A Bronze Age Review: Lois Lane 106 "I Am Curious (Black)!"

[Joanna]

I was propositioned in the Marketplace by Flying Donut. Before you tell his wife, here's the proposition. I have a copy of SUPERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND LOIS LANE #106 on ebay right now. Donut saw my listing and said that he would bid on the book if I would write a Bronze Age Review of the lead story, I Am Curious (Black)! I decided to do him one better and said that if a forum member won the auction, they would not only get the comic, they would get a printed copy of this review, with a big kiss on it. For those of you interested, here's the thread.

 

Therefore, over the next week, I'll be posting parts of the review (basically a recounting of the story with some editorializing from me) here for all to enjoy. Please feel free bid on the original for your chance at a printed copy of this review (in color) with a big kiss on it. It's okay to pool your money to reach the exorbitant price it may garner.

 

I realize how stupid this all sounds, but heck, why not? Besides, this is an absolutely classic "relevant" DC comic from 1970, when social issues were the new fodder for stories in comics. In a nutshell, Lois Lane turns black, so that she can experience life in the hood. It doesn't get much better than that.

 

 

 

SUPERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND LOIS LANE #106: I Am Curious (Black)!

 

 

The splash page is a doozy. A black (not African-American, as that term is at least 20 years away) Lois is confronting whitey Superman, daring him to say that he'd marry her even though she's black.

 

 

Lois flies in the face of her entire

raison d'etre and accuses Superman

of not marrying her because she's black.

Superman actually takes her seriously.

 

I haven't even gotten past the first page, and I must already pause. Lois has been wanting to marry Superman for a very long time. It's nearly all she thinks about, and a huge portion of her stories have this as a central theme. Why on earth does she think that he's suddenly going to marry her just because she changed her skin color? She's still vulnerable to his enemies (the excuse he always gives). She's black, not immortal. But the way she's laying into him you'd think he was on his way to the altar, saw her new skin color and flew away at superspeed.

 

This opening splash tells us very clearly that the point of this story is to bludgeon the reader about prejudice, not worry about little details like 40 years of continuity. It's about being oppressed by The Man! It's about reality and relevance and the streets and civil rights and getting a cab and not marrying Superwhitey! You dig? It's today! It's now! It's truth!

 

It's not really the beginning of the story.

 

The story actually begins with a very smug Lois telling Clark about the Pulitzer Prize she's going to win for writing a story about Metropolis's Little Africa section of town. She's gonna tell it like it is, baby! Get the real nitty gritty about life in the inner city.

 

 

The incredibly smug Lois. You know

she's smug because she's looking at

herself in a mirror -- a dead giveaway.

 

Clark decides to keep an eye on her as Superman, because he knows she's going to get in trouble. Or because he's a white establishment pig who thinks all blacks are criminals. It's not really clear which of these he's thinking. Aw heck, any LL reader knows that Lois can get in trouble tying her shoes -- that's why he's going to keep an eye on her.

 

Lois hails a cab and is greeted by Benny the Beret. He's a hale and hearty fellow (just wanted to use both 'hail' and 'hale' to prove I know the difference). It's obvious that when Lois wants a cab, Benny is always there to help her out. He takes her to Little Africa, and offers to wait, but she sends him on his way. Lois is positive the residents there will welcome her with open arms.

 

 

This is Benny. He is a beret.

 

She gets her comeuppance fast. She approaches some school children and finally has that smug expression (which she has worn from panel 1!) wiped off her face when the kids turn their backs on her and won't answer her questions. She is shocked!

 

 

Smug.

 

 

Not so smug.

 

But she's undaunted. She's Lois Lane, girl reporter, and nothing is going to keep her from her Pulitzer. So she knocks on a tenement door. (Really, Lois? You're just going to knock on some stranger's door and get the scoop on being black? Ooookay, let's try that). The woman who answers the door slams it in Lois's face.

 

"Ohh...!" More shock. Dang those Pulitzers are hard to earn.

