LOIS LANE #110 (1971)
by Robert Kanigher & Werner Roth
cover by Dick Giordano
Please don’t do anything racist please don’t do anything racist…
We begin with Lois Lane interviewing random people in the street to ask if they want to be “Mother of the Year”. Hard-hitting journalism right there.
Well I don’t know about “Mother of the Year”, but this lady is a strong contender for “A##hole of the Year”.
Since Lois bails out of the story because she’s sad about being single (yeah, sure, that’s how it works), she’s sent to do a story about Native Americans.
It’s not too late to do a story about “A##hole of the Year”, Lois.
Once again: Kanigher’s heart is in the right place. The concept of subtlety might be foreign to him, but sometimes some anvils need to be dropped.
Case in point, as a fight breaks out between the two people (although by the artwork it looks like they’re dancing)… subtlety is the first casualty.
Is this ham-fisted? You bet it is. But it’s not like Kanigher is wrong.
Can you tell that this is a 70s comic?
You had me until “we want to prevent the construction of this dam by BLOWING OURSELVES UP”, buddy.
The dam, meant to be built on sacred ground, has been commissioned for a new luxury result.
Superman’s solution is… actually relatively clever for the time.
And then the single mother that joined the protest dies because she hit her head on a rock, giving her only son to Lois Lane. Wait, WHAT!?
Yep! Little known fact, but Lois Lane was a single mother to an adopted Native American orphan in the 70s!!!
But don’t worry, “A##hole of the Year” is still going on! Everybody is participating!
One one hand, if Lois wants to adopt a Native American boy it’s her choice.
On the other hand, she immediately endangers him by driving straight into a river!!!
If you didn’t see the twist coming the second the words “my husband died in Vietnam” showed up, you don’t know Silver Age comics.
And so Lois Lane is the one who actually wins the “Mother of the Year” award.
But who cares about that! Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to “A##hole of the Year”.
All while the kid is thinking “what the heck is this comic?”.
Historical significance: 0/10
I have been wrong in these things before, but I’m fairly certain that the kid never shows up again.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
We are way past the technical definition of the Silver Age, but come on, do you see any other era where Superman’s solution actually helps?
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
I was expecting a lot worse! Like, A LOT worse. The story itself is fine, even if really simplistic. It still manages to put a couple of good points I didn’t expect: you’ve seen this kind of story 1,000 times, but the Native Americans calling out the tourists for gawking at their religious ceremony was a nice touch. The part of the story where Lois adopts the kid is fine too, but it’s WAY too short and it’s not exactly well integrated with the first part… not to mention that the ending is RIDICULOUSLY convenient.
Stupid Lois Lane moment
I swear the only reason Lois still has a job is because she the sort-of girlfriend of an alien god. 