LOIS LANE #58 (1965)
by Otto Binder & Kurt Schaffenberger
I’m sure this one has aged well.
It begins with Lois going on an expedition with Lana and her archeologist father, where they’re about to be hit by a satellite. As you do.
THAT’S NOT HOW satellites mirages ANYTHING WORKS!!!
Great job by Shaffenberger on the sandstorm, though. What a waste of a talented artist.
Lois is rescued by Fatima, servant of the kingdom of Kaliph.
Pretty risqué for a 1965 story, especially by DC!
Somebody’s having way too much fun with this comic.
The prince shows Lois Aladdin’s cave. (!!!)
He also saves her from eating a poisonous fig leaf by THROWING HIS SWORD AT HER.
And OF COURSE he falls in love with Lois and forbids her from leaving.
Lois deciding to escape through the desert isn’t her worst decision ever because she’s Lois Lane.
She even hallucinates Superman proposing. They say it’s because of the lack of water, but… come on. She has those hallucinations on a daily basis.
The prince agrees to show her a secret passage to return to civilization if she marries him, so of course Lois consents.
The cover scene makes it into the story. Hilariously, there’s a caption to highlight this! I’ve never seen this.
You may think that there’s a catch to all this, so of course:
So when Lana is also brought to the kingdom and the prince falls for her as well, it spells doom for Lois.
Which leads to Lois saving Lana by WEAVING A MAGIC CARPET.
However, it turns out that Lois didn’t even need to rescue Lana in the first place!
Superman rescues them, and we end with Lois sad because she’s thrown away the chance to be the wife of a guy she barely knows and who kept her prisoner until she agreed to marry him.
Truly a tragic ending.
Is it just me or this issue is very fanservice-y for 1965? Especially at the typically more conservative DC Comics?
To give you an idea, these are from the other two stories published in the same issue.
They’re funnier without context, trust me.
Historical significance: 0/10
Shocking, I know.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
Yes there’s a random magic carpet, but on the DC scale this is far from the weirdest thing.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
To be honest I was expecting something far more racist. If this was some kind of fantasy land you could work SOMETHING out of this, but…
Stupid Lois Lane moment
She does try to use a camel at first, but trying to cross the desert on her own is one of the dumbest things Lois has ever tried.