DC Finest: Superman Family: The Giant Turtle Man

DC Finest - Superman #1960-1961

by Otto Binder, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel

Superman’s best pal, Jimmy Olsen, has certainly been through a lot over the years but nothing quite compares to this! This brand new volume of DC Finest compiles some of Superman, Lois, and Jimmy’s wackiest and wildest Silver Age adventures, including the debut of the infamous Giant Turtle Man!

All your favorite Superman Family members finally get their chance to shine in their very own DC Finest line in full color! Join Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lana Lang, Streaky the Supercat, Krypto the Superdog, and more in these lighthearted tales that showcase what it’s really like to be the girlfriend, pal, boss, or pet of the Man of Steel. Collects stories from July 1960 to October 1961 originally published in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #19-28, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #47-56, Action Comics #266 and #277, and Superman #142-143 and #147.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman

662 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2025

About the author

Otto Oscar Binder. Used these alternate names: Eando Binder (together with his brother Earl Binder -E and O Binder-), John Coleridge, Gordon A. Giles, Will Garth, Ian Francis Turek, Ione Frances Turek and Otto O. Binder.

Reviews

[S.E. Martens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Silver Age Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane comics are really interesting from a history of comics perspective. In the early '60s, these were top-sellers for DC (along with Superman, of course.) Reading these in 2025 shows how much the medium has changed over the decades. This volume collects Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane from 1960-1961, offering a bizarre series of wacky, silly, standalone adventures. The writing is simple and imaginative, but be prepared for period-typical sexism and racism.

I don't know that these are the strongest examples of either title, as they do get pretty formulaic. For example, Jimmy will somehow transform into something, or grow, or shrink, and Superman has to fix it. Lois has a series of "imaginary" stories in which she is married to Superman and things are just awful for her (presumably to show that it wouldn't really work out between them . . . which is odd and kind of hilarious in retrospect.) Oh, also both Jimmy and Lois frequently get sent back in time for some reason.

Not as enjoyable, overall, as the Superman Silver Age omni that came out last year, but still a welcome release for fans of the period. The vast majority of these comics have not been reprinted since 60-61, and I would like to see them release follow-up volumes.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a weird way, this collection kind of made me understand Boomers. Blatant cultural stereotypes, deeply ingrained misogyny, and a surprising amount of body-shaming, all just casually represented with the good will and humour that could only come with a shocking amount of ignorance fueled by what are now out-dated societal norms. I get that this is just the way things were back then, but I guess I wasn't really expecting so much of it in a bunch of comics about Superman's friends and pets. I was entertained throughout, though, so it definitely did its job.

[Wilfredo Liangco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE these stories of pure Silver Age goodness! Back in the 80's we would raid my dad's boxes and boxes of comic books (mostly from the 1950s-70s), and we would always seek these titles out amongst The Justice League, X-Men, and other supposedly more popular titles. I really love the Lois Lane stories specially those illustrated by Kurt Schaffenberger, the characters always look menacing or sinister.😆 By chance I saw a copy of this in a Fratinelli train station and I lunged at it. And the stories stand the test of time! I am enjoying them as much as I've enjoyed reading them over thirty years ago!

[Acton Northrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best possible book to exist, ever

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can only give this 3 stars due to the weak stories - I am VERY pleased with this trade paperback and super happy I have it in my collection.

The quick summary is: A fantastic example of the art of Kurt Schaffenberger who is one of the best artists of any generation but especially of the silver age in DC comics. As well as some great art by other Superman artists (like Curt Swan). The stories are silly and weird but they have a certain charm. Obviously written for a younger audience and not up to today's standards but fun nonetheless.

Some comments. First, the title in Goodreads (as of today - they may change it) is misleading. It says Superman Family but it should read: DC Finest: Superman Family (The Gian Turtle Man). To help denote this volume is part of the new DC Finest collection. As with the other volumes I have bought I am very impressed with this line of trade paperbacks. 1) Great price point 2) good amount of stories - this volume happens to have one of the largest page counts at 660 3) great coloured reproduction of stories you can't easily find in any other format - these Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen adventures (throw in Streaky the Supercat as well) are not often reprinted so I was excited to get this collection as someone who loves the history of comics. Here's hoping the line of DC Finest continues.

