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SUPERGIRL IN THE BRONZE AGE!

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Pre-Crisis Supergirl ■ Death of Supergirl ■ Rebirths of Supergirl ■ Superwoman ALAN BRENNERT interview ■ HELEN SLATER Supergirl movie & more super-stuff!

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Volume 1, Number 84 October 2015 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

PUBLISHER John Morrow TM

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks

COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER John Morrow SPECIAL THANKS Cary Bates Elliot S. Maggin Alan Brennert Andy Mangels ByrneRobotics.com Franck Martini Glen Cadigan Jerry Ordway and The Legion George Pérez Companion Ilya Salkind Shaun Clancy Anthony Snyder Gary Colabuono Roger Stern Fred Danvers Jeannot Szwarc DC Comics Steven Thompson Jim Ford Jim Tyler Chris Franklin Orlando Watkins Grand Comics John Wells Database Marv Wolfman Robert Greenberger Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics Auctions Paul Channing Keefe Rob Kelly James Heath Lantz

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: Supergirl in Bronze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The Maid of Might in the ’70s and ’80s PRINCE STREET NEWS: The Sartorial Story of the Sundry Supergirls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Oh, what to wear, what to wear? THE TOY BOX: Material (Super) Girl: Pre-Crisis Supergirl Merchandise . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Dust off some shelf space, ’cause you’re gonna want this stuff FLASHBACK: Who is Superwoman? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Elliot Maggin’s Miracle Monday heroine, Kristen Wells BACKSTAGE PASS: Adventure Runs in the Family: The Saga of the Supergirl Movie . . . .35 Hollywood’s Ilya Salkind and Jeannot Szwarc take us behind the scenes FLASHBACK: Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 The death of Supergirl: the end of a hero and of an era INTERVIEW: Alan Brennert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Up close and personal with the writer of a handful of unforgettable comics stories FLASHBACK: The Many Lives of Supergirl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 A look at the Post-Crisis Maid of Might BONUS INTERVIEW: Wonder Woman Contest Winner Orlando Watkins . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Remember the Bronze Age Wonder Woman contest? We do! BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 The latest from the BI Bunker

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $67 Standard US, $85 Canada, $104 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. and friends. Supergirl TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2015 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing, except Prince Street News, TM & © Karl Heitmueler, Jr. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

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In the background: Cover to The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #17 (Oct. 1981), featuring “The Many Lives of Supergirl.” Art by George Pérez and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

COVER ARTISTS Karl Heitmueller, Jr., with Stephen DeStefano Bob Fingerman Dean Haspiel Kristen McCabe Jon Morris Jackson Publick

Supergirl by Jim Mooney. TM & © DC Comics. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions.

Supergirl was a character I once took for granted. By the time I started reading Superman comic books in the late 1960s, the Maid of Might—no matter how nicely her adventures were drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger— was gobbling up space in the back of Action Comics … or at least that’s how her series was perceived by the grade-school me. I would’ve preferred to see another Superman story as Action’s B-feature, or some other hero who needed a home, like Metamorpho or Green Arrow (Action eventually became the home of those two heroes, but that’s another story). Back then, I wasn’t the only fan who paid little attention to Supergirl. Boys like me were the primary target audience for DC Comics, a market DC’s statistics said would turn over every few years. American culture defined our gender roles starting with our pink-or-blue baby showers, and by the time we reached comic-book-reading age, boys picked Batman, Amazing Spider-Man, and Our Army at War and girls (if they were reading comics at all) opted for Wonder Woman, Young Romance, and Betty and Veronica. We played with G.I. Joe or Barbie, and the Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker or Easy-Bake Oven. Those were the rules. You didn’t cross the line. Say what you will about the ironfisted management style of editor Mort Weisinger, the man who guided the Superman family through the Silver Age, but he knew his target audience (up until his last year or so behind the desk, perhaps). He helped build an entire mythology around Superman, transforming the one-time Last Son of Krypton into a franchise patriarch. And into that family was introduced the Man of Steel’s cousin—another survivor of Krypton!— Kara Zor-El, better known as Supergirl. After testing the concept with a prototypical Super-Girl in 1958, DC introduced Superman’s cousin Kara in the landmark issue Action #252 (May 1959), in a tale by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. This oft-reprinted classic gave the Man of Tomorrow a family, and paved the way for the long-running Supergirl backup in Action (drawn for much of the Silver Age by the man considered by most to be THE Supergirl artist, Jim Mooney). Supergirl’s existence was originally shielded from the public and she served as Superman’s secret weapon, appearing not only in her own tales but often guest-starring in her cousin’s. Through the prominence of Supergirl, as well as Lois Lane and Lana Lang, Mort Weisinger lured female readers into his Super-universe—and that sneak also tricked us fellas into reading stories about girls!

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Michael Eury

Supergirl started to grow on me. And why wouldn’t she? She was cute, wore a real short skirt, and was powerful without being pushy like those Women’s Libbers elbowing their way into the media during my childhood. As I matured, so did comic books, and so did Supergirl. No longer was she the boohooing teeny-bopper as depicted in her earliest stories—she became a strongwilled college student and worthy one-day successor to Superman as Earth’s Greatest Hero. But no matter how likable Supergirl was or how independent she became, and despite her getting her own book on her tenth anniversary when the Legion of Super-Heroes feature was booted out of Adventure Comics (beginning with #381, June 1969), Supergirl had one thing working against her: she was a copycat. Or, as DC’s editorial director Dick Giordano once put it, she was “Superman with boobs.” She changed her clothing (a lot!) and creative teams (a lot more!), and she got her own short-lived title in the 1970s. In the early ’80s, she once again headlined her own title and starred in a live-action movie. Despite these efforts, Supergirl remained in Superman’s shadow. Until she died. You don’t have to be a comic-book historian to know that DC Comics shattered its status quo by offing the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) and Supergirl in its Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries. In the epic Crisis #7 (Oct. 1985), discussed later in these pages, Supergirl valiantly gave her life to save countless others. Its iconic cover showed the near-omnipotent Man of Steel blubbering like a baby as he held his cousin’s lifeless, broken body. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez finally gave us a Supergirl story with (excuse the term) balls. And it was her last. (Well, sorta.) What I discovered on that day in 1985 when I first read the shocking tale of Supergirl’s noble sacrifice was that I had indeed cared for her as a character all of these years— no matter how skillfully Marv and George’s opus was, it wouldn’t have made me misty-eyed if I found the Maid of Might unlikable. But somewhere along the way, maybe because of my childhood gender-programming, I didn’t realize what a treasure Supergirl was. Until it was too late. Of course, DC Comics and many other fans have since realized the magic of Supergirl. Shortly after she died, she returned… and returned again… and again. Supergirl is now a television star. It’s unlikely she’ll make a crossover’s Death List anytime soon. It’s been 30 years now since Kara Zor-El died. We could have commemorated that anniversary with a poignant cover recreation of Crisis #7, but instead we celebrate what made her special during the Bronze Age, the fun, quirky, and nostalgic tales which far too many of us overlooked back in the day. So put on your red hot pants (on second thought, don’t) and ease into a comfy chair as we remember the Girl of Steel’s Bronze Age adventures.

