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Is Kryptonian blood even compatible with human blood?
Debbie confesses that she gained super-powers after receiving a transfusion of what we know now was Supergirl's blood.
But Supergirl is not worried because "experiments have shown that super-powers acquired through blood transfusions last only a short time" . . .
This is all consistent with previous events in the Superman mythos. In "Lana Lang, Superwoman", from Lois Lane # 17 (May, 1960), Superman gives transfusions of his Kryptonian blood to both Lana Lang and Lois Lane, with no issues of compatability or rejection. And, in fact, the girls do receive temporary super-powers as a result. (As I recall, forty-eight hours was just about right.)
Presumably, this was one of the details upon which Superman briefed his cousin. I say that because Supergirl knew Debbie's super-powers were only temporary. Yet, this . . .
Supergirl never thought that her blood would carry her super-powers "even though [she] was only half-super when it was taken."
. . . suggests that the Girl of Steel was unaware of the effect her Kryptonian blood would have on an Earthling. Unless Supergirl was specifically assuming that her blood, when it was rendered un-super by the red kryptonite, wouldn't have affected Debbie.
The problem here is that it's sloppy thinking on Supergirl's part. First, because the red k rendered her non-super only from the waist up. And, theoretically, her blood circulated throughout both the super and non-super halves of her body.
Second, even if we assume that the blood Debbie received from Linda was completely non-super, thanks to the red kryptonite, Supergirl should have realised that within twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the effects of the red k would wear off and the Kryptonian blood in Debbie's system would become super, again.
I still say she shouldn't have donated her blood in the first place.
Agree with you completely there, Jeff.
1)Must...resist...obvious joke...about...brain activity...in...Texas.
2)I could read a book overnight, as long as it wasn't War and Peace, or something. I once read Moby Dick all in one sittimng to prepare for a test - and then the professor was out sick and I suddenly had two extra days.
3)I would've been concerned that Kryptonian blood wouldn't even register as human. As I recall, in the first Pertwee Era Doctor Who story, there was a bit where a hospital lab gave a physican jib about sending them non-human blood when they tried to analyze a sample taken from the Time Lord. For that matter, I seem to recall a Spider-Man story where he was reluctant to give blood after Aunt May's 957th heart attack, because he didn't know how his "radioactive blood" might affect her.
Jeff of Earth-J:
To the contrary - it was a totally goof idea!
The Baron:
I think someone made a similar comment about this story in the relevant lettercol. The Editor's reply complimented them on their reading speed, but pointed out that Debbie was recovering from brain surgery, and was unlikely to be able to read so quickly.
I think someone made a similar comment about this story in the relevant lettercol. The Editor's reply complimented them on their reading speed, but pointed out that Debbie was recovering from brain surgery, and was unlikely to be able to read so quickly.
Good memory, Mr. Wrexham!
In the Metropolis Mailbag of Action Comics # 325 (Jun., 1965) appeared this letter from David S. Bradley, of Berkeley, California:
In ACTION № 321, I discovered one of the stupidest things you've ever printed. In "The Enemy Supergirl", Linda says Debbie couldn't have read the book she brought her overnight unless she did so at super-speed. But why would this fast reading reveal Debbie's horrible secret? I can read 9 paperbacks in 4 or 5 hours---more than enough to equal the size of a book like Gone With the Wind. Therefore, the reading of a book overnight wouldn't prove a thing!
To which, Ye Olde Editor responded:
We have only admiration for your amazing reading ability. But most people can't read anywhere near this fast. For a girl who was not a speed reader, and was recovering from brain surgery, to read a large book in one night would be phenomenal!
I suspect this response was draughted by E. Nelson Bridwell, who signed on as Mort Weisinger's assistant in 1965 and took over the editor's replies in the letter columns. Mr. Weisinger's response likely would've been more caustic and smug than the one above. Unca Mort didn't suffer foolish or cocky or just plain annoying correspondants lightly.
