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Showcase Presents: Superman Family #3
Showcase Presents: Superman Family, Vol. 3
Over 500 pages of super-hero adventure are collected in this value-priced volume!
Two of Superman's closest confidants, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, star in this new Showcase volume. Along the way, Jimmy, Superman's pal, becomes the Wolf-Man of Metropolis, Super-Lad and Elastic Lad, and also gains the powers of invisibility and magic. Meanwhile Lois, Superman's girl friend, becomes the Leopard Girl of the Jungle and Kryptonite Girl, dons the guise of Batwoman, and watches as her rival, Lana Lang, gains super-strength.
Two of Superman's closest confidants, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, star in this new Showcase volume. Along the way, Jimmy, Superman's pal, becomes the Wolf-Man of Metropolis, Super-Lad and Elastic Lad, and also gains the powers of invisibility and magic. Meanwhile Lois, Superman's girl friend, becomes the Leopard Girl of the Jungle and Kryptonite Girl, dons the guise of Batwoman, and watches as her rival, Lana Lang, gains super-strength.
576 pages, Paperback
First published February 10, 2009
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45 people want to read
About the author
Otto Binder
395 books15 followersOtto 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.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 7, 2022
Nice collection of some of the more unusual Superman stories from the Silver age. Nice read. Recommended
October 13, 2021
This was very similar to volume two. Classic Silver Age DC Comics. The stories are simplistic and usually downright silly, but very entertaining.
It's funny to see the cultural changes since the 1950s as stereotypes abound. It's also odd to see how many times Jimmy, Lois and Superman call each other names like "You little fool!" or "You stupid idiot!" It's mainly Superman doing the name calling. He also plays some pretty cruel tricks on Lois and Jimmy to "teach them a lesson."
The art is top notch including some great Curt Swan artwork. The stories are goofy, but they are fun, which is rare in comics nowadays.
If you like your comics from a simpler time, and aren't easily offended by the political incorrectness, this is a great read.
It's funny to see the cultural changes since the 1950s as stereotypes abound. It's also odd to see how many times Jimmy, Lois and Superman call each other names like "You little fool!" or "You stupid idiot!" It's mainly Superman doing the name calling. He also plays some pretty cruel tricks on Lois and Jimmy to "teach them a lesson."
The art is top notch including some great Curt Swan artwork. The stories are goofy, but they are fun, which is rare in comics nowadays.
If you like your comics from a simpler time, and aren't easily offended by the political incorrectness, this is a great read.
November 20, 2010
As a panacea to the Dr. Wertham witch hunt on comics (one of many witch hunts in the Fifties) DC-National comics produced comics that were bland enough to keep the Comics Police away. Two new kinds of comics were produced around this time: Celebrity comics like The Adventures of Bob Hope, The Adventures of Jerry Lewis and a short-lived Abbott and Costello comic. The other new kind of comic was the extended superhero family: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane, etc.
Of the three Superman Family Showcase volumes this will be the best one for your money because its got the best Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane tales re-released to date. Towards the end of the book the Lois stories are more intersting than the Jimmy Olsen stories as the Olsen tales become more recycled and absurd. But it does end with a bang: the last story is "Miss Jimmy Olsen" where Superman's pal goes in for some female impersonation to get an investigative scoop on a gangster, replete with Bettie Page hair and shaved legs. Needless to say, Miss Jimmy is quite a dish. Disturbing!
Of the three Superman Family Showcase volumes this will be the best one for your money because its got the best Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane tales re-released to date. Towards the end of the book the Lois stories are more intersting than the Jimmy Olsen stories as the Olsen tales become more recycled and absurd. But it does end with a bang: the last story is "Miss Jimmy Olsen" where Superman's pal goes in for some female impersonation to get an investigative scoop on a gangster, replete with Bettie Page hair and shaved legs. Needless to say, Miss Jimmy is quite a dish. Disturbing!
October 22, 2014
I absolutely loved reading this!
It made me think of Smallville a lot! I miss it so much...
It made me think of Smallville a lot! I miss it so much...
December 16, 2013
Superman in the 60's is a cultural phenomenon all unto itself, almost all for weird reasons. Superman is less concerned with conquering bad guys than sorting out lessons for his "girlfriend" Lois Lane. He'll never marry her, but he keeps her a pained distance close enough to implied intimacy.