 

 

Lois shouldn't have worn her

"I've found Jehovah!" button today.

 

Her day doesn't improve. She goes to a coffee shop and two men look toward her. "How can I break through this wall of suspicion?" (Personally, I think they're staring because she's sitting there staring at them, and she's not drinking her coffee. It's gonna get cold, y'know! That's pretty suspicious. Bet she ordered it black, too!)

 

She passes three guys playing dice in an alley and thinks, "No one will speak to me!" (She's just standing there staring at them, clutching her purse tightly, and looking superior. Why would they break their game to talk to her? What if they've already heard on the street that she orders coffee but won't drink it because it's black? Huh? Did you ever think of that, Lois!!!)

 

Not having any luck with kids or adults, Lois goes after a baby. She chucks it under the chin only to have the wee one wheeled away by her mother, as if Lois were the plague. Lois thinks, "That mother wheeled her baby away from me as if... as if I were the plague!' (Sure, Lois -- reference the black death. Betcha whitey gave it that name.)

 

 

It's Whitey on the prowl!

 

"Wandering like homeless ghost..." (ghosts being traditionally depicted as white apparitions, of course. Doncha get it, Lois? You're going to have to turn black! Not yet? Okay, let's continue this rejection for another page or so). Lois sits on a park bench next to an elderly woman. The woman politely mentions the weather and Lois feels vindicated. Finally, someone is talking to her!

 

 

The old lady instantly suspects Lois

is after a Pulitzer. What Lois doesn't know

is that the old lady wants one, too. She's

really a 20 yr-old who transformed herself

into an elderly woman to research ageism.

 

But as soon as she tells the woman that she's a reporter, the woman leaves.

 

"The freeze is still on! The only reason that nice old lady spoke to me is because she's blind! When she heard me speak, she knew I was white!"

 

(That should be enough. The reader would have to be blind and not reading this story not to have gotten the point by now, right? Right? Well... maybe we need it spelled out a little clearer.)

 

A young, handsome black man is speaking to a crowd and, while pointing to Lois, says, "Look at her brothers and sisters! She's young and sweet and pretty. But she never forgets she's whitey!"

 

 

Lois nearly forgot she was whitey,

but thankfully, he was there to remind

her.

 

(Please note that at this point, the only people who have showed rampant, outrageous racism are the blacks. They ostracize her, won't speak to her, and call her racial epithets. What is this story trying to say? That all black people are mean? Maybe Lois should turn black, so we can get down to the truth! The now! The today!)

 

Mr. Black Man continues saying, "She'll let us shine her shoes and sweep her floors! And let us baby-sit for her kids! But she doesn't want to let our kids into her lily-white schools! It's okay with her if we leave these rat-infested slums! If we don't move next door to her! That's why she's our enemy!"

 

 

Is she sad because of what he said,

or because she sees her article slipping

away?

 

(Wow! We've got some genuine urban anger going on here, right in the same comic that used to deal primarily with doing silly things to get scoops and making up plots to trap Superman into marriage! I think the silver age is over, boys and girls. Comics are suddenly as bronze as the black man's skin, baby).

 

A very sad Lois thinks, "He's wrong about me... but right about so many others!" Oh man, Lois is having an epiphany. She's seen the slums and the tenements; she's seen the distrust and fear; she's seen herself in a black man's mirror and she's awakened to the now, the today and all that relevant stuff.

 

After several more hours of this (Lois is a tad slow getting the point) she is sitting on a park bench when Superman flies down. (He was watching over her, remember?) So, has Lois changed deep inside? Has this experience truly awakened her to the problems in the slums?

 

Nah, she's still worried about her story. She tells Superman that there's only one way she can get her scoop. He flies her to the Fortress of Solitude (chastising himself for going along with her hair-brained scheme) so that Lois can use...

 

The Plastimold*!