John Wells

She lived among the Baby Boom generation, but she wasn’t one of them. Born years after the planet Krypton’s destruction, young, blonde Kara had grown up on a surviving fragment called Argo City and—when it became toxic—was shuttled to Earth for a surprise reunion with her adult cousin Superman in 1959’s Action Comics #252. Adopting the civilian alter ego of brown-wigged orphan Linda Lee, the freshly christened Supergirl went into training as the Man of Steel’s “secret weapon” in Action’s new backup series. Nothing ever really changed that much in Superman’s world, but his cousin—not beholden to maintaining a particular status quo—was a different story. Linda had boyfriends—local kid Dick Malverne, Atlantean merboy Jerro, and the Legion of Super-Heroes’ Brainiac 5—and left Midvale Orphanage when she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers. As Supergirl, she went public to worldwide acclaim. Linda found a best friend in the psychic Lena Thorul (who happened to be Lex Luthor’s sister). Supergirl was reunited with her Kryptonian parents Zor-El and Alura, who’d miraculously survived Argo City’s destruction via “the Survival Zone” and relocated to the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor (in part to avoid any discomfort for Mr. and Mrs. Danvers). Once Linda graduated from high school in 1964’s Action Comics #318 and headed to Stanhope College, though, the forward momentum ceased. Five years later, Linda was still in college and the only thing that had changed was the artwork. In a movement by art director Carmine Infantino to reflect the more dynamic look exemplified by Neal Adams, longtime Supergirl artist Jim Mooney was forced out and replaced by Kurt Schaffenberger effective with late 1967’s Action Comics #359. The change undeniably refreshed the series and may have caused wheels to begin turning in Superman editor Mort Weisinger’s mind.

KARA’S BIG ADVENTURE Since 1965, Supergirl had headlined an annual Giant issue of Action Comics consisting of old stories, and Weisinger wondered what the Maid of Might could do with her own monthly comic book. At some point, his eye fell on Adventure Comics, a title that had the unusual distinction of being one of DC’s—and the industry’s—bestselling comic books while simultaneously having the weakest sales of the company’s seven Superman-related titles. Although Adventure officially starred the Legion of Super-Heroes, it featured Superboy—and occasionally Supergirl—on every cover and Weisinger had come to believe that it was the Boy of Steel who was really selling the book. While it still outsold Adventure, the Superboy solo comic book was losing more readers per issue. “Mort’s conclusion was that the Legion of Super-Heroes was draining sales from Superboy,” former LSH writer Jim

What to Wear? In the early 1970s, writer/artist Mike Sekowsky whisked the Girl of Steel down a reader-recommended fashion runway that would even make Katy Keane dizzy! From Super DC Giant #S-24 (May–June 1971). TM & © DC Comics.

Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

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Shooter told Glen Cadigan in The Legion Companion (2003), “and that the property really wasn’t good enough to hold its own.” Weisinger’s solution was to move the Legion into the back of Action Comics (effective with issue #377) while making Supergirl the new star of Adventure Comics starting with issue #381 (on sale April 29, 1969). With the Girl of Steel in place, Shooter detailed, the editor believed “that the sales would hold […] and that Superboy’s sales would rise, since it was no longer being diluted.” The swap coincided almost exactly with the tenth anniversary of Supergirl’s debut and introduced the feature’s third long-term penciler in the form of Win Mortimer. The industry veteran had been the Legion’s regular artist at the time of the transition and Weisinger kept him on the book (generally inked by Jack Abel). The Mortimer/Abel team drew the inaugural Adventure tale—Supergirl’s first book-length story—while a returning Kurt Schaffenberger was on hand for the entirety of issue #382. After that, each artist got half an issue for a short story apiece. There was also new blood in the writer’s seat. After a decade of being primarily written by middle-aged men (most recently Leo Dorfman), Supergirl’s adventures were now coming from the typewriter of 21year-old Cary Bates. A contributor to Weisinger’s Superman books since the mid-1960s, Bates had written a few Supergirl solo stories before in Action #356, 358, and #366–368, but this was his first shot at a regular series. win mortimer His inaugural installment involved Supergirl and a gang of brainwashed female thieves who’d also been infiltrated by a tough-as-nails blonde … revealed on the last pages as the red-haired Batgirl. Despite being a relative newcomer, the latter had already met Supergirl twice in Bates-scripted issues of World’s Finest Comics (#169 and 176). Issue #382’s Schaffenberger-illustrated book-lengther was a callback to a memorable 1957 story from Adventure #240 in which Superboy met a Kryptonian Robot Teacher. In the 1969 sequel, the Robot Teacher was revealed to have a pre-programed chauvinistic streak that convinced him that a female could never use superpowers properly. Supergirl, of course, proved him wrong.

Same As It Ever Was (top left) Supergirl usurped Adventure Comics from its previous caretakers, the Legion of Super-Heroes, beginning with issue #381 (June 1969; cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams), but before long Superman family editor Mort Weisinger’s march toward retirement made the Maid of Might’s tales seem stale, as with (top right) this Luthor appearance in #387 (Dec. 1969; cover by Swan and Murphy Anderson). (bottom) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), original Swan/Anderson cover art to Adventure #396. TM & © DC Comics.