Supergirl wouldn't make a very good detective either. The changed situation: There is a new super being around. The unusual circumstance: Supergirl donated blood. The conclusion: the blood made the girl super. Not that radical a conclusion!
Incidentally... I've spent more than a couple nights staying up late to finish a good book. If Linda picked it, it's probably exciting enough that her friend could stay up late to read the whole thing.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
ACTION COMICS #321
"The Enemy Supergirl!"
Stanhope College is having its annual blood drive, and Linda Danvers has been scheduled for a morning appointment. (Apparently, donating blood is mandatory.)
They must enjoy being sued.
I have read some stories with oddly specific Red-K effects, but this one really smacks of writer's fiat. It allows the hypodermic needle to penetrate her skin, but is donating blood really a good idea for Supergirl? Is Kryptonian blood even compatible with human blood? While Linda is recovering, an ambulance brings in a friend of hers, Debbie Porter, who has been injured in a car crash.
Because the wrong blood type can kill you, they would have to determine the type before giving it to a patient. I don’t know about the 1960s, but they also check for various diseases today. Linda’s donation wouldn’t be given to a patient until all of this is done. This is especially clear because this is a HOSPITAL that has blood already on hand.
Because she carrying the fish tank, she cannot assist when some crooks hold up the Stanhope Bank.
Unless the bank robbers are total idiots, why would they rob a bank anywhere near Midvale, Stanhope or Metropolis?
Edna also feels the need to remind "Supergirl" that, "After all, you lived there for years in your Linda identity."
Again, exposition for the new reader.
"Soon afterward, Supergirl visits the college hospital in her Linda identity" and brings Debbie a music box... made of lead.
Smokestacks, music boxes. They use a lot of lead.
But Supergirl is not worried because "experiments have shown that super-powers acquired through blood transfusions last only a short time" and that "since a pint will last 48 hours, your time is almost up."
As a blood donor and as someone who has reluctantly learned about bone marrow and blood cells, I can contribute a little information about human blood. When the bone marrow makes red blood cells, the cells survive about three months. I guess Kryptonian blood doesn’t last as long.
When someone gets a blood transfusion it’s a mix of new and old cells. If you donate a pint, the standard is to wait a minimum of 56 days before you can donate again after your blood supply to bounces back.
Because there is a complete turnover in blood cells every three months, the “A-one-C” test for blood sugar gives you an average blood sugar reading. If you try to “be good” just before the test, it doesn’t matter because it’s a three-month average. Aren’t you glad you asked?
Back to your regular scheduled programming.
At that point, Debbie's super-powers fade away as she slips into unconsciousness. When she awakens, she thinks everything she has experienced has been a dream... or at least that's what she says. Personally, I think Supergirl is much too trusting.
I guess Debbie was able to sneak out of the hospital a few times. Nobody missed her?
Smokestacks, music boxes. They use a lot of lead.
To be fair, the music box was specifically designed to conceal the Kryptonite... but it did also play music.
I guess Debbie was able to sneak out of the hospital a few times. Nobody missed her?
Yeah, there was a whole thing explaining how she woke up, discovered she had super-powers, slipped off her bandages when she thought to be still unconscious, traveled at super-speed, blah, blah, blah.
They don't say so, but it sounds like she was in a coma after having BRAIN SURGERY. She should have been watched constantly and have been hooked up to whatever monitors were available back then.
ACTION COMICS #322 - "The Planet of Outcasts"
One day, at Stanhope college, as Linda Lee glances through the classroom window"... a branch bursts through, growing at an alarming rate. Using the leaves for cover, Linda switches to Supergirl and follows a line of newly grown trees and shrubs to a nearby hill where she meets three super-powered girls who introduce themselves as...
