solitude on a distant planet with a hostile environment. They reminisced about their first frist meeting, as teenagers in Gotham City in 1929.

The flashback began as Superboy flew to Gotham City. He considered moving there after he graduated journalism school. Superboy changed into Clark Kent and entered the offices of the Gotham Gazette newspaper. The Gazette's managing editor introduced the other winners of the newspaper's essay contest, which included the group's only girl, Lois Lane, frm Metropolis. Clark was immediately smitten. The contest was created by the newspaper's owner, a young Bruce Wayne. He used the contest to find the best journalists for the Gazette. Lois ws familiar with Clark's stories about Superboy.

As the winners split up to search for stories, Clark and Lois teamed up. They didn't have far to walk before they saw a giant robot smash its way out of a warehouse. Clark used his x-ray vision to discover that the robot was controlled by a young Lex Luthor, who had escaped the Smallville Juvenile Detention Home. Lois was cpture for the firt time, and Superboy got blasted by fire from the robot as he tried to free Lois, also for the first time.

The scene was witmessed by Bruce Wayne who watched from the window of his office. He had Alfred bring "it", which turned out to be a caped costume. He rushed to assist Superboy as none other than -- Robin. Lex escaped from the robot with an air cycle before Robin could detonate a shaped charge to break into the Robot. Superboy had to let Lex escape in order to stop the now out of control robot. He ripped off the robot's arm to free Lois. Robin couldn't turn off the robot because the controls had been fused, so Superboy solved the problem by dropping the robot on the Moon.

After Superboy returned to Gotham, introductions were made and the trio investigated the warehouse where the robot came from. Lois found an address on a shipping label, and so the Dynamic Trio met at the lab of a Dr. Erwin. The doctor informed them that Lex Luthor, using the name Rex Thorul, had worked as his lab assistant and stole his robot to rob a bank. Tipped off by the smell of spirit gum, Superboy ripped the beard and toupee off of Lex Luthor.

Lex grabbed Lois and escaped with a helicopter backpack. Luthor stopped Superboy with a small piece of kryptonite, but Robin bent a metal strip into a crude boomerang and threw it at Luthor. The kryptonite was knocked from his hand, and Robin put it in a lead pipe to shield it from Superboy. The Boy of Steel was then able to free Lois and capture Luthor. After they turned Lex in to the police, Lois showed her appreciation by kissing Superboy on the cheek. I wonder if Robin felt left out?

After returning to Smallville, Clark informed his parents that he had decided to apply at the Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis.

The rest of this series will have to wait for another episode.

Next Episode: A Superman Fan Review: Superman: Secret Origin & Supermana: Last Family Of Krypton!

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Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #141: An Imaginary Summer 2010. Part IV: The Death Of Lois Lane!

The final story of this year's imaginary story series is The Death Of Lois Lane, from Superman #194, February 1967, published on December 15, 1966. The issue contained 32 pages and had the cover price of twelve cents. Mort Weisinger was the editor. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. It showed Superman and his son Superboy gazing at a bust of the deceased Lois Lane carved into the side of a mountain.

I bought this issue from my local comic store, at the time. My friend Sydney had moved his store to his second location, for cheaper rent. I had never read this story before, and I can't resist an imaginary Superman story.

On the title page, Clark and his son, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane were gathered at the gravesite as Lois' casket was being lowered into her grave.

The story began with Superman saving a geologist who had fallen off a cliff. In his hand was an unusual mineral he had found, which contained green, red and gold kryptonite. This unusual combination of kryptonite had an unusual effect on Superman. His costume became radioactive, so that he had to take it off and store it in a lead shielded box. And not only did he lose his super powers, but Superman also lost any memory of being a superhero. So he resumed his life as Clark Kent, as if he had never been Superman. He even wrote a story Superman Missing. Where Is He?

With his super rival gone, Clark was able to win Lois Lane's heart, and they got married. Clark would later go to Tibet on assignment, only to be lost for several years. He returned to Metropolis to find that he was the father of a young, super powered son. Lois guessed that their son gained his powers from drinking a failed super serum that was among her Superman memorabilia. She surmised that it had somehow been activated by a radioactive gem among her collection. (I can only guess that the radioactive gem was not harmful to humans.) But a caption at the bottom of the panel said that of course Lois was wrong about her guess.