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“I’ve always had a fondness for the Robot Teacher character,” Bates tells “BIG MIKE” SEKOWSKY STEPS IN BACK ISSUE, “which I brought back for one of my favorite stories, ‘Don’t Call Sales reflected that assessment. Weisinger’s swap had been disastrous for Me Superboy’ [in 1976’s DC Super-Stars #12]. Obscure trivia note: in the Adventure’s profits, with circulation plunging an average of 57,000 copies never-seen ‘soft reboot’ for Superman I pitched in 1985 (just before they per issue between 1968 and 1969. Correcting the problem was no turned the reins over to John Byrne), Superman ‘died’ and eventually was longer the editor’s concern, though. He retired in April 1970 and the revived to discover all his powers were diminished. And it was the Robot Superman line was divided five ways. For Adventure Comics, that meant Teacher who came to his rescue and brought him back to life, in sort of Mike Sekowsky was now in charge. On the face of it, the assignment an homage to how Gort brought Klaatu back to life in The Day the Earth made perfect sense. The longtime penciller had been a critical part of the Stood Still. (Unfortunately, because this was written in pre-computer days, successful 1968 recreation of Wonder Woman as a more grounded, nonthere’s no digital file and after it was rejected I never kept a hard copy.)” powered heroine and Carmine Infantino clearly hoped that Sekowsky— Sexism was also at the heart of issue #384’s “The Heroine Haters,” recently promoted to editor—could work the same magic on Supergirl. wherein Supergirl used Superman’s computer to seek out her perfect If there was a flaw in that thinking, it was the failure to recognize the romantic match. She wound up on a planet where females were taught contributions that Infantino, scribe Denny O’Neil, and editor Jack Miller had from birth to see themselves as inferior to men and where the native also made to Wonder Woman. In his new role, Sekowsky tried to have it all, superhero—Volar, her supposed soulmate—was actually a heroine who not only editing but writing and penciling each story, as © DC Comics. concealed her gender due to the society’s biases. well, with little feedback or input from others. The result “I’m pretty sure the only reason I got away with was material that was often unstructured and chaotic a gender-switching bit like that back then was but undeniably different and more contemporary. because Mort Weisinger was a sucker for any As with Wonder Woman, part of the remake plot-twist he hadn’t seen before, no matter involved a new look, and Sekowsky’s cover for how kinky,” Bates remarks. Adventure #397 (on sale July 30, 1970) teased Bates sat out Adventure #383 as Robert a new costume for the Girl of Steel. Diana Kanigher and E. Nelson Bridwell stepped in to (Wonder Woman) Prince herself was on hand for write the issue’s two stories. Both scripters would the occasion, guest-starring in the lead story that return over the next year as did Leo Dorfman, who pitted Supergirl against an occult villain called Zond. penned a notable two-parter in issue #387 and 388 that The conflict conveniently shredded the young heroine’s reunited Supergirl with her old friend Lena Thorul … costume, prompting Diana—a boutique owner at and Lena’s evil brother Lex Luthor. While Lex had the time—to come up with a new look on the spot. always kept his identity a secret from the unwitting With details that included thigh-high boots, gloves, mike sekowsky Lena, he still kept tabs on her and couldn’t resist the a miniskirt, and a mod belt, Supergirl could no temptation when he accidentally endowed her young longer be mistaken for her 1960s counterpart. son Val Colby with powerful psychokinetic powers. The new look had its origins in the letters column of Kidnapping his nephew, Luthor used the toddler as his partner in crime Adventure #388, where E. Nelson Bridwell had invited readers to send in until Val’s powers burned out and Supergirl caught up with them. new costume designs with the promise that some would be incorporated Lena’s appearance, along with those of both sets of Supergirl’s into a story. Predictably, DC was inundated with submissions, but plans parents (Adventure #389) and the long-absent Dick Malverne (Adventure changed once the decision was made to actually give Supergirl a permanent #393), were reminders of the flourishing supporting cast that the young new look. As detailed in issue #398, the final costume was a composite of heroine was surrounded by in her high school days. Those characters two designs, one by Louise Ann Kelley and the other by Jean Bray. Supergirl mostly faded away once Linda went to college, and the situation didn’t also modeled the new outfit in concurrent issues of Action Comics, where she change in the move from Action to Adventure. While Schaffenberger’s guest-starred with Superman in several stories by Leo Dorfman and the Curt crisp artwork reflected modern fashions and hairstyles on background Swan/Murphy Anderson team (issues #395, 397, 398, 400, and 402). characters, the series as a whole was mostly locked in 1964. Supergirl Meanwhile, after a decade with a derivative logo based on that of attended “her” funeral on a parallel Earth (#384), faced hoaxers like her her famous cousin, Supergirl acquired a design that was all her own. alleged big sister (#385), played fairy godmother to a 1969 Cinderella Created by famed letterer Gaspar Saladino, it debuted on the cover of (#386), became a wolf-girl (#387), and generally engaged in situations Adventure Comics #498 although Sekowsky continued to use the original more reflective of an earlier generation. logo on all of his interior stories.

The Mod Maid of Might (left) Here’s the Mike Sekowsky/ Dick Giordano cover from Adventure Comics #397 (Sept. 1970), which inspired Karl Heitmueller, Jr.’s recreation (with a little help from his friends) which he kindly offered to us for use as this issue’s cover. (right) From that issue’s story, Supergirl tries on the first of a closet full of new costumes, assisted by Diana Prince, the then-powerless Wonder Woman. TM & © DC Comics.

Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

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Chris Franklin

Pose and Play Supergirl and her DC fabulous femmes, from the 1974 Mego catalogue. Supergirl TM & © DC Comics.

The Maid of Might may have made quite an impression on comic readers when she debuted in Action Comics #252, but it took her awhile to catch on outside of those pulpy pages. Supergirl would have to wait until issue #285 before Superman revealed her existence to the world, and it would take even longer for the real world to notice the Last Daughter of Krypton.

THE IDEAL GIRL Her famous cousin returned to TV in 1966 via The New Adventures of Superman animated series produced by Filmation. Surprisingly, Kara never appeared on that show, and therefore had no outside media exposure during the Silver Age. She did manage to appear in Topps’ rather strange Comic Book Foldees cards and a set of Superman temporary tattoos produced that same year. While she missed out on the DC Comics figure sets produced by Ideal Toys and Multiple Toy Makers at this time, there was a Superman and Supergirl Push Button Puppet set produced by Kohner in that fabled year when superhero merchandise flooded the shelves in the wake of the meteoric rise of the Batman television show. Although the box features a beautiful portrait of the young Girl of Steel, the puppet itself leaves much to be desired, with huge, ropey bare arms, and a very blank expression on her face. The following year, the fad had begun to die down, but that didn’t stop toy manufacturer Ideal, fresh from the initial success with their male superhero action figure, Captain Action. The good Captain could be outfitted with the costumes and accessories of comics’ and TV’s most popular heroes. Ideal utilized those licenses, and their existing Tammy fashion doll molds, to create the Super Queens. Also known as Comic Heroines, this line included Wonder Woman, the only female superhero to survive from

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the Golden Age in her own title; Batgirl, the Silver Age version then currently seen on the above-mentioned Batman TV series; Mera, wife of Aquaman and frequent co-star on The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (the Filmation Superman series’ new vehicle); and Supergirl. The Girl of Steel came in a mostly accurate outfit, and with traditional blonde hair, unlike Wonder Woman and Batgirl, whose tresses varied from their comic portrayals. Rather than her cat Streaky, Supergirl came packed with Krypto the Superdog. Frugal Ideal just threw in a Krypto identical to the one seen in the Captain Action Superman uniform set. Although the gorgeous Murphy Anderson box art depicted an image of “Linda Lee Danvers, College Coed,” only a generic halter dress was included for changes into civilian clothes. (Brunette wig not included.) While the Super Queens are considered by many as a sister line to Captain Action, it is interesting to note that the female dolls were of the characters themselves, not an “actor” doll portraying the superheroes. Despite this, they didn’t catch on with boys, or even girls, and the line flopped. The series was discontinued, and costume parts were discarded as girls absorbed the basic dolls into average Barbie fashion doll play. Boxed examples are holy grails amongst superhero toy collectors in general, and Captain Action completists in particular. The late ’60s and early ’70s were an extremely dry period for any superhero merchandise. The mania of 1966–1967 had burned bright, but apparently burned out the general public, or at least fickle toy manufacturers. There was little chance for a struggling young ingénue like Supergirl to make a splash with kids outside of comics— but that was about to change.

