It’s JSApril! And to celebrate, Chris and Cindy from Super Mates and JLUCast are launching their new, occasional series looking at the Mr. and Mrs. Superman series from the pages of Superman Family, set on Earth-Two! This time they discuss the tale from issue #211, where the Kents attend the wedding of Batman and Catwoman!
Don’t miss the dozens of other bloggers and podcasters participating in JSApril! www.fireandwaterpodcast.com/jsapril #jsapril
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Clip credits:
“Mr. and Mrs. Superman” by Terry O’Malley, of Stop Calling Me Frank https://www.facebook.com/rockSCMF
Clip from The Adventures of Superman “The Wedding of Superman”, starring George Reeves and Noel Neil.
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Hi Chris and Cindy, thanks for doing this! I’ve been slowly discovering the many many podcasts you’ve been putting out over the years, especially enjoying your Starman Chronicles segment of Super-Mates. Also Chris, I always look forward to listening whenever I find a podcast with you and Ryan Daley together, always great analysis and a lot of fun. Thanks for your continued dedication!
Thanks for the kind words Ben! Cindy and I should really get back to The Starman Chronicles one day. If so, it will be here on the Justice Society Presents feed. Maybe after JLU is over, who knows? We both love Starman, but it’s so dense, jumping in and out of it makes it hard to podcast about, and feel like we’re doing it justice.
As for me and Ryan podcasting together…watch those skies! There just may be some kind of signal soon!
Great 1st ep, Franklins. However, it seems to abruptly end at the 20:50 mark. Is there a problem with the file?
Thanks for pointing that out Keith. It did indeed stop about 10 minutes short. Thanks to Siskoid for fixing that for us!!! The file is all there now. Sorry for the confusion!
Phew, I can now enjoy the rest.
Oh, man. It’s so great to hear you two talk about Bronze Age (or thereabouts) comics again – otherwise, I have to wait a year for your comics sections of the House of Franklinstein to get my fix.
Love the idea of reviewing these Mr. & Mrs. Superman back-ups. Even though I was never a regular reader of any Superman title back then (except, to some extent, DC Comics Presents), I did manage to read a few of them, and I always recall finding them light-hearted and enjoyable. And this one you covered is no exception – I like the use of Selina and Bruce’s wedding as a plot device, and having Lois and Clark do a bit of Nick & Nora as they try to find the culprit.
Looking forward to future installments.
Thanks Edo! Nick and Nora were definitely the vibe we got from this story. Where were you when I was doing the notes? 😉
Yay! The Franklins return to JSA Presents! This was a great addition to JSApril. I have a vague memory of this story related to the plot device of the two Kents. I bought plenty of Superman Family issues as a kid so I must have seen it there.
My Mrs. loves Lois and Clark and especially the Bruce and Selina relationship so I think I’ll encourage her to give this one a go too. Thanks!
The meta-ness of a couple listening to a couple talk about a comic featuring another couple at the wedding of ANOTHER couple sounds like a fun quadruple date night!
Great first episode, Franklins! Delightful story to introduce this series, but we all know the real joy is hearing your open flirting on the podcast. Never change!
Thanks Ryan, and we haven’t changed in 34 years, so we don’t plan to!
Earth 2. Sigh.
I’m so much happier here.
I’m betting that Dick Grayson would have got to be President.
That’s a good bet, considering he was in politics and was the US ambassador to South Africa. See, he had a lot of potential, DC!
Those Mr and Mrs Superman stories were always a fun read back in the day. You made them as fun as I remember. Enjoyable show. Sounds like you love those stories as mu h as I did back then.
Oh yeah, they are a hoot! Just good, fun comics. Glad you liked them and thanks so much for listening. More to come!
Chris and Cindy,
This is such a fun show! Your love of the Mr. And Mrs. Superman stories really shines through. I was smiling through the entire episode.
Thanks Sean! It’s fun to talk about fun comics!
Awesome episode Chris and Cindy! My mom still addresses snail mail like “Mr. And Mrs. Paul Kien” for a couple but if writing only to the wife she now has moved on to using her actual name. I think it was just “etiquette” to address things that way back in the day.
The story and conversation were great. I loved this feature and am so glad that you two are taking it on. It is amazing to me as well that there isn’t a nice little Mr and Mrs Superman trade paperback!
Looking forward to the next one!!
Yes, I think it was an etiquette thing back in the day as well. I don’t think the feature would be called that now, but it definitely puts it in the time frame of the 1950s!
In this year of Superman, we need a DC Finest collection of these stories. Get on it, DC!
