SUPERGIRL WEEK: 13 MEMORABLE TALES from Kara Zor-El’s earliest days…
Action Comics #360 (Mar.-Apr. 1968, DC). Cover art by Curt Swan (pencils) and George Klein (inks).
—
Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, is out, so we’ve gathered up the 13th Dimension crew to bring you our first-ever SUPERGIRL WEEK! Click here for more high-flying features!
—
By PETER BOSCH
The new Supergirl movie has hit the big screenm and here at 13th Dimension, we’re celebrating it with a SUPERGIRL WEEK, something the Girl of Steel has deserved for a very long time.
For my part, I quite happily volunteered to cover her earliest years, from landing on Earth to Superman revealing her existence to the world three years later. Supergirl may have been second banana to the Man of Steel for many years since her debut on the newsstands on March 31, 1959, in Action Comics #252, but she’s always been a fun character on her own.
First off, Supergirl was a co-creation of writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. It truly is impossible to think of anyone better suited to write the adventures of the Girl of Steel than Binder because among his co-creations were two other super-heroines, Mary Marvel at Fawcett and Miss America at Timely/Marvel.
Writer Otto Binder between two of his other comic book heroine creations. Mary Marvel Comics #1 (Dec. 1945, Fawcett); cover art by Jack Binder (older brother of Otto). Miss America Comics #1 (Timely/Marvel, 1944); cover art by Ken Bald.
There may have been some jaded Superman readers who wondered if this was something that really would last any length of time. (Or if it was even real, since Action Comics #252 went on sale the day before April Fool’s Day.) Any doubt they may have had was certainly reasonable, as the idea of a Supergirl (or “Super-Girl”) was not new — and each time it turned out to be a one-and-done character:
Prior “Supergirls”: Superboy #5 (Nov.-Dec. 1944; unconfirmed penciler; Stan Kaye, inker) and Superman #123 (Aug. 1958; Swan, penciler, and Kaye, inker), the latter of which was written by Binder.
And, a mere two years before – in 1957 – the Superman daily newspaper strip ran the story of “Myrtle Pepper, Super-Girl.” However, that young woman was 180 degrees from Kara Zor-El. In the story, an unconscious Myrtle receives an emergency transfusion of Clark Kent’s blood and wakes up with his powers and her own hellcat personality, with its “dese-and-dems” vocabulary.
Three strips from the 1957 “Myrtle Pepper, Super-Girl” storyline in the Superman daily newspaper feature. Pencils by Curt Swan, unknown inker (but probably Stan Kaye). (The writer was likely Alvin Schwartz, who scripted many of the strip stories from 1944 through 1958.)
Kara Zor-El, though, was special. She was blood relations with Superman – his first cousin – something no other Supergirl could claim.
In adding her to Action Comics, DC took one of the best backup strips, Tommy Tomorrow, and moved it over to World’s Finest Comics. (A young Tommy does show up later in the Supergirl story in Action Comics #255.) And, several months later, the other remaining backup feature, Congorilla, was sent to Adventure Comics in order to provide more pages for Supergirl’s stories.
So, let’s look back at 13 memorable tales (in order of publication date), from the time of Kara Zor-El’s arrival on Earth through when Superman finally introduced her to the world. Enjoy!
(All story art by Jim Mooney unless otherwise noted.)
—
1. Action Comics #252, “The Supergirl from Krypton!” (May 1959). From the moment, the young teen emerged unscathed from her crashed rocket, she became the most powerful girl in the universe. Cover art by Swan (pencils) and Al Plastino (inks). Writer: Otto Binder; interior art by Al Plastino.
Kara embodied the best of humanity in one person. Oh, and she was a romantic, too…
—
2. Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #14, “Lois Lane’s Secret Romance!” (Jan. 1960). Kara wanted happy endings through adoption for other children at Midvale Orphanage… even though she was under strict instruction to not get adopted herself so she could remain in training as Superman’s secret weapon. Linda was very inventive when it came to helping others and… and… wait! She had a wonderful idea! What if Superman and Lois married?! They could adopt her! It would just take a little manipulating by Kara the matchmaker. (Script by Siegel. Art by Kurt Schaffenberger.)