Later, Clark watched a documentary about Superman on TV. It replayed a clip which showed the Man of Steel summoning his robot #3. The same robot flew into Clark's living room, activated by the recorded voice of Superman. The robot had been hidden in a now forgotten secret closet filled with other Superman robots. Superrobot #3 took Clark to a closet where the lead shielded box was stored. When Clark opened the box and saw the readioactive Superman uniform inside, his memory returned.

The next morning, Clark had planned to tell his family about his secret during breakfast. He was interrupted by his son, who was dressed for his little league game.

Later that day, Clark and Lois were on a drive together in the countryside. He was about to tell his wife his secret when their car veered toward a cliff wall beside the road. Before the vehicle could crash into the cliff, an opening appeared in the rock face and the car was pulled inside. It was the secret hideout of Lex Luthor, who had used a giant magnet to trap the Kent's automobile. He used truth serum on the Kents to discover Superman's secret identity. Of course Lois didn't know, but Clark confessed to being Superman. He even told Luthor how he lost his super powers. After a moment's disbelief, Luthor was convinced that Clark told the truth, and briefly considered killing Kent himself.

Instead, Luthor planted hypnotic suggestions in both of the Kents' minds, and used his giant magnet to repel their car out of his hideout.

Clark and Lois had no memory of their capture and continued down the road. Clark picked up his conversation where he had left off and told his wife Lois that he had been Superman. Acting on Luthor's hypnotic suggestion, Lois pulled a handgun out of her purse and shot at her husband. Clark opened the car door and jumped out, the bullet barely going over his head. The car was now out of control and went off the edge of a cliff.

In his mountain hideout, Luthor witnessed the scene of Clark climbing down the cliff to hold the now lifeless body of his wife on a monitor. His plan had backfired with Lois dying instead of Clark, but Luthor had another plan.

Luthor attended Lois Kent's funeral, hidden from the mourners. A few days later Clark received a phone call from Perry White, but Clark did not recognize the voice as Perry's. The voice said that he had a bad cold, and had received a tip that Luthor's hideout was near the Metropolis turnpike. Clark left right away to act on the tip.

After Clark left his apartment, Luthor broke in and reprogrammed one of the Superman robots to obey his remote controlled comands. The Superman robot obeyed Luthor's command to put on one of Clark's suits. Robot Clark, as I'll call him, sat in the living room and pretended to talk in his sleep. He awoke Clark's son, who heard Robot Clark mumble about killing Lois out of jealousy. The boy awoke his father and told him what he had said in his sleep. Robot Clark said it was only a bad dream. Luthor watched on a monitor in his hideout.

Robot Clark then went into Lois' old room and pulled out a chest that Luthor had planted under her bed. When Robot Clark opened it, he found keepsakes that Luthor had given Lois, including an autograph picture which was signed, "To Lois, Love Lex." In a jealous rage Robot Clark threw them out the window. Then Clark's son was convinced that his father really did kill Lois. Robot Clark slapped the boy, who was not hurt because of his invulnerability. Then the robot exposed Clark's son to a small piece of kryptonite, to keep him from going to the police. Robot Clark then said he would take care of Luthor. Instead of going to the ground floor of the building and driving to Luthor's lair, Robot Clark went to the roof and flew there. Luthor comanded Robot Clark to hide in closet A-2.

Luthor then went to the Kent apartment and saved the boy from the kryptonite. They flew to Luthor's hideout in a rocket jet that Luthor parked on the building's roof. Luthor told Clark's son to go into closet 2-A. Lex then smeared some soot on his face and lay next to a machine that had blown up the day before. He planned to trick Clark into confessing to Lois' murder. At that time the real Clark Kent walked into Luthor's hideout. Lex pretended to be wounded from the machine explosion, and revealed to Clark that he knew his secret identity as Superman. He then showed Clark some pictures he had faked, showing Lex and Lois in romantic poses together in public. Luthor claimed that they had been secretly sweethearts before she married Clark.

Kent didn't believe Luthor, but was hypnotized by a hypnotizing machine. Luthor commanded Clark to go into a jealous rage. Clark began smashing Luthor's equipment and confessed to murdering Lois out of jealousy. His son watched from the closet he was hiding in.

