When Superman’s Girl Friend was off her hinges…
Lois Lane is finally getting her own series again this week, with a new 12-issue, monthly maxi by Greg Rucka, Mike Perkins, Paul Mounts and co.
This is a series with a lot of potential: Rucka and Ed Brubaker’s magnificent Gotham Central gave us a stirring look at how everyday police detectives coped in a world of superheroes and supervillains, and I’d love to see a similar approach to journalism in that universe.
Whether that’s we get — or yet another comic that mistakes journalists for superspies or swashbuckling private investigators — remains to be seen.
That said, you can’t approach a new Lois Lane series without considering what’s come before — at least I can’t — and Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane was one of the strangest, most retrograde titles of the Silver and Bronze Ages.
Of course, that’s looking back with the benefit of enlightened modern sensibilities. Still, you can’t help but take a gander at these 13 COVERS and think, “Jeez, what a time.”
So, here are 13 INSANE LOIS LANE COVERS FROM THE SILVER AND BRONZE AGES — led by one of the most incredibly misguided comics stories of all time:
Curt Swan pencils, Murphy Anderson inks
Swan pencils, Kaye inks
Swan pencils, Neal Adams inks
Swan pencils, Sheldon Moldoff inks
Swan and Anderson
Swan and Kaye
Kurt Schaffenberger
Schaffenberger
Swan and Anderson
Schaffenberger
Bob Oksner
Schaffenberger
Dick Giordano
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MORE
— 13 COVERS: When LOIS LANE Was SUPERWOMAN. Click here.
— 13 INSANE JIMMY OLSEN COVERS From the Silver and Bronze Ages. Click here.
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Cover images and credits from the bonkers Grand Comics Database.
July 2, 2019
How could you not include this classic, and my all time favorite Silver Age Cover: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman%27s_Girl_Friend,_Lois_Lane_Vol_1_63
July 6, 2019
Lois and Lana’s reply: “We knew, dear. But when you’re faced with a super-powered nut who’s into some kind of twisted role-playing fantasy, we thought it would be better to just humor you and play along. Why, isn’t that what you wanted?”
July 2, 2019
Meh…there are Lois Lane covers far more insane than these – such as Lois Lane #120, #122, or #127
July 6, 2019
I’m not seeing how those are so insane, comparatively speaking. For sheer creepiness though, Lois Lane #20 takes the prize: https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/767583.jpg Something about the expressions on Superman and Supergirl’s faces as they embrace, and the way Supergirl tells her cousin “Now we can go out and perform super-feats TOGETHER!” Lois is obviously reading exactly the same subtext here.
July 2, 2019
These old Lois Lane covers are pretty funny and adorable.
July 4, 2019
The back story on #106 must be insane: In addition to the excruciating racial politics, the title is a riff off of two Swedish erotic films, “I Am Curious (Yellow)” and “I Am Curious (Blue).” Can’t believe that a DC editor let that get by!
July 6, 2019
There’s the cover of #111 with a giant unconscious bikini-wearing Lois in bondage, and then there’s #131, with Lois’ giant out-of-wedlock child (obviously a sequel). But out of all the Justice Leaguers present that day, Lois has a sixth sense about these things, and knows exactly who the guilty party is.
July 6, 2019
#103 – The best part of that one is the cloven hooves on Lois and Satan. It adds just the right bizarre touch to what would otherwise be just another weird episode in Lois’ life.
July 6, 2019
#27 – What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas!
July 6, 2019
#92 – PLEASE tell me Comet the Super-Horse doesn’t appear in this story.