While Supergirl’s plan didn’t work out that time, there was an imaginary story a few months later, in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #20 (Oct. 1960) where Clark and Lois did get married and adopted her as Linda… but it ended unhappily. Krypto also decided to try his hand — er, paw — at being Cupid in Superman #142 (Jan. 1961), but Supergirl doubted he could achieve a happy ending for Lois. She was right.)
—
3. Superboy #80, “Superboy Meets Supergirl!” (April 1960). A nicely told story (by Jerry Siegel, with art by Curt Swan) about Supergirl and Superboy, two super-powered youths in different time periods, both of whom feel lonely. Each dares not play with others of their own age because they might accidentally reveal their secret identities. Supergirl, always filled with bright ideas, flies back to Superboy’s time and lets him know she is his cousin from the future. He was very willing to accept this and says, “You came into the past, so we could super-romp together! Swell!!”
And off they go, racing each other through the cosmos, leap-frogging over comets, and playing hide-and-seek within the flames of the sun — and, oh, yes, they also take time to stop an alien space force.
However, when Supergirl is ready to return to her own time, she suddenly realizes he couldn’t be allowed to remember her. What to do?
—
4. Action Comics #267, “The Three Super-Heroes” (Aug. 1960). Linda is approached by three separate teenagers who address her as “Supergirl.” If this sounds exactly like what happened to young Clark Kent two years before by members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), you are absolutely correct.
Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy ask her to apply for membership. She is delighted, goes with them to the 30th century, completes her very impressive initiation test and is given the results of her application immediately…
(Written by Siegel.) The following year, in Action Comics #276 (May 1961), she gets a second chance and wins membership — as does another new applicant, Brainiac 5, who promptly falls in love with her.
—
5. Superman #140, “The Son of Bizarro!” (Oct. 1960). This full-issue story from Binder featured Bizarros (his co-creation with artist George Papp), a Bizarro baby that looked human, Supergirl AND a Bizarro Supergirl, plus much more. While the tale started out humorously, it turned serious very quickly, leading up to a Bizarro world vs. Earth war over the child. Script by Binder. Art by Wayne Boring (pencils) and Kaye (inks).
—
6. In Action Comics #270 (Nov. 1960), we got two stories with Supergirl. In the main Superman feature, on a visit to do a piece on Midvale Orphanage, Clark is given a something by Linda to read later. It is a fictional tale about what she thinks her life could be like in the future as Superwoman. Kent falls asleep reading it at home and has a bleak dream about the coming years – his thoughts, not hers – when he is a very old man and Kara, as Superwoman, has taken over his role as Metropolis’ great protector, and, as Linda Lee, has filled his role of Daily Planet star reporter.
He feels forgotten by everyone except an elderly Lois, who will always love him. When Clark wakes up, he sends the present-day Lois a bouquet of roses with Superman’s name attached. She wonders aloud why he did it and Clark replies that maybe Superman realizes how lonely old age can be if he has no companion by his side.
Script by Siegel. Cover art by Swan (pencils) and Kaye (inks).
—
7. The same issue’s “Supergirl’s Busiest Day” starts with a boring orphanage day for Linda. Superman is on a secret mission away from Earth and she feels envious of his getting to perform super-deeds all the time. Her thoughts are suddenly interrupted when she discovers Krypto has been captured by a spaceship. Acting in Superman’s place, she rescues him. On her way back to the orphanage, Supergirl gets a strong mental call from Lori Lemaris to help save Atlantis’ citizens from Malo, a powerful criminal who has stolen Neptune’s ancient magical trident to subjugate them. Supergirl rushes to their aid and defeats the would-be dictator.
She returns to the orphanage to relax, but then hears an emergency radio broadcast cut-in from Batman, who is trapped with Robin in the Batcave after it collapsed — and they are dying from suffocation! She rescues them without the Dynamic Duo seeing her (since they are unaware of her existence).
