Superman Family #172 is an issue of the series Superman Family (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1975.
Synopsis for Lois Lane: "The Cheat the Whole World Cheered"
Lex Luthor appears to save the world from a deadly menace and, as a reward, is pardoned for his crimes. He also appears to win the hand of Lois Lane, and intends to marry her on television with Superman acting as best man.
Appearing in Lois Lane: "The Cheat the Whole World Cheered"
Featured Characters:
- Lois Lane (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Superman (Flashback and main story)
- Green Lantern (Flashback only)
- Steve Lombard
- Morgan Edge
- Perry White
- Jimmy Olsen
- Oscar Asherman (Flashback and main story)
- Johnny Nevada
- Lola Barnett
Antagonists:
- Lex Luthor (Flashback and main story)
- Mick Moran (mobster) (Mentioned only)
- Henchmen (Impersonate Metropolis Police Department) (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Matt (doorman at Daily Planet building)
- Pop (newsstand operator at Daily Planet building)
- Warden at State Penitentiary (Flashback only)
- President of the United States (Flashback only)
- Justice League of America (Mentioned only)
- Flash (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Galaxy Communications
- Metro Observatory
- State Penitentiary
- North Pole
- Earth Orbit
- Washington, D.C.
- Luthor's Lair
Items:
- Icebergs
- Lex Luthor's Battle Array
- Satellites
- Time Dispenser
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Jimmy Olsen: "Love Me, Love My Beast"
This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #85.
Jimmy feels honored when a beautiful alien girl comes to Earth and chooses him for her personal escort, despite the presence of her beastly companion...not knowing that the "girl" is really an android and the alien is a parasite.
Appearing in Jimmy Olsen: "Love Me, Love My Beast"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Gnor (Dies)
- Shara (Flashback and main story) (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Amoeba
- Professor Potter (Mentioned only)
- Shark (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Playland Amusement Park
- Salan (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Age-Accelerator
- Bottle-City of Kandor (Mentioned only)
- Blue Kryptonite
- Giant Radio-Telescope
- Gold Kryptonite
- Green Kryptonite
- Growth-Beam
- Red Kryptonite
- White Kryptonite
Vehicles:
- Plane
- Space Ship (Flashback and main story)
Synopsis for Superman: "Superman Family Album"
Superman's photo album, containing pictures of his life and love, includes:
- Superman's meeting with Lois and the Lane family, and the time they almost married.
- Jimmy Olsen growing up in Smallville and meeting a young Clark Kent.
- Jimmy's father Mark as the Mayan god Kukulkan.
- The House of El families, on Krypton
- Supergirl on Argo City, then moving to Earth, finally revealed to the world in a parade.
- The triumphant moment of Zor-El and Allura's return from the Survival Zone.
- And finally, a photo of the moment that Superboy found the statues of the El Family Vault.
Appearing in Superman: "Superman Family Album"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Allura In-Ze (In picture only)
- Edna Danvers (In picture only)
- Ella Lane (In picture only)
- Fred Danvers (In picture only)
- Hal Rand (In picture only)
- Jimmy Olsen (In picture only)
- Jor-El (In picture only)
- Lara (In picture only)
- Lois Lane (In picture only)
- Lucy Lane (In picture only)
- Sam Lane (In picture only)
- Zor-El (In picture only)
Other Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen's Mother (In picture only)
- Kukulkan (In picture only)
- Gam-El (Statue only)
- Hatu-El (Statue only)
- Streaky (In picture only)
- Sul-El (Statue only)
- Tala-El (Statue only)
- Val-El (Statue only)
Locations:
Items:
- El Family Vault (In picture only)
Vehicles:
- Kryptonian Rocket (In picture only)
Synopsis for Supergirl: "The Kiss of Death"
This story is reprinted from Action Comics #364.
Linda Danvers's Ichthyology Professor, Ms. Vandarr, quits her teaching job to marry Count Durkla. Linda takes a picture of the bride but it comes out oddly blurry. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Ms. Vandarr unexpectedly dies when she kisses her new husband. Durkla bursts out in tears. Linda scans Vandarr and finds a strange radioactive tattoo on her arm.
Some while later, Supergirl saves a stunt diver called Dorah who has a radioactive tattoo identical to her ex-Professor's. Supergirl is shocked to learn that Dorah's fiancee is also Durkla; now a colonel. At their wedding, Dorah dies similarly after kissing Durkla and Supergirl decides to investigate.
Since both women were connected with water, Supergirl follows that lead and finds another tattoo-wearing victim -- a gondolier called Jacquella. Kara convinces Jacquella to take over Prof. Vandarr's former job and Jacquella accepts. She mentions that Vandarr and Dorah were her best friends and their killer was after her, even though she is innocent.
Supergirl duplicated her radioactive tattoo, and posed as Jacquella. A few days later, Durkla turned up, posing as an Arabian sheik. He had followed his ring's geiger counter to the tattoo's radiation. Supergirl plays along when Durkla romances her and accepts his wedding proposal.
On their wedding day, Kara learns that Durkla didn't kill with a kiss; but with a poison wedding ring. The needle shatters against her skin, but Kara plays dead. Once Durkla had been left alone with her, Kara learns that he was an executioner of a water world named Valair. There, the three women had been undersea pirates and when they were caught, their radioactive tattoos ensured that they could be tracked, and Durkla was appointed their executioner. Unfortunately, the trio broke jail, escaped from Valair, and headed to Earth.
The truth exposed, Supergirl declares that she will not let Durkla get Jacquella until she checks her claim that Jacquella was innocent. Durkla protests, as Jacquella has been tried and sentenced fairly, but Supergirl flew off.
Supergirl took Jacquella to the Fortress of Solitude, where the gondolier claims that she was framed by her cousin -- the real Jacquella -- and that she didn't even know the first two victim-brides. Supergirl leaves Jacquella alone in the Fortress; where she could't help but steal a bunch of gems while Supergirl secretly watches her. She'd become suspicious when Jacquella said she didn't know her partners, yet just days before, she'd called them her best friends. Tricked into showing her true colors, Jacquella tries to escape across the top of a (strangely uninsulated) vat of liquid helium, and falls to her frozen death.
Supergirl brings Jacquella's frozen body to Durkla, and he returns to Valair with the three dead women after fulfilling his planet's brand of nuptual justice.
Appearing in Supergirl: "The Kiss of Death"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Durkla (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- College Co-Eds
- Terror Trio
- Prof. Vandarr (First appearance; dies)
- Dorah (First appearance; dies)
- Jacquella (First appearance; dies)
- Superman (Mentioned only)
- Oscar Wilde (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth
- Arctic Circle
- Fortress of Solitude
- Cryogenic Laboratory
- Fortress of Solitude
- United States of America
- Stanhope
- Dump
- Stanhope College
- Tunnel of Luminous Fish
- Wedding Chapel
- Stanhope
- Arctic Circle
- Krypton (Mentioned only)
- Planet Valair
Items:
- Freeze Bomb
- Geiger Counter
- Illusion Ray
- Liquid Helium
- Meteor Gems of Rigel
- Planetarium
- Polaroid Camera
- Poisoned Wedding Ring
- Stanhope Sentinel Newspaper
- X-Rays
Vehicles:
- Cadillac Limousine
- Durkla's Space-craft
- Gondola
- Terror Trio's Space-craft
Notes
- In "The Cheat the Whole World Cheered", Johnny Nevada reveals that his real name is Arnold Nadakowski.