With the Master Jailer episode of the Supergirl television show behind us, I thought this would be the right time to review Superman Family #221, the ending of Kara's battle with the Jailer in the comics.(I have reviewed the prior chapters here and here for those interested.)
This story was somewhat silly, a villain with clearly incredible scientific genius using fantastically powerful devices, so that he can then crack a safe. The Jailer here makes little sense. It was a simpler time.
For me, the more interesting part of this story was the look at the life of Linda Danvers, emerging soap opera star. Linda's character on the soap was the villain so we get to see the public's reaction to her. We see the perks of being a TV star. And we even see Linda acting like a diva as a way to get away from the set. Even though we are just a couple of months away from Linda uprooting and heading to Chicago to be a grad student, this peek at her life was fascinating for me.
'A Trip on the Light Fantastic' was written by Paul Kupperberg with art by Win Mortimer and Sal Trapani. It was edited by Superman legend Julius Schwartz. I have been something of a Win Mortimer apologist on this blog. But it is pretty clear that Mortimer's work looks better with Vince Colletta inking him. Trapani's inks sort of muddy things up. There was a smoothness to the preceding chapters that is missing here.
The opening splash page is wild, with an action shot of Supergirl flying towards some device and being tossed around.
Last issue, Supergirl thought she had captured the Master Jailer only to have it turn out to be a robot which explodes above the city. That interaction was not only caught on film but broadcast on the news. Supergirl finds is downright embarrassing.
She isn't happy. I love her body language in that last panel.
I like this panel if only because it shows what was considered fashionable in 1982. Are those culottes?
She has come a long way from Midvale!
But the day ends on an odd note. As she is walking back to the car, she is met by a fan of 'Secret Hearts'. Since Linda plays the cold-hearted siren on the show, she is actually loathed by the fans. They love to hate her.
So this 'fan' actually calls Linda a hussy and smacks the packages out of her hands. Amazing! I don't know if Linda is too happy about being hated. That sounds very un-Supergirl-like.
She stumbles onto him trying to crack a safe. This is a guy who has built a tremendous arsenal of futuristic weapons. He built a device to make a Kryptonian intangible. And he is actually trying to crack a safe?? I don't think I'll every understand the motivations of Bronze Age villains. He actually says he needs the money to fund his jail-inspired gimmicks.
I include this panel just because I simply love Supergirl's dialogue. "I knew if I ate all my vegetables and led a clean life, things would work out for me!" Wonderful.
I like big rescue scenes, so seeing Supergirl figure out how to safely lift the train and save the day makes me happy.
Sure enough, the Jailer is on a roof with some mad looking dish weapon. Supergirl flies straight at the Jailer and is struck by the beam. The Jailer hopes she 'packed a toothbrush' because the beam turns Supergirl into pure light and he beams her into deep space.
So in the span of three issues, the Jailer has made Supergirl intangible and now light. And yet, a couple of panels ago he was on his knees trying to open up a safe. Insanity.
So it may have been here that I first learned that Einstein learned light was composed of photons and can be effected by gravity. Supergirl slowly gains control of her 'light body' and begins to turn herself a bit.
Whole once again, she heads to Earth to battle the Jailer.
Battle might be a strong word.
In seconds, she disarms him. I absolutely love that first panel with multiple Supergirl's removing weapons off his costume. And then, with a simple right cross, she dispatches him. I wonder why she didn't do that at any other point of this story. But I suppose he had some pretty powerful devices to up his game.
I think this is the worst of the three parts, mostly because of Trapani. It says something when the shopping spree and the soap opera scenes were my favorite parts.
As I said, this is of low importance for a Supergirl collection although it probably best captures her life as a soap opera star.
So which story was better? This Master Jailer one or the television episode?
Overall grade: C+
It's really no contest: the TV show vastly improves on the idea of Master Jailer by making him an accomplice to Kara's mother gone wild once he lands on Earth. Another SG series improvement over Carl Draper in the comics was that in costume, Jailer spoke little, except when carrying out his sentences, in a variation of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name from his spaghetti westerns. By contrast, Jailer in the comics runs his mouth off with typical super-villain hubris. But then again, as you said, this issue demonstrated writer Paul Kupperberg's tendency to lose track of where he was going with a story on occasion, as he often did that in his Daring New Adventures of SG run as well.
