She was just a picture...
...but what a picture! Lois Lane, Superman's gal pal. The Lois I remember dates from the late 1950s to the late 1960s: approximately one decade and 80 or so comic magazines illustrated by the unique and wonderful Kurt Schaffenberger (see bio, at bottom). If one artist (okay, besides the equally delightful Curt Swan) embodies the spirit of D.C. Comics during its Silver Age, my vote goes to Schaffenberger. Schaffenberger brought something to the party that no other D.C. artist of the era ever did: he drew handsome men, beautiful women, and was an expert in conveying emotions, a real necessity considering Lois's ever-shifting moods.
Equally important, he drew characters that readers believed in, humanizing the entire Superman family, and making it easy to accept Lois's permanent crush on an alien. We celebrate the man and his art, especially that which he drew for "Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane." Enjoy. ... And if you find yourself with a crush on the intrepid reporter who never let anything get in the way of a scoop, or her relationship with Superman, get in line, buddy.
This site began as a Schaffenberger tribute. It remains that, but as I examined the more than six decades (!) since Lois Lane first appeared on the comic pages, I realized there was much more to Lois than her comic book, and we'd be doing her a disservice not to explore her many facets. Click here to enter the Museum. Walking (or surfing) through the museum you'll find our Reading Room (please respect other visitors and be quiet!), the Art Collection, and the Hall of Collectibles. Enjoy, and please come back: the exhibits will be changing.Lois's Classic Dilemma
He loves me, he loves me not. He being Superman, of course. From the very start, Lois Lane was drawn to the Man of Steel, and over the years (the Golden Age and Silver Age years, at least) she was torn between two dilemmas: finding out Superman's secret identity, and trying to get him to marry her. His excuse was always that his enemies would try to harm any human that he married. But in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, #21, that problem was solved temporarily by giving both Lois and her rival Lana Lang superpowers. (Something about a magic Indian lake they had bathed in.) Kurt Schaffenberger was unequalled at showing the emotions of his characters, and this story is a classic for that very reason.
Do the girls become superheroes and try to save the world from whatever might be bugging it? No, unfortunately, their only thought is that now one of them can marry Superman. Lois and Lana go out of their way to outdo each other with superfeats (all a bit on the selfish side, such as carving their faces in rock a la Mt. Rushmore so Superman will see them when he flies by). Schaffenberger does a superb job a usual, showing the girls faking friendship, acting angry, jealous, and everything in between (of course, it all ends up in a super-catfight just before they lose their superpowers, thus ending Superman's dilemma). And check out Superman's chagrin when he realizes he no longer has any excuse not to marry one of his two girl friends.
At top are a few panels from the story, and part of the cover, which might have its own interesting story, is shown at left. Illustrating the catfight part of the story (D.C. knew what Lois's readers wanted to see!), it appears that Schaffenberger has done only the art for Lois's head, as he occasionally did for other D.C. artists when asked by the bosses (perhaps the most famous example of this is the classic story of "Superman Red and Superman Blue," drawn by Curt Swan, except when Lois and Lana show up; the girl's heads are courtesy of Schaffenberger.) Maybe they did it in this case to accentuate the difference between Lois and Lana. In any case, it's a great Schaffenberger "Lois is angry" profile, complimented by equally fabulous Swan art. Enjoy!
Back home, driver.
