Back Issue Box: Action Comics #309

I have been thinking about Action Comics #309 a lot recently and it finally occurred to me that I should formally cover it on the site.

First, I'll say that I first read this issue in the phone book style Showcase Supergirl trades from years ago. Only recently did I read it in color thanks to the DC Infinite app. I have never seen it in the wild but more on that later. 

I began thinking about covering it here when I guest starred with Mart Gray over on the Fire and Water Podcast network to discuss Gene Colan's work on the Phantom Zone mini-series. Here is a link to that discussion:http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/fw-presents-showcase-gene-colan-phantom-zone/

Kudos to Ryan for keeping me and Mart on task. One thing I didn't go into at length in that review was the character of Jer-Em. He is seen throughout the story and has a unique history with Supergirl, one here in this issue. I figured I should fill that in.

Second, the Supergirl show has brought back Zor-El, saying he has stayed alive in the Phantom Zone. That resonates with this story.

But more importantly, I was listening to Tom King talk about his upcoming Supergirl run on the most excellent Word Balloon podcast, hosted by John Siuntres. Here is that link:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kings-speech-tom-king-q-and-a/id207700416?i=1000513255019

In that interview, King calls Kara a survivor. He sort of squishes the newer origins (Kara born years before Kal and grew up on Krypton and witnessed its destruction) with some Silver Age aspects of her origin (living on the floating Argo City, the ground becoming Kryptonite, the meteor shower that exposes the lead covered K-soil which ultimately kills everyone). He describes that as three distinct threat about excessive loss, basically three traumatic experiences,  that Kara has had to deal with.

Of course Tom King would focus on the trauma. Hopefully, for once, he has the character come out of it with a healthier outlook. Supergirl should be optimistic and helpful.

But it made me think of this story as a potential 4th trauma Kara lived through. And I wonder if King has read this story.

 On to the book.

'The Untold Story of Argo City' was written by Leo Dorfman with art by Jim Mooney. 

In many ways, it is a re-telling of the Supergirl origin story but with a couple of new wrinkles thrown into the mix.

In this opening panel we see Kara viewing her getting into the rocket at the insistence of her father. 

(Of note, Alura is written as Allura throughout the story. For continuity, I will write it as Alura, as it appears in reprints.)

But we start out in Midvale where Linda is heading to a fair at the orphanage she used to live at.

There she is helping the orphans telling them to stay bright. 

I love this Kara/Linda, still thinking of others and using her voice to lift people.

But after the fair she begins to have vivid dreams of her birth parents Zor-El and Alura saying they are still alive and close to her in the Zone.

Supergirl is unsure if these are simply dreams or true visions so she enlists Comet to help her. Using his super-telepathy, he says he can feel actual psychic vibes. Her parents are alive.

Supergirl assumes her parents mean the Phantom Zone. With the aid of Fred Danvers, she heads into the Zone for only one hour. 

There she sees one of the only repentant criminals in there, Jer-Em. He won't tell her why he is there other than to say he brought about Argo City's ultimate demise. To help him deal with his sins, he will tell her where her parents are.

Alas, the Zone also is filled with a wretched hive of scum and villainy. The other villains use their telepathic powers to scramble Jer-Em's thoughts. He can't tell Supergirl where Zor-El and Alura are.

Outside the Zone after the hour, Supergirl sets up a chronoscope which allows her to look back in time. So she witnesses the plight of Argo City. The city was under a protective dome. When Krypton blew up, it was thrown whole away from the planet. It floated in space but with machines capable of creating food; it was self-sufficient. People lived well on the city. Kara was born there.

Later, the process which blew up Krypton began to occur in the soil of Argo. The land itself becomes Kryptonite. People were dying. Luckily, Zor figured out how to manufacture lead sheets which he rolled out to shield the people from the land itself. (I have to assume Argo's land has become anti-Kryptonite which hurts non-powered Kryptonians and not classic Green K.)

And then the new wrinkle.

Rather than simply float around, Zor-El thought the city should have a propulsion system. He built rockets to bring Argo to a hospitable planet. Sure enough it worked. And the first safe planet just happened to orbit a yellow sun!

Suddenly everyone began to exhibit super-powers. We even see toddler Kara flying around.

But Jer-Em, a superstitious fanatic or religious zealot, did not like what he saw. Remember, Rao is a sun god, a red sun god. Jer-Em thinks science has gone too far!

Using his new powers, Jer-Em turns the city away from the yellow sun and back towards the red sun. The city only had a little amount of fuel so they cannot turn around. People are again powerless.

He feels he has obeyed the will of the gods.

For his crime, Jer-Em is sent to the Phantom Zone. 

As we see in the Phantom Zone mini-series, his religious delusions become more intense in the Zone.

Unfortunately, the rest of the history unfolds as usual. The meteor shower does puncture the dome and the lead shielding. People become ill.

Zor-El postulates of a Survival Zone, just adjacent to the Phantom Zone, were the people can survive until rescued. But his Survival Zone Projector doesn't seem to work.

I suppose this is the first time that Kara has seen how this whole thing truly plays out.

She sees her rocket zoom away.

But then she keeps watching.

Zor-El and Alura see everyone die from Kryptonite poisoning. Even the protective radiation suits cannot keep out the Kryptonite rays.

This is horrifying.

But before they die, Zor-El and Alura seem to fade away. The Survival Zone projector had a delayed reaction. 

They are alive, shunted into that Zone!

Knowing her parents are alive makes Kara happy. She'll [gulp] figure out how to save them!

The addition of Zor and Alura to Supergirl's history further differentiated her from Kal. I like that they eventually do return and become citizens of Kandor and ultimately Rokyn. 

But this added dimension of the city almost being saved only to be derailed by Jer-Em brings even more sadness to the story. 

The art is perfectly lovely and haunting by Mooney. 

 As for why I think I have never seen it in real life.

The front story includes guest star ... John F. Kennedy!! Surely that makes this a rare and expensive back issue!

Overall grade: A