While the actual "Superman" comics of the 1960s also brought in mysterious supervillains or other activities for him to try and deal with, "Superman Family" is not exactly that at all. Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane each got their own mag, and DC, in all their wiseness, is trying to collect their adventures in alternating rhythm (one Lois Lane, one Jimmy Olsen, repeat).
The stories are pretty tough to bear. There are three per issue, with no continuity. So even if you like one, you have to like three to make it worth. I arguably like none. It's about the same. Jimmy and Lois take any form of impetuousness, it bites them, they learn to be people who don't try life. Lois is the worst. She's pretty, she has a good job, she and Superman are connected...
..But if she wants to marry him, she's a fucking idiot. But again, even though he teaches her the lesson of don't marry me, Superman usually leaves her the lingering feeling that they could be married eventually. Which makes it really sad that she is so hopelessly devoted to Superman, is nice to him, and actually wants to love him. Jimmy Olsen also has a similar relationship with Lucy Lane, Lois's sister. It's pretty agonizing, knowing that the love is teased but can't be consummated.
The one redeeming aspect is the artwork, but not all of it by a long shot. The Lois Lane mag has the best Superman artist in my opinion, Kurt Schaffenberger. He draws with an expressiveness that makes it kind of goofy and well drawn at the same time. Curt Swan drew a lot of Superman, but I don't like his hyper-realistic faces that create weird emotions, and I dislike Wayne Boring and his bad mimicry of a human face.
All in all you really have to like shitty 60's DC to get into this. I'm close. :)
While the actual "Superman" comics of the 1960s also brought in mysterious supervillains or other activities for him to try and deal with, "Superman Family" is not exactly that at all. Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane each got their own mag, and DC, in all their wiseness, is trying to collect their adventures in alternating rhythm (one Lois Lane, one Jimmy Olsen, repeat).
The stories are pretty tough to bear. There are three per issue, with no continuity. So even if you like one, you have to like three to make it worth. I arguably like none. It's about the same. Jimmy and Lois take any form of impetuousness, it bites them, they learn to be people who don't try life. Lois is the worst. She's pretty, she has a good job, she and Superman are connected...
..But if she wants to marry him, she's a fucking idiot. But again, even though he teaches her the lesson of don't marry me, Superman usually leaves her the lingering feeling that they could be married eventually. Which makes it really sad that she is so hopelessly devoted to Superman, is nice to him, and actually wants to love him. Jimmy Olsen also has a similar relationship with Lucy Lane, Lois's sister. It's pretty agonizing, knowing that the love is teased but can't be consummated.
The one redeeming aspect is the artwork, but not all of it by a long shot. The Lois Lane mag has the best Superman artist in my opinion, Kurt Schaffenberger. He draws with an expressiveness that makes it kind of goofy and well drawn at the same time. Curt Swan drew a lot of Superman, but I don't like his hyper-realistic faces that create weird emotions, and I dislike Wayne Boring and his bad mimicry of a human face.
All in all you really have to like shitty 60's DC to get into this. I'm close. :)
November 7, 2013
Kids love these crazy stories! How cool would it be to be Superman's best friend and be turned into Elastic Lad for a few days! The DC Showcase reprints are affordable, uncluttered with ads, and extremely enjoyable by our family. Good clean, fun comics. Great old-school role models (especially now that Superman and Woman are killing people).
And if any youngsters in your family have any artistic inclinations, these are invaluable! The folks who were making these comics back in the early 1960s had mastered perpsective, anatomy, how cloth drapes a body...etc. It's easier for kids to learn how to draw a line if they are not distracted by the colors surrounding the lines.
Highly recommended.
And if any youngsters in your family have any artistic inclinations, these are invaluable! The folks who were making these comics back in the early 1960s had mastered perpsective, anatomy, how cloth drapes a body...etc. It's easier for kids to learn how to draw a line if they are not distracted by the colors surrounding the lines.
Highly recommended.
June 19, 2024
These books take me back to when I was a kid and my brother and I went downtown with our Mom in our city to the newsstand and she permitted us to each choose a comic book. We couldn't wait to get home and read what copy we chose and then switch and read the other one. I have a special place in my memories for these stories and for the best comic book artists ever, in my opinion.
June 19, 2021
Five hundred and odd pages of entertaining nonsense. Don't think to hard about the stories, just go along with the ride, imagine you're a young kid in the late 1950s and enjoy yourself. Superman's presence gives the writers and artists the excuse to let their imaginations run freely. Some lovely art by Curt Sean and Kurt Schaffenbeger but it's Al Plastino who draws the best-looking Lois Lane.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews