Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Review: Adventure Comics #410


'Help, hope, and compassion for all' is the mantra that Supergirl has espoused in recent years, an indelible addition to her mythos thanks to Sterling Gates in his Adventures of Supergirl comic from a few years ago.

But Gates didn't just make that up. Those sentiments have been evident in Supergirl comics since her beginning.

Perhaps one of the sillier stories to prove that is from 1971'a Adventure Comics #410 in which Kara befriends an alien visitor to our world, becoming basically a foster parent herself. No throwing this young girl with powers into an orphanage. Supergirl is going to show compassion and help this moppet. I was reminded of this story recently by friend Mart Gray.

So settle in for a rapid fire story of the early Bronze Age!

And let's see Kara at her best ... maybe ...

Also, this book is semi-important from a Supergirl history viewpoint. But you'll see why later.

On to the book.



"The Ruler Without a Planet" was written by John Albano with art by Bob Oksner and Vince Colletta. Oksner always drew a beautiful Kara and this story is no exception. So be prepared for a lot of sumptuous art, even if Colletta's sparse inking might dampen the glory. And, as per the usual back then, Albano shoves a lot of plot into 9 pages. Sometimes I read these stories and wonder where the issue breaks would be to pad this to make the trade.

Perhaps even crazier is that the story opens with Supergirl about to face off against a giant gorilla, a scene that has little to do with the actual plot.

But here we are with Supergirl having to stop Tunga from rampaging out of the Cauwell and Larson Circus. He's a big one!


Supergirl shows her feelings on animal rights wondering if it is okay for wild animals to be caged and on display for humans entertainment.

But she also knows if she doesn't subdue Tunga with her fists that the police will end the conflict lethally with guns.

So one double fist to the jaw later, the ape is unconscious and in a net.

In two pages and 5 panels the fight with a giant gorilla is over.


But there is collateral damage from the fight. The circus wardrobe building was damaged and now on fire. When Supergirl tries to extinguish the fire with super-breath she finds she can't! Her powers have left her.

Luckily, a little girl in a summer jumper and carrying a huge lollipop is there to do just that.

First off, you have to love Oksner's designs for this little girl; nothing screams 'cute little kid' like a giant sucker.

Second, the art is here is great. I love the little touch of Supergirl's cape being blown to the side byu this girl's windstorm.

Lastly, remember, this is a time when Supergirl was still (unfortunately) occasionally dealing with Starfire's (not that Starfire or even that Starfire) drug which temporarily and randomly turned off Kara's powers. I hate plots like this as the powers only turn off when needed in the story. Good thing they didn't turn off when Kara was 200 ft in the air last page or she'd be dead.


We then get a quick origin story from 'Judy'.

She comes from another world. She was playing in her stepfather's rocket ship when she accidentally pressed some buttons and it took off, crash landing on Earth. The ship then exploded into tiny particles, so no evidence.

At least Supergirl wonders if the girl is telling the truth. But look at the big beaming smile on Kara's face!

And hey, if that story is true, where did that lollipop come from?


But Judy shows she has other powers like flight and super-strength.

Now it would be very easy for Supergirl to put Judy in an orphanage as a (ahem) secret emergency weapon until she learned how to use her powers. But instead Kara shows compassion to this girl far from home and takes her in.

And over the next few days, the two become a crime-fighting duo! It's like Batman and Robin! Or maybe what Superman and Supergirl could have been way back in Action comics.

Supergirlk becomes quite fond of Judy. And look at how cute it is to see this little girl beating up criminals!


Ahhh ... but this is a Supergirl story. You knew there had to be a twist.

It turns out that Judy's real name is Equila. And she has been sent to Earth by her evil dictator stepfather to kill all the super-heroes so he can come in and take over.

He has dialogue straight out of the fascist handbook. 'Kindness is a weakness that destroys!"

After all, he used force to rule his world until a stronger army came and kicked him out, destroying their planet in the process.

He tells her to pick up the 'green ray' weapon he sent with her to kill Kara. She walks into the room where there is a rather sultry sleeping Kara lounging on the bed.


But Supergirl's compassion has won over Judy. She can't kill her new friend and stepmother/big sister.

Without a second delay, the evil step-father removes Judy's super-powers with the press of a button. He then sends a force beam down to Earth to kill the little girl! Talk about wickedness!

But there is a wakened Kara to save the day. She steps in front of the beam, blocking it with her invulnerable body. Good thing her powers didn't conk out there!

How sad Judy must feel though! And look, again, at how cute Oksner makes the little tyke.


Using her super-vision, Kara sees the stepfather's space ship in nearby airspace. She goes to investigate and bring him to justice. But as she approaches, she sees the air force has also picked up the bogey and has entered into a dog fight.

Now you think help, hope, and compassion for all would mean that Kara would stop the military action and that she would bring the evil alien dictator in alive for justice. But ...... nope. Instead she flies off to let our armed services mete out their own version.  Okay. Maybe this isn't Supergirl's finest moment.

