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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A selection of Supergirl items throughout the decades, including a few bonus ones!
By CHRIS FRANKLIN
The Maid of Might is returning to the big screen in the second cinematic chapter of the new DCU film series. But I’m sure you were already aware of that… after all, it is SUPERGIRL WEEK here at 13th Dimension for a reason! While Kara Zor-El may never quite escape the shadow of her far more famous cousin, that doesn’t mean she isn’t known to the greater world outside the comic racks. DC has licensed the Girl of Steel for just about every item imaginable over the years, and it looks like that number will double with the marketing push for the new film.
But for now, let’s take a look at the Last Daughter of Argo City’s history through the lens of her various appearances on retail shelves over nearly 60 years. Many of these items come from the collection of my lovely wife Cindy (my own personal Super Gal), so thanks to her for sharing not only them, but her knowledge in crafting this article.
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Super Queens (aka Comic Heroines, Ideal, 1967). Supergirl was one of four female heroes chosen for Ideal’s sister line to their Captain Action series, the Super Queens, sometimes also called Comic Heroines. Along with Wonder Woman, Mera and the newly created Batgirl, you could argue these heroines made it into action figure form BEFORE their male counterparts! After all, Captain Action’s gimmick was that he was a separate hero who could become the top crimefighters at DC, Marvel, etc. with a costume accessory set (sold separately). The Super Queens WERE the characters and even included images of their secret identities on the beautiful box art by DC legend Murphy Anderson.
Photo from Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
The set didn’t really include Linda Lee Danvers’ specific clothes however, just a generic halter dress. But Supergirl was one of the nicest and most comic accurate of the line, with the proper blonde hair color, blue dress, and “S” shield logo (the same used on both the Superman and Superboy sets for Captain Action and his sidekick Action Boy). She even came with the same Krypto figure as Superman, presaging the current DCU films making Krypto HER dog and not her cousin’s.
Unfortunately, the Super Queens were a massive flop, with boys not wanting dolls, and apparently girls not wanting to mix super heroines in with their Barbies. Their limited window of production and low sales make them some of the holy grails of toy collecting, which is why Cindy purchased a nice custom repro using Ideal’s similar Misty doll, and real costume accessories and parts.
Super Queens Supergirl custom with repro box and some original parts
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Official World’s Greatest Super-Heroes (Mego, 1974). Supergirl rejoined fellow Super Queens Wonder Woman and Batgirl (along with Catwoman) when Mego added the “Super-Gals” to their hugely successful line of Official World’s Greatest Super-Heroes 8-inch figures in 1974. Mego based the figure’s appearance on her then-current ’70s look of blouse top and hot-pants shorts. The earliest versions of the Supergirl figure had all the elements screen-printed on a bodystocking, but Mego quickly issued figures with a more detailed costume made of different colored fabrics stitched together, like the one you see here.
What you don’t see here are the tiny (and easily lost) slippers the figure was issued with. They are hard to come by and make a loose complete Supergirl quite desirable. I opted to upgrade her suit to reproduction Wonder Woman boots, since Kara did ditch the slippers for her original footwear later in the 1970s. Supergirl was discontinued in 1976, making all versions of her uncommon, although she also appeared in Mego’s Bend N’ Flex line of wired, bendable figures.
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Supercase Record & Toy Case (1976). Supergirl is featured on the back of this “record & toy carry case” alongside her cousin and Wonder Woman. This Supergirl art, used on many pieces of merchandise in the ’70s always seemed like it was drawn by Dick Giordano to me. She is in good (and bad) company along with the Batman Family and some rogues on the front. She even gets her logo on the side, but I wish they’d gone with the ’70s logo she had on her brief solo series.
This particular case was designed to hold your 45 records, but there was also a larger version to house your albums. Perfect to store your Power Records… even if Kara never got her own, or even guest-starred in one!
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Pepsi Super Series Glass (Pepsi, 1976). I’ve written about these wonderful collector glasses before, but since Kara has one of the best, we must include it here! These were available at several restaurants that carried Pepsi fountain drinks. This glass is from the initial series, known by collectors as the “moon glass” run, for the large circle behind each character. Or maybe since this is a solar-powered Kryptonian, it should be called a “sun glass”? Either way, that classic pose of Supergirl in her ’70s hot-pants look really pops. And due to her primary colors, there are no odd printing choices like with some of the other characters. Unfortunately, she didn’t make the cut for the second series in 1978, or we’d feature that here as well!
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Super Friends Lunch Box (Aladdin Industries, 1976). Even though Supergirl NEVER appeared in any incarnation of the long-running Super Friends animated series, that didn’t stop her from having a prominent place on Aladdin’s beautiful lunch box first issued in 1976. Kara dominates the left side of the box, flanked by… Batman and Robin? Holy incongruity! Why not Superman, and maybe Krypto? Batmania was still a lingering thing, even a decade later.
This was still on shelves in 1980 when I went to kindergarten and therefore was my first school lunch box. It took me decades to realize, with the prominent placement of Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Catwoman on the other side and Batgirl on the back, this was meant to be a GIRL’S lunchbox! I hope I’m not as narrow-minded today, but back then, if any of my male peers had gleaned on to this, I may have never made it to first grade!
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Super Jrs. Wallpaper (1979). The Super Jrs. was a marketing push created by DC to sell their heroes to a much younger market, predating the ’80s explosion of similar concepts like Muppet Babies, Flintstones Kids, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, etc. These toddler versions of the adult heroes were seen on a bevy of merchandise, but strangely their comics appearances were first published in foreign markets, with only one story making it to the US via The Best of DC (Blue Ribbon Digest) #58 (Dec. 1984). Young Supergirl didn’t appear in that issue, but she did occasionally make it onto merchandise, like this charming wallpaper, where she plays tennis with Wonder-Tot. Cindy and I bought a vintage roll of this off eBay in 2001 and used it to decorate our son’s nursery!