They explain that they are from the planet Feminax, which is "peopled only by girls, each one of whom has one super-power." Plant Girl goes on to explain, "You are our idol. This scroll is an invitation to our first Supergirl festival. We plan to present you with an award." So far, this plot bears a remarkable resemblance to "Supergirl's Three Super Girl Firends (Action Comics #276) and, if I were Supergirl, I would suspect the involvment of the LSH in some capacity. But that's what what this story is about so, after verifying that Feminax orbits a yellow sun, Supergirl agrees to accompany them back to their planet.
Once there, she is greeted by Queen Ravenne, however her duties preclude her from greeting he in person so she greets her remotely via speaker-phone. After that, the three girls take her to the "Tower of Super-Beings" which supposedly commemorates the feats of her and her friends. But the Superman exhibits the time Superman went blind on a planet orbiting a red sun and had to resort to beggary; the time Krypto was trapped by the super-felines on Cat Planet; and the time Brainiac bound Supergirl with Kyrptonite chains and used artificial Kryptonite flames in an effort to destroy her. (Funny I don't remember that one.) Then the three women admit that they faked the powers they displayed on Earth and are really...
One day, they each recieved a message which invited them to Planet Z in sky sector Omega IV where their evil talents will be rewarded. Once there they (and many others) are greeted by Ravenne of the Xoran Galaxy who is founding a "Sisterhood of Evil." They all pledge an oath to destroy Supergirl and drink from a Kryptonite cup (for some reason). Also, I should mention that "Ravenne" wears a veil covering her face. When Supergirl tries to use her powers, she discovers that the rays of the yellow sun have been "warped" by a "prism-jewel" atop a nearby tower and no longer function properly. She is locked in a stockade where she soon discovers glass caskets containng...
Just then, Ran-Kor arrives and tells her she's only pretending to be evil, and that Supergirl can use her powers to free the captive women. Even though Supergirl's physical powers have been warped, Ran-Kor explains, her super-mentality is undistorted. She provides Supergirl with a "brain-wave converter" (another helmet!) and instructs her how to use it. The women are revived, but are wearing masks and are really...
Ran-Kor explains that when the Sisterhood of Evil brought these three notorious femmes fatales from the past the mthod they used was imperfect, leaving them in a state of suspended animation. She has now tricked Supergirl into reviving them, leaving her to ponder, "Great galaxies! With a planet of female desperadoes behind them, those three could destroy law and order everywhere! *groan* And I'll be responsible! It was I who brought the evil three to life again!" And that's where we'll have to leave it for today because this story is continued next issue.
Prediction: I have not paged ahead but, when Supergirl checked to see whetehr or not Feminax was orbiting a yellow sun back on page three, two planets were clearly shown in orbit. Could planet "Machismo" (or whatever) be a planet of men who could defeat the evil women?
I just realized that this run of Action Comics can be read on DC Universe Infinite, which I have. So now I can actually read along with you.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
ACTION COMICS #322
"The Planet of Outcasts"
….after verifying that Feminax orbits a yellow sun, Supergirl agrees to accompany them back to their planet.
“Plant Girl” points into the sky and says “you’ll find our planet in that direction.” Real specific.
Ran-Kor ("Plant Girl") from the planet Drob, who betrayed her planet to alien invaders
The alien invaders cheerfully gave her half of the wealth of her looted planet. Very honorable of them not to just kill her.
Even though Supergirl's physical powers have been warped, Ran-Kor explains, her super-mentality is undistorted.
Her super-naivety is also intact.
She provides Supergirl with a "brain-wave converter" (another helmet!) and instructs her how to use it.
So far, I think the helmets have been 75% bad ideas. What, her worry?
The women are revived, but are wearing masks and are really...
Ran-Kor explains that when the Sisterhood of Evil brought these three notorious femmes fatales from the past the method they used was imperfect….
Supergirl’s thought balloon reads “the three most evil women of history.” What the writer means is “the three bad women the reader probably heard of.” Mata Hari was a spy (bad or good depending on point of view), Lucrezia Borgia was just fitting in with her family and Lady MacBeth* was a fictional character.
*Which reminds me of the song lyrics “our love will go down in history just like Romeo and Juliet.”
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