It is even weirder when she returns back to Judy in time to watch the step-father's ship go down in a blaze. It's a falling star ... sort of. Look at how motherly and loving Supergirl looks in that second to last panel. Awwwww ....

Okay, this is a silly, sweet, and swift story. And who knows, maybe DC had some long term plans for Judy to become a sort of sidekick to the older Supergirl. But it never materialized. The sheer reach of the story accompanied by the beautiful art elevates it. As does a whiff of nostalgia for simpler times given the last couple of years of current Supergirl stories.

Overall grade: B

But I'm not done!


I said this issue of Adventure Comics was of some importance to a Supergirl collection.

In this issue's letter column we see that the 'puffy sleeve, hot pants, ballerina slipper' costume which became the basis of *THE* Supergirl costume of the 70's was first seen here. The submission by New Jersey's John Sposato made it's debut in the letter column.

This costume then went on to be on many pieces of merchandise and does so to this day.

So I would say medium/low importance. But if you see the issue on the cheap and you're a Supergirl fanatic, I'd grab it!

Cheers to Martin for the suggestion!

17 comments:

Martin Gray said...

Thanks for covering this one Anj, it’s a shame Judy didn’t stick around longer, she’s almost at Sugar & Spike levels of cuteness and she’d really have given Kara a USP in the DCU. Still, we did get one more story with her.

This look remains my favourite Supergirl costume, and DC certainly got some value from reader John’s suggestion, I do hope he was rewarded. I reckon that in-story, Kara picked up those ballet slippers second hand from Di Prince’s boutique that time she fought Zond (ZOND!), they’re very familiar!

ten-cent media said...

I think the inking that Colletta did on this story is great. It is nicely done comic book art.

Bostondreams said...

Speaking of Sugar and Spike, DC released a trade a few years ago of the mini series penned by Keith Giffen, and it's actually pretty fun! https://comicsalliance.com/keith-giffen-bilquis-evely-sugar-and-spike/

Martin Gray said...

I agree, it was a lovely fun read, I reviewed the Legends of Tomorrow series on my blog a few times - the whole book was excellent.

Anj said...

Thanks for early comments.

I am pretty sure I posted about the last chapter of that Sugar?Spike book given the Kara/Legion aspects!

Professor Feetlebaum said...

It would have been nice if Judy had retained her powers and stayed on, helping Supergirl fight crime. I could see Kara making Judy a tot sized Supergirl costume to wear. But I guess it wasn't in DCs long term plans to have a little child around.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. With Supergirl's track record for disposing of supporting characters, Judy would have been gone and forgotten with the next editorial change anyway.

I guess a giant lollipop is a shortcut to cuteness, the same way a big cigar is a shortcut to toughness (Perry White, Nick Fury).

Superman placing Kara/Linda in Midvale Orphanage may seem somewhat cruel in retrospect, but it allowed Supergirl to develop as a character in her own right, apart from Superman, with her own stories and supporting cast. She was never a sidekick like Robin or Speedy.

Yet, you have to wonder why Weisinger never considered running an occasional full length story in Action Comics, with Superman and Supergirl acting as a team. The closest they came was Action 285.

H said...

Yeah, the Superman family has a tendency to forget about super-powered beings that aren't related to Kal or in the Phantom Zone.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the lollipop is Herbie Popnecker. Shame she never got to bop anybody.

Anonymous said...

Judy vanished from the storyline for four issues and then abruptly got reconnected with her grandparents who took her safely and securely off world, such was Supergirl's 1970's fling with a chaste brand of "Single Motherhood". I supposed I'm a broken record at this point but I love & revere the clean pencils of Bob Oksner, he is definitely a key artist in the development of Kara Zor El as DC's Signature Blonde Bombshell. This costume evolved over time, the ankle ribbons were phased out in the next issue in favor of what looked like red ballet slippers, the hot pants went from puffy, to sleek to red running shorts and the aforementioned ballet slippers were eventually ditched in 1975 for her old dependable flat heeled red boots.

JF

H said...

I seriously need to double check before I post. Meant to say 'bop anybody with that there lollipop'. Of course she bopped somebody- it's right there.

KET said...

Always loved Bob Oksner's SG renderings. DC was certainly experimenting with how to sell Supergirl in Adventure Comics by this time, as sales had allegedly dropped off on the title when the LSH got moved over to backup strip on Action Comics. Still, the latter end of this SG run never seemed 'run of the mill' to me.

KET

Professor Fetlebaum said...

I have heard, here and there, about the drop in sales for Adventure Comics when Supergirl replaced the Legion as lead feature. So just for fun, I went over to Comichron to check the sales figures for the late 1960s. Comichron's numbers are taken from the annual Statements of Ownership published in the comics. I don't know how accurate these numbers are, but they probably give a good idea of how things were going.

