Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #91
"Love Is Blind!"
April, 1969
Story: Unknown
Art: Curt Swan and Mike Esposito
What happens when Superman's widow falls in love with a far from handsome
stranger? Unable to see her new friend's appearance, Lois Lane will soon
learn that "Love Is Blind!"
A group of reporters have gathered at the Metropolis Memorial Park. They
watch as the woman in black has come with a bouquet of flowers for the
Man of Steel's grave. The newsmen hope to learn the identity of the
veiled woman during this, her monthly visit. She will never forget
Superman and the flowers she carries represent her undying love for him.
An angry stranger bursts through the gathering of reporters. Having been
imprisoned by the Man of Steel some fifteen years ago, he intends to
destroy Superman's monument with a hand grenade. The veiled woman in
black places herself in front of the grenade, hoping to either save the
monument, or join her beloved in the hereafter.
A teenaged blur of blue and red soars downwards, with the reporters
recognizing the newcomer as Superlass, the Terrific Teen. WHROOOSH!
Strong fingers hurl the grenade up into the air. WHRAAAAAAM! As the
grenade detonates harmlessly, the teen of steel uses her hands to keep
the ex-convict's bullets from striking the lone mourner.
The authorities arrive to take the gunman into custody, with the
reporters leaving to phone in their story. With them gone, the woman in
black is able to lift her veil, and Superlass greets her mother. The
hands of Lois Lane touch the gravestone, and the former reporter knows
that she has kept her promise not to reveal her marriage to the Man of
Steel. Now a widow and without sight, she listens as her daughter urges
her to carry on. With the veil back in place, the mother and daughter
leave the cemetery, when the rain begins to fall. It had been a day like
this when Lois and Superman were at the Metropolis Charity Carnival,
where the Man of Steel was to be the main guest.
PWOOOOOF! With the rainfall threatening to lower attendance, Superman
promises to make the rain go away. A blast of super-breath causes the
rain cloud to head for Metropolis Valley, where there are some crops that
would welcome the rain. As the Man of Steel returns to the carnival, he
sees that a gang of crooks have just robbed the proceeds. While Superman
tangles with the gunmen, their leader is taking aim with a ray gun stolen
from the Argus Lab. VROOOOOOOSH
The Man of Steel does not see the deadly ray heading for him, but the
girl reporter has, and races in front of him. The blast of light erupts
in front of Lois's eyes and after the bright flash, all goes dark.
Unable to see, she calls out for Superman, who has just taken down the
ringleader.
With the gang in custody, the Man of Steel promises to seek out the
finest physicians in the world, and find a cure for her condition. He
also offers to marry her, but Lois sees this as being an act of pity.
Superman crushes the ray gun with one hand, then manipulates the mass of
metal into a ring. Telling the girl reporter that he had brought the
ring with him to the carnival, the Man of Steel proposes to her. As they
embrace, he hopes that she will be able to see again one day.
Time passes, with medical science unable to cure her blindness, Lois
tells Superman that she won't hold him to his proposal. The Man of Steel
insists that it is she who he wants to marry, and asks that their
marriage be kept a secret. If his foes were to learn of it, her life
would be in constant danger. After the girl reporter keeps her promise,
Superman prepares for the wedding day, and decides to marry Lois in his
Clark Kent identity.
The couple are married at a small town in another state. Superman
selects a wooded area with a beach as the site for their dream house.
The lovely Lois is carried across the threshold by her new husband. When
his wife has difficulties with cooking, the Man of Steel moves in the
kitchen at super-speed.
He explains to his wife that robots will do the cooking for her, while
the control buttons will be in Braille. A year passes, with an anxious
Superman joining the other waiting fathers-to-be in the waiting area at
the Metropolis Maternity Hospital. As he hands out cigars to them,
Superman tells the others that Clark Kent is waiting for the birth of his
first son. When the nervous fathers wonder how Kent would know if the
baby will be a boy, the door opens, and the nurse tells the Man of Steel
to come to the nursery. They see that the Kent Baby is able to jump up
and down in her crib. Seeing that the boy is a girl, Superman knows that
his friend will be beside himself with happiness. Little Lisa is soon
speaking English and wants to wear a costume like her father's. Hearing
her daughter's voice, Lois agrees that their daughter should have a
super-costume.
