Comic Cards Project: Day 30 • Lois Lane

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In an era of comics defined by ridiculous, harebrained, what-were-they-thinking stories, Lois Lane wins the prize for off-the-chart silliness. In every issue of her own comic, she made a case for herself as the dopiest of Superman’s acquaintances. And that’s saying something when his best pal was Jimmy Olsen.

Although billed as “Superman’s girlfriend”, Supes rarely acted as if he was into her at all. This didn’t stop her from constantly trying to trick him into marriage, or carrying on a Betty-and-Veronica-style rivalry with Superman’s boyhood girlfriend Lana Lang.

When she wasn’t annoying the Man of Steel with her infatuation, she was perpetually trying to uncover his secret identity. You’d think that this would have been a piece of cake for such an acclaimed investigative reporter, especially since she worked at the Daily Planet newspaper side by side with the disguised Superman, but no. And by “disguised” I mean wearing glasses.

Other regular story lines involved Lois stupidly endangering herself, sure that Superman would come to her rescue, and “imaginary” stories where she was married to Superman and raising super children. Many other stories just need to be seen to be believed. For over 15 years in her own title, Lois embodied the absurdity that makes comics of that era so kitschy and fun.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Next up: Martian Manhunter!

Comic Cards Project: Day 29 • Mercury

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Comic Cards Project: Day 29 • Mercury

Mercury was another one of the Metal Men and, as he liked to brag, the only metal that’s liquid at room temperature. I guess that would explain why he wasn’t held together with rivets like his robotic comrades (a little detail I never noticed until making the drawing for this card).

Mercury was the hothead of the group, and also had the biggest ego. He was always trying to usurp leadership of the team from Gold, criticizing Platinum as a “useless female,” or deriding timid Tin. As you might expect, he was usually at the center of any squabble among the robots. Perhaps it was his mercurial nature that caused so much conflict.

Although Mercury often complained about Platinum’s feminine displays of feeling, he also exhibited many human traits—like finding faults in others while overlooking his own.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Next up: Lois Lane!

Comic Cards Project: Day 28 • Snapper Carr

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Comic Cards Project: Day 28 • Snapper Carr

In 1960, following a resurgence of superheroes, the most popular of DC Comics’ costumed characters banded together to form the Justice League of America. During their first mission, a regular teenager named Snapper Carr helped out and he was unanimously elected an honorary member.

“Snapper” was his nickname because he was always snapping his fingers. As if this wasn’t annoying enough, he also used the most ridiculous hipster slang—dialogue that sounded as if it had been written by middle-aged men who had never met a teenager. Oh wait—it probably was.

Although he represented an obvious ploy by DC to make the Justice League more relatable to readers, Snapper only occasionally participated in their adventures. He still appeared in nearly every issue but in a non-active role—often with the heroes recounting their escapades to him in their secret headquarters. Sometimes he acted as their secretary, documenting the team’s latest exploits while the reader listened in.

Snapper was finally written out of the series in 1969. With no costume, no super powers, and an irritating personality, it’s amazing he lasted that long.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Mercury, another one of the Metal Men.

Comic Cards Project: Day 27 • Speedy

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Speedy was Green Arrow’s sidekick and one of the early examples of a hero’s junior partner, debuting in 1941 just a year after Robin. I guess after Batman adopted a ward, Green Arrow felt he had to keep up.

Speedy was overlooked as an original member of the Teen Titans, the sidekicks’ answer to the Justice League—but by popular demand, he guest-starred occasionally before joining full time. He came out relatively happy looking despite the fact that I drew him listening to Depeche Mode.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Snapper Carr! (Who? Come back to find out!)

Comic Cards Project: Day 26 • Hawkman

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Hawkman and his wife Hawkgirl were police officers from a planet far, far away. They first came to earth in pursuit of a fugitive criminal, and after apprehending him they decided to stay and study our police methods. Considering how obviously advanced their inter-planetary traveling civilization must have been, this was a pretty flimsy reason, but I guess it was all the writers could come up with.

Hawkman’s rather revealing costume was the regulation police uniform on his home planet. Hopefully, his male co-workers shared his awesome build and not the physique of a lot of officers I see on a daily basis. Just imagine your local cops wearing one of these next time you stop into Dunkin Donuts. <Shudder>

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy!