FROM ARGO TO MEGO In 1972, the Mego Toy Corporation introduced its World’s Greatest Super Heroes action-figure line. Initially consisting of four 8-inch representations of DC’s most widely known male heroes—Superman, Batman, Robin, and Aquaman—Mego soon expanded the line with Marvel heroes, villains, and female characters. In 1974, Mego released a subset branded as Official World’s Greatest Super-Gals, which included Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Supergirl. Even Catwoman had become a media star thanks to the Batman television series, which was still in heavy syndication by this point. Supergirl had yet to crack the airwaves. Mego had pioneered the practice of using one body style across multiple action-figure lines and continued its cost-saving practices by using one face sculpt for all four females. Different paint applications and rooted synthetic hair provided the distinct features of each character. Supergirl featured piercing blue eyes and a blonde flip hairstyle, creating a convincing parallel of her comic counterpart. By the time Mego introduced their figure, Kara had abandoned her very ’50s one-piece dress for a variety of “far-out” uniforms, some designed by comic readers. She eventually settled on a version consisting of a blue v-neck blouse with puffy sleeves and small “S” symbol over her left breast, red hot pants, red ballet slippers with straps, and a red cape with choker. This is the costume Mego immortalized in action-figure form, minus the slipper straps. The first releases of the Super-Gals vary from the majority of the figures produced over the course of the line. Early figures of all four, including Supergirl, feature screen-printed costumes, with few accessories. For instance, Supergirl’s “S” insignia, belt, shorts, and slippers are all printed on a one-piece outfit. Later releases feature removable belt and slippers, a sticker to simulate the “S” shield, as well as individual fabric pieces stitched together to make her blouse, shorts, and leggings. All versions feature a removable nylon cape, although there are some cape variations made out of a stiffer and far more durable vinyl. The very small plastic slippers have haunted Mego collectors for years, as they are easily lost, due to their tiny size and ill fit over the bodysuit. Mego produced the Supergirl figure for several years, packaging her in a variety of ways. The original box featured Bob Oksner’s full-body portrait of Kara from the corner icon of contemporary Adventure Comics and Supergirl issues. Later Mego packaging featured portraits of Supergirl on the front of the package, alongside heavy hitters like her cousin Superman, Batman, Robin, and Shazam! (Captain Marvel). These characters were regularly seen on TV, thanks to the various versions of the Super Friends animated series, the live-action Shazam! show, and reruns. Except for Supergirl, that is. It’s interesting that Mego chose to add her to these media darlings. These Supergirl portraits included a reuse of the Bob Oksner art and two different headshots, at least one of which was lifted from the art of Dick Giordano. By the time the last two card variations were released, Mego had discontinued production of the Supergirl figure, but like other canceled characters, she continued to appear on the cards, perhaps to move existing stock. One of the rarer figures in the fabled World’s Greatest Superhero line is the “peace belt” Supergirl released by Mego’s French distributor, Pin Pin Toys. This figure substitutes the standard Supergirl belt for one with a peace-symbol belt buckle, culled from Mego’s defunct Dinah-Mite fashion doll line. A unique variation of the Mego Supergirl comes from manufacturer Lil Ledy in Mexico. While based on the Mego designs, due to Mexican laws, the Lil Ledy figures use parts unique to Mexican production. Their Supergirl, or “Supernina,”

’70s Supergirl Stuff

figure features tall boots instead of tiny slippers. Supergirl as drawn by Neal Adams makes an appearance on the outside of Mego’s vinyl and cardboard Hall of Justice playset for the 8-inch WGSH figures. While Mego offered many of their comic characters in a variety of formats, Supergirl only received one other figure from the company. She joined the other Super-Gals in the Bend ’n Flex line around the same time as their 8-inch figures were introduced. These were simple wireframed bendies, and were only in production for a short amount of time. Supergirl was never offered in Mego’s later 12-inch or 3 3/4-inch lines, unfortunately. Of the Super-Gals, only Wonder Woman, by then a TV star, received that honor. A replica of the Mego 8-inch Supergirl was released late in 2014 by Figures Toy Company. Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

A grab-bag of Supergirl items from the 1970s. Mego images courtesy of the Mego Museum. Supergirl TM & © DC Comics.

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’80s Supergirl Stuff Supergirl Cookies, courtesy of CollectingSuperman.com, and the Which Way Book, courtesy of John Wells. Supergirl TM & © DC Comics.

DC’s licensing arm had high hopes for the film, given the pedigree of its predecessors starring Christopher Reeve as Kara’s big cousin. There was quite a push of tie-in merchandise waiting for the film’s debut. Nabisco began producing a series of Superheroes Cookies in 1982, with front box art by George Pérez, featuring an army of DC heroes and villains racing toward the hungry kid begging his mom for a box. The backs of the boxes featured different portraits of a DC hero or villain, often drawn by José Luis García López and Dick Giordano. Inside, kids would find animal cracker-like figural cookies of these DC super-stars. For the first two years of production, Supergirl was nowhere in sight. But in 1984, the Maid of Might, replete in her new outfit with red tennis skirt and headband, led the charge on the box, which were now marked as “Superheroes Cookies now with SUPERGIRL COOKIES.” The Supergirl logo dwarfs the old Superheroes one, and Kara is front and center on the box, even pushing Batman and Robin off to the side! Dick Giordano’s pen seems to be involved with this revised artwork as well, as some elements recall his art for the DC Super Heroes Poster Book mentioned previously. Not content to take just the front of the box, the Supergirl movie usurped the back as well, with 15 cut-out trading cards available, showcasing scenes from the film. Publisher Grosset & Dunlap released a series of coloring and activity books based on the film. The covers featured stills from the movie, and the artwork inside captured the likenesses of Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O’Toole, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, and more. Such books rarely feature credits, but the activity book actually denotes that is written and illustrated by Tony Tallarico, a veteran comic artist most famous for his work at Gold Key. Even more interesting is the Supergirl Cut-Out Paper Doll Book by artist Tom Tierney, which features painted full-body shots of the film’s actors … in their underwear. Where are Underoos when you need them? Not to be outdone, publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons released The Supergirl Storybook, where author Wendy Andrews tries to make sense of the film’s rambling plot. This lovely book is packed with full-color stills from the movie, and goes a long way toward showing how the end product seemed to fall far short of everyone’s expectations.

A GIRL IN CRISIS And then … she was gone. Despite her heading toward film stardom, by 1984 the DC brass had earmarked Supergirl for the dustbin in the 30 • BACK ISSUE • Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

planning stages for their epic Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries. Oddly enough, a few years earlier, DC was so swayed by early test footage of Slater in a revised Supergirl costume with red patterns on her shoulders, and that infamous headband, that they changed the comic version’s costume to match. The burn is the film’s production team changed their mind, and went with a much more traditional look, leaving the comics flapping in the wind. It was this Olivia Newton-John-like look that followed the character into any nonmovie merchandise she appeared on from 1983 into the early ’90s, well beyond her death in Crisis #7 (Oct. 1985). Despite that death, and her subsequent erasure from DC continuity, Kara, with headband, would still appear on merchandise as if Earth-One lived on in toy aisles, on sticker sheets, and even collector coins, advertised in postCrisis DC Comics!

SUPER FASHION PLATE With such a rocky past in merchandising, it’s amazing to see the amount of Supergirl product that is available at retail today. Walk into a store with a clothing department and you may very well find a T-shirt, pajama set, or pack of underwear with Supergirl and/or her logo on it. And make no mistake, this isn’t just Superman clothing marketed toward girls. Many of these items feature tags marking them as official Supergirl brand merchandise. It’s doubtful many of these young girls and women even knew who Kara is beyond being a female equivalent of Superman—at least until 2015’s new Supergirl TV show. But it doesn’t really matter. From her comics ups and downs, countless reboots, relaunches, new identities, and even struggles with media success, the Maid of Might endures. So long as any little girl … or grown woman … dreams of taking flight, Supergirl isn’t far away. CHRIS FRANKLIN hosts the Super Mates podcast with his wife Cindy, at www.supermatescomic.blogspot.com. He would like to thank his friends at www.megomuseum.com and www.aquamanshrine.net for supplying great resources. His little girl has plenty of Supergirl pajamas.

Superwoman is not Kara Zor-El. She is also not Luma Lynai, the Superwoman of planet Staryl, nor is she the Superwoman of Earth-Three and member of the Crime Syndicate. No, this Superwoman is also not Lois Lane, her sister Lucy Lane, nor is she from a parallel world, nor is she a magical creation. This Superwoman is a time traveler. This is the story of Kristin Wells, created by writer Elliot S. Maggin.

THERE’S A NEW GIRL IN TOWN

Jim Ford

Kristin Wells was an intense, liberated woman who believed that the Equal Rights Amendment should be ratified immediately. She deplored the exploitation of women in contemporary magazines, though she chose to redo her hair every month in the fashion of the model on the cover of Cosmopolitan. Kristin was nothing if she was not “with it.” She loved disco dancing, Sonny and Cher, and was into astrology. Kristin possessed a knowledge of the Second World War that amazed even Lois Lane, whose father was a colonel in the Army. In turn she could not be bothered with politics. Kristin was fascinated by the chest hair Steve Lombard exposed from behind his unbuttoned shirt. It was as though she had never seen such a thing. She was a typist fast enough on her Olympia portable typewriter to support herself by transcribing both Lois Lane’s true-crime novel and the anonymous autobiography of Lena Thorul, a telepath whom, at Lois’ suggestion, was writing her own book, A Burden of Prophecy. Kristin Wells was above all else “outrageously foxy,” with a freckle at the tip of her nose that Clark Kent was sure drove Jimmy Olsen crazy. She rented a small but fashionable second-floor studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Metropolis. It was, Kristin supposed, “très chic.” Dozens of spider plants, wandering jews, and ferns of all sorts hung from the ceiling while philodendron, caladia, and fecund coleus jammed every other space in the room, nearly concealing a poster proclaiming “Shower with a Friend.” It was this lone apartment that C. W. Saturn, the agent of the Underworld, chose to preserve while the remainder of the building crumbled around it. He destroyed the building solely to attract the attention of Superman. C. W. Saturn chose to possess the body of Kristin Wells because she quite simply did not belong in that world. Kristin was new in town. Not as new as some, who crowded into every available hotel room during a time of unprecedented chaos for a glimpse at the very first Miracle Monday: time travelers, all. Kristin was herself a time traveler from the year 2857, a graduate student in history at Columbia University whose fellowship project was also to learn the events that transpired on the third Monday in May. No one knew why, on this particular Monday, that the people of the world felt immeasurable joy at simply being alive. They only knew that somehow Superman was responsible, and so the day became holy. It was Kristin’s genius that led her to travelling backwards several months before the actual day in May to ingratiate herself into Superman’s circle of friends,

Meet Kristen Wells Superman introduces Superwoman. Cover to 1982’s DC Comics Presents Annual #2 by Gil Kane. TM & © DC Comics.

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Global Guardian The British poster for the 1984 Supergirl movie. Collectors, take note that a variety of poster variations exist from different countries, many with painted art (see another on page 43). © 1984 DC Comics and Cantharus Productions N.V.

the rights, if I recall, to use any character that appeared in a Superman comic book! For example—and this is, of course, the big bomb—we could’ve used Batman in a Superman film! We had those rights.” The Salkinds produced the feature films Superman in 1978 and Superman II in 1980. Both were critical and financial successes, and they established relatively unknown actor Christopher Reeve as Superman for a new generation. When Alexander passed on using Batman in Superman III, Ilya came up with the idea of incorporating Supergirl into the film mythos. A November 7, 1980 and March 27, 1981 treatment by Ilya—labeled Superman III—is essentially a Supergirl film guest-starring the Man of Steel. The odd concoction drops Lois Lane, reintroduces Lana Lang, and finds that Supergirl was raised on an Earthlike planet SECRET ORIGINS OF THE FILM by Brainiac to be his bride. Superman and Supergirl Film producer Ilya (pronounced ILL-yuh) Salkind had ilya salkind have a romance (they’re not related in the treatment), convinced his father, Alexander Salkind, to purchase Superman comes under the control of Brainiac, the film rights to the Superman franchise in 1973 from Mr. Mxyzptlk causes problems, Superman leaves National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). When the deal was Earth and ages preternaturally, and at the end … hints are that finalized in 1974, the Salkinds were free to develop film projects based on Superman and Supergirl may marry! any concept in the various Superman titles. In a 2015 interview with BACK “So that script Warners didn’t like,” Ilya laughs. “It was wild and ISSUE, Ilya laughs when he tells me of a grave mistake he felt he and his Warners didn’t go for it… And at that point, okay, we went for a different father made: “With hindsight, an enormous mistake was made and I can script, which, frankly, it’s difficult to judge.” The script for Superman III say partially by me, but I think my father was more responsible. We had

“You will believe a girl can fly!” It could have been the tagline for the 1984 Supergirl theatrical film, and perhaps should have been. After all, “From the producers of the Superman movies” and “Her First Great Adventure” didn’t turn out to be quite as enticing as Tri-Star Pictures hoped. Supergirl had many of the same ingredients as the hit Superman franchise: an attractive unknown in the lead, a big-name actor as the scenery-chewing villain, and many of the same production personnel who had so convincingly made Christopher Reeve seem superpowered in this pre-CGI era. So, why wasn’t Supergirl a hit in theatres? And why is it remembered so fondly today by many fans, including the creators of the new CBS series? Success or failure, now you can get a look into the secrets of Supergirl…

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A “Physical” Role Four shots from Helen Slater’s December 1982 screen test, including (top left) Slater as Linda Lee, with director Jeannot Szwarc, and (others) Helen in the makeshift Supergirl costume with the infamous headband. © 1984 DC Comics and Tri-Star Pictures.