Second: You have silver age stories from Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. The art (especially Kurt's) is amazing. I am not sure everyone loves Kurt as much as I do but his line work, figure shaping, panel framing is so perfect. the emotion he gets on people's faces. I love little touches like how he changes the fashion of Lois up so she isn't always wearing the same thing in every story - or even throughout the same story. And I think his art was particularly suited for Lois Lane stories where there is less action/monsters/fantastical settings - because he really excels in more down to Earth stories. I have been hoping for a collection that showcases his art and this is it. It isn't 100% his art but I would say 50% - and 300 pages of his art is pure gold for me.

Third: The stories. Okay...yes...they range from silly, to cringe worthy. You have to accept they are not classics and just have fun with them. The worst is when you see the stereotypes of women (with Lois and Lucy Lane) or when Superman loses his temper and yells at Lois and Jimmy like they were his kids. The worst writer - by far - is Jerry Siegel. Which is weird because he created Superman. His Superman has short temper and his Lois/Jimmy are idiots. Robert Bernstein writes some of the better stories (e.g. Jimmy Olsen's 1000th scoop) as well as Jerry Coleman (e.g. the Super Powers of Perry White) but even those have to be taken with a grain of salt. The worst stories - for me - are the running "Imaginary Stories" of what life would be like if Lois married Superman. In these, Lois is portrayed as the worst stereotype of a woman from the 1960's. And they all end on a depressing note.
If you fast forward to the Superman Family stories of the late 70's you have Lois being an independent/intelligent woman and Jimmy Olsen being a great reporter with the nickname "Man of Action". Sadly, these stories are a decade away and here, Jimmy is a goof and Lois is always getting in danger.

But - even with these flaws - I did love reading these stories and love the collection.

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

(The cover credits on this read “Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Jim Mooney,” but they’re obviously wrong, probably due to a designer using the DC Finest: Supergirl volume as a template for this book's cover. “Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger,” or maybe substitute writer Robert Bernstein in there for one of the artists, and you’d have a more correct representation of the primary creators for this volume.)

Okay, this is the DC Finest book I’ve been waiting for! Superman Family: The Giant Turtle Man collects 1960-61 stories from books such as Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane, Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Superboy, and Superman. Its primary focus is the Jimmy and Lois books, but it also includes stories featuring Krypto, the Super-Dog, Streaky, the Super-Cat, Perry White, and Superboy’s pal, Pete Ross, so it’s a real hodgepodge of stories from this two-year run of Superman Family books. They’re all strange and wonky and sometimes wonderful. The primary artists are Curt Swan (mainly on Jimmy Olsen, but also an occasional Lois Lane story), Kurt Schaffenberger (Lois Lane), Al Plastino, and John Forte. Writers include Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, Robert Bernstein, and a couple of Otto Binder stories. I especially loved Jimmy Olsen as a kid, growing up in the 1960s; it had a zany appeal to me, humorous but not as far gone as DC’s licensed comics, Adventures of Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis (books we will never see reprinted, I’m guessing). This is also the largest DC Finest volume to-date, weighing in at 664 pages.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories reprinted here are ... charming, despite being overly formulaic and frequently belittling to their protagonists. There are so many instances of "Superman needs to teach this person a lesson because they're immature or manipulative," (for example, Lois agrees to marry a Rajah she actually doesn't like - because he's over-weight! - to make Superman jealous), so Jimmy and Lois look petty and shallow, and Superman winds up being a self-righteous jerk. I mean, EVERY story isn't like that. Some are silly and sweet. Lots of goofy "Lois/Jimmy winds up in the past, teaming with Robin Hood/Hercules/Thor/etc., and somehow their partnership winds up mirroring their relationship with Superman exactly - maybe some romance with Lois, Jimmy getting some era-specific replacement signal watch, etc."