Comic Cards Project: Day 25 • Batwoman

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Comic Cards Project: Day 25 • Batwoman

Now would be a good time to talk about Frederic Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent. Published in 1954, this bestselling condemnation of comic books as a major cause of juvenile delinquency had a huge impact on the industry. It led to congressional hearings on the subject and to the formation of the Comics Code Authority as regulator of comic book content.

In an attempt to dispel the assertions in Wertham’s book that Batman and Robin were homosexuals, Batwoman was introduced as a love interest for Batman. The funny thing was the “interest” was pretty one-sided with Batwoman pursuing a somewhat indifferent Batman. At times, she even seemed to make Robin jealous!

Even though Batwoman saved Batman’s life when they first met, Batman chalked this up to luck and often told her that crimefighting was too dangerous for a girl. The fact that Batman failed to take her seriously might be attributed at least partially to the fact that her weaponry and gadgets were all based on things found in a typical woman’s purse—perfume, hairnets, compact mirrors, and powder. It was as if instead of focusing on the “bat” part of her identity, the writers were more preoccupied with the “novelty” of her being a woman.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Monday: Hawkman!

Comic Cards Project: Day 24 • Iron

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Like his other five comrades in the Metal Men, Iron was a robot who thought he was human. However, he didn’t cause the Metal Men’s creator Dr. Will Magnus nearly as much trouble as some of the others—like hot-headed Mercury, timid Tin, or impetuous Platinum.

Iron was always reliable, good-natured, and strong—the group’s powerhouse—who, like the others, was able to form himself into an infinite variety of shapes. Always a team player, Iron kept himself apart from the infighting that plagued the group of free-thinking and fabulous fabrications.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Batwoman!

Comic Cards Project: Day 23 • Kid Flash

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Kid Flash was Wally West, the nephew of the Flash‘s girlfriend, Iris West. A repeat of the freak accident that created the Flash also gave Wally his powers of super speed. For the first 3 years, his costume was identical to the Flash, and since it covered the entire body except for the lower part of the face, it was virtually impossible to tell them apart on the comic page.

Finally someone got the bright idea to give him a more distinct costume. This was handled by having Flash’s lightning bolt insignia zap Kid Flash, transforming the costume he was wearing into a brand new one. Um, okay.

Since the new garb exposed his red hair—apparently a characteristic that could betray his secret identity—he used a special dye to turn it brown when he donned his costume. Luckily he could change his clothes and hair color in the blink of an eye. A prime example of why comic books are so wonderfully ridiculous!

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Iron, another one of the Metal Men!

Comic Cards Project: Day 22 • The Atom

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The Atom was physicist Ray Palmer, who acquired the ability to shrink to any size. He often used this ability to help his girlfriend, lawyer Jean Loring, with her cases. She turned down his many marriage proposals with the excuse that she wanted to prove that she could be a success before giving up her career and settling down. It boggles the mind that no one ever seemed to question this line of reasoning.

I suppose The Atom figured that by helping Jean become a success, he was hastening the day when she would agree to marry him. So much for selfless superheroes. He actually found plenty to do unrelated to Jean’s cases, a testament to the writers that they could come up with so much to occupy the Atom considering the limited demand for shrinkage.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Kid Flash!

Comic Cards Project: Day 21 • Wonder Woman

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After the comic book witch hunts of the 1950s when Wonder Woman was accused of being a lesbian, her publishers no longer seemed sure of what to do with her. It was unwholesome of her to fight against men so she resorted to bargaining with criminals—fulfilling some impossible mission in exchange for them turning themselves in. Yeah, right. It’s nice that the criminals the Amazon princess came up against were always such great sports.

Sometimes these honorable bad guys would try to trick her into marrying her boyfriend, Steve Trevor, for as everyone knew, married women didn’t work and Wonder Woman would have to quit her super job.

There were also stories where she would fight some kind of duplicate of herself, some based on her romantic entanglements, and others about her days as a girl on Paradise Island. But she never fought directly against anyone human because that would be unladylike. Apparently, the 50s and 60s were not a good time to be a feminist icon. (Thanks to Carol Strickland for her insights.)

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: The Atom!