SUPERMAN: THE WEDDING ALBUM #1, DC Comics, December 1996
Kept the biggest for last. Part 5 of the wedding series looks at Superman and Lois Lane's wedding. It's a big shebang written and drawn by everybody who's worked on the Superman books since 1986 and even before. It's like they couldn't decide who should do it, so they drew lots. I'm guessing Jon Bogdanove was sad to get handed Lois' shower and the tux fitting, but maybe I'm just projecting my own feelings onto others again. It IS nice to see John Byrne do a few pages of Superman again, after being responsible for rebooting the Man of Steel in the mid-80s.
If you're a fan of the Superman movies, then you remember him getting married to Lois in Superman II. Or if you're Lois, you don't remember, cuz a Kryptonian kiss tends to wipe your memory clean. (Stupid, stupid movies.) But history repeats itself, because while in the movies, Superman lost his powers when he married Lois (STUPID!), here, he's weakened because of the Final Night crossover in which the sun was blocked out for days and he couldn't recharge his powers. So since he's got nothing to do for a while, he asks Lois to marry him.
This 64-page monster special has everything: buying the ring, bachelor and bachelorette parties, fittings (no less than 5 dresses by 5 different artists for Lois - her mom hates all the sexy ones), getting the license, talking to the in-laws... there's nothing too boring about weddings that this book won't show! Now I know the size of Pa Kent's waist (42 inches)!
But there's action too! There's a flashback where Superman fights a fire (padding of the worst sort), a motorcycle gang crashes the bachelor party, Mr. Mxyzptlk pays a visit to Clark Kent, and Ma Kent drops a coffee pot on the floor... can Clark get to it in time? (Answer: Nope.) Lois Lane actually kicks the most ass here when she beats up four criminals. Her weapons? Wedding dress, wedding cake and a killer bottle of champagne. I'm not making this stuff up:
Superman has to fight the same guys later and has to get his ass bailed out of trouble by Batman (who generously gives him a big apartment as a wedding gift... Batman's a softie, isn't he?).
I know I'm making it sound bad, but it's really not. It's got a light touch, and some of the humor - mostly surrounding Lois' sitcom mom - stands up well. For geeky fanboys like me, there are plenty of references to Superman continuity, names of Superman writers and artists plugged into signs, and catchphrases inserted into dialogue. So I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this. Doesn't really Jump the Shark. Not really Cool. Definitely not Hot or Trippy, but not Crap either. Well, if the Shark means "lame" and "overrated", and I guess it is that.
Kept the biggest for last. Part 5 of the wedding series looks at Superman and Lois Lane's wedding. It's a big shebang written and drawn by everybody who's worked on the Superman books since 1986 and even before. It's like they couldn't decide who should do it, so they drew lots. I'm guessing Jon Bogdanove was sad to get handed Lois' shower and the tux fitting, but maybe I'm just projecting my own feelings onto others again. It IS nice to see John Byrne do a few pages of Superman again, after being responsible for rebooting the Man of Steel in the mid-80s.If you're a fan of the Superman movies, then you remember him getting married to Lois in Superman II. Or if you're Lois, you don't remember, cuz a Kryptonian kiss tends to wipe your memory clean. (Stupid, stupid movies.) But history repeats itself, because while in the movies, Superman lost his powers when he married Lois (STUPID!), here, he's weakened because of the Final Night crossover in which the sun was blocked out for days and he couldn't recharge his powers. So since he's got nothing to do for a while, he asks Lois to marry him.
This 64-page monster special has everything: buying the ring, bachelor and bachelorette parties, fittings (no less than 5 dresses by 5 different artists for Lois - her mom hates all the sexy ones), getting the license, talking to the in-laws... there's nothing too boring about weddings that this book won't show! Now I know the size of Pa Kent's waist (42 inches)!
But there's action too! There's a flashback where Superman fights a fire (padding of the worst sort), a motorcycle gang crashes the bachelor party, Mr. Mxyzptlk pays a visit to Clark Kent, and Ma Kent drops a coffee pot on the floor... can Clark get to it in time? (Answer: Nope.) Lois Lane actually kicks the most ass here when she beats up four criminals. Her weapons? Wedding dress, wedding cake and a killer bottle of champagne. I'm not making this stuff up:
Superman has to fight the same guys later and has to get his ass bailed out of trouble by Batman (who generously gives him a big apartment as a wedding gift... Batman's a softie, isn't he?).I know I'm making it sound bad, but it's really not. It's got a light touch, and some of the humor - mostly surrounding Lois' sitcom mom - stands up well. For geeky fanboys like me, there are plenty of references to Superman continuity, names of Superman writers and artists plugged into signs, and catchphrases inserted into dialogue. So I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this. Doesn't really Jump the Shark. Not really Cool. Definitely not Hot or Trippy, but not Crap either. Well, if the Shark means "lame" and "overrated", and I guess it is that.
Comments
(Sort of sad that you didn't hit any Legion or Titans weddings during this sequence...)
While I agree that it's not terrible, it's really one big "Eh" to me even when I was a giant Superman whore at the time.
No offense, but that's really a very common misconception. DC had already decided to marry Superman and Lois but had to postpone the arc since the TV show had just started and needed time to catch up. My source for this is found on the "special features" on the "Lois and Clark" DVD. "Lois and Clark" took the idea from DC, not the other way around.
Gerry Beritela