 

(*The Plastimold was invented by Dahr-Nel, a Kryptonian doctor. I had the Dahr-Nel Plastimold issue when I was a kid, and I always thought it was cool because my favorite babysitter's name was Suzie Darnell. I figured maybe she was a relative, and therefore of Kryptonian birth. Okay, I didn't think that -- I wasn't an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. But I still thought it was cool.)

 

For the uninformed, The Plastimold machine can remake you like one giant plastic surgery machine. Only not like real plastic surgery, more like movie plastic surgery where bad guys get their faces so completely changed they have to be played by a new actor. Or like the master villains who change their faces to look exactly like someone else and they take over that guy's life. Only The Plastimold does this to your whole body. It can change everything -- height, weight, hair color, race...

 

Lois step in and waits for Superman to hit the transformoflux pack. You heard me. I'm not typing that word again, so just go back and read it.

 

 

Superman clutching the transfo... er...

that Kryptonian thing.

 

With a mightly Whummmm and Hummmmm, Lois is changed before our very eyes from a white woman to a sistah!

 

 

She's got her fro and is ready

to go!

 

Hooboy, I suspect there's relevance ahead!!!

 

To be continued.

 

 

 

 

[Zonker]

 

Another public service review from our own Amazon reviewer. Remember, kiddees-- Joanna reads these books for us SO WE DON'T HAVE TO! .

[Joanna]

 

Another public service review from our own Amazon reviewer. Remember, kiddees-- Joanna reads these books for us SO WE DON'T HAVE TO! .

 

Just doing my part to keep illiteracy alive.

[Zonker]

 

...

[Aces]

 

Keep this up and I won't have to buy any DC books.

I'll just read'em here...

[Shield]

$@#$@#%@#%@#% I wanna know what happens next! I bid $15.02 on the book, and got OUTBID!

 

Fantastic narration Joanna! You ROCK!

 

 

[Joanna]

$@#$@#%@#%@#% I wanna know what happens next! I bid $15.02 on the book, and got OUTBID!

 

Fantastic narration Joanna! You ROCK!

 

 

Thanks, Shield! Now you know why this is a classic bronze age issue of Lois Lane -- it's just so over the top! And there's lots more to come.

 

Keep bidding over and over and over again, all week long. That's sage ebay advice.

 

-- Joanna

[Bonds25]

[Joanna]

PART TWO OF "I Am Curious (Black)!"

 

We left off with Lois turning into a black woman in the Plastimold machine...

 

 

Lois is fully changed now. But just in case the readers were worried, Superman reminds Lois that she'll only be black for a day. (Is that enough time to feel the entire life experiences of a persecuted member of the population? Is it enough time to win a Pulitzer? Does she have anything to wear? One of these questions haunts her.)

 

Lois asks Superman to take her home quickly so that she can find something to wear. I guess her current outfit is too whitey.

 

 

It's Foxy Cleopatra!

 

In the next panel, we see black Lois dressed in "Afro attire" with a giant babushka on her head. Did she always have these clothes in her closet? Or did she run out to "Whites Disguised as Blacks Boutique" and do some shopping?

 

Whatever the answer, we see her trying to hail a cab in the pouring rain. She's in luck! Benny the Beret (you didn't think he was going to get all that play in the beginning without returning for a crucial "point driven home" scene, did you?) is there in his cab.

 

 

"Taxi! Hurry! My head is tipping

me over because I forgot to take the

towel off after I washed my hair!"

 

But holy Archie Bunker, Batman! Benny drives right by her as if she doesn't exist! And then, to make sure Lois understands that it wasn't because his cab was full or he was on a break, he stops a few feet away from her to pick up a white guy. (I never liked that Benny with his suspicious beret and his broken promises. )

 

Lois realizes that she just got her first lesson in being black. From this we can predict that there are going to be a lot more lessons to come.

 

 

Bennie the Beret looks unusually white

tonight. Darn near albino, if you ask me.