SNORRT When an angry bull charges the picnickers, Lisa performs her
first super-feat by throwing the bull. The day would come when the Man
of Steel was to save a ship's crew from a vessel carrying top secret
nuclear materials. WHRAAAAAAM Flames cause an explosion in the cargo
area where Superman is, with the Red and Green Kryptonite present in the
nuclear warheads undoubtedly finishing him. Lois and Lisa hear the news
about the disaster and learn that their loved one's body has not been
found. It is now up to Lisa to begin her career as Superlass. This was
the beginning of the super heroine and the legendary woman in black.
Lois Lane is spending some time on the beach, when she drops her yarn.
The ball of yarn is rolling towards the water, when it is picked up by a
beast-like figure who stumbles towards her. He is grateful that she is
blind and won't run away screaming from him as others have.
The brutish stranger hands over the yarn, and Lois hears the gentleness
in his voice. Having been alone at sea for sometime, he asks to sit with
her if he can. With her daughter away, the mother agrees, and asks for
him to sit beside her. Wanting to touch her without scaring her, he
tells her that a moth has gotten caught in her hair. After stroking her
hair, he tells her that he has gotten it. Time passes, with Lois
grateful for the unwinding of the woolen yarn by her new friend. She is
unaware that it is the heart of the stranger which has been wrapped
around her finger.
With the end of the afternoon, Lois is ready to return to the house, but
asks to meet with her new friend at the same time tomorrow. As he
agrees, she starts to stumble right into his waiting arms. He finds it
heavenly to have her in his arms... heavenly. The moment passes and he
watches her head for her home. He hopes that she doesn't realize how
different he is from others. Night finds the strange brute watching the
window of the cottage, with him longing to join them, and hoping that his
appearance will change soon.
As the brute keeps watch over the home, a gang of bank robbers come
driving up in their beach buggy, and are intent on using the cottage as a
hideout. Angered by their arrival, the beast-like stranger races from
his hiding place, and lifts up the buggy. SPLAAAASH! The beach buggy
and its passengers soon find themselves floundering in the sea. A beach
patrolman has heard the commotion and arrives to apprehend the gang. The
brute is pleased that he did not hurt the men, nor did he reveal himself,
but the thought of them harming Lois had maddened him.
In her dreams, the mother of Superlass tries to visualize her new friend.
Back on the beach, the two meet once more, and he is glad to hear her
voice once more. If Lois could see his appearance, he knows that she
would run away, and he can only hope that things will change soon. As
time passes, Lois feels like she's known him all her life, and is
grateful for him making her feel at ease. The sounds of the sea causes
the mother to fall asleep, and he wonders... can he kiss her without her
waking up. Bending forward, he kisses her softly.
WHROOOOOSH! The Teenager of Steel is flying over the new Metropolis
skyscraper complex when she sees an out of control flying saucer. She is
able to catch the ship and brings it to the ground safely. As she
wonders if it's a peaceful race or a warlike one at the controls, one of
the compartments begins to open. They are from Galaxy X-1 and had come
to learn of the many ills of Earth. They had hoped to return with cures
for these ailments. In payment for her good deed, they offer to help
Superlass with her mother's blindness.
The leader presents her with the cosmic-ray oculizer, which still has one
charge left. It is used to restore damaged eye tissue and may help her
mother. Superlass is willing to take the chance and thanks the aliens
for their aid. When she returns to the cottage, Lisa asks her mother to
remain seated and still. The oculizer is activated, with its rays
shining in her mother's eyes. The bright glow fades, with Lois's world
still dark, but the darkness soon parts. A face begins to form before
her, and Lois is now able to see her own daughter for the first time.
She now sees how Lisa is as beautiful as her husband was handsome.
The following day finds Lois waiting to share the wonderful news with her
friend, but the world begins to blur when she sees him in person. Seeing
her reaction to him, he knows that she is disgusted by his appearance.
She admits that she was surprised, and tells him that it's his inner
qualities that matter most to her. The brutish stranger wants proof, and
asks her to kiss him with her eyes open.
