LOIS LANE (SUPERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND)

Dates: 1 Mar/Apr 1958-12 Oct 1959 (all ND); 13 Nov 1959-137 Sep/Oct 1974
Issues: CLICK HERE to view issues, super-size cover images and values in 9 grades

Really annoyng that US guides list this title as Superman's Girfriend, Lois Lane. The main character is Lois Lane (like the Jimmy Olsen title) and for ease of listing and finding, should be listed under the main character name. So there.

The first officially distributed issue of Lois Lane in the UK was #13. So issues #1-12 can only be cents copies. The British priced variant copy has a 9d (ninepence) or 10d (tenpence) cover stamp. Otherwise they are exactly the same as the American issues, printed at the same time on the same paper. There is a single additional distributor's line added in the indicia.

The British-priced variants are considerably rarer than their US cents counterparts as it is thought that only 2-3% of the print run was put aside for export to the UK and whatever was left over was sent to South Africa and Australasia.

If you collected Superman, you were more likely to collect Lois Lane for the Superman appearances and additional information to the Superman Family Universe.  The Lois Lane title has an appeal for the very clean artwork of Kurt Schaffenberger and the quirky stories where aliens from another dimension might declare their love for Lois and bend a lampost into a giant engagement ring!

Early distributed issues (#13-30) seems to be generally scarcer than, say, Jimmy Olsen comics. Were more thrown away when they first came out or were fewer distributed as it was deemed more of a girls' comic than a boys' and importers may have felt that less would sell? Early British copies just do not seem to turn up much and certainly not in very high grade.

 

Total value for all issues of this title listed:

Condition

PR
1.0
FR
1.5
GD
2.0
VG
4.0
FN
6.0
VF
8.0
VF/NM
9.0
NM-
9.2
NM
9.4
MINT
10.0
Issues 137 137 136 137 137 137 137 137 137
Total £ 539.02 1,060 1,580 3,270 6,020 13,990 26,890 33,630 40,380 Total title value in pounds in UK markets
Total $ 896.80 1,760 2,600 5,440 10,160 22,390 43,160 53,970 64,800 Total title value in dollars in US markets

Note: some PR issues may have no value. Selected issues in FN, VF or VF/NM may not exist in some titles.