Thanks for listening!
I remember this also a Mr and Mrs Batman might have been fun too.
If Julius Schwartz was still the Batman editor at this time, I find it quite possible he WOULD have done something like this as a backup somewhere. Maybe even in Batman Family/Detective?
Catwoman didn’t appear for 12 YEARS? I did not know that! Completely unthinkable today.
One of my favorite things about the Earth-2 heroes once I got into comics was that DC allowed them to age and grow–get married, have kids, show their age, and even die of course. I never read these strips, but they look great and if you squint you can sort of imagine them as a sitcom-esque follow-up to THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. It’s the early 60s, and Clark and Lois are now married and get into wacky, I LOVE LUCY-style shenanigans.
Great show, C&C Podcast Factory!
Yes, she was absent for 12 YEARS! How insane is that? And she reappeared first in a Lois Lane comic!
I always equate the Earth-Two Superman (sorry Kirk Alyn, love ya, but kid me never met you), so I can totally see, in a better world, a sequel series with him and Noel Neil acting out these stories. It’s why I inlcuded the clip at the beginning!
The C&C Podcast Factory is mastery and full of jams that have to be pumped ’til your ears get sore.
I really enjoyed the show.
Since I’ve been a Batman fan since I was five, I hate that the Batman/Catwoman-Bruce/Selina wedding was given such little real estate in the story, when Superman and Lois’s wedding on earth two got an entire issue. On the other hand, if DC had given readers a more developed Bat/Cat wedding story, we might not have gotten the absolutely brilliant B&B 197. Without hesitation, I crown B&B 197 as my favorite issue of the entire series, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE B&B.
BTW, I don’t like how the wedding was buried at the bottom of the cover. It wouldn’t have been very visible on the spinner rack. I didn’t get the issue until eBay, and I certainly would have bought the Bat/Cat wedding issue. Really, it is just odd that the wedding was in a Superman comic and not a Batman one.
Don’t fret about getting AARP stuff. I started getting mail from them when I was in my 30s, and I had a friend who started getting AARP stuff when we were still in high school.
Well, the actual wedding in Action #484 didn’t take up much real estate, because you had Colonel Future plotting, then the Wizard “destroying” Superman, Clark rising and becoming a more heroic journalist, then him and Lois falling in love, etc. Then after the wedding, all the resolution stuff that brought Superman back. We do see the wedding on the splash page of the Huntress origin story in DC Super Stars #17 as well.
B&B 197 is probably the BEST issue of that series. But my personal favorite is my favorite comic of all time, B&B #182. Both written by Alan Brennert!!!
Even though this is the standout story, Supergirl was the main draw in Superman Family at the time. Mr. and Mr.s Superman would take the spotlight a few times however. I’d say the reason the wedding is in this comic was Bridwell was just looking for history to mine for the stories, and Lois and Clark can be seen in the background of that wedding splash in DCSS #17. Although Bruce and Sellna’s wedding attire doesn’t match from story to story!
I failed to mention that Cindy and I covered that comic during the Secret Origins Redux run several year ago: https://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/secret-origins-redux-4-the-huntress/
I’m not sweating the AARP stuff. I earned these years. I get to be a grumpy old man now!
B&B 182 is a favorite of mine as well. I got my Robin of Earth Two action figure strictly because I love that issue so much.
Congrats on, and thanks for, an excellent new sub-show, from the opening quote to the happy ending, via the great theme song from Terry. I loved Mr and Mrs Superman, I’ve been nagging DC for a collection for years… DC’s Finest, anyone? The strip was the epitome of charm. I’ve worshipped Kurt Schaffenberger’s smooth stylings since I was a little boy a few years ago, and don’t recall him ever drawing the S-symbol this wonky outside of this strip, it was classic throughout his Lois Lane run. Presumably he was trying for a Golden Age look, but the shield changed so often it’s tough to get one we can all agree on.
What does ‘Wiggens’ mean, as used by Cindy?
We definitely need a DC’s Finest collection, Martin! And yes, I meant Schaffenberger’s Earth-Two “S” was a bit lopsided, but his Earth-One “S” is great. After we recorded, I remembered that Rich Buckler tended to draw it a bit more lopsided than even Kurt sometimes in All-Star Squadron and World’s Finest #271.
“Wiggens” basically means “mad” or “crazy”. I think Cindy picked that up from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Thank you!
Thanks, Martin!
The Batman-Superman friendship came about quite by accident. World’s Finest was an oversized book with more pages than a regular book. It cost a whopping 15 cents. With issue 71, the book reverted to standard size and cut back on the page count. That meant one feature would have to go. But the editor didn’t want to lose either character, since he was afraid it would hurt sales. That was why he decided to combine his bestselling characters into one feature.
Yes indeed. And we got decades of entertainment out of that decision! Those stories are canonized as Earth-One tales, but Roy Thomas let us know that Superman and Batman’s previous team-ups on the Man of Steel’s radio show counted in Earth-Two continuity in World’s Finest #271 (there’s that comic again)…even if he slightly contradicted it a bit in All-Star Squadron a bit later!
This was terrific, thank you! “Mr. & Mrs. Superman” was the main reason I picked up SUPERMAN FAMILY back in the day, and for years now I’ve been agitating DC to release a trade collecting all of the stories. I was told by a DC staffer a few years back that a collection was actually scheduled, but then there was a management change, and as is often the case in such circumstances, the pet projects of the previous regime were put on the back burner. I thought for sure they’d finally get around to it to coincide with the CW TV series, but they missed a golden opportunity with that.
OH MAN!!! That is heartbreaking to hear! We were that close! And yes the excellent and much missed Superman and Lois series being on the air was the perfect time to see this series get the proper collection treatment. Here’s hoping the Gunn film will goose more Superman collections, including this one!
Even as anti romance little kid I thought Superman and lois should be married ” WHat the hell else are they gonna do?
It sure beats endless stories of her trying to expose him and him cruely pranking her to near madness!
well that’s good for selling THIS issuse I MEAN you WAnnA read the story where lois is a purple drAGON on Cover but you may not be back for Lois marries evil Kinevel!
Chris & Cindy – This was absolutely delightful! I’m not familiar with these strips at all, so it was a joy discovering these adventures through your episode.
And so excited to have even more excellent JSA related content on the JSA PRESENTS feed!
Looking forward to your next installment!
Thanks Shag! We’re happy to pinch hit for your excellent JSA series. I hear you have an especially engaging guest in the next episode. 😉
This was fantastic Fun. I realise there is SO much of those Dollar Comics and other anthology series in the 70s and 80s I had no idea about, so it was a delight to hear about this.
Looking forward to future episodes!
Yeah, the Dollar Comics are full of great little gems. More of these books need to be available both digitally and in print! Thanks for listening!
Thank you for using my song! Your podcasts inspire me! Regarding Lois asking Clark about spending; back then, women were not allowed to own their own credit card. Lois may have had a charge account at some stores in Metropolis, but the money was very likely tied to Clark’s bank account. Even if they had a joint account, I bet the bank would have wanted the husband to be in control if the money. I believe there are some current elected office-holders who would like this to return. Don’t put the blame on Roy Thomas for shared surnames! It was E. Nelson Bridwell who pointed out the Dent/Kent switch in the introduction to Batman: From the 30’s to the 70’s. He also connected Fawcett’s Freddy Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr.) with Quality’s Kit Freeman (Kid Eternity), by establishing them as brothers once they were the property of DC! And Tom DeFalco connected Roy (Speedy) Harper to Jim (Guardian) Harper in a Jimmy Olsen story. Both before Roy came (back) to DC!
Thanks again for the theme Terry! Good point on the old antiquated ways…which should stay that way.
And you make a valid point that Roy isn’t the only writer who likes to make those familal connections, but he’s always the first to spring to my mind anyway!
I still say Ronnie and Roy Raymond need to be related. I mean, Balloon Blooming Buster?
I just assumed they were!
Great show, Cindy and Chris. Love the idea of covering this series as you want, not beholden to the order. I always liked Mr. and Mrs. Superman as this Dick Van Dyke show style look at the golden age. This story was pretty fun, well, except for the poor bastard who got his fellas blasted with x-ray vision from point blank range. Take it easy, Clark! Looking forward to new episodes!
Thanks Brett! Dick Van Dyke is a good analogy too.
Yeah, there won’t be a Mr. and Mrs. THAT Guy series based on Clark’s rampant X-Raying!
Can’t remember any of the comments I thought of when I listened, but I enjoyed it! Thanks for doing this, both of you. I enjoyed the Mr. and Mrs. Superman stories I caught growing up, but I especially appreciated the fact that DC would do them — just the existence of the strip, you know? It runs counter to what any marketer might expect to be commercial, I think.
I agree, it’s kind of an anti-commercial move, and potentially confusing for readers with two versions of Superman and Lois running around in one title, but I think in some ways comic editors (especially Schwartz) had a higher regard for his audience’s intelligence to be able to quickly suss out what was going on.
I’m glad it exists to! More to come!