was much more comical in nature, co-starring comedian Szwarc (pronounced Zhah-no SVARK). He was a ParisianRichard Pryor. Although no one argues that the film didn’t born film buff, who says that he always wanted to direct: “It was very difficult. People discouraged me. I never went please critics or audiences as much as the first films, Ilya bristles at the idea that Superman III was a total failure. to film school. I was completely self-taught. I just saw 300 “This I want to correct a bit because it did actual rental movies a year when I was young so that kind of was of $60 million which, today, give me a movie that’ll my education.” Making his way to Hollywood post-1963, Szwarc eventually wrote for television make $60 million and I’ll be very before finally getting the job of happy! It wasn’t at all a disaster.” directing a few episodes of But Ilya didn’t want to give Ironside and It Takes a Thief, up on the idea of incorporating as well as 20 episodes of Supergirl into the film mythos, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. so he decided to produce a “Eventually I said, ‘This is all I standalone film with the Girl of wanna do,’ which was kind of Steel. In the fall of 1982, “David risky. But it worked and that was it.” Odell wrote, in my opinion, a very Szwarc moved into film, eventually good script,” Ilya says. “It was a bigger delivering a hit with Jaws 2 (1978), script. It had more stuff and it even had which gave him some studio leverage a cameo with Superman himself.” In it, to helm a passion project of his: while fighting a magical monster created Somewhere in Time (1980), a timeby the witch Selena, Superman is jeannot szwarc travel love story that starred injured and must leave Earth to go to Superman’s Christopher Reeve. “I the Planet of the Healers. Eventually, knew [Superman: The Movie director] Supergirl saves him. “It was a bigger Dick Donner very well from our New York Kojak days, film in scope,” says Ilya. Odell certainly knew bigger, having recently written The Dark Crystal (1982), and he so I asked him about Chris and he told me he’s very incorporated thematic elements from Snow White and intelligent and I told him, I said, ‘You know, I have a feeling that he really would like to do something where he The Wizard of Oz into the tone of his Supergirl story. The Salkinds reportedly attempted to get Richard could show himself as an actor.’ And he said, ‘You’re Lester or Robert Wise to direct Supergirl, before another absolutely right!’ And then Stephen Deutsch, the producer, option came to their attention: French filmmaker Jeannot and I went to Chris and he loved the material and he

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said yes.” Szwarc felt the film should have had a small release and grow by word of mouth, but the studio disagreed and Somewhere in Time opened nationwide in 1980. It didn’t do well originally, though in the years since it has become a cult classic. While in Los Angeles in 1982, Szwarc got a call from Supergirl producer Timothy Burrill, asking him if he’d like to direct the new film. “I said, ‘Are you sure you have the right person?’ and he said, ‘Yes.’ And then he flew me to London and I met the Salkinds and I got to like the concept and the idea of doing a superhero for girls. It’s always been men, so that was kind of what intrigued me. There was some kind of possibilities for some poetic stuff and I said yes.” Szwarc remembers that, “When I came on board there was a sequence with Superman to kind of introduce the Supergirl to Earth, and I thought that was terrific. It was like a flying sequence. And then I guess Chris was fed up. He said, ‘I’ve done Superman enough,’ and he didn’t want to do it. He changed his mind, and then that sequence was taken out.” The second draft script with Superman was dated November 1982. In the revised Supergirl screenplay dated January 17, 1983, the Man of Steel was nowhere to be found. Although this draft was credited to David Odell only, Ilya reveals that another writer came in to rework the script. “There was a guy from Warners that got involved, and it was revised, and a lot of things were cut down,” Salkind says. “We gave in to different opinions, and that caused the Odell script to be ruined. The guy came up from Warners and he rewrote it without credit.” Salkind reveals that the uncredited writer was W. D. Richter, who was concurrently working on his directorial debut, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. According to a 1984 Starlog interview with Richter, his lack of credit was his own contractual choice. Most important to Szwarc as the script headed toward filming was the idea that Supergirl was not the same as her male counterpart. “I sat down and said, ‘Okay, what can I do about a woman superhero which is not like the guy superhero?’ I naturally drifted to a kind of grace and intelligence. Instead of doing only stuff with force, there was kind of an opportunity to do something more graceful. That’s why I wanted that aerial ballet when she flies over the city for the first time.” The resulting combined Odell/Richter script introduced viewers to a teenage Kara Zor-El, who lived in Argo City, a remnant from Krypton that survived within transdimensional “inner space.” While working with the rule-bending scientist Zaltar, Kara accidentally loses the city’s power source, the Omegahedron. In order to retrieve the powerful sphere, Kara follows it from inner space to Earth; when she exits inner space, she’s been magically transformed into Supergirl, complete with the same Kryptonian superpowers as her cousin. Unfortunately, the Omegahedron is now in the hands of a power-hungry would-be-sorceress named Selena, who realizes the sphere can give her real magic. Tracking the Omegahedron, Kara takes on the identity of Linda Lee to blend in at an all-girls school in Midvale, near Selena. Linda becomes roommates with Lucy Lane, the younger sister of Lois Lane, and is smitten with hunky school groundskeeper Ethan. Unfortunately, Selena has her eyes on Ethan as well, but a love potion-gone-wrong means the hunk falls in love with Supergirl instead of the witch. Selena attacks Supergirl and the town of Midvale repeatedly, and eventually banishes Supergirl to the Phantom Zone, but the now-depowered heroine is saved by the sacrifice of an exiled Zaltar. Supergirl returns to Earth, defeats Selena, and finally, returns the Omegahedron to Argo City.

Helen Slater, Now and Then (top) Courtesy of HelenSlater.com, a recent headshot of the actress. (center) Szwarc, Slater as Linda Lee, Salkind, and producer Timothy Burrill. (bottom) Of course, with super-speed, the Girl of Steel was a quick study! © 1984 DC Comics and Tri-Star Pictures.

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WRAPPED IN A CAPE

ALTERNATE SUPERGIRLS Tracking the full story of the alternate versions of Supergirl would take far more pages than we have in this issue of BACK ISSUE, but here are a few fun facts about how you can learn more of the story: • DC Comics published the Supergirl Movie Special on November 22, 1984. The 48-pager featured an adaptation by Joey Cavalieri, with art and colors by Gray Morrow. The cover was by José Luis García-López, inked by Dick Giordano. The story features a few minor moments that were not included in the US version of the film. • Warner Books (US) and Sphere Books (UK) published a novelization of the longer cut of the film, adapted by Norma Fox Mazer. G.T. Putnam’s Sons of New York published a photo-filled The Supergirl Storybook for younger readers, with an adaptation by Wendy Andrews. Ironically, the kid’s book is a better, more coherent read. • The US theatrical release of Supergirl was 114 minutes in a 2:35:1 widescreen format. Note that some reviews from the period list 117 minutes, and others list 105 minutes. • The first home-video version was a Japanese laserdisc, prior to the US debut. It featured the 124-minute “International Version” of the film in pan-and-scan, cropped, fullscreen format, with subtitles. • There have been various US VHS releases of the film: • U.S.A. Home Video (May 30, 1985, also on CLV laserdisc) and Avid Home Entertainment (1990) released an edited 105-minute version in a pan-andscan cropped fullscreen format. This version features one brief shot of Supergirl flying that is not in any other release. • In 1998, Anchor Bay Entertainment released the 114-minute US Theatrical Release version in fullscreen format. • In 2000, Anchor Bay released the 124-minute “International Version” in both fullscreen and widescreen “Collector’s Edition” packaging, though the footage was reportedly transferred from a PAL-formatted time-compressed video print. • HBO did not like the pan-and-scan transfer used on video, so they had TriStar Pictures create a new pan-and-scan print which they aired on HBO and Cinemax beginning in November 1985. It remained at the edited 105 minutes, but featured different cropping. • ABC television re-edited the 114-minute version down to 92 minutes; this version would also be the one that aired in syndication. Despite its shorter running time, it included scenes not in the US theatrical airing, including the longer aerial ballet sequence, and brief scenes towards the end with Nigel and the Coffer of Shadows, as well as another in which Ethan says goodbye to Lucy and Jimmy. • Anchor Bay released three DVD versions: • The 2-disc “Limited Edition” set (numbered at 50,000 copies, released August 8, 2000) included the 124-minute “International Version” (digitally remastered by THX), and the 138-minute full-length “Director’s Cut,” which was discovered in StudioCanal's archives, and is the only known print to exist. Bonus features included a 16-page booklet, audio commentary, the television Supergirl: The Making of the Movie special, trailers, TV spots, storyboards, photo and poster galleries, and talent bios. • The single-disc 124-minute “International Version” (also August 8, 2000) with special features as above. • The 138-minute full-length “Director’s Cut,” was released as a solo disc on May 7, 2002. • Warner Bros. reissued the “International Version,” version on DVD late in November 28, 2006—now called “European Theatrical Version”—at the same time as the DVD and Blu-Ray release of Superman Returns. It featured only the previously released Anchor Bay commentary track and a theatrical trailer. • Several websites list deleted scenes from the 138-minute “Director’s Cut,” to the 124-minute “International Version” to the 105-minute “US Theatrical Version.” Those scenes include: a longer Argo City opening; more of the aerial ballet of Supergirl flying and learning her powers; more scenes with Selena, Bianca, and Nigel; more scenes of Linda Lee; a longer version of the Midvale bulldozer scene; longer Phantom Zone scenes; and others. Look for the best discussion of these scenes at movie-censorship.com and imdb.com. 44 • BACK ISSUE • Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