Lois gets closer to him, and time stands still as they share a kiss. He
tears away from her, knowing that it was an act of pity. Her lips were
cold, her heart had been pounding with fear, not love. He could feel the
sweat on her hands, as well. When Lois insists on having another chance
to prove herself to him, the brute wanders off. Several trees are
uprooted from the ground with his bare hands, but the pain remains lodged
within his heart all the same. He can no longer delude himself that the
spell will wear off and he will no longer be a freak... to be shunned and
left alone until the day he dies.
CRAAAACK -- CRAAACK! The breakwater rocks shatter as mighty misshapen
fists batter them to bits in anguish. Not knowing what to do, the
brute-man decides to leave Earth, and leaps into the air. It is at this
moment that the Teen of Steel returns to her mother's side, and sees the
stranger flying away. When asked by her mother to use her super-vision,
Lisa sees the mysterious stranger using the giant key to unlock her
father's Fortress of Solitude.
What could this hulkish stranger be doing in Superman's arctic domain...
or have you guessed? He sees the statues of friends and family, and
knows that this will be the last time he'll ever see any of them. The
brute retrieves the costume from beneath his memorial statue. The
indestructible uniform will be necessary when he travels into space, and
even now, his reflection is a sight he can no longer bear to see. When
Lisa asks why the stranger would be wearing a Superman costume, her
mother realizes that her new friend was Superman! The Atlantis vessel
had been carrying Red and Green Kryptonite in the hold. The Red K had
caused the bizarre transformation of man into monster of steel, while the
Green K had caused the change to become permanent.
With her father alive, Lisa wants to go to him, but her mother knows that
her husband is not himself. In the remote Arctic, a brutish form makes
its way from the Fortress of Solitude. He will find exile on a distant
planet, where he will spend the remainder of his days alone. If the
sight of him was enough to drive his wife away from him, he does not wish
to remain on Earth any longer. Lisa flies after her father in secret and
hopes to find a cure for the K effect. Alone on the beach, Lois would
gladly give her eyesight to have her husband back, and wonders if she'll
ever see him again.
On the cover by Neal Adams, the people at the Superman Museum wonder how
Lois Lane could possibly be in love with a monstrosity.
With Superlass on the scene, I wonder what happened to Supergirl, and the
others.
Unless the ray gun stolen from the Argus Lab was powered by a red sun, I
don't know why Lois would have thrown herself in front of its rays, and
how come she wasn't killed by it, too.
As the wife of Superman, wouldn't Lois be in the same amount of danger as
Superman's Pal or Perry White? Heck, isn't the girl reporter already in
enough danger?
As an expectant father, the Man of Steel manages to conceal his secret
identity, but not his own expectations.
Like her father, Lisa is able to take the bull by the horns, and handle
the situation.
Luckily for Superman, there wasn't any Gold Kryptonite aboard the vessel,
otherwise this would have been a shorter story.
When the brutish stranger mentions the women who have seen him, did the
transformed Man of Steel run into Lori Lemaris and Lana Lang, too?
Hugs are fun and can really lift your spirits when you're down. I'd even
say that it can be as if your feet were not touching the ground.
It's no day at the beach for the bank robbers, who had chosen the wrong
place to hide.
If there had been a sequel to this story, I'd guess that the aliens from
Galaxy X-1 would be able to counteract the effects of the Red and Green
K.
If I were in the brute's position, I'd have taken Lois at her word, but
probably would have been so desperate for human contact, and have asked
for a kiss? What say you?
With his super-senses, the misshapen Man of Steel could tell what
motivated his wife's reluctant kiss.
Was his mind affected by the Red K as well? Superman had undergone many
transformations before, but these were temporary in nature. I can't
believe that the Man of Steel was unable to come up with a solution, much
less contact his friends.
Perhaps he wanted to spare their feelings and have them remember him as
he was.
There is nothing left for him on Earth, but a mother and daughter who
would have him back as part of their family.
This Review Is Dedicated To David Edge, Hoy Murphy, and Expectant Father
Mike Norwitz
Steve Chung
"Love Is Review!"
