Last week, after 10+ years of running this site, I finally got around to 'reviewing' the 1984 Supergirl film. Read it here: ( https://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2019/01/bullet-review-supergirl-movie-1984.html ). I know that was more of a glance than a true review. But the truth was I was so dazzled by Helen Slater's performance that all of the warts of the plot were easily overlooked.
So I was thrilled to dust off this copy of Mad Magazine #277, a book I knew would take a much harsher look at the inane aspects of the movie. And a big hearty thank you to great friend Martin Gray who sent this to me a couple of years ago, knowing I would eventually get to it. (You might have surmised it came from across the pond by the 70p price tag.)
I mean, when you start out with an image of Alfred E. Neuman as Supergirl, you know that this isn't going to be a good look at this film. And after all, we are talking about Mad, a book which was meant to poke fun at things.
Now it has been many many many years since I read a Mad Magazine. So really this look at the movie are a number of single panel jokes which follows the plot of the film. But it isn't a true 'story'. So if you hadn't seen the film, you might be even more confused. I have picked out a couple of my favorite gags to showcase here.
The parody is called 'Supergall' because Mad couldn't believe that Warner Brothers would have the gall to release this after the excellent Superman movies.
I love how she says she'll survive the tremendous pressure by not reading the reviews of the film. The idea that this is a terrible movie is come back to over and over.
One of the more cringe-worthy moments of the movie is the immediately-rapey truck drivers who ogle Supergirl and threaten her. I like how she turns the tables here.
And Linda Lee as 'mild mannered preppy' is a great line.
One of the things that is amusing is the number of coincidences that happen in the movie. So the idea that she stumbles onto the school where Lucy Lane is a student, and paired up with her, and she knows Jimmy Olsen is called out as 'Advanced Plot Contrivances'.
And I love that Faye Dunaway's age difference with Ethan is called out as a joke.
I like how Ghostbusters is promoted as better entertainment than Supergirl.
Unbiased, I have to say Ghostbusters is better.
Of course, there has to be a couple of randy jokes given the target audience. So a breast joke about being worse aerodynamics seems like perfect PG-13 fodder for the Mad audience.
And I also wondered why a water tower would be on a gas station roof.
"Can you do everything that Superman does?"
"Yes ... except at the box office!"
That is tremendous.
Ugh. Kara and Ethan having a baby? Yeesh!
Anyways, I cherish this book. Thanks again Martin.
It was much easier, given my inclinations, to let Mad Magazine skewer this movie than to do it myself.
Is it worth hunting this down? Only as an oddity in a Supergirl collection.
"The parody is called 'Supergall' because Mad couldn't believe that Warner Brothers would have the gall to release this after the excellent Superman movies."
ReplyDeleteSomeone didn't watch Superman III, apparently.
"Unbiased, I have to say Ghostbusters is better."
Well... yes. Yes, it is. I can't refute that.
"Can you do everything that Superman does?"
"Yes ... except at the box office!"
Well, given that Superman III underperformed, Superman IV was nearly so big of a flop, and the next Superman movies were divisive at best... yes, she does everything that he does.
Maybe this is my biggest gripe: Supergirl gets one movie which flops, and DC does away with her for two decades; Superman has one flop after another and he keeps getting movies. I understand Superman I and II proved a SM movie can be a hit, and WB doesn't really care for Superman, but still... Why when a SM or BM -or X-Men or Spider-Man or Hulk or Daveredevil- film flops it is because the film sucks but when a SG film flops it is because the character -and female heroes as a whole- suck?
It's sad that Supergirl was being featured in a mainstream publication as an object of ridicule, but it's an interesting oddity anyway.
Kudos to Martin.
Who would have guessed in 1985 that thirty years later Supergirl would make appearances in a mainstream publication... advertising her own show?
Off-topic: Anj, Are you going to review "The Late Batsby" and "Super Sleeper" Super Shorts? All I can say is that Kara is the cutest... and most destructive... sleeper ever.
Yay, thanks for reviewing this. When I was a kid I loved Mad!, but boy, those gags were contrived. Nevertheless, this is fun stuff... heck, the cover justifies the strip.
ReplyDeleteYes to SuperSleeper, tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI briefly touch on the Batgirl one.
You can't go wrong with Jack Davis' artwork...he caught Helen Slater's cheekbones perfectly.
ReplyDelete:)
JF
"The parody is called 'Supergall' because Mad couldn't believe that Warner Brothers would have the gall to release this after the excellent Superman movies."
ReplyDeleteWell, the truth is WB DIDN'T, not in the US market at least. Warner Brothers had the international distribution rights, but the studio gave away the US distribution rights to fledgling-at-the-time TRI-Star Pictures, which didn't have any idea how to successfully launch a supposed 'blockbuster' type of movie, since they were completely new at it. Also explains why Supergirl took several months before it debuted in the US...but by that time, WB had released it internationally earlier that summer, and already knew its fate. Subsequently, Supergirl was illegally passed around on the black market, which also compromised its fall US release.
"Well, given that Superman III underperformed..."
Yep....which also contributed to a host of production problems for Supergirl, including hasty script rewrites due to budget cuts, the loss of Christopher Reeve due to his falling out with the Salkinds, and director Jeannot Szwarc, who beforehand, had directed Jaws II, and later on gave us Santa Claus, The Movie.
KET
The panels you posted were all fair parody. It is, admittedly, a silly movie and not that hard to make fun of just about any scene, except for one or two fantastic flying sequences.
ReplyDeleteI think the joke about the bra may be calling back to the scene where Linda is trying on a bra on top of her blouse, in Lucy's dorm room. Not sure I got the point of that scene. Is it to observe that Kara finds much of our culture alien? And women's undergarments are a good way to make that point? Or maybe I'm forgetting the context.
I didn't read MAD too much as a kid, though my brother absolutely loved it so they were always lying around. I think I read the Spy vs. Spy feature. Mostly I found the jokes kind of obvious, though the parody-style artwork was tremendous, and maybe was an early example of modern animation where each panel/shot is is filled with sight gags everywhere you look.
T.N.
Just silly fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd as folks have said here, the movie is ripe for parody.
Late to the party, but thanks for sharing this Anj. Nice little bit of background to things.
ReplyDelete> Unbiased, I have to say Ghostbusters is better.
Oh no arguement there... but... Helen Slater's portrayal of Supergirl :) :)
> Is it worth hunting this down? Only as an oddity in a Supergirl collection.
Hmm, wonder if you ever saw the Supergirl Storybook -- https://goo.gl/images/FuK3uz
Sad to say I had a copy from my youth -- and some of those lovely pictures! Some of them not inmovie, but still... -- but somehow
lost it. I last saw it about 2 years ago but that particular copy'd been cut up as an arts/crafts project. Needless to say I
was crestfallen...
> I think the joke about the bra may be calling back to the scene where Linda is trying on a bra on top of her blouse, in Lucy's
> dorm room. Not sure I got the point of that scene. Is it to observe that Kara finds much of our culture alien? And women's
> undergarments are a good way to make that point? Or maybe I'm forgetting the context.
That was about it. There was also some talk about "taking needles and alcohol" and earpiercing. wierd as heck... but again
how Helen manages to pull it off, and the chemistry she and Maureen Teefy had made up for it.
Regards