Still working on producing upcoming films in Hollywood, including The Abominable Snowman, Ilya Salkind finds it telling that Supergirl is not only coming to television, but is doing so in a costume that is almost a direct copy of Helen Slater’s. “Of course, it’s not unpleasant that they’re doing Supergirl on TV. It means that it’s definitely an example that it has become something that counts! It was ahead of its time. I’m sure it’ll work on television.” Looking back at the Supergirl film, Ilya says, “I’m the kind of guy who has to really get excited. If I don’t get excited by the project, it’s very difficult. If I make it just for the money, it’s a disaster. A lot of directors and producers go there and will make it for the money, but in my case it’s a very big no-no. It has to be something that turns me on! And Supergirl did turn me on because it was a different approach. Helen particularly was great, the casting was good, the flying was great. Frankly, you ask me tomorrow if I wanted to do another Supergirl, I think I would, but I think the only way to do it really well is enormous!” He reflects for a moment, then adds, “You know, Supergirl is a strange thing because apparently it has become a kind of cult film now. I guess a lot of women like it because obviously it’s a woman heroine! And if you think about it, there’s been very few successful women heroines.” Post-Supergirl, Jeannot Szwarc has had an illustrious and continual career in film and television, including directing 14 episodes of Smallville. He doesn’t think his Supergirl past got him the job on that series, however. “Greg Beeman, I think, is the guy who brought me to Smallville. I did one, then it turned out very well. After that, they just kept asking me to do more and I loved doing more. I visited one day and I met the girl [Vandervoort] who was playing Supergirl.” Why didn’t he ever direct any of her episodes? “You know, when you do episodic television—which, by the way, I love because it’s fast, so it’s not as big an investment in time, and I can have time to go to Europe where my wife and sons are—it’s the luck of the draw. You never know what you’re gonna get in terms of the scripts, so it just happened that I never got any of the Supergirl scripts [on Smallville].” He does have one other trivia tie-in to share, however. “Glen Winter, the one who’s directing the new Supergirl pilot, was my Smallville director of photography.” Szwarc appreciates the fans who hold a special place in their heart for his Supergirl film. “I like Supergirl! I always did. I really invested myself. I did it with care and with love and with affection and then, of course, I was horrendously disappointed when it didn’t do well. But with that, there’s nothing you can do. Of course, if it had done well, I could have made more magical films, but that is the reality. You know, to me, the most important thing about film is time. The films I watch time and time again… a lot of them are films that didn’t do well when they came out. Time is the ultimate judge and the fact that people are still watching Supergirl and talking about it means that it has something. I’d like to tell all the fans thank you for watching it and thank you for liking it.” The interviews with Jeannot Szwarc and Ilya Salkind were conducted in March–April 2015 by Andy Mangels, and transcribed by Steven Thompson. Artwork and photos are courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels. Ashcan images are from the collection of Gary Colabuono. Special thanks to Paul Channing Keefe for scripts and other materials. ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today bestselling author and co-author of 20 books, including the recent TwoMorrows book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation, as well as Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, and a lot of comic books. Additionally, he has scripted, directed, and produced Special Features for over 40 DVD releases. His moustache is infamous. www.AndyMangels.com and www.WonderWomanMuseum.com.

Franck Martini

Maybe it’s because of its iconic cover, maybe it’s because of its emotional impact, but one cannot forget Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (Oct. 1985)–a.k.a. the Death of Supergirl. Let’s flash back on this key moment of the Bronze Age with the involved writer and artists. To use a quote allegedly pronounced by Joseph Stalin: “When one man dies, it’s a tragedy, but when a million people die, it’s a statistic.” This is exactly what’s at the heart of this story. During Crisis on Infinite Earths (COIE), millions of people pass away or vanish. But when we picture the crossover in our mind’s eye, what we are likely to see are some of these moments: red skies, planets interlocking, the Flash running himself into oblivion, and Superman crying as he lifts the body of his deceased cousin, Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl. As Marv Wolfman explained in the trade paperback introduction of COIE, the project was a long time in the making. Initiated in 1981, it was delayed until 1985 for DC Comics’ 50th anniversary. That means the involved creators, editor, and publisher had a long time to envision the pros and cons or what were the objectives and the expected outcome of the maxiseries. Worlds would live and worlds would die, just like the ads announced. Worlds, for sure—but heroes, too, and among the body count were two key characters of the Silver Age: Supergirl and the Flash.

CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD Dick Giordano, DC Comics’ executive editor at the time, recalled how Supergirl was chosen in his 2003 TwoMorrows Publishing biography Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time: “To give Crisis resonance, somebody had to die. The principal target, suggested by Wolfman, was Supergirl. I brought that in to Paul [Levitz] and Jenette [Kahn] […] they turned white.” To understand their concern, one has to remember that a Supergirl movie was about to be released at the time. Yet the character was far from being successful, as her title had been canceled a few months before the film’s opening. The movie did not perform well at the box office, which fully opened the door to the character’s disappearance. And possibly this could have reduced, at least initially, the impact of the event as George Pérez said in George Pérez on His Work and Career (Rosen Publishing, 2007): “All the publicity went to Supergirl’s death […] because there was a movie coming out with Supergirl. So here we are killing a character who’s just had a movie come out. I think if the movie succeeded, she still might have been alive...” …a sentiment shared by Jerry Ordway, who inked COIE starting with #4 and was co-inker with Dick Giordano of issue #7: “I had read many of the 1970s Supergirl stories drawn by the great Bob Oksner. As a character, I liked her fine, but she was not a fan-favorite by any stretch. Also, we all knew that if the Supergirl movie had been a success, her death would have not been on the table for consideration. Personally, I am not a big proponent of killing off characters, because I think every character has potential. It’s all about the approach, really.” Dick Giordano seemed to be pushing for her death as he explained to his biographer, Michael Eury, in a

