Signing Off on a Very Self-Centered, Twisted Girl

It wasn't until I decided to take us through this issue of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane -- issue #59 -- that I realized that she is consistently depicted as a delusional, manipulative bitch.

But is she really wacko?  ... The site Diffen.com explains the difference between sociopath and psychopath:

"Psychopathy and sociopathy are both anti-social personality disorders. While both these disorders are the result of an interaction between genetic predispositions and environmental factors, psychopathy leans towards the hereditary whereas sociopathy tends towards the environmental.

Psychopaths are born with temperamental differences such as impulsivity, cortical underarousal, and fearlessness that lead them to risk-seeking behavior and an inability to internalize social norms. On the other hand, sociopaths have relatively normal temperaments; their personality disorder being more an effect of negative sociological factors like parental neglect, delinquent peers, poverty, and extremely low or extremely high intelligence."
Wow ... the description of psychopathic behavior sure nails our girl:

• impulsive behavior
• risk-seeking behavior
• inability to internalize "normal: behavior

"On the nosie!" as somebody said in a Monty Python skis (I think).

The top of the last page of the comic is an ad for Cocoa Puffs.  Say, does "Gramps" still appear in Cocoa Puffs commercials on TV or in print?  I don't remember seeing him lately.

To my mind, the ad for the Lois Lane subscription seems targeted more towards the girls in the audience, as if to try and draw in more girl readers.  Make sense to me, in that there would be a natural cross-connection from boys reading other Superman titles towards reading this one.  But girls might be less likely to go for the title, unless the ads played up the heartbreak side of the stories?  After all, in the fine Schaffenberger panel seen in the illo, Lois appears like any wronged woman whose story might be featured in a tearjerker mag.  No Superman in sight here!

 Junior Sales Club of America wants you for a sucker in their pyramid scheme.

When I read these ads trying to get kids to try and sell greeting cards, I always counted the people at the top.  "Just 10 people ..."  Actually, the baby makes eleven ... but it probably has little disposable income.

Me, I was always too shy to think I would succeed at any of these schemes.

*                             *                          *                       *                          *                         *

Well, Folks, this has been a tour through issue #59 of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, from 1965.

As Heckle and Jeckle used to say, "See ya next week with a brand NEW show!"