That night, when she is finally – FINALLY! – able to rest on her bed at the orphanage, Superman suddenly contacts her via super-ventriloquism, commanding her to come immediately to him at the Fortress of Solitude. When she arrives, he demands she take off her costume. She does so, fearing he is angry about something. However:
—
8. Action Comics #272-273, “The Second Supergirl” (Jan. and Feb. 1961). In a two-issue story, Supergirl meets Marvel Maid, her exact duplicate on a distant world called Terra. Script by Binder.
There are many similarities between Earth and Terra but there are also differences — one of which is that Marvel Maid is Terra’s greatest hero, while the Superman-lookalike there, Marvel Man, is her secret weapon.
—
9. Action Comics #278, “The Unknown Supergirl” (July 1961). The longest-running continuing story – and the most dramatic – in her early Action Comics run was a five-part tale from issues #278 through #282. The first chapter had Superman finally ready to reveal her existence to the world when…
Even a Girl of Steel is vulnerable to heartbreak. (Script by Siegel.)
The answer to her last question lay in the next issue.
—
10. Action Comics #279, “Supergirl’s Secret Enemy!” (Aug. 1961). In Issue #279 (Aug. 1961), we discover the person behind stealing her powers is Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar. While she is a brilliant woman who is very successful in the bottle city with her inventions, Lesla-Lar is an egomaniac who hates the thought that Supergirl will receive greater acclaim than she when Kara is revealed to the world. In this issue and the next three, she begins taking over Supergirl’s place in the world — and brainwashes Kara into becoming “Lesla-Lar” in Kandor.
On the other hand, Linda finally gets adopted! (Script: Siegel.)
—
11. Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #57, “Jimmy Olsen Marries Supergirl!” (Dec. 1961). Outside of Superman, the most frequent DC character to interact with Supergirl was Jimmy Olsen, starting within Issue #40 (Oct. 1959) of his own comic, when he was temporarily blind. The next time was in #44 (Apr. 1960) when he still could not see her because they were in a darkened room and she kissed him to remove his curse of being a werewolf. Two issues later (#46, July 1960), he had amnesia so he didn’t remember her.
And then came #57, by Siegel, Swan and Kaye (with a Swan/Kaye cover). With this story – an imaginary one – Supergirl is exposed to Red Kryptonite, loses her powers and all memory of ever being Supergirl. As Linda, she falls in love with Jimmy and marries him. When the Red K effects wear off, her memory and powers return — but she’s concerned about telling Jimmy that he also married Supergirl. “I’ve got it!” Linda thinks and smiles. “I’ll break it to him gradually! First, I’ll let him discover that a Supergirl exists! — Then… I’ll try to make him fall in love with her! Will I succeed? Can I make Jimmy love Supergirl more than he loves… Linda? I… I’ll try!!” Right, what could possibly go wrong?
—
12. Superman #149, “The Death of Superman!” (Nov. 1960). Written by Siegel, with art by Swan and Sheldon Moldoff (with a Swan/Kaye cover), it remains not only one of the most memorable tales of the 1960s, it may well be the greatest story of the entire Silver Age. The only story since that time — the only story that can come close to being its emotional equal — is Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”
While “The Death of Superman” was an imaginary tale — as Moore would say, “Aren’t they all?” — it touched on genuine sadness. The procession of mourners from around the world and from galaxies beyond is never to be forgotten. Especially emotional is seeing those who knew him best and loved him. Supergirl attends as Linda Lee because Superman had not yet announced her to the public.
Supergirl did make her world debut in the story, bringing Luthor to justice.
The torch was passed, in a fashion.
—
13. Action Comics #285, “The World’s Greatest Heroine!” (Feb. 1962). In Action Comics #284 (Jan. 1962), DC announced it would finally happen, that “This is not a hoax!… It won’t be an imaginary tale, a dream or a Red Kryptonite hallucination, either! This time it will be for real!” And it really was, courtesy of Siegel and Mooney (with a Swan/Klein cover).
Finally, it was time…
Her time.
—
MORE
— The Complete SUPERGIRL WEEK Index of Columns and Features. Click here.
— The Girl Who Was SUPER-GIRL Before There Was a SUPERGIRL. Click here.
—
13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. (You can buy it here.) A sequel, American Movie Comic Books: 1930s-1970s — From the Silver Screen to the Printed Page, is out now. (Buy it here.) Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
