She was only 15 when she first came to Earth, fleeing the destruction of her world's last refuge. Following in the footsteps of her legendary cousin, the Kryptonian teenager named Kara Zor-El joined Superman's neverending battle for truth and justice as his partner in crime-fighting--Supergirl!
Disguised as the brilliant brown-haired college student Linda Danvers, Supergirl sets out from the safety of Metropolis to see her adopted country for herself. From the streets of Chicago to the hills of San Francisco, she encounters loyal new friends and powerful new foes, astounding new discoveries and terrifying new dangers. Can she stand on her own outside of Superman's shadow? Looks like a job for... Supergirl!
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I recently finished reading the adventures of the Silver Age Supergirl. My Bronze Age Supergirl collection is spotty, so I'm going to jump ahead a bit to the 1982 series The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl. the series is written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Carmine Infantino. I tend to group Infantino with Mike Sekowsky and Gene Colan, none of whose styles appealed to me when I was a kid, but all of which I learned to appreciate as an adult. I'm not trying to change hearts and minds here, just stating a fact: Carmine Infantino drew this series (inked by Bob Oksner).
ISSUE #1 - "A Very Strange and Special Girl!"
As the series begins, Linda Danvers is aboard the Lake Shore Limited, traveling from New York to Chicago, giving Kupperberg the opportunity to wax nostalgic for rail travel. She has just transferred to Lake Shore University. The first thing we notice is how smartly dressed she is. Current fashions, for Linda as well as her supporting cast, are a hallmark of this series. Just like a tale from the Silver Age, an emergency arrises on page two necessitating her change to Supergirl. Supergirl's costume has likewise changed, now sporting a "V" neckline and a pair of red hotpants instead of a skirt.
After dealing with the emergency, she settls back into her seat aboard the train and tinks back over her life, from her girlhood on the Argo City asteroid to the Midvale Orphanage. "Anti-Kryptonite" is not mentioned, nor is the fact that her parents survived. (At one point she mentions the bitterness she felt when she thought her natural parents had died.) Her thoughts are interrupted as the train arrives in Chigago, giving Kupperberg the opportunity to elaborate on the epithets "The Windy City," "Hog Butcher to the World" and "The Second City." After switching to a cab, Linda's reminiscences continue with thoughts of her adoptive parents, Fred and Edna Danvers. Arriving at the registrar's office (her major is psychology, BTW), she meets Joan Raymond (who is also smartly dressed).
Linda and Joan quickly strike up a friendship, and Joan offers to show Linda an apartment that has recently become available in her building. On their way there, Linda bumps into a student named Gayle Marsh. Gayle is a mutant with psi-abilities, and she immediately gets a flash that Linda is one of "Them." Gayle is under the influence of an older man named Pendergast, whose self-appointed mission it is to "destroy this fetid cesspool of decay called Chicago." "What are a few paltry million lives," he asks, "when balanced against the weight of humanity!"
By this time, Linda and Joan have arrived at Joan's building in Roger's Park, giving Kupperberg the opportunity to talk a bit about Chigago's neighborhoods. Joan introduces Linda to Mrs. Berkowitz, the landlady. The first tennant they meet is John Ostrander, and if that name sounds familiar to you as the co-creator of Grimjack and the writer of Suicide Squad, it's because that's who the character is named for (at the time just a friend of Kupperberg's from Chicago). Later, standing on the shore of Lake Michigan, Linda becomes aware that she is feeling a chill... which she should not be. Hovering overhead is a robed figure, but something is preventing Linda's super-vision from seeing who it is. Switching to Supergirl, she quickly learns that it is Psi, the super-identity of Gayle Marsh. Psi subdues Supergirl, then telepathically contacts Pendergast, suggesting they use her to amplfy her own psionic powers. He agrees that supergirl shall live, "...until I may return her lifeless, burnt-out husk to her master, Decay!"
So far, so good. This series is off to a nice start. It has it's own voice, an interesting supporting cast and a clear direction.
Good news. I have access to these issues on DC Universe Infinite.
I’ve now read issue #1 and agree that it’s well done. Having an entire issue to play with, Kupperberg was able to introduce an entire slate of characters without seeming to rush. Infantino was as good as he was in the Silver Age.
This costume was introduced in 1971's Adventure Comics #410, after a period when Supergirl tried out several other costumes with the encouragement of editors for reader feedback on them. It had quite some staying power and is still a classic for me.
After long stints in Action Comics and Adventure Comics, Linda had a ten-issue series of her own from late 1972 to 1974. After that she became one of the four main features of Superman Family, which lasted into late 1982 and led directly to his series. In the meantime she was a frequent guest star in Superman and in Action Comics.
Yes, in addition to the hot pants and V-neckline, it also has blousey sleeves and she wears a red choker around her neck.
Right you are. Nice to point that out.
ISSUE #2 - "Crisis Over Chicago!"
Supergirl revives and they fight. Psi is a somewhat reluctant super-villain, obviously being manipulated by Pendegast. Her thing, their thing, is clearing the Earth for homo superior, or mutants (pretty much the same thing as Magneto's). They fight and philosophize for 7+ pages to a draw. After the, Supergirl return to her new apartment. There she finds Joan Raymond and John Ostrander plus two additional new members of the cast: Joan's roommate Cheryl Delarye and Cheryl's boyfriend Daryll Simmons. Cheryl is Black, 33 years old, and describes herself as a late bloomer. She, too, is a student at LSU and is smartly dressed. She tells Linda that she was "otherwise engaged" for the last 15 yearsa, but doesn't elaborate beyond that.
The reason they are all there is because the movers arrived with Linda's furniture shortly after she left and they decided to move it in for her. After they leave, Linda removes her wig and fall son the bed exhausted. Meanwhile, back at Pendergast's luxury co-op on the North Shore, he is berating Gayle for her failure to defeat Supergirl. Their argument escalates. He pulls a gun on her and she attacks him with her psi-power, which transforms him into the sludge monster Decay. That's the end of the story (15 pages) because the DNA of S also has a Lois Lane back-up starting this issue.
In the Action Comics series we covered, she was sleeping in her Linda wig and it unrealistically stayed in place. Now she's sleeping without the wig. Her friends got in before. Couldn't one or more of them walk in and see her blonde hair?
"Oh, Linda... I didn't know you wore a wig!"
"And, you know, you're a dead ringer for Supergirl."
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