Superman #275
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSuperman #275 is the first appearance of Lola Barnett, the WGBS-TV gossip columnist who became a recurring presence in Clark Kent's Bronze Age world for over a decade. Modeled transparently on real-life celebrity reporter Rona Barrett, Lola was DC's attempt to keep the Superman supporting cast feeling contemporary with the era's television culture, following the earlier decision to move Clark from the Daily Planet to a TV news anchor role. Her debut also spotlights how writer Cary Bates used the expanded WGBS cast — anchored by Morgan Edge — to build a workplace ensemble around Clark that felt distinct from the Silver Age newspaper milieu. When John Byrne rebooted Superman's continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths, the post-Crisis writer Marv Wolfman essentially recast Lola's function in the Superman books with Cat Grant, making this issue the sole origin of a character type that the franchise has never fully abandoned.
In "The Dragonfly Invasion of Metropolis!", Superman is drawn into a mysterious telepathic link with Mark Hall when Lola Barnett, a galactic broadcaster, publicly exposes their connection. As Superman scrambles to locate Hall’s missing brother, his efforts repeatedly disrupt the filming of a Japanese movie production in Metropolis.
In a shimmering glass forest on a distant world, Princess Reena ventures into the glowing trees and faces a thought monster that stalks her through the crystalline canopy. As she climbs a towering glass treeman, she catches sight of a kiri-bird—its flight setting off a chain of events that brings the reclusive tree-sounder El-Kin into her path. When the bird leads him to her side, he must confront the creature that haunts the forest, not with force, but with the quiet power of perception. The bond between the princess and the sounder grows in the aftermath, as the kiri-bird watches from the garden, silent once more.
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The issue was produced under editor Julius Schwartz during DC's early Bronze Age expansion of the Superman line, a period when Schwartz and his writers were actively refreshing Clark Kent's civilian identity around the WGBS-TV setting introduced in Superman #233 (1971). The lead story's credits — script by Cary Bates, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Vince Colletta — have been confirmed directly from Schwartz's own editorial records provided to the Grand Comics Database by DC Comics. The back-up 'Fabulous World of Krypton' installment was scripted by Elliot S! Maggin with pencils by Curt Swan and inks by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin, with those credits similarly verified through Schwartz's records. Nick Cardy, who was DC's dominant cover artist of the era, provided the cover.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Lola Barnett, WGBS-TV gossip columnist and recurring member of Clark Kent's Bronze Age supporting cast.
- Lola Barnett was partially inspired by real-life celebrity TV reporter Rona Barrett, whose name and physical appearance she echoes.
- Lead story: 'The Dragonfly Invasion of Metropolis!' — script by Cary Bates, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Vince Colletta.
- Back-up story: 'The Princess and the Glass Treeman!' (part of the 'Fabulous World of Krypton' feature) — script by Elliot S! Maggin, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin; features Lara telling a Kryptonian folk tale to the young Kal-El.
- Morgan Edge appears as Lola's boss, establishing her place in the WGBS hierarchy alongside Clark Kent.
- The Elliot S! Maggin back-up story was later reprinted in The Best of DC #40 (September 1983).
- A Mark Jeweler advertisement insert variant of this issue exists.
- Lola Barnett was erased from continuity by Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–86); the post-Crisis character Cat Grant was created by Marv Wolfman to fill a similar role in the Superman books.
Cast · 4 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Superman #20/1974 (1974), Superman #21/1974 (1974), Superman Supacomic #185 (1975), Supermann #2/1976 (1976), Supermann #13/1977 (1977), Superman Poche #21 (1979), The Best of DC #40 (1983), Superman: Cover to Cover #[nn] (2006)
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