LOIS LANE #61 (1965)
by Otto Binder & Kurt Schaffenberger
Your daily reminder that people were paid to write, draw, edit, publish and distribute this. And people paid to read it.
With actual money.
We begin with a rare case of Superman hitting on Lois Lane as Clark Kent. This was rather frequent in the 40s and 50s, but 60s Superman seems to barely tolerate Lois most of the time.
Superman’s “war on poverty” will be made with Monopoly money.
Sounds legit.
Each bill includes a rather specific use of Superman’s powers.
Note that “war on poverty” means not wanting to do anything for an actual poor person.
Well to be honest I was fearing something worse when the hobo showed up.
Hopefully we won’t… oh no.
Please don’t do anything racist please don’t do anything racist please don’t do anything racist…
Well I tried ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The villain turns out to be Mr. Mxyzptlk (including a pronunciation guide!)
It looks like everything started because Superman, who is FASTER THAN TIME, wasn’t fast enough to handle two emergencies at once.
By the time Mr. Mxyzptlk stops explaining how he’s going to help him, Superman should already be on the other side of the universe considering his Silver Age speed.
I’m sure trusting Mr. Mxyzptlk won’t have repercussions.
Lois wants to help Superman get out of this deal, but Mr. Mxyzptlk has the best idea of his career: just bribe her!
But FOR ONCE Lois is not being an awful person.
Her plan to trick Mr. Mxyzptlk into saying his name backwards is… something.
You might wonder how much worse could this get, and, well… we get this “hillbilly Juliette” and one of the stupidest moment in a Lois Lane story (AND THAT’S NOT EASY).
This is when Lois decides “f#k it, I might as well cash in”.
Not if an inexplicably blonde Lana Lang has anything to say about it!
Considering the rest of the story, this was relatively clever.
Remember when Lois was being a sane person for a couple of panels?
Yeah, we’re not doing that anymore.
Who wouldn’t want to marry someone looking at you like she secretly wants to skin you alive and wear you as a coat?
Historical significance: 0/10
Unless you want to add this to a collection of “times Lois Lane is getting married”.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Like most Mr. Mxyzptlk stories.
Does it stand the test of time? -5/10
It doesn’t sink to the depths of previous Lois Lane atrocities and the Mr. Mxyzptlk stuff is pretty harmless, but between the hobo and the native and the fat girl…
Stupid Lois Lane moment
She actually thought that Superman would be okay with the marriage!?