Another Cosmic Adventures Easter Egg

My sincere thanks to Landry Walker for pointing out another homage in Supergirl:Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #2.

In the issue, Linda bemoans the fact that she is being forced to run for class president. After all, she is too busy doing 'important secret super hero stuff'. She then remembers using her super breath to refreeze melting ice cream.

That was a complete tip of the cap to this scene from Action Comics #253, Supergirl's second appearance. I can't get enough Jim Mooney Supergirl art!

Ahhh, the Silver Age was full of such touching moments. It is great to see Cosmic Adventures really mine the history of Supergirl, putting in these Easter eggs for the long time fans.

Thanks to frequent blog poster Gene for sending me the color scan from #253! I would have had to post a B&W scan from my Showcase trade if he hadn't sent me the snazzy one.

This series is just too good for words.

It Came From the Back Issue Box: Action Comics #289

I know the back issue reviews have been coming fast and furious recently. I hope people don't mind.

This weekend I am going to be the Best Man at my best friend's wedding and with romance in the air, I couldn't help but dust off Action Comics #289. Written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel and drawn by Supergirl wunderkind Jim Mooney, two major legends, it is titled 'When Supergirl Played Cupid!' Plus it has one of the potentially Supergirl creepiest panels ever!

Ahhh ... ain't love grand!

At the beginning of the issue, Linda (Supergirl) Danvers has just finished watching a tear-jerker romance movie with her adoptive parents Fred and Sylvia Danvers. After seeing the character in the movie end up alone, she vows to find an appropriate wife for Superman.

Despite protests from her father that Superman should find his own wife, Kara comes up with an idea and speeds to the Fortress of Solitude. There she realizes who would be the most perfect woman for Superman ... none other than Helen of Troy!

Supergirl travels back in time and leaves a note for Superman to follow her back in time. While in ancient Greece, Kara is unable to achieve her goal of having Superman fall in love with Helen. In fact, Supergirl gets involved in some adventures and shows her charm, grace, and strength so well that she supplants Helen as the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the land.

After being hailed as 'The Toast of Troy', Supergirl faces the ire of a rather jealous Helen. Realizing that this match-making effort has failed, Kara and Superman return to the present.

But Supergirl isn't finished. She realizes that there is someone else who might make a great spouse for Superman ... Saturn Girl, or rather her grown-up self Saturn Woman. Supergirl convinces Superman to fly into the future with her. There they spend a holiday party with the Legion. Superman is rather taken with how beautiful Imra has become. In fact, it feels like love is in the air! And Kara helps fan the flames by putting some mistletoe up, leading to a couple of rather steamy kisses between Superman and Saturn Woman.

And boy it looks like he is a super-kisser too! Saturn Woman seems to be melting in his arms! Of course, she neglected to tell Superman that she is 'happily married' to Lightning Man! I guess no woman can resist the Big Red S! Sheepishly, Superman releases Saturn Woman from this kiss.

Realizing that this attempt has failed as well, the Super cousins return to the present again. There Kara reveals that she is only trying to make sure Superman is happy in the future and hopes to find him a wife. And then we get this panel in which Superman says that if he were to marry ...

Okay, it is a tad creepy that Supes is talking to his teenage cousin this way, don't you think? In the prologue of the Supergirl:Many Happy Returns trade, Peter David talks about this panel and says (and I am paraphrasing) 'so the only thing keeping Superman's hands of his jail-bait cousin are the moral codes of a world long dead!?'

That said, what is not to love about Supergirl? Who wouldn't love someone so super and lovable?

I just don't know if a 30-something cousin should be this into her.

Supergirl seems unfazed by this ... heck maybe a bit flattered. Realizing that Superman hopes for a woman just like her, she gets back on the trail.

And with the help of her super-computer, she finds a near duplicate super-heroine on the planet Staryl. Her name is Luma Lynai, continuing the curse of the initials 'L.L.' in Superman's life.

And once again, Superman shows he has all the moves as Luma also quickly swoons. The two fall in love almost immediately. After a short time on her planet, she agrees to join him on Earth forever.

Unfortunately, Staryl is a planet in an orange-sun system. The yellow rays of Earth's sun act like kryptonite to her. Luma cannot live on Earth and so must return home. Superman is so in love with her after such a short courtship that he actually says he will leave Earth to live on Staryl with her! Wow, he must really be in love with her! Luckily, she knows better and tells him Earth needs him and so he must stay.

And thus ends another whirlwind romance. Luma leaves and Superman returns to his normal life stating perhaps fate has another woman in mind for him. Kara is crest-fallen and returns home to tell her parents the tale.

She vows never to play match-maker again.

This is such a fun Silver Age story! Kara showing up Helen of Troy. Superman professing a hidden love of Supergirl. Gorgeous Jim Mooney art. This one sort of had it all. I can almost laugh off the slightly creepy innuendo from Superman.