April, 1969
Story: Unknown
Art: Curt Swan and Mike Esposito
What happens when Superman's widow falls in love with a far from handsome
stranger? Unable to see her new friend's appearance, Lois Lane will soon
learn that "Love Is Blind!"
A group of reporters have gathered at the Metropolis Memorial Park. They
watch as the woman in black has come with a bouquet of flowers for the
Man of Steel's grave. The newsmen hope to learn the identity of the
veiled woman during this, her monthly visit. She will never forget
Superman and the flowers she carries represent her undying love for him.
An angry stranger bursts through the gathering of reporters. Having been
imprisoned by the Man of Steel some fifteen years ago, he intends to
destroy Superman's monument with a hand grenade. The veiled woman in
black places herself in front of the grenade, hoping to either save the
monument, or join her beloved in the hereafter.
A teenaged blur of blue and red soars downwards, with the reporters
recognizing the newcomer as Superlass, the Terrific Teen. WHROOOSH!
Strong fingers hurl the grenade up into the air. WHRAAAAAAM! As the
grenade detonates harmlessly, the teen of steel uses her hands to keep
the ex-convict's bullets from striking the lone mourner.
The authorities arrive to take the gunman into custody, with the
reporters leaving to phone in their story. With them gone, the woman in
black is able to lift her veil, and Superlass greets her mother. The
hands of Lois Lane touch the gravestone, and the former reporter knows
that she has kept her promise not to reveal her marriage to the Man of
Steel. Now a widow and without sight, she listens as her daughter urges
her to carry on. With the veil back in place, the mother and daughter
leave the cemetery, when the rain begins to fall. It had been a day like
this when Lois and Superman were at the Metropolis Charity Carnival,
where the Man of Steel was to be the main guest.
PWOOOOOF! With the rainfall threatening to lower attendance, Superman
promises to make the rain go away. A blast of super-breath causes the
rain cloud to head for Metropolis Valley, where there are some crops that
would welcome the rain. As the Man of Steel returns to the carnival, he
sees that a gang of crooks have just robbed the proceeds. While Superman
tangles with the gunmen, their leader is taking aim with a ray gun stolen
from the Argus Lab. VROOOOOOOSH
The Man of Steel does not see the deadly ray heading for him, but the
girl reporter has, and races in front of him. The blast of light erupts
in front of Lois's eyes and after the bright flash, all goes dark.
Unable to see, she calls out for Superman, who has just taken down the
ringleader.
With the gang in custody, the Man of Steel promises to seek out the
finest physicians in the world, and find a cure for her condition. He
also offers to marry her, but Lois sees this as being an act of pity.
Superman crushes the ray gun with one hand, then manipulates the mass of
metal into a ring. Telling the girl reporter that he had brought the
ring with him to the carnival, the Man of Steel proposes to her. As they
embrace, he hopes that she will be able to see again one day.
Time passes, with medical science unable to cure her blindness, Lois
tells Superman that she won't hold him to his proposal. The Man of Steel
insists that it is she who he wants to marry, and asks that their
marriage be kept a secret. If his foes were to learn of it, her life
would be in constant danger. After the girl reporter keeps her promise,
Superman prepares for the wedding day, and decides to marry Lois in his
Clark Kent identity.
The couple are married at a small town in another state. Superman
selects a wooded area with a beach as the site for their dream house.
The lovely Lois is carried across the threshold by her new husband. When
his wife has difficulties with cooking, the Man of Steel moves in the
kitchen at super-speed.
He explains to his wife that robots will do the cooking for her, while
the control buttons will be in Braille. A year passes, with an anxious
Superman joining the other waiting fathers-to-be in the waiting area at
the Metropolis Maternity Hospital. As he hands out cigars to them,
Superman tells the others that Clark Kent is waiting for the birth of his
first son. When the nervous fathers wonder how Kent would know if the
baby will be a boy, the door opens, and the nurse tells the Man of Steel
to come to the nursery. They see that the Kent Baby is able to jump up
and down in her crib. Seeing that the boy is a girl, Superman knows that
his friend will be beside himself with happiness. Little Lisa is soon
speaking English and wants to wear a costume like her father's. Hearing
her daughter's voice, Lois agrees that their daughter should have a
super-costume.
