The story is a fun one, a sort of mystery as a playwright disappears off a moving plane. Supergirl as sleuth is an interesting role for her. Not only does the writer disappear but then 'accidents' seem to happen to try and stop the play from opening. Will Supergirl solve this? I think you know the answer. Jack C. Harris was on the Supergirl strip for a bit and he did his best to bring in a supporting cast and some ongoing plots. But this is a simple 'done in one' story.
But ultimately, there is a panel at the end which I can extrapolate to today's comic market. So even though this was truly a completely random take, it worked for today.
The art is by Don Heck, not a favorite of mine and the monthly artist on the Supergirl at this time of the book. Luckily, Joe Giella is on inks and does his best to smooth out the angular, rushed look I usually think of with Heck's work.
The flight has a famous passenger. Brad Reynolds, a noted sci-fi author who has been out of the limelight for a while, has returned. He converted his book 'The Cosmic Abduction' to a play.
Right off, you can see by Kara's face that Heck's lines have been softened by Giella. I like this page of Supergirl flying in front of the airplane, guiding it to a landing.
As for the Reynolds character, Harris drops some bona fides, mentioning Hugo and Nebula awards. I don't know if his story of becoming a playwright echoes some real author at the time.
Remember at this time, Linda Danvers was the guidance counselor at the New Athens Experimental School.
One of the supporting characters is Peter Barton, local theater's play director. He is excited to be putting on the opening show of the play, with some of the drama students from the school being in the play!
Barton is a recurring character at this time. Supergirl is quite smitten with him. In fact, the dialogue and thought balloons make it sound almost to intense a fascination. I kept waiting to see if he had some type of magic powers or love pheromones but it never panned out.
Now I question a major new play from a sci-fi star opening in the Santa Augusta playhouse with students as actors. Surely Reynolds could have premiered this somewhere swankier. But this is the Bronze Age. Coincidences and crazy events to link to the hero abounded.
We finally get the mystery.
Reynolds gets up to use the restroom before the plane lands But when it lands, he is missing. His agent Ralph Painter points out that there are no empty seats on the plane by Reynolds! So where did he go?
Big mystery here! But big clue too!
Painter out loud throws out a crazy theory. Could 'The Cosmic Abduction' so closely mirror an actual alien invasion that an alien force kidnapped him??
It seems crazy.
Luckily, Supergirl basically landed the plane and has overheard all this. She knows there was no flying saucer. So she is on the case.
Now you might say that a crime as small as a missing person might seem small for a Kryptonian. But I like that Supergirl gives this her attention. This is not your standard kidnapping. This is a super-mystery.
I grew up reading books with supporting casts to bolster the stories and deepen the interactions.
Peter Barton is one.
Valerie Myles is another recurring character. She works at New Athens as the 'parapsychology department'. You have to love the 70's and its love of ESP.
I sort of liked this odd love quadrangle Linda has foisted on herself. Peter and Val used to date. Peter likes Supergirl. Linda has started pestering Val that Val is Supergirl, a way to throw suspicion away from herself. But Linda likes Peter so this tactic is sabotaging her own attempts at romance in a way.
It is silly but I love it.
Brad Reynolds remains missing. But more shenanigans crop up around 'The Cosmic Abduction'.
The truck carrying the costumes is sabotaged, a small bomb placed on the axle leading to a near disastrous accident.
A truck careening through a guard rail into the air is an old school Silver Age trope. This might be the latest I have seen it.
And then the train carrying the sets and props has its track switched. It is just about to crash into an oncoming freight train when Supergirl proves she is also 'more powerful than a locomotive'.
This is my favorite moment of the story. It is pretty spectacular./ Love the action of the panel. And saying she is as strong as or as important as Superman is always a great thing for the Supergirl character, especially in this time.
But then the mystery is solved by Supergirl!
If the plane was full and the only empty seat was Reynolds', then where was the agent Painter sitting? There would be no seat for him. Reynolds was Painter and probably other people involved in the other incidents. Yes, if you look back, the quirk of rubbing his chin is there throughout the story.
Would you believe it, on opening night an unplanned accident is about to happen! An electric fire! Reynolds is there, as Painter, and tries to stop it. But Supergirl is also there and saves the day.
Well Reynolds was so insecure about his return to the limelight that he thought some mystery might drive up the buzz factor. So he planned the truck and train accidents.
Then he realizes that 'a play's success depends not on how many see it but how much they like it!'
I'll get back to that in a second.
Reynolds gets charged with 'reckless endangerment' for his dangerous escapades. But Supergirl says she'll defend him given how he tried to stop the fire. Still! That truck driver could have died. He would have derailed two trains! The damage and deaths from that might be astronomical. For me, he deserves more than a slap on the wrist.
But it was that line about a play's success struck me. Comics is in this crazy place with stunts and variant covers and reboots all to try and get people to buy more. But maybe they should concentrate on making comics that people like instead? It was the first thing I thought of when I read that. Maybe I should send the panel to Jim Lee?
I'll again point out the smooth lines of the book. Giella really makes this story a much more beautiful story than a pure Heck story might. Look at Supergirl in the first panel above. Lovely.
Still, utter silliness spilled out over 11 pages. Perhaps because of nostalgia, the train rescue, and that play line, I liked this more than I should.
Overall grade: B
Having good "buzz" will get people to watch a play--one time. If it's no good the you're not going to get repeat business or word of mouth. I suppose that's true for comics, movies, books etc. But then these days a movie is considered a big success if it only loses half its business on the second weekend.
ReplyDeleteGood review Anj, your comment on the parapsychology department is right on, very 70s...BUT in universe it probably isn't as much a quack thing since, well superpowers, aliens, and stuff is a thing. It's always one of the minor frustrating things for me with a lot of superhero-media is that you'll have all this fantastical technology, events happening and...things are just the same as they are at the contemporary times of the comic.
ReplyDeleteSasha from Casually Comics looked at a Superman issue where a guy is saying he was abducted by a UFO and aliens, and people are like skeptical of aliens...in the Silver/Bronze Age Pre-Crisis DC Universe! Like...WHAT? Superman is one! Brainiac is a thing, and tried to do stuff to Earth, not to mention all the other alien superheroes. Like come on!
Like the MCU sort of acknowledges thing but largely it seems things again just stay the same as in the modern world. No advancements in technology on a broader level its always limited to the heroes stuff.
Anyway, derail over good look at the classic 70s Supergirl and talking about her supporting cast elements from the time.
Solid Bronze Age fun. Harris' Supergirl stories could often be run-of-the-mill, but at the same time you could have confidence that he understood who Kara was and would never violate the essence of her character. She may be a little softhearted towards the bad guy here, but neither would she stand by and allow a traumatized little girl to watch while he was murdered by a lynch mob.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember anything about this issue in particular, but generally speaking I LOVED the "Family" books, even the Tarzan one!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments on this trip to the back issue box.
ReplyDeleteYes, this Harris story is pretty thin but I loved the setting and supporting cast.
And yes, I would read this 1000x before I would reread Woman of Tomorrow.
Looks like a fun story, but Bad Linda for using Valerie this way. It’s not quite gaslighting, but still…
ReplyDeleteLinda's casual manipulation of Valerie is a veritable love-tap compared to the cataract of gaslighting that was built into Superman's relationships with Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Jimmy Olson back in the day...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Brad Reynolds was an homage to Ray Bradbury, who at the time was adapting his own stories for the stage thru the Fremont Centre Theater in Pasadena CA...
And yes Joe Giella is working overtime to soften Don Heck's scratchy pencils, alas he overlooked Supergirl's bizarrely baggy red shorts...but only so much can be done I guess.
:)
JF