The truth is I think there are a lot of Supergirl fans who are guys who fell in love with Kara as boys while reading her adventures. Of course, we are going to agree with Superman when he says he hopes to find someone as super and lovable as she is. Definitely an issue to look for and buy if affordable.

Overall grade: A (drippy with Silver Age gooey-ness)

As I am celebrating my friend's romance, I probably won't be posting again until early next weekend. Talk to you all soon!

Final Crisis #3 cover poll results

Last week I put up the latest poll on the blog asking ‘What adjective best describes Supergirl on the cover of Final Crisis #3?’ The choices were innocent, pensive, frightened, vampish, or other.

I would sincerely like to thank the folks who voted. The turn-out was better than I expected.

The results were not surprising with innocent and pensive going down to the wire. Here are the results. I added some classic panels to represent the choice as well.

1) Pensive – 40% (11 votes) - panel from Adventure Comics #382, artist Kurt Schaffenberger

2) Innocent – 37% (10 votes) – panel from Action Comics #285 – artist Jim Mooney (!!)

3) Other – 11% (3 votes) – panel from Adventure Comics #387 – artist Kurt Schaffenberger


4) Vampish – 7% (2 votes) – cover from Supergirl #4 (1996) – artist Gary Frank

5) Frightened – 3% (1 vote) – panel from Adventure #401 – artists Mike Sekowsky


I tried to find panels showing the adjective choice with Supergirl’s hand near her face to best mimic the cover of Final Crisis. I have to say it was sort of fun to flip through the old issues looking for a suitable scan. It was tough to find a panel for 'other' although I do like the one I chose. Lastly, I have to say I still love Jim Mooney’s classic Kara.

In the end, and after reading the issue, my guess is it is supposed to depict Kara as both innocent *and* pensive … as if she is witnessing something so dread she really can’t comprehend it.

Thanks again for the votes! I have another poll I am thinking about and will probably put that on the blog soon.

12/3/08: Showcase Presents: Supergirl Vol 2

DC Comics also announced the release of Showcase Presents: Supergirl Vol. 2 in their October Solicits. The 512 pg phone book style collection will be released on December 3, just in time for the holidays. The cover will be based on the cover of Action Comics 285, shown above. And all that Silver Age goodness is available for a mere $16.99.

Here is the official blurb:

Written by Jerry Siegel and Leo Dorfman;

Art by Jim Mooney;

Cover by Curt Swan and George Klein

Kara Zor-El takes center stage in the stories that presented her to the world, collected from ACTION COMICS #283-321.

This should be a great collection to grab. This volume includes a number of key moments in the Earth-1 Supergirl's history including adoption by the Danvers, being revealed to the world, meeting Comet the Super-Horse, and finding out her Kryptonian parents are alive in the 'Survival Zone'. That's a lot of history! And I am sure I am forgetting other major life events in Kara's life that happened in those issues.

Since purchasing those issues is difficult (both rare and pricey), I highly recommend grabbing this book. Yes it is on phonebook paper and in black and white. But how can you say no to all those great early Kara stories and the beautiful Jim Mooney art? And the sheer volume you get for such a low price makes it a better alternative than the over-priced hard covered Archives.

I also would recommend Showcase Presents: Supergirl Vol 1. Many of the stories are dated, but still worth reading.

Sigh ...

Well, 'the best laid plans ...' as they say.



When I first created this blog, I thought I would have the time to post multiple times a week, reviewing comics and providing some commentary. Alas, life seems to have got in the way of so noble a pursuit.



So, now that we are 6 months out from my original post, it is time to re-direct and re-focus.



My new hope for the blog will be to provide commentary on one title and one character. And, no surprise here, that character will be Supergirl.



So here is the blog's new empty promise. My hope is to provide a review of each month's Supergirl issue for as long as the current title runs. Should I read a back issue from my S-Girl collection (which spans from the Adventure comics of the 70's through now) I will review that as well. Lastly, any nifty S-Girl items which I come across I will chat about as well. If things get slow, I will post something from my ever-growing collection of commissions.

To start the new focus, I have attached a commission I recently obtained from Jim Mooney, shortly before his passing on last month.

Mooney was considered the Supergirl artist of the 60's, drawing most of her back-up adventures in Action comics. His Kara had those big pale blue eyes and exuded the innocence and grace of the Silver Age. About 6 months ago I heard he was still doing commissions. I emailed him and got a nice response. I asked for a shot of Supergirl and Streaky flying as I felt that image would best capture the adventures he drew. To be honest, I gushed like a fanboy ... this guy is a legend in the whole field, let alone his legendary status with Kara. The commission arrived with a nice note at the bottom. The shipment also included a bunch of photostats, prints, and posters of Supergirl as well. Guess my gushing worked! I was sad to read of Mr. Mooney's passing last month, realizing I had never sent him a note to thank him profusely for what has become a cornerstone of my commission collection.