Ebook Superman Girlfriend Lois Lane Archives Vol 1 Various Books

Product details Series Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane Archives Hardcover 264 pages Publisher DC Comics; First Edition edition (January 3, 2012) Language English ISBN-10 1401233155

Superman Girlfriend Lois Lane Archives Vol 1 Various Books Reviews

• The comic books of "Superman's Girlfriend" arrived in stores after I had stopped reading comic books. To be fair, these stories are at the same pre- and early- teen reading level and complexity as those of Superman. I had hoped for more. As it were, "Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour..." O had Milton [Caniff] addressed the life and work of Lois Lane. But he didn't. So this is a well made, well produced book for somebody else. The Steve Canyon stories are more to my taste.
• I am a sucker for DC Archives, since I can find them so cheaply at . This is no exception (although I did pay more than I am accustomed to). I had been waiting for this volume to drop in price for some time (I generally buy these for no more than half their original cover, sans shipping). I didn't quite wait that long here, but it was close.
  
  First, the particulars of the volume. The binding is sewn, the cover is solid, and THE PAGES ARE ATROCIOUS. DC has definitely gone cheap with their paper here. The pages remind me of the cheap, thin, over-glossy stuff found in current Marvel omnibi (such as the Spider-Man reprint). It doesn't curl like that paper, but it is vastly inferior both to the original, thick stock of the earliest printings (such as Superman, All-Star Comics, Dark Knight, etc.) as well as later printings (and publications) such as Plastic Man, or Doom Patrol, etc. There is no way this paper justifies a sixty dollar cover. Strangely, this is the only archive I own (out of now 30) with this paper, so I imagine it is a very recent development.
  
  On the plus side, the reproduction and color is top notch, which is important, because the art in the book is so lively and bright. One thing that often grates me in regards to golden age comics is how similar each artist looks. With the possible exception of Shelly Moldoff, the art keeps the same look from one comic to another. Batman, Dr. Fate, The Sandman - while details might differ, the generalities are often the same. Facial expressions are pretty sparse (my favorite is the "I just got hit by a black jack" look that pretty much every hero sports at one time or another). Colors are limited (and often strange - red backgrounds are the norm for many Golden Age comics, but how often do you really see a red background in life?). That's not to say I don't like the comics, or the art, but it feels like an eternal recurrence of the same.
  
  Not here, though! While many of the covers are drawn by Curt Swan, the main artist for Superman for many years, the comics themselves are often drawn by one Kurt Schaffenberger (famous for his work with Captain Marvel). The expressiveness of the characters, and the cartoon-y look, cannot be overstated or overestimated. It REALLY makes this comic quite lively (something I always felt was missing, at least in my limited readings, within Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, and is a treat for the eyes.
  
  Now, onto the comic itself. Let's not kid ourselves - the Superman Family of comics wasn't meant to produce earth-shattering stuff (well, at least not until Kirby came along much later). These are light fare, which could conceivably offend the sensitive with its at times brutally-sexist portrayals of women. Of course, this doesn't bother me - it's a sign of the times, nothing more. But sometimes, women come off REALLY bad in the comic (take, e.g., the sorority story, where the sisters are some of the most reprehensible humans portrayed in comic literature, and yet are apparently completely acceptable within society, and even desirable).
  
  Nonetheless, Lois has her moments. My absolute favorite story in this volume involves a trick that Superman attempts to play on Lois after she bungles into a rocket ship, and how much it backfires on him and everyone else (also, there is a great panel of a bald Robin which makes me chuckle just thinking about it). On multiple occasions, Lois solves a case completely on her own, with no help from Superman. It's not as bad as it's often made out to be, and at times, it is surprisingly progressive.
  
  The introduction is solid, and fun at times. All in all, I'm happy with this volume, except for the lousy choice in paper. Enjoy!
• What a great way to read the old classic comics. It's obviously a lot cheaper than buying the originals. And you don't have to worry about the book falling apart in your hands.
• Lots of SCHAFFENBERGER pristine artwork. Incredible! And the Wonderful Wayne Boring as well.As far as the stories themselves Lois( Lucy) meets Superman (movie star) - hijinks ensue.
• The best part of Lois Lanes were the covers. The stories inside were never as entertaining as the promise on the covers.
• Great Book
• It is a pleasure to report that the DC Archives series is now off of life support and is well on its way to a full recovery. Over the last few years there have been only a handful of releases. This, combined with releases in other formats over the same period, led to the conclusion that the series was on its way out.
  
  Thankfully, reports of its demise were exaggerated. The archives seem to be back on a monthly release schedule with not only long stalled series getting new volumes but new series starts as well. Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane Volume 1 is one of the latter.
  
  These 10 very early silver age (late 1950s) issues are the epitome of comic book fun. They're from a time before political correctness, before a platoon of lawyers had to review every release. These stories are hilarious, wacky fun featuring Superman's favorite stalker, er, girl friend, Lois Lane. Is Lois a good role model for today's girls? Of course not. Are the stories sexist, degrading to women and who knows how many other constituencies? You bet! But they are also plotted (indeed, over plotted) up to their figurative armpits. This was back when you got three complete stories in one issue instead of one complete story in three issues as is the norm today (if you're lucky).
  
  Tom Peyer contributes an hilarious forward pointing out some of the absurd elements that we would see over and over again as the series moved through the 1960s.
  
  The art is first rate especially that of long time Lois artist Kurt Schaffenberger and the classic Curt Swan covers. Reproduction is first rate, well up to previous standards although a thinner stock of glassy paper is used.
  
  Highly recommended.
• DC Archives finally releases this first collection from the Lois Lane series. Hopefully, more are to come as the comic ran 100+ issues. High quality volume on fine paper and beautifully reproduced. A must-have for Superman fans and comic book heroine enthusiasts.