SNORRT When an angry bull charges the picnickers, Lisa performs her
first super-feat by throwing the bull. The day would come when the Man
of Steel was to save a ship's crew from a vessel carrying top secret
nuclear materials. WHRAAAAAAM Flames cause an explosion in the cargo
area where Superman is, with the Red and Green Kryptonite present in the
nuclear warheads undoubtedly finishing him. Lois and Lisa hear the news
about the disaster and learn that their loved one's body has not been
found. It is now up to Lisa to begin her career as Superlass. This was
the beginning of the super heroine and the legendary woman in black.
Lois Lane is spending some time on the beach, when she drops her yarn.
The ball of yarn is rolling towards the water, when it is picked up by a
beast-like figure who stumbles towards her. He is grateful that she is
blind and won't run away screaming from him as others have.
The brutish stranger hands over the yarn, and Lois hears the gentleness
in his voice. Having been alone at sea for sometime, he asks to sit with
her if he can. With her daughter away, the mother agrees, and asks for
him to sit beside her. Wanting to touch her without scaring her, he
tells her that a moth has gotten caught in her hair. After stroking her
hair, he tells her that he has gotten it. Time passes, with Lois
grateful for the unwinding of the woolen yarn by her new friend. She is
unaware that it is the heart of the stranger which has been wrapped
around her finger.
With the end of the afternoon, Lois is ready to return to the house, but
asks to meet with her new friend at the same time tomorrow. As he
agrees, she starts to stumble right into his waiting arms. He finds it
heavenly to have her in his arms... heavenly. The moment passes and he
watches her head for her home. He hopes that she doesn't realize how
different he is from others. Night finds the strange brute watching the
window of the cottage, with him longing to join them, and hoping that his
appearance will change soon.
As the brute keeps watch over the home, a gang of bank robbers come
driving up in their beach buggy, and are intent on using the cottage as a
hideout. Angered by their arrival, the beast-like stranger races from
his hiding place, and lifts up the buggy. SPLAAAASH! The beach buggy
and its passengers soon find themselves floundering in the sea. A beach
patrolman has heard the commotion and arrives to apprehend the gang. The
brute is pleased that he did not hurt the men, nor did he reveal himself,
but the thought of them harming Lois had maddened him.
In her dreams, the mother of Superlass tries to visualize her new friend.
Back on the beach, the two meet once more, and he is glad to hear her
voice once more. If Lois could see his appearance, he knows that she
would run away, and he can only hope that things will change soon. As
time passes, Lois feels like she's known him all her life, and is
grateful for him making her feel at ease. The sounds of the sea causes
the mother to fall asleep, and he wonders... can he kiss her without her
waking up. Bending forward, he kisses her softly.
WHROOOOOSH! The Teenager of Steel is flying over the new Metropolis
skyscraper complex when she sees an out of control flying saucer. She is
able to catch the ship and brings it to the ground safely. As she
wonders if it's a peaceful race or a warlike one at the controls, one of
the compartments begins to open. They are from Galaxy X-1 and had come
to learn of the many ills of Earth. They had hoped to return with cures
for these ailments. In payment for her good deed, they offer to help
Superlass with her mother's blindness.
The leader presents her with the cosmic-ray oculizer, which still has one
charge left. It is used to restore damaged eye tissue and may help her
mother. Superlass is willing to take the chance and thanks the aliens
for their aid. When she returns to the cottage, Lisa asks her mother to
remain seated and still. The oculizer is activated, with its rays
shining in her mother's eyes. The bright glow fades, with Lois's world
still dark, but the darkness soon parts. A face begins to form before
her, and Lois is now able to see her own daughter for the first time.
She now sees how Lisa is as beautiful as her husband was handsome.
The following day finds Lois waiting to share the wonderful news with her
friend, but the world begins to blur when she sees him in person. Seeing
her reaction to him, he knows that she is disgusted by his appearance.
She admits that she was surprised, and tells him that it's his inner
qualities that matter most to her. The brutish stranger wants proof, and
asks her to kiss him with her eyes open.
