Back Issue Box: Action Comics #284

Last week I reviewed Action Comics #283, the first part of a crazy Red Kryptonite story where Kara exposes herself to 6 Red K meteors and therefore must undergo 6 transformations. 

Today I wrap up the story with Action Comics #284, which turns out to be a relatively important story for Supergirl’s history. ‘The Strange Bodies of Supergirl’ is written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel with art by classic artist Jim Mooney. We’ll get through three crazy transformations for sure. But we’ll see some continuity from Superman’s history. We’ll get a character from Supergirl’s supporting cast re-appear. And we get an announcement from Superman at the end of the story which changes the direction of this ongoing back-up moving forward.

Mooney continues to shine giving us a perfect young Supergirl as well as a touch of horror, a pinch of Sci-Fi, and a wonderful happy ending.

So if you are looking for some Silver Age insanity and some Kara history, you are in the right place.

I’ll add that the front end of the issue has a Superman story where he also is affected with Red K, turning into a toddler. What I love about that story is that he does it on purpose, exposing himself to a ‘youth restoring’ Red K from a prior Supergirl story. So there is some continuity in that showing how Supergirl’s life can impact Superman.

On to the book.

We start with this bonkers splash page with a two-headed Supergirl trying to navigate which oceanic emergency she should attend to. Should she save to fighter plane? Or the ocean liner? It’s a bit of a bait-and-switch. We don’t see both emergencies. But we get close. 

The emergencies are almost an afterthought. 

How can you not completely be transfixed by the two-headed Supergirl?? Crazy!

We start out with Linda Danvers worried over whatever the next transformation will be. It doesn’t take long. She gets that famous tingle and sprouts another head. It is obvious that the new head would’ve grow brown hair … that’s Linda’s wig. So we get two sort of different looks. 

Instead of hiding out until the transformation ends, Linda decides to head out. After all, the Midvale fair is still ongoing and there are plenty of ‘freaks’ there as part of the show. She can blend in.

Now you might think that someone would recognize Linda there. Midvale is a small town. You also might think that people would see that this isn’t some get-up. But somehow she is able to mingle. We even see the two heads munch on a big slice of watermelon at the same time. Silly.

What is funny, as hinted at in the splash, is that the two heads don’t always agree on what to do.

Luckily, both are in a more desolate area of the county when they see a fighter jet accidentally drop an H-Bomb. Both agree they need to do something about it and catch the bomb. They then detonate somewhere in a far desert.

Remember, Supergirl is still Superman’s ‘emergency weapon’ at this time so all this had to happen secretly, two heads or not. 

With that adventure behind her, the transformation wears off. But things get crazier.

At home, Supergirl discovers that her very gaze can kill people. She suddenly has ‘fatal vision’. 

By accident, she kills house plants, the pet fish, the Danvers, the mailman, even Krypto! Pretty horrific for a Silver Age story as the hero just racks up a pretty big body count. 

It is a pretty grim couple of pages especially after the zaniness which opened the story. 

What is an even more fascinating turn of events is that she decides to use her death curse for good. She heads to a planet where a bunch of globular, spiked, flying head monsters live. These are menaces to the universe, traveling through space and descending on planets where they destroy everything in their path.

With little thought about the ethics of it all, Supergirl turns the fatal vision on the beings, ‘obliterating every last one’ of them. A bit dark for our hero, no? This certainly breaks the killing code.

Anyways, you would think that she would also know that these are short-lived mutations. Once again, couldn’t she have just hid somewhere?

I do love the wild design of the ‘jet-propelled’ alien marauders. Kudos to Mooney.

Before you get too crazy thinking about how her actions might change your opinion of Supergirl, it turns out the whole thing is just a Red K induced fever dream. Everything and everyone is alive.

How cool that the editors try to blunt any sort of bad response to this element, saying it is within continuity for stuff like this happening. I actually reviewed Superman #144 … 15 years ago! I am afraid to read it. 

What comes next?

A transformation into a mermaid! Why not!

Since Kara has a crush on Jerro the merboy, she decides to visit her old friend.

I will need to see when the last time Jerro showed up in a Supergirl story. But it is great that Siegel is recognizing her history and her specific cast to showcase in this story.

As great as it is that Kara and Jerro rekindle their romance, it isn’t without its own ramifications. Lori Lemaris’ sister Lenora has a crush on Jerro and is heartbroken that he seems so smitten with Supergirl.

After a bunch of adventures, I like that Siegel put in a more romance plot into the mix. I think it adds some depth to Supergirl to have all sorts of stories and plots. 

Depressed, Lenora heads out of the town to gather her thoughts. Unfortunately, she gets too close to the ‘Valley of Hands’, a place where buried alien giants can only move their hands and try to grab passersby. 

The Valley of Hands! Just a throwaway idea! Almost like a Grant Morrison idea just thrown in for fun. 

Jerro and Kara arrive and save Lenora. But the mermaid mutation wears off. With that she leaves leaving Lenora smiling, knowing she can now woo Jerro.

But don’t blink. As that adventure ends, Supergirl suddenly flies by a Green K meteor and feels weakened. You might remember that this whole take began with Supergirl impervious to Green K because her powers were granted by Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Well thankfully Jerry Siegel sort of resets things. Supergirl is back to having the standard Kryptonian power set and weaknesses. So Lesla Lar’s depowering ray wore off. And Mr. Mxyzptlk’s magic powers wear off. So Supergirl is back to normal. 

While it would have been interesting to keep that magic-power basis for a bit longer, differentiating Superegirl from Superman and even making her more powerful, I think it probably was better to fold her back into the Super-family in the classic way.

But after the long form Lesla Lar saga and the ‘powers/no-powers/powers’ nonsense, the character needed a shake-up. And a better way to do that isn’t to change her powers. It was to reveal her. So we see Superman say that is time to announce Kara to the world. She won’t be an emergency secret weapon any more. She will be an active hero.

The next issue is Action Comics #285, one of the most important issue in Supergirl’s history. Out of that comes open adventures, Linda’s adoption, and college. 

I reviewed this story to cover a Red K angle. But I am so glad I did. Because this is almost a prologue to major changes in Supergirl’s life. So it was great to revisit!

Overall grade: A