Day 10/Selection #3: Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958 series)
First appearance: As any card-carrying classic comics fan knows, Lois first appeared in the first Superman story in  Action Comics #1 
Favorite Spin-Off Series: Her own series Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958), specifically issues #1-81, with Kurt Schaffenberger as the Lois artist; plus LL Giants #s 86, 95, and 104.

The Lois Giants made me seek out older issues and I amassed a nice collection of her earlier issues. I couldn't get enough of that Schaffenberger art! His Lois was "my" Lois, so much so that Lois looked off when drawn by anyone else, including the great Curt Swan. In addition to Schaffenberger's appealing and at times humorous art, Lois's series had some interesting takes on gender roles and expectations.  

The Silver Age stories I liked the most were stories that focused on her career as a reporter.  Giant Lois #95 is a case in point; in this collection she's consistently shown to be serious about her career, resourceful, principled, and smart.  Here's a collage of the cover and some panels from the various stories collected in #95: 



Giant Lois #86 focused on marriage and the ramifications of such. Of course no collection of SA Lois-Superman marriage stories would be complete without the Imaginary Tales (it's even said that the Imaginary Tale in LL #19 was the first such IT, as presented in the Weisinger mags).  I love these what-ifs; they usually end badly for the parties involved and give off a "be careful for what you wish for" vibe.  Melodramatic, yes, in the way a Douglas Sirk movie is. I admit some of these stories actually made me cry--and still do. 


To sum up, in this series we see things from Lois's point of view and have a real sense of her passion for her career, her love for Superman, her friendships with Lana, Perry, Jimmy, Clark, and others. And despite Superman's repeated attempts to pull the wool over her eyes, we know Lois is smarter than everyone else in the room.