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Supergirl: An Activity Book (Grosset & Dunlap, 1984). There was very little merchandise made to tie into the original Supergirl film, starring Helen Slater and directed by Jeannot Szwarc, released in 1984. The Maid of Might wasn’t even slipped into Kenner’s Super Powers Collection of toys that launched that same year. Fans of the character and film had to mostly settle for children’s book tie-ins, like this coloring-and-activity book I picked up from my school’s Scholastic Book Fair that year.
Written and illustrated by prolific comic and coloring book artist Tony Tallarico, it features puzzles and activities centered around that film’s strange and convoluted plot: Supergirl chases Kryptonian MacGuffin to Earth, becomes infatuated with a hunky gardener, who is also the object of affection of a witch, who happens to possess the powerful MacGuffin. Chaos ensues. If you ever wanted to color Faye Dunaway, Peter O’Toole or Brenda Vaccaro, here’s your chance!
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Superman: The Animated Series (Kenner, 1998). Supergirl finally made it back into figure form in 1998 thanks to Kenner’s line based on Superman: The Animated Series. There Kara (voiced by Nichole Tom) was an orphan from Krypton’s sister planet of Argos, and found and brought to Earth by Superman, whom she deemed her “cousin.” Living with Clark’s parents on the Kent farm, Kara defied Clark’s orders and made her own custom Supergirl outfit, helping Jimmy Olsen foil a plot by Darkseid, in her two-part introduction “Little Girl Lost.”
The Kenner figure captures that “thrift store” look with white mid-drift S-symbol shirt, blue mini-skirt, red combat boots, and Gwen Stacy-like headband. Of course, she came with the obligatory 90s snap-on armor and missile-launching weapon, but that’s irrelevant. The design stuck around for about a decade and was even adopted by the concurrent comic version of Supergirl (the Linda Danvers/Matrix version).
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The Classic Silver Age Superboy and Supergirl (DC Direct, 2002). This lovely figure of a very young Kara Zor-El came packed with not only her pet, Streaky the Super Cat, but also Silver Age versions of Superboy and Krypto. As a bonus, DC Direct included a reversable welcome billboard sign for both Superboy’s Smallville, and Midvale. This was the town where Kara adopted the identity of Linda Lee, while staying at local orphanage, where her cousin Superman dropped her off upon meeting her. (It was a different time.)
This figure represents the character as created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino under editor Mort Weisinger, and the tales later rendered by the likes of Jim Mooney and Curt Swan. Sculptor Tim Bruckner captures an almost Norman Rockwell-like portrait for Kara, who really does look like the mid-century girl next door… who happens to come from light years away!
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Barbie as Supergirl (Mattel, 2003). Supergirl’s first figure may have been considered a knock-off of Barbie in 1967, but in 2003 she got to officially join the ranks of Mattel’s fabled and groundbreaking toy line. Based on her look from Superman: The Animated Series, Kara joined Wonder Woman and Batgirl in this “play line” release aimed at children, but obviously collectors took notice too. She also came packed with a tiny lunchbox keychain accessory. If only we’d gotten a true, 1:1 scale Supergirl lunchbox!
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Crisis on Infinite Earths (DC Direct, 2006). Of course, if DC Direct were going to make an action figure line based on DC’s 1985 maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, they HAD to include Supergirl, right? Kara Zor-El’s sacrifice to save her cousin from death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor in Issue #7 was shocking proof that DC meant business; they really were out to shake up the status quo and clean house.
That issue’s cover by George Perez, featuring an anguished Man of Steel holding the battered, lifeless body of his closest family is one of the most iconic images ever created for the medium. This figure lives up to that legacy with a beautiful sculpt capturing the Maid of Might in her ’80s regalia (complete with the now-dated headband) and a look of optimism befitting a hero willing to do what was right, no matter the cost.
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Barbie Collector Series (Mattel, 2008). After nearly 20 years, Kara Zor-El’s Supergirl returned to DC’s then-current ongoing continuity. Reintroduced by writer Jeph Loeb in Superman/Batman #8 (May, 2004), artist Michael Turner took the opportunity to update the Girl of Steel’s classic uniform, keeping the mid-drift top from the animated look, but adding yellow piping to the otherwise blue shirt and skirt. The design was quickly adopted by Supergirl in her later appearances on the animated Justice League Unlimited series. Mattel used this design for its collector-aimed Barbie Supergirl doll in 2008, to great effect. Supergirl looks hip, fearless and ready to take on the world… or universe.
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DC Comics Multiverse Supergirl TV Series (Mattel, 2016). It’s kind of amazing that Supergirl is getting a new film this year, since a version of her appeared in The Flash in 2023 (played by Sasha Calle) and she had a six-season TV series from 2015 to 2021! Melissa Benoist played Kara on the television series that aired first on CBS, then moved to the CW to officially become part of the “Arrowverse.” Benoist brought a sunny optimism to the role and really embodied the character both on her own show and the various crossovers with other DC-themed programs, notably The Flash. Mattel captured not only the updated costume, but Benoist’s can-do spirit in this 2016 figure.
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MORE
— The Complete SUPERGIRL WEEK Index of Columns and Features. Click here.
— SUPERGIRL: 13 Fave Fashions of the MAID OF MIGHT — RANKED. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor CHRIS FRANKLIN is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including Superman Movie Minute and JLUCast.
