31 Days of Comics: Day 17 – Comic That Makes You Think Of Somebody

May has become the go-to month of the Comic’s Industry (even though National Superhero Day is late April, but whatever… Congress… pshaw).  It is when Marvel drops their big movie of the year.  May also sees the annual Free Comic Book Day celebration take place on the first Saturday of the Month, so I hope you all got to check that out.  May also has 31 days of the month so what better way to celebrate the wonderful world of sequential art with the 31 Days of Comics?

Seth Hahne, who runs the blog GoodOkBad, has put together the 31 Days of Comics challenge.  A daily challenge in which you are given a category and you have to fill it with a comic that you think fits it the best.  You’re all on the internet, I shouldn’t have to explain it to you.  For the rest of the month I will be taking this challenge.  It is my hope it encourages others to make and share their own lists either in the comments here or on their own websites.  The sharing not only might turn comic fans on to works they have yet to sample but maybe catch the eye of a few non-comic fans and highlight the diversity of the form. 

Our prompt for Day 17 is “A comic that makes you think of somebody.”

Superman (Volume 2) #59 “Superman’s Fiancé Lois Lane”

Written by Dan Jurgens

Pencils by Dan Jurgens

Inks by Brett Breeding

Colors by Preta Scotese

Letters by John Costanza

I really wanted to go for a joke here. 

I wanted to pick a Rob Liefeld comic and say it reminded me of my friend Tricia because she’s always late.

I wanted to pick a Spider-Man comic and say it reminded me of my friend Peter because he got bitten by a radioactive spider.

But at the end of the day this is list is about really showing love for the comics medium and exposing people to stuff they didn’t know about.

So I pick the most famous comic book character ever.  Go figure.

It’s amazing that despite Superman’s history two of my favorite Superman stories deal with him sitting down and talking.  Superman #59, despite having one of the worst titles for a story ever, basically involves Superman and Lois having a six hour conversation.

And it is pretty amazing.

The plot basically revolves around Lois and Clark’s relationship and the struggle they have to find time to spend time with each other given the fact that his second job involves saving everybody in the world on a consistent basis.  Clark attempts to take the time however and decided to fly Lois up on top of Mt. Fuji to discuss the unique aspects of their relationship. 

The reason they have the time to talk for 6 hours is that one of the Linear Men, a group that is charged with monitoring the space-time continuum, has decided to make up for the fact that they sent him on a six month journey through the time stream by freezing time around them. (Hilariously against the wishes of the other Linear Men).

If this story was done today it would be a six issue arc, with each issue representing an hour of the conversation.  Jurgens does a perfect job going in and out of the conversation and showing us the highlights.  The biggest question hanging in the air is how can Lois deal with the fact that Clark is Superman?  On one hand she has the same need and drive that all of us do, to feel like we are valued and a priority.  On the other hand she is smart enough to realize that the world needs Superman.  How can she synthesize those two thoughts? 

While I am not Superman, as far as you know, I can’t help but think about myself and my wife when reading this comic.  My day job can take a lot of time and often demands some crazy hours.  I’m pretty sure that not everybody could deal with it as my partner.  But my wife understands the importance of what I do and how much I love doing it.  She shows the patience, love, understanding, and compassion that Lois does.  And I love her for that.