Luthor's plan backfired when Clark grabbed a vaporizing rifle and aimed it at Lex. Clark's son saved Luthor from the blast and threw his father down a deep crevasse. Luthor laughed victoriously and confessed to the entire scheme. To finish it off he exposed Clark's son to the kryptonite from the Kent apartment. But Luthor was stopped by Robot Clark, who removed the kryptonite, and then killed Luthor with the vaporizing rifle. The Kent son brought his father, still alive, out of the crevasse. He had used his super breath to slow his father's fall, so that Clark would be safe while the boy dealt with Luthor. The Robot Clark self destructed because of the evil deeds it had been involved with.

On a mountainside Superman and his son looked at a bust of Lois Kent her son had carved into the mountain. The boy would soon begin his career as the second Superboy. There was no explanation why Superman was now able to wear his costume, which had been rendered radioactove at the beginning of the story. Sometimes, such are silver age comic book stories. This tale had more plot twists than a soap opera.

The back story was a reprint of The Super Luck Of Badge 77, originally published in Superman #133.

Also in the back of the issue was a Direct Current, which was a checklist of some of the titles that were published that month. The only Superman title listed wa Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #72, which also carried a February 1967 cover date, and was scheduled to be published on December 20. The title of the featured story was Lois Lane's Aquaman Tricks.

There was an ad for some mini-Batman posters. I remember having two of them, one of the 1960's comic book Batmobile zooming out of the Batcave, and another of the Penguin, holding an open umbrella as he floated above Gotham City.

There was another ad which featured covers of the latest issues of several titles. One was Action Comics #346, featuring the story The Case Of The Superman Imposter. Another title was The Doomed Legionnaire in Adventure Comics #353.

Next Episode: Revenge Is Life - Death To Superman in Superman #414!

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com .

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #140: Showcasing Lois Lane in SHOWCASE #10!

Before Lois Lane received her own title, she first appeared in Showcase issues 9 and 10. For more information about her appearance in Showcase #9, go to episode #109: http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/2010/01/Episode_109_Showcasing_Supermans_Girl_Friend_Lois_Lane-275198.html, and http://supermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/2010/01/episode-109-showcasing-supermans-girl.html.

Showcase #10, September / October 1957, was published around July 18, 1957. Mort Weisinger edited both Lois Lane issues, since he was the editor of the Superman line of titles. The staff of DC editors took turns editing several issues of Showcase before handing it off to the next editor. The cover and interior art was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. The cover featured the final story of the issue, The Forbidden Box From Krypton. All three stories in the issue were eight pages long.

The first story, The Jilting Of Superman, was written by Otto Binder. It began with Lois Lane as a contestant on a popular TV game show, when she was given the final question: What is Superman's Secret Identity? After a moment's hesitation she realized it was a trick question, and quickly answered, "The Man of Steel." That was the correct answer, and Lois won the grand prize, a new dream cottage in the suburbs. There was one catch. She had ten days to marry the man of her dreams, or she would receive the consolation prize.

Lois left the studio dejected, because she had no hope of marrying the man of her dreams, Superman. Her friend from the Daily Planet office, Millie, suggested making the Man of Steel jealous. Millie explained that it was how she got her husband to marry her. She pretended that she had eloped with another man, and when her husband-to-be found out she was still single, he was more than happy to marry her. (Just what any man wants, a wife who plays tricks on him. Also, another classic Mort Weisinger plot: trick the people closest to you.) Lois told Millie that she couldn't play a trick like that on Superman.

Millie and Lois toured other TV studios, when they met actor Tony Lester, who Lois had interviewed for a Planet article. Tony thanked Lois for the exposure he got from the article. It made him a big TV star. In appreciation, he told Lois to ask him anytime and he would be glad to return the favor.

That's all it took to give Lois an idea. She asked Tony to pretend they were married as a prank in a friend. Lois asked Tony to meet her outside the Daily Planet offices and pretend they eloped. Millie encouraged Lois as she fantasized about wearing a wedding dress as Superman flew her to their honeymoon.

The next day Superman flew to the Daily Planet building, after his morning patrol, to give Lois a scoop. Lois gave him a scoop of her own when she introduced him to her new husband, Tony Lester, with whom she had eloped. A shocked Superman congratulated both of them while his heart was breaking inside.