Lois gets closer to him, and time stands still as they share a kiss. He
tears away from her, knowing that it was an act of pity. Her lips were
cold, her heart had been pounding with fear, not love. He could feel the
sweat on her hands, as well. When Lois insists on having another chance
to prove herself to him, the brute wanders off. Several trees are
uprooted from the ground with his bare hands, but the pain remains lodged
within his heart all the same. He can no longer delude himself that the
spell will wear off and he will no longer be a freak... to be shunned and
left alone until the day he dies.
CRAAAACK -- CRAAACK! The breakwater rocks shatter as mighty misshapen
fists batter them to bits in anguish. Not knowing what to do, the
brute-man decides to leave Earth, and leaps into the air. It is at this
moment that the Teen of Steel returns to her mother's side, and sees the
stranger flying away. When asked by her mother to use her super-vision,
Lisa sees the mysterious stranger using the giant key to unlock her
father's Fortress of Solitude.
What could this hulkish stranger be doing in Superman's arctic domain...
or have you guessed? He sees the statues of friends and family, and
knows that this will be the last time he'll ever see any of them. The
brute retrieves the costume from beneath his memorial statue. The
indestructible uniform will be necessary when he travels into space, and
even now, his reflection is a sight he can no longer bear to see. When
Lisa asks why the stranger would be wearing a Superman costume, her
mother realizes that her new friend was Superman! The Atlantis vessel
had been carrying Red and Green Kryptonite in the hold. The Red K had
caused the bizarre transformation of man into monster of steel, while the
Green K had caused the change to become permanent.
With her father alive, Lisa wants to go to him, but her mother knows that
her husband is not himself. In the remote Arctic, a brutish form makes
its way from the Fortress of Solitude. He will find exile on a distant
planet, where he will spend the remainder of his days alone. If the
sight of him was enough to drive his wife away from him, he does not wish
to remain on Earth any longer. Lisa flies after her father in secret and
hopes to find a cure for the K effect. Alone on the beach, Lois would
gladly give her eyesight to have her husband back, and wonders if she'll
ever see him again.
On the cover by Neal Adams, the people at the Superman Museum wonder how
Lois Lane could possibly be in love with a monstrosity.
With Superlass on the scene, I wonder what happened to Supergirl, and the
others.
Unless the ray gun stolen from the Argus Lab was powered by a red sun, I
don't know why Lois would have thrown herself in front of its rays, and
how come she wasn't killed by it, too.
As the wife of Superman, wouldn't Lois be in the same amount of danger as
Superman's Pal or Perry White? Heck, isn't the girl reporter already in
enough danger?
As an expectant father, the Man of Steel manages to conceal his secret
identity, but not his own expectations.
Like her father, Lisa is able to take the bull by the horns, and handle
the situation.
Luckily for Superman, there wasn't any Gold Kryptonite aboard the vessel,
otherwise this would have been a shorter story.
When the brutish stranger mentions the women who have seen him, did the
transformed Man of Steel run into Lori Lemaris and Lana Lang, too?
Hugs are fun and can really lift your spirits when you're down. I'd even
say that it can be as if your feet were not touching the ground.
It's no day at the beach for the bank robbers, who had chosen the wrong
place to hide.
If there had been a sequel to this story, I'd guess that the aliens from
Galaxy X-1 would be able to counteract the effects of the Red and Green
K.
If I were in the brute's position, I'd have taken Lois at her word, but
probably would have been so desperate for human contact, and have asked
for a kiss? What say you?
With his super-senses, the misshapen Man of Steel could tell what
motivated his wife's reluctant kiss.
Was his mind affected by the Red K as well? Superman had undergone many
transformations before, but these were temporary in nature. I can't
believe that the Man of Steel was unable to come up with a solution, much
less contact his friends.
Perhaps he wanted to spare their feelings and have them remember him as
he was.
There is nothing left for him on Earth, but a mother and daughter who
would have him back as part of their family.
This Review Is Dedicated To David Edge, Hoy Murphy, and Expectant Father
Mike Norwitz
Steve Chung
"Love Is Review!"