 

The next panel is surprisingly subtle. Lois is on the subway and thinks everyone is staring at her because she's black. Only no one is staring! They don't care -- they don't realize that she used to be white, or care that she's black. They're reading their papers, or reading someone else's paper. Lois is officially in Paranoiaville.

 

I thought this was a nice touch. It displays the same paranoia she had when she bought coffee (thinking they were staring at her with hatred when they really didn't look like they cared very much). Lois isn't comfortable whether she's white or black. She's projecting onto everyone. She needs to get this under control if she wants to write a balanced article.

 

 

There are 7 people on the subway besides Lois.

The 3 on the bench aren't looking at her. The guy

in the green shirt isn't looking at her. The gay guy

in the blue shirt isn't looking at her. The guy in the hat

isn't looking at her. Only the guy in the orange jacket

is looking at her, and he might just think she's

Erykah Badu.

 

The next panel shows that Lois is still thinking about her experience in the subway. What's bizarre about this is that her thoughts are basically a realization of how difficult life is to be black due to the suspicions of whites. All well and good until you remember that she wasn't being stared at on the subway.

 

So what is the writer trying to say? Is he trying to show that Lois is paranoid or not? Were the people on the subway supposed to be staring at Lois but no one told the artist? Is the silent speech about the black experience supposed to be taken at face value? I am so confused! "Mommy... what does this mean? Why is Lois saying that everyone is staring at her when no one is? And why is she asking if that's how blacks are treated, when she was treated just fine? Shouldn't blacks be treated as nicely as she was? Help me, Mommy!" "Joanna, it's past your bedtime. We'll talk about this after I've accidentally thrown away this comic. Er... I meant after I've put it away, honey. Go to sleep."

 

Comics can be so deep.

 

 

How dare 1 out of 7 people

stare at her!

 

Let's look for more clues. What will Lois do next? What she did the first time -- she wanders into a tenement to find someone to interview. But oh no! She sees smoke behind the stairs. Quickly, she beats the flames down on a pile of trash stashed under the stairs.

 

A woman comes out and, seeing the heroic black Lois beating down the flames, decides to chat. I'm pretty sure it's the same women white Lois tried to talk to when she got a door slam as an answer. Looks like the same dress. (Lois can change her entire race, but this woman can't even change her clothes. An indication of poverty or a shortcut to clueing us in that she's the same person?)

 

She tells Lois that the place is a firetrap and people leave trash there because the "slumlord" doesn't want to pay for a janitor. (Apartments have janitors? My apt. doesn't have a janitor. I have to haul my own trash outside, down some stairs, across a patio, down more stairs, through a hall, and into the garage where the bin is. My slumlord sucks! He also refuses to heat the swimming pool! Dirty, rotten slumlord.)

 

Slum Lady invites Lois into her apartment and offers her a cup of coffee. She makes a joke about hoping Lois isn't a bill collector (the fact that she lives in a tenement and has a slumlord wasn't proof enough. We needed more clues that it just might be possible that she's low on funds).

 

Lois has a goofy expression on her face. I think she's attracted to Slum Lady* (*obligatory lesbian reference for Darth. My obligation is complete. Whew! I didn't know where I was going to find one in this comic, but I pulled it out against all odds! Yeeha!)

 

Okay, so Slum Lady has obviously told us everything we need to hear. Trash in the hallway, slumlord, bill collectors, no money, we got it. Who's next?

 

 

Lois gazes longingly at Slum Lady.

 

No one. We're still at Slum Lady's apt. A piece of plaster from the ceiling falls into Lois's coffee. (I'm tired of typing Slum Lady. From now on she's SL). SL tells Lois that around there you get used to falling plaster. And the place hasn't been painted in eons. "But I don't have to tell you that!" Yes, apparently she did. By Lois's shocked expression, she had no idea that some people were poor.

 

 

"I said cream, no sugar,

no plaster."

 

Surely that's enough, right? Nah ah! SL hears her baby calling. She grabs a broom and chases a rat away from the crib.

