Are you ready for some more crazy Lois Lane stories? The cover certainly promises some exciting developments with the Man of Steel and The Daily Planet's #1 reporter:
What's going on here, you might ask? Superman and Lois...finally married? Aquaman sitting in the front row, in costume yet? And what's with that last panel on page two? Was Metropolis built by M.C. Escher?
But before we answer those questions, we see Superman stop the runaway truck, and head off on his honeymoon with Lois. A friend of Lois' says, "Lois--you've got stars in your eyes...and a husband who's impatient! Don't keep him waiting!" Great Rao!
Superman and Lois climb into the Batmobile(!) and take off, and head for a resort in the mountain called Honeymoon Manor. Supes and Lois frolic with other honeymooning couples, and in the evening there's a dance, and all of the super couple's friends are invited:
But before we answer those questions, we see Superman stop the runaway truck, and head off on his honeymoon with Lois. A friend of Lois' says, "Lois--you've got stars in your eyes...and a husband who's impatient! Don't keep him waiting!" Great Rao!
Superman and Lois climb into the Batmobile(!) and take off, and head for a resort in the mountain called Honeymoon Manor. Supes and Lois frolic with other honeymooning couples, and in the evening there's a dance, and all of the super couple's friends are invited:
Yes, it's true...Lois is dead! Superman announces such to his friends later that night.
At this point, the story flashes back to the beginning, and just as the minister is about to pronounce Superman and Lois husband and wife, someone storms in to stop it--Lois Lane!
Lois says she's the real Lois, and the one on the altar is an impostor. She tries to tell all her friends in the church, but suddenly everyone--even Batman and Aquaman--have turned into frozen statues:
At this point, the story flashes back to the beginning, and just as the minister is about to pronounce Superman and Lois husband and wife, someone storms in to stop it--Lois Lane!
Lois says she's the real Lois, and the one on the altar is an impostor. She tries to tell all her friends in the church, but suddenly everyone--even Batman and Aquaman--have turned into frozen statues:
Superman rescues Lois from the underwater attackers (this might have been a good moment to work in Aquaman...just saying), and they resume their argument about their relationship.
While Superman can't/won't marry Lois, he does give her an anniversary ring (Supes is sending some really mixed signals here!). Lois, content with that display of feelings, falls asleep on the beach in the Man of Steel's arms.
Lois wakes up to hear the strange announcement over the radio that Superman and she are getting married! She rushes down to the church to stop it, but cannot. She then heads for Honeymoon Manor, and watches herself die in Superman's arms.
Lois, distraught and confused, tosses away the ring Supes gave her. At that moment, suddenly everyone reacts to her, as if they can see her for the first time! Things get even crazier from there:
Turns out Superman, based upon the attack by the frogmen, wanted to draw the plot against Lois he knew was out into the open, so he gave her a ring--made of "a unique metal of bonded vibrations"--which transported her into a parallel dimension.
He then built a robot Lois, married "her", all to get the assassins to make their move, which they did. Lois takes all of this in stride, and says she still wants to marry Superman. Women!
This story leaves me with so many unanswered questions, I can't possibly get to them all. My main one is, while Superman knew it was a fake wedding, did everyone else? Or did Batman, Aquaman, and Green Lantern really think they were attending the wedding of Superman? And why were they the only heroes invited? And couldn't Superman have come up with a slightly less complicated plot to crack the case? And did a guy with a laser eye really think he was going to take down Superman?
Okay, I'll stop.
This story has no credits, but Cary Bates was the regular writer on Lois Lane at the time so I'm assuming he wrote it. If he did, then he proved he could write completely insane Lois Lane stories as well as Bob Kanigher.
Once again, this book was given to me, like, a year ago by F.O.A.M.er George Rears. Thanks again George!
While Superman can't/won't marry Lois, he does give her an anniversary ring (Supes is sending some really mixed signals here!). Lois, content with that display of feelings, falls asleep on the beach in the Man of Steel's arms.
Lois wakes up to hear the strange announcement over the radio that Superman and she are getting married! She rushes down to the church to stop it, but cannot. She then heads for Honeymoon Manor, and watches herself die in Superman's arms.
Lois, distraught and confused, tosses away the ring Supes gave her. At that moment, suddenly everyone reacts to her, as if they can see her for the first time! Things get even crazier from there:
He then built a robot Lois, married "her", all to get the assassins to make their move, which they did. Lois takes all of this in stride, and says she still wants to marry Superman. Women!
This story leaves me with so many unanswered questions, I can't possibly get to them all. My main one is, while Superman knew it was a fake wedding, did everyone else? Or did Batman, Aquaman, and Green Lantern really think they were attending the wedding of Superman? And why were they the only heroes invited? And couldn't Superman have come up with a slightly less complicated plot to crack the case? And did a guy with a laser eye really think he was going to take down Superman?
Okay, I'll stop.
This story has no credits, but Cary Bates was the regular writer on Lois Lane at the time so I'm assuming he wrote it. If he did, then he proved he could write completely insane Lois Lane stories as well as Bob Kanigher.
Once again, this book was given to me, like, a year ago by F.O.A.M.er George Rears. Thanks again George!
4 comments:
Cool! And a few things:
Was this the first appearance of the "Superman wailing while holding a dead person" cover theme?
And in the first splash/title page, Batman looks grumpy to be there, but Aquaman is happy.
But in the page after that, with Superman and Lois kissing, Aquaman and Batman are leaning in towards each other like "Awwww...." Kind cute... and weird.
But hey, stories like these made up lots of "what if" or whatever stories. Part of what made comics fun, once upon a time.
I'm gonna go on a limb here and say that Alan Smithee wrote it.
My impression has always been that these late 60's/early 70's Lois stories weren't as much zany fun as the Schaffenberger-drawn ones from earlier in the 60's (I just happened to come across your "Lois Lane's Aquaman Tricks" entry a few days ago); but seeing them here, I realize that a sense of humor was still very much a part of the spirit of the series.
I chuckled at Lois' "When do we eat?" Etta Candy-friend.
Maybe it's just because I've helped friends plan weddings/receptions, but my biggest question was... okay, who's the two guys sitting at the Batman-Aquaman table at the reception? (And why are all the men wearing white sportscoats? Are they meant to be tuxedo coats? Some are double-breasted... Maybe they're groomsmen. Jimmy Olsen is clearly best man and he's in a white tux coat with a pink ruffled shirt -- sharp!)
I'm just left picturing Lois or someone sitting there trying to arrange who sits at what table and thinking, "who can we put at the table with the other Justice League guys? it has to be someone who can make small talk!" Are they other heroes, just, there out of costume? Isn't that problematic, because people are likely to speculate bout the identity of "random guys" you put at Batman's table? (Obviously, lacking a secret identity, Arthur doesn't pose the same problem.)
Also... this is after Aquaman is married to Mera. How come she isn't there? (Maybe that proves they knew it was a fake wedding!)
Finally, I notice that while Aquaman wore his green gloves for the ceremony, he has white gloves while sitting at the table. Tsk.
Post a Comment