SUPERGIRL WEEK!
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Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, is out this week, so we’ve gathered up the 13th Dimension crew to bring you our first-ever SUPERGIRL WEEK! Click here for more high-flying features!
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By JIM BEARD
As comic-book fans, we tend to get collectively all high-and-mighty when it comes to change. Why can’t things just stay the same — like costumes, for instance?
Well, when it comes to the Supergirl’s situation, after sixty-seven years, a Maid of Might just wants to have fuh-un and a costume change might be just the ticket.
Mike Sekowsky pencils, Dick Giordano inks
Look at it this way: Not being quite as iconic a character as her admittedly more well-known and practically deified cousin, Supergirl can get away with it—and so she has, many times over. In fact, she’s had enough sartorial switch-ups that we’re able to offer a run-down of 13 favorite costumes from among her own choices over the decades.
Pull up a chunk of kryptonite and settle in, Streaky. Things may get a little weird here and there—we’re looking at you, 1970s—but you’ve got a Supergirl on your shoulder as we look through the closet of one of the greatest heroines of all time.
(Plus, check out our pal Bill Morrison, whose MORRISON MONDAYS column this week features Supergirl paper dolls. Perfect timing!)
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13. Pirate Boots (Adventure Comics #415, 1972). Part of Kara’s early ’70s push to try out several new costumes suggested by readers, this kooky ensemble only lasted for a single issue, but it has super-spunk and sass, and that’s all it needed to land on this list.
Bob Oksner
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12. Super-Swimsuit (Adventure Comics #409, 1971). It’s been called weird, it’s been called structurally and gravitationally impossible; just make sure you call it for dinner, because this one’s a hip flip on the super-switch and I’m diggin’ it.
Giordano
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11. A Suit to Pant For (Adventure Comics #412, 1971). Funny how it took Kara (or her readers) 12 years after her debut to realize what she needed was a pair of pants. Oh, well; it took even longer for Melissa Benoist’s dressers to figure it out, too.
Oksner
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10. Coming in First (Superman #123, 1958). She was the first, a “Super-Girl” to test the waters with readers, and she set off the chain reaction that not only led to Kara Zor-El, but also set the stage for a look that would eventually become the Supergirl standard years later, high-heeled boots and all.
Curt Swan pencils, Stan Kaye inks
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9. Rebirth (Supergirl: Rebirth #1, 2016). Clean, smart, simple, perfect for a super-debutante ball. Supergirl came full circle with this one, channeling the Melissa Benoist TV series, which of course had channeled the comics, etc.
Adam Hughes variant
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8. The Little Screen (Supergirl, 2015). Speaking of Melissa Benoist, you have to admit she looked damn good in the role, rockin’ the “S” with her thigh-highs, dark nylons, and thumb-loops. The show lasted for an admirable six seasons, complete with a costume change of its own at one point.
Benoist
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7. Enter… the Matrix (Superman #16, 1988). After the barnacles were stripped away from the Super-saga, a Supergirl was suddenly deemed necessary again, and that “Super-Girl” style from 30 years earlier found new life, albeit with a little Eighties pizzazz.
John Byrne pencils, Stan Kaye inks
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6. Attitude Adjustment (Supergirl, 2026). C’mon, you knew this was going to come up, and rightly so. Millie Alcock’s Supergirl is the reason this list exists today, and we have to give the nod to her costume—something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…
Alcock
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5. Let’s Get Physical (The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #13, 1983). OK, now this list is getting real. The shoulder pads, the headband (which strangely didn’t debut here), the boot accents; this was a Supergirl costume to die for… oops, too soon?
Ed Hannigan pencils, Dick Giordano
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4. Hand in Glove (Adventure Comics#398, 1970). Roll with me on this one. It actually lasts for nine whole issues, chain-belt and all, so there’s got to be something about the look that made it last that long. The gloves were a bold choice, at least, right?
Mike Sekowsky pencils, poss. Mike Peppe inks
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3. Slater Surprises (Supergirl, 1984). I think, I hope, we can all agree on one thing here: Helen Slater, like Christopher Reeve before her, was pretty much a literal translation of the character from comic to silver screen. And she looks so damn good in that costume. The movie might have tanked, but Helen was perfection. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
Slater
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2. The OG (Action Comics #252, 1959). There’s just no way I can place this lower, the original Kara costume, the one that started it all. It loses a point for too much blue (the red skirt was a godsend when it finally appeared), but it must be acknowledged as the touchstone, the super-design for a super girl.
Swan pencils, Al Plastino inks
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1. Hot Pants! (Adventure Comics #410, 1971). In the middle of all the early-’70s costume change-up chaos, a little outfit debuted that would become the Supergirl style for a generation of Mego action figure fans. The choker, the hotpants, the V-neck, the off-center shield, the poofy sleeves, the delicate moccasins… maybe it’s dated now, probably even sexist, but for many of us, this is Supergirl. And it lasted for many years (though boots replaced the moccasins, natch).
Adventure Comics #411. Bob Oksner art.
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MORE
— The Complete SUPERGIRL WEEK Index of Columns and Features. Click here.
— What a Paper Doll! SUPERGIRL’s Swingin’ ’70s Fashion Show. Click here.
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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. Check out one of his best: The Old Origin Changeth!, available here.
