Mayfair Supergirl Pages

Last month, I reviewed the Superman vs. Shazam trade paperback which showcased a heroic and determined Supergirl. I miss that sort of characterization in Supergirl. We had just recaptured it in the last incarnation only to have it slip through our fingers with the New 52. Suddenly Supergirl was isolated again.

With classic Supergirl characterization on my mind, I thought I would look back at the Mayfair DC Heroes role playing game character guide to read how they described Kara. Sadly, this book was published post-Crisis (hence the sad last paragraph in the Background section).

I think this book actually does a very good job in explaining Supergirl's character. I feel like I should mail this to Dan Didio and Eddie Berganza. It's a starting point at least.

Here are the sections on Psychology and Role-Playing, both of which stuck out as great examples of who Kara is.

So, for the people who think Supergirl is some innocent naive girl this says outright that she matured from a 'bubbly cheerful teem to an affable, yet determined young woman'.

She 'Upholds the Good'. Her determination is second to none. When aroused her ferocity is incredible. That is exactly Supergirl, doing what's right but becoming a fearsome fighter when provoked.

But she also is more optimistic, even more than Superman! She believes in the inherent good of the world.

This is the Supergirl I miss most of all.

And then a bit of role-playing advice so you can understand the character even better.

She is a formidable combatant and rarely caught off-guard.

But she is also easy-going and likeable with many friends and acquaintances.

To everyone at DC, this is a pretty good foundation to think about the Supergirl character!

Mayfairstivus Post 3: Brainy And More Supergirl Stuff

I once again have to thank Frank Lee Delano for putting together the Mayfairstivus blog celebration looking at the DC Heroes role playing game from the 1980s. I had originally planned 2 posts on the subject, but frankly, I am having such a good time looking at these old Legion books, I figured one more post was needed.

The one thing I will say, regardless if you are a RPG person, is that these DC Heroes Legion books are really a treasure trove if you are a fan of the Levitz Legion. It is such a nice adjunct to comics including a year by year synopsis of Legion history, the stats for Legionnaires and villains, and a copy of the Legion Constitution, all current up to the middle of the Baxter series (Sensor Girl's identity is known).

Here is Brainiac 5's page including his history and stats. It does a good job of discussing his mental instability and the fallout of those times in his life. As such a big part of Supergirl's life, I thought I would post his page here. His intelligence is a whopping 25 (a huge number for the game) with appropriate Will and Mind scores. His force field belt gives him a body of 40, rivalling Superman. And he is loaded with skills.

The second Legion book adds to the first looking at all the planets of the Legion mythos and their histories and properties. It also has a fold out map of the schematics of the Legion headquarters, and looks at the technologic specs for time bubbles, cruisers, etc.

I always have an appreciation for the smaller details that creators give characters. It is that minutiae that makes the characters three dimensional. For example, in this Legion book, there is even a section describing each Legionnaire's quarters. Given the focus of this blog, here is a description of Supergirl's room. I thought this was nice, accenting Supergirl's character as being both a little homey and a tech-geek.

I hope you are enjoying the Mayfairstivus as much as I am! It really has been a trip down memory lane for me ... both of gaming and the Legion stories of that time.

The blogs below are joining in the Mayfairstivus celebration and are fantastic! So please visit them as well.

The Anti-Didio League of America
The Aquaman Shrine
Booster Gold:BOO$TERRIFIC
Comic Make Me Happy
The Continuity Blog


DC Bloodlines 
Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
Doom Patrol:My Greatest Adventure #80
Firestorm Fan

Flash: Speed Force
Girls Gone Geek
Green Lantern Corps: The Indigo Tribe
Hawkman:Being Carter Hall 
Justice League Detroit
Martian Manhunter vs. The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Once Upon A Geek
Power of the Atom
Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X]

Mayfairstivus Post 2: Supergirl In The DC Heroes Game

Welcome to another day dedicated to Mayfairstivus, a holiday celebration of the Mayfair DC Heroes role playing game from the 1980s. A number of DC comic related blogs will be running DC heroes posts during this early holiday period.

I posted the DC Heroes V2.0 Superman and Lex Luthor stats late last week. Today I am happy to be posting the DC Heroes V1.0 stats on Supergirl!

Back in the late 80s, I was playing DC Heroes as Wildfire from the Legion. I am a giant Legion fan and Wildfire is my favorite so it was great fun to act as the hot-headed anti-energy construct. Mayfair had supplemental information books out put out for different teams including the Legion. The books are co-written by Paul Levitz, so there is definitely an air of legitimacy. You get the sense that Levitz loved authoring the book and ranking the Legionnaires based on their power levels and skills. As the collector I am, I have held on to the 2 Legion books released for posterity.

Here is the Supergirl entry. Sorry the font is so small. The entry is a post-humous one as this was published after Crisis on Infinite Earths. I have said all along that I think Levitz had an affinity for Supergirl so I bet he pushed for her to be included. After all, Legion fans might want to play her regardless of current DC Continuity.

As you can see, just by the sheer text in the purple field, Supergirl has a lot of powers, skills, and vulnerabilities, etc.  that needed to be ranked.

The history section concentrates on her time with the Legion including her initiation into the group and her missions against Darkseid and the Dark Circle on Weber's World. It also includes a line about her relationship with Brainiac 5 ... a relationship that "ranged from adolescent flirtation to something more, but which was never as important to her as to him." Ouch!

There is no artist credits listed any where in the book but this looks like Ed Hannigan's work.

