Scenes from the Life of an Amateur Comic Book Collector (20)--Letters to Lois Lane

In the recent haul of comic books (see previous blog), there are several Lois Lanes from the early 1960s into the 1970s. During this period, Lois was constantly scheming to marry Superman and when she wasn't doing that, she was in the past or on another planet scheming to marry a Superman Substitute--a hero with super muscles and a secret identity--like Astonishing Man, Titanic Man, Super-Male, Achilles in Ancient Greece, Robin Hood, Petronius, etc. It can also be quite revealing to read the letter column and see how it reflects the social mores of the day.

In Lois Lane No. 45 (1963), Elva Evans of Sheffield, Texas, writes "I am 23, a housewife with 3 children, but they are fairly good children, and I keep my house clean. It takes about four hours to clean it and prepare meals, so I have quite a bit of spare time to read, which is my favorite hobby. I just love Lois Lane. She's as cute as a button, always getting into hot water. (She reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore of the Dick Van Dyke Show, the way she is always getting into trouble and crying her pretty little head off.)"

Only four hours to clean and prepare meals? What is this woman, Supergirl? The letter also shows were her priorities are: the home and getting pregnant. Three kids at 23? It was probably common in those days. By fairly good children, does she mean they don't make a lot of noise so Mommy can read her comic books? And BTW, Laura Petrie of the DVD Show cried a lot more than Lois. During the late 1930s and 1940s when Lois was first introduced, she was a lot more daring and independent, always out to get her scoops without Superman's help. Then in the 1950s when soliders returned from the war and everyone wanted a stable homelife, Lois realized her greatest ambition was not to be a top newspaperwoman, but to be Mrs. Superman.

In the same letters column, Alan Dean of Jasksonville, Ind. suggests actors to play the Superman family. He says MTM should play Lois and Richard Egan as Superman. Richard Egan??? I think his biggest credit was A Summer Place as Sandra Dee's father who is having an affair with Dorothy McGuire. Alan also suggests Virgina Gibson as Lana Lang. Who?? I checked imdb and she had small parts in Funny Face and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She was also nominated for a Tony Award for Happy Hunting with Ethel Merman. Maybe she had red hair. The topper is his idea for Lex Luther-William Frawley. Fred Mertz as the biggest supervillain ever? The editor rightfully responds to Alan's casting with less than enthuiastic tones: "Frankly, we're not impressed. Most of your nominations involved personalities who are not too widely known. And William Frawley, although an excellent actor, seems too old to play Luthor. We'll throw this open to our readers and invite them to send in nominations which have a better chance of scoring a bull's eye." Oh snap, Alan.