Later, Superman delivered Lois' furniture to her new cottage, but couldn't watch Tony carry Lois over the threshold. As a wedding gift, Superman built a small waterfall in their backyard. Lois pretended to ignore Superman, as she asked Tony to help her throw out her old junk. She began throwing her Superman memorabilia out the window.

After Superman left, Lois confided in Tony the real purpose in her prank, as a way to get Superman to marry her. Tony told Lois he regretted agreeing to the prank. (I wondered if he would have felt differently if it had been an ordinary person, and not Superman.) Tony left for work at his TV studio.

On the set of a Mad Scientist scene, the robot prop went out of control, threatening Tony's safety. Superman saved Tony in the nick of time. In appeciation, Tony revealed Lois' scheme to the Man of Steel. Superman was stunned, and Tony suggested that they both teach her a lesson.

Later, when Tony returned to Lois' home, Superman paid a visit. He and Tony began to fight over Lois, and she left the house, happy that her plan was working. But it appeared to work too good, as both men demolished her house. Superman and Tony emerged from the wrecked house arm in arm. Superman told Lois that the fight was merely a screen test for a boxing role Tony had auditioned for, and then took Tony to Hollywood.

Superman returned to repair the wrecked house and replace Lois' damaged furniture. Since Lois didn't marry the man of her dreams she received the consolation prize, a bride's hope chest.

The Sightless Lois Lane was written by Jerry Coleman. Lois Lane was covering a demonstration of nuclear power. Her protective goggles were getting in the way of her seeing the experiment clearly, so of course she moved them away from her eyes. At that moment a bright flash from the demonstration blinded Lois. Superman appeared to take Lois to the hospital. After examining her, a doctor had bad news. Lois' optic nerve was permanently damagaed, and she would soon lose her sight completely. Superman stayed with Lois as her physician gave her the bad news. The Man of Steel told Lois that he would take her anywhere in the world, to see anything she wanted while she still had sight. He admired her courage after receiving the shocking news and was determined to make her last days with sight memorable.

Superman took Lois on an around the world tour, where she saw monuments like the Taj Mahal and the Sphinx. When Lois mentioned that she had hoped to see a play that had one of the characters based on her. Superman talked to the play's producer, but he was unable to help the Man of Steel. The play was still in early production, and the actors had not begun to learn their lines.

Later, Lois sat alone in the audience of an auditorium, watching the play she had wanted to see. She didn't like the role of the girl reporter. Lois thought that the actress portrayed her as too vain and self assured. Her dim sight did not catch on that the actors were actually life sized puppets on strings, operated by Superman. He also did all of the voices, using his super ventriloquism, after memorizing the entire script.

As a final favor for Lois, Superman took Lois to walk on a distant planet, after giving her a spacesuit. They returned to Earth just as she lost the last of her vision. At the Daily Planet offices, the Metropolis Reporters Club donated a seeing eye dog to Lois, who she named Deadline. Superman let Lois go on assignment by herself, to build her self confidence, and she appreciated the thought. Lois went to a Metropolis hotel where the Governor was staying, in order to interview him. An aide declined Lois' request at the Governor's orders. Lois didn't let that stop her. After previously slipping a note under Deadline's collar, she let her dog get loose, and he ran into the Governor's jotel suite. Lois knew the Governor was a dog lover, and he answered Lois' questions on the note because he was such an animal lover. Lois then went to the Daily Planet so that Perry could read the note for her and she could type up the story,

A few days later, Clark saw an emergency he needed to take care of as Superman. Since Lois was the only one in that office, he changed into Superman in front of her. But at that moment, her vision returned, and she saw Clark take off his clothes and fly away as Superman. She decided to not betray his secret, after Superman had been so nice to her before she had lost her vision. So she pretended that her sight returned after Clark had returned to the office.

The next day Lois walked through the park on her way to cover another assignment when she saw a statue of a horse and rider move. It was actually built and remote controlled by Superman. He used his super breath to blow it into space at super speed, so that Lois then saw the real statue behind it, of a riderless horse. Lois concluded that she must have been seeing things.

At a previous doctor visit, the eye doctor had told Lois that part of her failing vision was her eyes focusing on separate objects. Superman used this to trick Lois into believing that she had seen Clark take off his coat as Superman flew by the window behind Kent.