For ease of your eyes and so you don't need to download the above picture, here is a quick look at her offensive stats. Remember, this is version 1.0. Superman's strength was a 50 and was the highest listed stat. So Supergirl is just below that level.

This picture is clearly Greg LaRocque's work. He was the current Legion artist.

And, for comparison's sake, here is Superboy.

Earlier this year, I did a review of Supergirl's Legion appearances during the Levitz years and she was treated with complete respect. She was an enthusiastic hero who engaged in fisticuffs with Darkseid and battled the Emerald Empress. So I was not surprised, in reviewing these books, to notice that Supergirl is nearly uniformly stronger and tougher than Superboy. My guess is that Levitz wrote her as a more polished and experienced here than Superboy was when they were with the Legion.

Still ... it is pretty cool to see these numbers laid out.

The book contains information on all the current Legionnaires as well as stats for Legion villains as well.

It also includes some smaller things that I really loved. For example, here is a pictogram of the Legion emblems seen on the monitor board. I like how the male and female symbols are incorporated in a number of emblems as a way to explain the Legionnaires powers. I mean is anything more perfect than Shrinking Violet's and Colossal Boy's?

And there is also a great Legion group shot done by LaRocque.

There on the middle left is Supergirl, flying amongst the group. I am so happy that the current Supergirl has a Legion affiliation.

The book is a great resource for fans of the Levitz Legion. I am so happy I held on the book. The only downside is the jarring purple ink motif which I think takes away from the book rather than adding to it.

I hope you are enjoying the Mayfairstivus as much as I am!
The blogs below are joining in the Mayfairstivus celebration and are fantastic! So please visit them as well.

The Anti-Didio League of America
The Aquaman Shrine
Booster Gold:BOO$TERRIFIC
Comic Make Me Happy
The Continuity Blog


DC Bloodlines 
Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
Doom Patrol:My Greatest Adventure #80
Firestorm Fan

Flash: Speed Force
Girls Gone Geek
Green Lantern Corps: The Indigo Tribe
Hawkman:Being Carter Hall 
Justice League Detroit
Martian Manhunter vs. The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Once Upon A Geek
Power of the Atom
Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X]

Mayfairstivus: Celebrating The Mayfair DC Heroes Role Playing Game

I am thrilled to have Supergirl Comic Box Commentary participating in another blog crossover dreamed up by social media and comic book guru Frank Lee Delano. Frank  put together the DC Challenge crossover back in February of this year (which I loved) and maintains many fantastic blogs that I enjoy visiting (including the Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, JLA, Atom, and Bloodlines blogs linked below).

This time, Frank thought it would be great to celebrate Mayfairstivus, a holiday celebration of the Mayfair DC Heroes role playing game from the 1980s. And so a number of DC comic related blogs will be running DC heroes posts during this early holiday period. I was more than happy to jump on board because I love this game.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s I was in college and played this game. We started out with the first version of the game and then graduated to V2.0 when that was released. I played Wildfire from the Legion and had an absolute blast. Because of the makeup of the team, I downplayed Wildfire's energy blasts and made him more the muscle of the team.  The rest of the team included Guy Gardner and 2 player-created characters - an energy blaster and a telepath.

The second version of the game came out in 1989 and included some nifty character cards so you could keep stats handy. I'll be showing Superman and Lex Luthor.  The game needed to revamp some rules. For one, this was post-Byrne's Man of Steel. Since Superman was depowered, everyone's numbers needed to go down.

So Superman's strength which had been 50 in the first version was suddenly shrunk down to 25. Remember Byrne's Superman wasn't the planet-thrower of the pre-Crisis days. Since Superman is DC's strongest character, everyone else's strength and numbers needed to be diminished as well.

One thing I loved about the game was the concept of hero points. You could subtract some hero points from your total and add them to one of your attributes for one round. So, for example, I could subtract 10 from Superman's 200 hero points and make my strength 35 for one round. In this way, you could overcome greater powers with timely additions. The 'Game Master' would reward hero points after each session (sort of the experience points of this game).

This release was 2+ years into the Byrne continuity. So here we see the Lex has his bionic hand (remember the Kryptonite ring gave him cancer, requiring his hand to be amputated).

It love that Luthor is more intelligent than Superman. That's the way it was back then.

Playing these 'no powers' guys was always tricky when facing off against super-powered brutes. But there is more than just raw stats. He has some skills he brings to the table.

To pass the time, we would occasionally shuffle the cards, split the deck in half, and play a modified version of 'war'. It was always funny when it would be a Darkseid vs Robin matchup. But sometimes it would lead to some good comic discussions ... Blue Beetle vs Night Owl, etc.

Thanks again to Frank for putting this celebration together! It really was a walk down memory lane for me. I am going to have another Mayfairstivus soon ... including Supergirl's stats from Version 1.0! Stay tuned!

The blogs below are joining in the Mayfairstivus celebration and are fantastic! So please visit them as well.

The Anti-Didio League of America
The Aquaman Shrine
Booster Gold:BOO$TERRIFIC
Comic Make Me Happy
The Continuity Blog


DC Bloodlines 
Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
Doom Patrol:My Greatest Adventure #80
Firestorm Fan

Flash: Speed Force
Girls Gone Geek
Green Lantern Corps: The Indigo Tribe
Hawkman:Being Carter Hall 
Justice League Detroit
Martian Manhunter vs. The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Once Upon A Geek
Power of the Atom
Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X]