Supergirl became the lead feature in Adventure Comics with #381, dated June 1969. There's no month to month breakdown, but comparing 1968 to 1969, yes it is true that sales dropped. In 1968 Adventure sold an average of 411,200. In 1969, Adventure Comics sold 354,123
a loss of 57,077.

HOWEVER...something to remember is that sales dropped on a LOT of comics in the late 60s (it's possible that every comic lost sales, but I wasn't about to check everything).

Action Comics lost 45,465, going from 423,000 in 1968 to 377,535 in 1969.

Superman went from 636,400 to 511,984, a loss of 124,416.

Batman took the biggest hit, seeing a loss of 177,668. In 1968, Batman sold 533,450. In 1969, Batman sold 355,782. In 1966, when the Adam West TV show was hot, Batman sold 898,470.

So when you consider the overall picture, Adventure Comics doesn't look that bad.

One more thing. Adventure Comics #380, the last Legion issue was also the last 12 cent issue. Adventure 381, the first Supergirl issue was the first one priced at 15 cents. That may be another reason that sales went down.

Martin Gray said...

Great work, Professor. I was thinking, Supergirl couldn’t have been THAT much of a sales disaster as she was moved out of Adventure and into her own book.

KET said...

"I have heard, here and there, about the drop in sales for Adventure Comics when Supergirl replaced the Legion as lead feature. So just for fun, I went over to Comichron to check the sales figures for the late 1960s."

Well, going back to 'numbers' is merely binary thinking, and doesn't accurately reflect much of anything that was going on at the time. However, if one wants to look at more reflective numbers of value, comics price guides would be a much more reliable barometer of a particular book's overall success.

“Since 1965, Supergirl had headlined an annual Giant issue of Action Comics consisting of old stories, and Weisinger wondered what the Maid of Might could do with her own monthly comic book. At some point, his eye fell on Adventure Comics, a title that had the unusual distinction of being one of DC’s—and the industry’s—bestselling comic books while simultaneously having the weakest sales of the company’s seven Superman-related titles.”-excerpt from Back Issue #84, October 2015 “Supergirl In the Bronze Age” issue.

By the way, an interview with Jim Shooter confirmed that Adventure Comics had faltered even more when Supergirl was headlining (IIRC, he bluntly called the move by Weisinger, "a total disaster"). Sales only began to stabilize on Adventure Comics when the publisher put Aquaman on the masthead instead.


KET

Anonymous said...

Yeah is Supergirl sold 350,000 issues a month today, she'd completely supplant Superman entirely. :) And anyway, Jim Shooter hates Supergirl, he clearly disliked writing the character, yet he still managed to churn out some good stories for her (expo. "Brainiac's Blitz" Action Comics #339, July 1966)...

JF

Anonymous said...

"Well, going back to 'numbers' is merely binary thinking, and doesn't accurately reflect much of anything that was going on at the time."

Sales is the only hard evidence we have to judge success. It's certainly more accurate than some random guy "alleging" they had dropped but failing to provide any concrete evidence.

"However, if one wants to look at more reflective numbers of value, comics price guides would be a much more reliable barometer of a particular book's overall success."

Why? It sounds completely arbitrary.

"By the way, an interview with Jim Shooter confirmed that Adventure Comics had faltered even more when Supergirl was headlining (IIRC, he bluntly called the move by Weisinger, "a total disaster")."

I've heard of Jim Shooter saying such a thing. Link, please?

Professor Feetlebaum said...

Shooter may have had something of an axe to grind, as he was writing the Legion of Superheroes at the time. Possibly, he silently resented the "demotion" to back-up feature. He can hardly be considered impartial.

DC was going through a number of changes in the late 60s. New ownership, and veteran talents like Gardner Fox, John Broome, Arnold Drake and Jim Mooney were suddenly gone. Plus, DC was still trying to figure out how to deal with Marvel's success.

It just seemed unfair to single out Adventure Comics and Supergirl when the whole company was in a slump. Had the Legion remained the lead feature in Adventure, sales would have likely gone down anyway.

Anonymous said...

"Shooter may have had something of an axe to grind, as he was writing the Legion of Superheroes at the time. Possibly, he silently resented the "demotion" to back-up feature. He can hardly be considered impartial."

Shooter definitely had an axe to grind. Back when he was still updating his blog, he always depicted Weisinger as an emotionally abusive tyrant who was never able to figure out why Marvel was beating DC, and himself as a misunderstood white knight. Like a good Marvel fanboy, he also likes downplaying DC's success and gloating about Marvel's obvious superiority.

(Full disclosure: I used to be a "Marvel rocks, DC sucks" fanboy until I started reading DC and realized my former position was nothing but fanboyism. This is because I know what they are like)

I consider Shooter's insights are valuable, but they must always be taken with a pinch of salt.