Oddly, I found the Lois stories more appealing that the Jimmy stories. Jimmy has too many "trunk of costumes" disguise stories, and Lucy Lane is often just mean to the poor kid (although in several stories, Jimmy deserves it!). The Lois stories have silly gimmicks, like Lois swaps with her duplicate (SO MANY duplicates!) in the bottle city of Kandor and experiences a life without Superman for a few days, or Lex replaces her with a robot duplicate so Superman will think Lois has turned EVIL because of a device that switches a person's morality (hahaha), and they're filled with egregious sexism, but there's a little more heart in them. And obviously, the Lois stories have a ton of great Kurt Schaffenberger artwork!

[Ángel Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leer este tomo es como volver a una época maravillosa, inocente y, tristemente, irrecuperable. Son historias escritas para niños, por autores que saben muy bien lo que se hacen: ofrecer entretenimiento a los chavales por cuatro perras, y vaya si lo consiguen. Jimmy, Lois y compañía se ven envueltos en situaciones ridículas, absurdas, imposibles. Se comportan como tontainas, irresponsables, egoístas o bromistas de la peor calaña, muchas veces a lo largo de la misma historieta. Se trata, en fin, de humoradas inocentes cuyo único fin es que nos llevemos las manos a la cabeza ante tanto disparate.

Son una gozada.

Y si los guiones pueden hechar para atrás a cierta gente que se toma el medio demasiado en serio, los dibujos no tienen vuelta de hoja: salvo algunas historietas aisladas ilustradas por artistas mediocres, la inmensa mayoría son obra de dos leyendas: Curt Swan y Kurt Schaffenberger; en particular, este último está que se sale en las historias protagonizadas por la intrépida, enamoradiza, celosa y encantadoramente metomentodo reportera del Daily Planet, Lois Lane; desde los vestidos, decorados, vehículos y secundarios, hasta las extraordinariamente expresivas facciones de Lois son plasmadas con una maestría infinita por este artista de trazo clásico y alma de humorista.

En fin, otro tomo imprescindible en una colección que está llamada a ser referente de cómo editar los clásicos en las próximas décadas.

[Steven desJardins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's important to go into this book with appropriate expectations. It's a good sampler of the sort of eight-page story DC used to specialize in, with three stories in each comic. It's also an example of some of the awful characterization DC used to specialize in, such as portraying Lois Lane as absurdly vain about her appearance or being willing to throw over Superman when someone more powerful than him shows up. Jimmy Olsen doesn't fare much better in the romantic department, attempting desperately to impress Lucy Lane as if she's a prize to be won by the most impressive suitor. If you're interested in what comics used to be like, this is a great collection; considered individually as stories, they're all pretty half-baked.

[Drew L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly some very dated stories in here, but it hits more than it misses. At least one story in any given issue made me laugh.

Also while at first glance some of the imaginary stories with married Lois Lane come across as very sexist and of their time, I can’t help but think that they were meant to be seen as a condemnation of the status quo for married women? I mean they’d fit right in with the case studies in the Feminine Mystique which was only a year or two away

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

60s Superman is zany and ridiculous. Supergirl lives in an orphanage and hopes to be adopted some day despite having super powers. Can’t she just make coal into diamonds and just buy a house, or something? I have a lot of questions. There’s a super cat Named streaky who is as chaotic as one would expect a cat with super powers to be. There’s a super dog who falls in love with another dog, then promptly ditches her to be a bachelor. Lois drives some sort of popemobile made by Superman to protect her from the mob. This is all just background and B plots. The main stories are much more silly and I was dying laughing most of the way through.

[Matt Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes the goat Jimmy Olsen’s comics as well as Lois Lane comics. The amount of problems Jimmy causes for Superman including being turned into a giant turtle Godzilla and a werewolf are absurd but fun Silver Age greatness. Covers 1960-1961.

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious collection of stories. Really good fun and really well reproduced. These stories aren't "dated" these are timeless feel good fun for all eras to enjoy and be entertained by.