ReplyDeleteStill, there is still the soap opera secret ID stuff, which still managed to differentiate Kara from her cousin's GBS-TV news reporting shtick for awhile.
KET
Man the inking is crude on this one....and the hurried pencils don't help. And yes turning Supergirl into "sentient light" is a cool trap but becomes instantly ludicrous if the Jailer's follow up is to go on an safecracking spree....
ReplyDeleteNot contest the TV Show gave the Jailer a needed makeover hope he returns at some point....
JF
I may be biased as I only know Master Jailer from the TV series rather than the comics, but I do agree Berlani and Co.
ReplyDeletedid a pretty good job "updating" him and giving him more backstory. Mind you, the things that Truth, Justice and the
American Way didn't make clear is
a) how Master Jailer flew under the radar like that to get a job as a NCPD police officer -- you DO need a background
check on that, and he doesn't exactly have an Earth background to check against.
b) how he got that "cabin in the woods" and hid his ship under it; for that matter what he was doing with a ship in the
first place if he was a guard on Fort Rozz, and
c) if those "wierd murders" were his handiwork, why would he need to dump the bodies so publicly in National City anyways?
Especially since he has that "cabin in the woods" and the ship underneath.
Then again, no clunkier than his Bronze Age incarnation, and both are a pretty fun romp! Thanks again for sharing, Anj!
Regards
While I loved the TV episode, I'm going to go with the comic book. Here we have a Supergirl that doesn't need help from other humans, she is able to do all this herself. Linda Danvers is confident with herself and the entire character as a whole shows that she's intelligent and strong-willed, as much as she's strong physically.
ReplyDeleteI don't think M.J.'s stealing cash is a problem. Supergirl addresses why he would result to being a common thief, and his answer is adequate. He has the know-how to make all those weapons but he needs the money in order to make them. Villains are commonly shown with henchmen in costumes and devices and equipment with their signature on it, but not how they can afford to it. Jailer doesn't want to bring more attention to himself by shaking down the mafia or some rich guy, or go against Lex Luther and have Supergirl or Superman on him even faster than they usually are, so instead, albeit in his costume, he B&E's into places.
One thing about the TV series I'm getting tired of is that there are just so many aliens out there who can look human. It reminds me too much of "Grimm."
In any case, I thought the TV action was great, and the characterization of Supergirl's "always find a way outside of killing, her compassion, and her ferocity" was very true to the character.
Obviously, these are speculative answers based on remnants of the TV episode, but here goes:
ReplyDelete"a) how Master Jailer flew under the radar like that to get a job as a NCPD police officer -- you DO need a background
check on that, and he doesn't exactly have an Earth background to check against."
Probably found a way to forge credentials, like the fake FBI IDs Hank and Alex carry around with them.
"b) how he got that "cabin in the woods" and hid his ship under it; for that matter what he was doing with a ship in the first place if he was a guard on Fort Rozz?"
Probably originally used it to travel back and forth from Krypton and the floating prison. Plenty of cabins in wooded areas are located in low security areas, especially if they were originally summer cottages built by someone else.
"c) if those "weird murders" were his handiwork, why would he need to dump the bodies so publicly in National City anyways?"
To send out a 'special message' to the remaining Fort Rozz escapees that they can't run forever.
KET
I'll say the original story of the Jailer in the comics is much better than this one. I did enjoy the show version.
ReplyDeleteBut I love how the show is incorporating some great characters into the plots!
> One thing about the TV series I'm getting tired of is that there are just so many aliens out there who can look human. It reminds me too much of "Grimm."
ReplyDeleteProbably no different than any other scifi/fantasy series out there, only so much budget for "wierd and whacky" creature of the
week costumes... but yeah, from a suspension of disbelief perspective, I agree.
@KET
Thanks for the speculation. One other possibility I had was that Master Jailer had killed and assumed the identity of a
(crooked) NCPD officer who owned the cabin in the woods, but like I said, the writing of his backstory in the episode
didn't exactly lend itself to "suspension of disbelief." But I can forgive them for it.
Regards