How Superman realized that Lois' vision had returned was that, when he returned from his emergency, she had a mirror on her desk. It had not been there before, and he noticed that her hairstyle was different than when he left.

Lois still believed that Clark and Superman were two different men, but was glad to have them among her closest friends.

The final story of the issue, which was featured on the cover, was The Forbidden Box From Krypton, written by Otto Binder. Lois received a box from an archaeologist. He had also written a note, warning Lois to only open the box in Superman's presence. Since she had a habit of leaping before she looked, Lois opened the box alone anyway. The box only contained a cape, goggles and a pair of gloves, so she put them on. The goggles gave Lois telescopic vision, so she could see Superman save flood victims. Then the goggles helped her find a lost ring on the floor of her closet with x-ray vision. Lois found out that the gloves gave her super strength when the front door shattered when she opened it. She followed the pattern and correctly guessed that the cape gave her the ability to fly.

Lois was able to avoid the rush hour morning traffic by flying into her office window in the Daily Planet building. All was not well when she broke a typewriter while writing a news report. Her goggles allowed her to see a gang drive away in their getaway car after robbing a bank. She flew out the window and ripped the engine out of their car. Their car crashed into a light pole. Superman appeared in time to save Lois from being electrocuted by the electrified power pole, caused by loose wires. While Superman rounded up the gang, Lois flew back to her office to turn in the story, and became the headline to her own report.

Both Clark and Lois saw a ship endangered by an iceberg. Lois got a head start to the emergency because Clark had to duck into a storeroom to change into Superman. He got to the ship in time to see Lois break up the iceberg with her fist. The only problem was that the flying pieces of the iceberg threatened to sink the ship. Superman melted the iceberg with his x-ray vision, as his heat vision was called back then. Lois resented Superman following her like a nursemaid.

Later, Superman saw Lois pull a truck out of the mud. Unfortunately, a box of TNT from the truck's load fell off of the truck. Superman was able to shield Lois from the exploding dynamite. She again ignored his warning about using her powers more carefully.

Superman decided to get to the bottom of the situation, so he flew to Lois' apartment. He found the box and recognized it as coming from Krypton. Superman found a note, written by his father, Jor-El, detailing why he sent the box to Earth. Jor-El sent the three inventions in order to help his son Kal-El survive on Earth. He underestimated how powerful his son would become once he came to Earth.

The Man of Steel surmised that the three Kryptonian artifacts would be neutralized by kryptonite. He flew into space and spotted a meteor shower that had a piece of kryptonite. Superman fused the other meteors into a long, gaint bat, and swatted the kryptonite toward Earth.

Lois saw an unconscious Superman near a kryptonite meteorite. She flew to his rescue, but her gloves had lost their super strength. She was only able to pull Superman away from the kryptonite. The unconscious Superman was only a dummy, as the real Man of Steel watched from behind a rock. After switching places with the dummy (by super speed, I assume) he flew Lois back to Metropolis.

Even though she no longer had super powers, Lois did have one more super headline. Clark was glad she could headline one final Super-Lois story, as a way to get over the sting of losing her super powers. It was nice to read a Superman story where the cast wasn't trying to play tricks on each other.

Next Episode: An Imaginary Summer 2010, Part IV: The Death Of Lois Lane!

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.


Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com .

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #109: Showcasing Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane!

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #1, cover dated March/April 1958, was published around January 14 of that year. This was not the first issue to feature Lois Lane as the main character. That honor went to the story
Lois Lane, Girl Reporter, the third story published in Superman #28, May/June 1944, published around March 3, 1944. That story featured Lois covering the story of a man who was standing on a building ledge, threatening to commit suicide. As usual, Lois climbed out on the ledge to get the story. When the man told her the silly reason he wanted to kill himself because his affection for a woman was spurned, Lois stamped her foot in anger at him. The ledge cracked under her foot and she fell off the ledge. Lois broke her fall by grabbing an election banner hanging from some lower floor windows. It ripped, and her fall was further slowed by awnings that she fell through until she landed on the catch hoop held by policemen on the ground. For her trouble Lois was rewarded with another front page story and the affection of the love-sick man who had now set his affections on her. This story was reprinted Superman Archive vol. VII and Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.

