Long Live the 70's

Ahhh, "relevancy." Remember those halcyon days, back in the 1970's, when DC decided to be all hip and trendy and make some of their comics more "socially" relevant?

Oh, not the main titles, of course. You can't have the Flash or Superman worry about housing for the poor while pounding on bad guys--that would spoil the escapism.

But the "side" titles...that was fair game. And while Jimmy Olsen spun off in the direction of super weirdness, (mainly thanks to Jack Kirby), Lois Lane decided to get all socially conscious on us.

It made sense...Lois was a reporter, after all, when she wasn't hounding Kal-El to marry her. That put her in touch with a lot of the "issues of the day." And with E. Nelson Bridwell editing, Robert Kanigher put out a string of some of the most spectacularly "PC" comics ever.

Let's start with #106, November 1970. Let's note for the record that the cover is 100% accurate, and the title of the story (unfortunately) is "I Am Curious (Black)."


Aside: Those of you old enough will remember that I Am Curious (Yellow) was a fairly infamous Swedish film of 1967, that was banned and seized by U.S. customs for nudity and "explicit" sex. It surreptitiously made the rounds of both art and porno theaters, and was quite famous for a film no one ever actually saw (even Gwen Stacy mentioned wanting to see it once!). So why, exactly, DC decided that made a good basis for the title of this story I'll never know (aside from the obvious color pun).


Anyway, the splash page declares "It's Today! It's Now! It's The Moment Of Truth!" Lois has been given the assignment of her life: to get the scoop on "Metropolis' black community." Gee, maybe the fact that Metropolis's' black community (there's only one?) is called "Little Africa" might be a reason for some of the resentment, eh?

Lois is unable to make any headway, because not one single black person in all of Little Africa will even speak to her. An activist dismisses her as "Whitey." Even an old blind woman walks away from her because (and I swear I'm not making this up) "When she heard me speak...she knew I was white!"

So, this being DC, Superman lets Lois use his "Plastimold" to make her a black woman, so she investgate the "nitty gritty" in Little Africa. And learn she does. With all the serious earnestness of an ABC Afterschool Special, Lois a) learns that ghetto landlords suck, b) gets close to the activist who called her Whitey, c) saves his life with a blood transfusion, d) learns that it is indeed hard out there for a pimp...oops, sorry e) and the activist learns that all white people aren't devils.

I'm damning this story with faint praise. It's actually pretty good, and 37 years ago it must have seemed pretty radical to some in it's audience. And while it comes off today with somewhat of a smug botique liberal attitude, it never oversells its points. SPOILER ALERT: We never find out if Lois gets her Pulitzer.

Far less successful, was #110:

The cover is much more symbolic this time, perhaps a sign that we're not going to get as good a story. Lois never dresses up in Indian clothes (although she should--that fringe is driving me wild!! Rrrrrrrr). There are protestors, but they never come close to stoning her. And Superman is mostly non-existent in the story, and certainly never urges Lois to give up "that Indian papoose."

She does, however, end up foster mother to a papoose. Really. The Daily Planet's budget must have been enormous, because they send Lois out to a "parched reservation near Santa Fe" to cover a Pueblo rain dance. Nice use of resources, Chief.

She ends up, though, covering the conflict between the Pueblo and evil land developers who are going to flood out their village. Singing Rain, the chief's sister, dies after hitting her head on a rock, and makes Lois promise to raise her infant, Little Moon, as her own (Little Moon's father, you see, is MIA in Vietnam). Lois promises, and takes the child back to Metropolis, where she gets all kinds of protestors: people saying single women shouldn't be raising children, American Indians (protesting in full tribal outfits) that "you stole our land--now you steal our children." It's a mess.

Then, on a bridge, a skidding "army truck" forces Lois' car into the water. With her last breath she shoves Little Moon to the surface to save him. But then, a GI from the truck dives in and saves her. Holy Coincidence, it's Joseph Bright Wing, Little Moon's father!! He had just escaped from a "VC prisoner of war camp!" He was on that truck, on his way to a "discharge center." At the exact time Lois was going off the bridge with that baby. Uncanny.

Again painfully earnest, this one lacks the impact of "I Am Curious (Black)" for a couple of reasons. It seems far more cartoony in its portrayal of Native Americans and their problems. And aside from Superman and Lois, virtually every white person in the book is virulently, stereotypically racist. Among our winning quotes:

It gets worse from there. We get it: white people suck.

Still, I shouldn't grade too harshly. The issues heart is in the right place. And again, for 37 years ago (sheesh, I'm old) it was probably ahead of its time.

Special Bonus: Clark Kent's kicky cravat. Long live the 70's, friends. Long live the 70's.