 

 

So if the rat paid rent he'd

be welcome, right?

 

As she comforts the child, she says to Lois, "I haven't asked who you are, or what you're here for. Can I help you, sister?"

 

Lois, tears brimming, thinks, "She lives in misery, yet she asks if she can help me!"

 

 

I smell Pulitzer!

Or maybe an Oscar.

 

Let's sum it up again folks. SL has trash in the hallway, a slumlord, bill collectors, no money, falling plaster, old paint, and rats. The evidence is really mounting toward the conclusion that SL is poor. But she's nice to black women (she slams the door in the faces of white women, but gives a sister a cup of coffee and an offer of help). Has Lois finally learned what she needed to?

 

Yes and no. She leaves SL, but she still has plenty of experiences ahead of her. Being black isn't defined by being poor. Lois needs to keep exploring Little Africa.

 

To be continued.

 

 

-- Joanna

 

 

[jonnydouble]

Let's sum it up again folks. SL has trash in the hallway, a slumlord, bill collectors, no money, falling plaster, old paint, and rats.

 

 

 

I remember reading this book as a kid,...maybe 8 years old and kept thinking,....Why doesn't Slum Lady just move to a better neighborhood?

 

 

J.D.

[Joanna]

Let's sum it up again folks. SL has trash in the hallway, a slumlord, bill collectors, no money, falling plaster, old paint, and rats.

 

 

 

I remember reading this book as a kid,...maybe 8 years old and kept thinking,....Why doesn't Slum Lady just move to a better neighborhood?

 

 

J.D.

 

She couldn't get a cab.

[Aces]

[garthgantu]

I have this ish and have always liked it, mostly 'cause it's so "shocking"

 

But I have to say... Lois doesn't even really LOOK black... I think the title should have been: "I Am Curious (Deeply Tanned)!"

[jonnydouble]

I have this ish and have always liked it, mostly 'cause it's so "shocking"

 

But I have to say... Lois doesn't even really LOOK black... I think the title should have been: "I Am Curious (Deeply Tanned)!"

 

Really?..you think so??...I thought she had a kind of Christie Love thing going on there,...very hot.....

 

J.D.

[Mushroom]

Thankyou Joanna. This is my favourite LL. Your reviews always add value.

[PovertyRow]

To be continued.

 

Oh! The agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

How soon? Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Darthdiesel]

Lois has a goofy expression on her face.

 

Can't you tell? That's the look of wanton lust...

 

 

I think she's attracted to Slum Lady*

 

Right on, soul sistah..Lois just needs a lick of "Brown Sugar" with her morning coffee...what's that saying about preferring women like their coffee?

 

(*obligatory lesbian reference for Darth. My obligation is complete. Whew! I didn't know where I was going to find one in this comic, but I pulled it out against all odds! Yeeha!)

 

I always knew you had it in you

 

By the way, I have this issue and I loved reading it, but this breakdown just enhances it so much more. I never really saw the social commentary underneath it all...I couldn't get past the thought of how hot it would be for Lois to "cure her jungle fever"..

 

 

[Joanna]

To be continued.

 

Oh! The agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The agony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

How soon? Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm trying to do a section every night. But tonight I'm considering writing Crisis, to clean up the Gloom mess, instead. I'll see how things go later, when I'm in writing mode.

[Shield]

The gay guy

in the blue shirt isn't looking at her. The guy in the hat

isn't looking at her. Only the guy in the orange jacket

is looking at her, and he might just think she's

Erykah Badu.

 

Simply brilliant. I'd continue to bid if I didn't think you were going to finish the story for us!

[Joanna]

The gay guy

in the blue shirt isn't looking at her. The guy in the hat

isn't looking at her. Only the guy in the orange jacket

is looking at her, and he might just think she's

Erykah Badu.

 

Simply brilliant. I'd continue to bid if I didn't think you were going to finish the story for us!

 

I could stop here and only the winner gets the completed review.