At the end of the last episode I had mentioned that Lois Lane #1 would be the topic of this episode. When I began researching this topic I discovered that I did not have a copy of that issue in reprint. However the same Showcase Presents edition that contained the first solo Lois Lane story also contained the first silver age title featuring Lois Lane as the main character, which was Showcase #9, July/August 1957, published around May 23, 1957. Showcase was a title began by DC Comics during the lean years of the 1950's. Editors took turns on the title, trying out new features and characters each issue. Some would reappear for two or three issues. It was an audition book, to try out new characters without going to the work and money to start a new series with the risk it could flop. If the character sold well enough then DC would begin a new series for the character. The first such success from Showcase was The Flash, who, after some unremarkable features in the first three issues, was published in issue #4. This marked the beginning of the silver age of comic books and the return of the superhero genre. The Challengers Of The Unknown was the next hit, although to a lesser degree than the new Flash. Lois Lane was next, appearing in issues 9 and 10, and edited by Superman editor Mort Weisinger. That is why Showcase #9 is the topic of this episode. Showcase #10 and Lois Lane #1 will be the topic of future episodes.

The cover to Showcase #9 was drawn by Al Plastino. The issue contained 32 pages and three stories and sold for ten cents. The first story in the issue was the eight page The Girl In Superman's Past, written by Jerry Coleman and drawn by Al Plastino. This was the second appearance of the adult Lana Lang, the first being in Superman #78, September/October 1952 issue (reprinted in Superman From The Thirties To The Seventies). The story began with Lois surprised to see a red-haired woman kiss Clark in the Daily Planet offices. Clark introduced Lois to Lana Lang. Lois was immediately interested in Lana because she remembered Superman also talking about Lana, especially when Lana asked Clark if it was a coincidence that he and Superman left Smallville on the same day. Clark was left sweating buckets.

Lois took Lana to dinner, where Lana talked about trying to prove Clark was Superboy in Smallville. Lois had also arranged an interview for Lana to audition for a job doing TV commercials, and offered to let her stay in her apartment until Lana could get established on her own in Metropolis. The next day Lois interruped Superman while he had lunch with Lana. Lois asked Superman for help getting to an interview appointment on time. Instead of flying her there he built a giant kite and tied Lois to it, using his super breath to blow her to her destination. (I guess it would have been rude of Superman to use super-speed to fly Lois there during his lunch date with Lana.)

The next day it was Superman's turn to have lunch with Lois. Lana returned Lois' favor by asking Superman to show some moral support by being near her as she auditioned for her TV job. Instead of interrupting his lunch with Lois to be with Lana, he built a platform and tied to to the outside of the building where Lana's audition was, where he finished his lunch with Lois. That evening Lois and Lana dedcided to pretend to put themselves in danger to find out who Superman would save first, in order to find out who he loved more. They borrowed a remote control steamroller and glider. Lois pretended to be in danger of being runover by the steamroller while Lana pretended to be about to crash her glider. Superman knocked a meteor to the ground in front of Lois while a gust of wind lifted Lana's glider so that it could land safely. Lois and Lana are left to guess if Superman saved both of them or not.

The second story was the eight page The New Lois Lane, written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Ruben Moreria and inked by Al Plastino. Superman turned down Lois Lane's offer of tickets to the Daily Planet dance. Lois wondered if Superman's rejection was because she was gaining weight. She weighed herself on a public fortune telling scale, and her fortune said, "To win the man of your dreams, adopt a new strategy." So Lois pledged to stop trying to discover Superman's secret identity. Later she saw Superman perform for some Metropolis orphans and leave, but resisted the temptation to follow to discover Superman's secret. She took a shortcut through an alley and discovered some footprints through some spilled ink, and surmised they were Superman's footprints after he changed his disguise.

In his civilian disguise Superman used his x-ray vision to check on Lois, who was covering up the footprints. It turned out that Lois was right. what she didn't know was that Superman wanted her to follow him and discover his identity as Allen Todd, for a special purpose. Superman changed back to his normal guise as Clark Kent and went back to his apartment. He was met by "Con" Conners and his criminal partner, who stalked Clark's apartment building to take a picture of Superman flying out of Clark's window with a high speed camera. In his apartment Clark saw another building on fire. As Superman he lit a rug on fire with his heat vision to let the smoke cover his flight out the window. After dousing the flames he flew to another apartment he rented as Allen Todd. He used his x-ray vision to follow Lois. She was at the Daily Planet offices and noticed one of the Superman trophies was cracked and had a photo hanging out of it. Lois took it out and read the message to the 25th century, that Superman's secret identity was on the other side. Instead of peeking Lois ripped it to shreds, to Superman's disappointment.

Allen Tood met Lois at her Planet office and squeezed his fingerprints into the door nob to leave her a clue about his identity. Later, she noticed the fingerprints pressed into the knob and used a hammer to destroy the impressions. Superman met Lois at her office as himself to find out why she was covering for him, and she told him about her pledge. The Man of Steel left Lois to write two letters, one to her and the other to Conners. Lois opened her letter, which was "from" a dying man who knew Superman's secret and wanted to tell it to her. Conners' letter was "from" an underworld informant who tipped Conners that she had a tip to Superman's identity.

Conners kidnapped Lois and went to the apartment, which wasTodd's apartment, not Kent's. He shot Todd but the bullets bounced off him. Lois regretted allowing Superman's identity to be discovered, but he simply said he would create another one, and took Conners and his henchman to the police for firing a deadly weapon. Later, at the Daily Planet Lois told Clark she was anxious to learn Superman's new secret identity.

The final eight page story was Mrs. Superman, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino, another in a series of stories where Lois had a dream she was married to Superman. It began with Lois inviting Clark to join her and Jimmy at the beach, which he declined citing an apointment. Lois recalled that Superman also had an appearance later that day at an orphanage. Clark asked Jimmy to help him move his heavy desk closer to the window, and Jimmy almost moved it by himself. Lois scoffed at herself for suspecting Clark. At the beach Lois and Jimmy heard a swimmer yelling for help. Lois jumped in but hit her head on a rock in the shallow water. Superman saved the swimmer, and took the unconscious Lois to the hospital, where she began to dream and talk in her sleep. The doctor was concerned that if she didn't wake up he would be concerned for her health but she seemed to be having a happy dream. The doctor left Superman with her, and he decided to whisper in her ear to plant suggestions in her dream.

Lois was dreaming she had a secret home on Mt. Bliss with Superman and a young son. To shock her awake Superman whispers in her ear that he was really Clark Kent. In her dream Superman decided to reveal his identity because his enemies had never found their secret home. At first Lois was disappointed, because Clark was the man no girl would want to marry (which was a real boost to Superman's morale). But it didn't matter because he was still Superman.

Next Superman suggested annoying incidents and Lois dreamed that her super husband used his x-ray vision to discover his gift before unwrapping it, she had to clean Superman's uniform with a blowtorch, and Superman had to leave her alone at dinnertime to handle an emergency. But her mood was boosted by all of the trophies that had been given to Superman by a grateful world. Superman then planted suggestions about a bratty son, who, in Lois' dream, threw toys against the wall in a tantrum because he didn't want to take a nap. He had created holes in the wall. He then flew out of the window without permission and brought back a grizzly bear to play with. Lois hurt her hand spanking him. When Superman returned he helped her feed a very hungry boy, who ran Lois ragged filling one super bottle of milk after another. Her mood was lightened thinking about how he would replace Superman one day.

Finally Superman pulled out the big guns. After his suggestion Lois dreamed that Superman heard the cries of Lulu Lyons (another LL Superman aquaintance). Lois watched on TV as Superman rescued her form two robbers, and then carried her back to her home. An angry and jealous Lois greeted her super husband with some very sharp questions about Lulu. He informed her that Lulu replaced her at the Daily Planet when they married. Lois realized Lulu filled her shoes, getting herself in trouble and needing Superman's rescue. Later Superman mistakenly called Lois Lulu, which caused her to throw a vase at Superman, making him duck. (So it wasn't just George Reeves who ducked.) Her heartbreak made Lois wake up from her dream, and she told Superman it was silly to suspect he was Clark Kent. As Superman flew away Lois wondered if she would have a happy or sad life as Superman's wife.

These three stories were typical of the many, but not all, of the stories edited by Mort Weisinger, where the characters tried to manipulate each other. After reading about his tight control of the Superman titles and his treatment of the creative talent that worked for him, these types of stories seem to say a lot about his character and personality. And that's pretty sad.

Next week: Happy Birthday, Alex Ross!

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Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com .

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.