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It’s October 1981, and a young comics fan rides his bike to a nearby 7-11 to pick up some comics. On sale is the newest issue of one of his favorite series, DC’s The Brave and the Bold. Even with a limited amount to spend, B&B was almost always a blind buy, no matter the guest-star, especially when Jim Aparo was drawing. This particular issue—Batman and the Earth-Two Robin, menaced by Prof. Hugo Strange—looked especially like a winner, so it was grabbed off the spinner rack with no further thought. A short time later, this young comics fan is lying on the floor of his parents’ basement, ready to dive in to that afternoon’s purchase. The cover to The Brave and the Bold is opened, and for the next half hour or so, the kid is whisked away to the magical concept known as Earth-Two, following along breathlessly as the Darknight Detective is forced to form an uneasy bond with that world’s Robin, the No-Longer-Boy Wonder, to stop the aforementioned Hugo Strange from exacting a plot of murderous revenge. The story, brought vividly to life by Jim Aparo, is powerful, exciting, full of everything a superhero comics fan could want: compelling moments of characterization interpolated with brilliantly executed action scenes, ending on a note of mystery. No doubt, this issue of Brave and the Bold is a complete winner, worth every penny of the 60-cent cover price. The kid flips back to the credits page (something he usually only glanced at, if at all) to look at what writer is responsible for this masterpiece. “Alan Brennert,” he reads to himself. “I wonder who that is? I’ve gotta find what other comics he writes.” Of course, at that tender age, that young comics fan—me, of course—had no conception that people who wrote comics did anything else, so I spent the next few years on a fruitless search for the elusive series where I could read this Alan Brennert guy’s work on a regular basis. Every so often I would stumble over a comic-book story he wrote—“To Kill A Legend” from Detective Comics #500, or “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne” from The Brave and the Bold #197—and each time I would be transported back to that basement, reliving that sense of excitement and wonder, completely confident I was about to be told one hell of a story. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I realized that Alan Brennert was writer and producer for television (winning an Emmy for his work on L.A. Law), and author (winning a Nebula for the short story “Ma Qui”), who only dabbled in comics, essentially only when he felt like it. I eventually tracked down his complete comicography, consisting of only 13 comics over 13 years. I was stunned at how consistent it was—not a single bad story in the bunch. To put it in more concrete, mathematical terms, if Alan Brennert was a baseball player, he’d be a player who only got to bat 13 times, but in those 13 at bats, he hit five home runs, two triples, two doubles, and four singles, never getting out once. A player with an average like that would have a bronze statue at Cooperstown. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, over the last decade I have gotten to know Alan and tell him how much his comic-book work meant to me. A little while ago, it occurred to me that Alan had never really been interviewed in depth about his comics work, and I wanted to change that—both he and the work deserved the look back. So in July 2014, I asked Alan to appear on my show, The Fire and Water Podcast, and he graciously agreed. As we discussed, Alan’s career as a comics writer seems to have a period at the end of it, but I prefer to think of it as an ellipsis… – Rob Kelly

conducted by

Rob Kelly

Gone But Not Forgotten The concluding—and controversial (among Superman creative personnel)—page to the Alan Brennert/Dick Giordano Deadman tale from Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2. TM & © DC Comics.a

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“Based on a story by…” Brennert’s first comic credits: the Osira two-parter scripted by Martin Pasko in Wonder Woman #231 (top) and 232 (May and June 1977). Cover art by Michael Nasser (Netzer) and Vince Colletta. TM & © DC Comics.

ROB KELLY: At the time that you first wrote your first comics, which were— you plotted those two issues of Wonder Woman, #231 and 232 (May and June 1977)—and then Martin Pasko wrote the script. What were you doing at the time and how did you get into comics that first time? ALAN BRENNERT: Well, I have to go back and explain that I’ve actually been reading comic books since I was six years old. I talk about this in my novel, Palisades Park. There was a stationary/candy store called Pitkoff’s in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, where I lived, and my friend Miriam Salten—she and I were the best readers in our first grade class—we used to go to Pitkoff’s, which was owned by her grandfather. She was in charge of opening up the comic books for the week. We would buy the new comics, then go over to her house and read them together. I vividly remember the two of us reading “The Death of Superman,” the classic Jerry Siegel “imaginary” story, and we were just in absolute tears as we read it. Still my favorite comics story of all time. Later, I wound up getting into comics fandom through Marty Pasko; he and I were among the many “letterhacks” who wrote in to Julie Schwartz’s letters columns; I happened to mention his name in a letter to Justice League, and he contacted me. It turned out we were both living in New Jersey, in towns that were roughly adjacent to one another, Haledon and Clifton. He sent me this letter and asked, “Hey, how’d you like to get together with another enthusiastic fan and do a fanzine?” So we published a fanzine together, called Fantazine, which ran for four issues from 1970–1971, and soon I was off to college in California and Marty went to college at Northwestern outside Chicago. But by 1976, Marty had come back to New York and was working as a professional comic-book writer. I was a professional science-fiction writer; I had published a number of stories in SF magazines and anthologies and was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1975. I was making a living—sort of—off my fiction, and also from working part-time at Richard Kyle’s comics/science-fiction bookstore in Long Beach. But even so, I was a starving student and I could always use money. Marty knew that and offered me the opportunity to plot a comic book for him, for which I’d get paid a hell of a lot more than I was getting paid from the SF stories I was selling. [both laugh] So I plotted what was originally going to be a Superman story but wound up getting repurposed into a Wonder Woman story when Marty took over writing that book. It happened to fall in the period after the Wonder Woman TV show (set in World War II) debuted, and DC had switched the comic-book continuity to that of the Earth-Two Wonder Woman—allowing me to insert the Justice Society of America, [Rob laughs] a group I’d loved ever since they were reintroduced in the Silver Age (but more about that later). Anyway, it was essentially a very kind gesture on Marty’s part to get me a little bit of extra money. Flash forward: A few years later I broke into television writing, and one of my earliest pitch meetings was at Star Trek Phase II, an abortive attempt to relaunch Star Trek as a weekly syndicated series. KELLY: Right. BRENNERT: I came close to selling them a story I called “Eclipse of Reason”—involving the Medusans from the original series episode “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”— when the whole project fell apart and morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But I still had this story outline, and around 1980 or ’81, Marty was working on Marvel’s Star Trek comic and needed a plot for his next issue, so I was able to return the favor. I said, “Hey, I’ve got this. What do you think?” And he liked it and used it. KELLY: Now it makes sense! BRENNERT: And that’s how we wound up collaborating. (We also collaborated on a Fantasy Island episode a couple of years later, but that’s another story.) KELLY: I always wondered how you ended up doing [Marvel’s] Star Trek #12 (Mar. 1981). It just seemed random… why that issue of Star Trek? BRENNERT: And it’s been reprinted in a really shoddy trade paperback recently, too. KELLY: Really? Oh, geez. BRENNERT: Yes. IDW came out with a reprint of all the Marvel Star Treks, and none of us who wrote or drew those issues got any payment for it. And to add insult to injury, Marvel’s plates most have been, like, horribly deteriorated, because it was the worst reproduction that you’ve ever seen in a comic-book trade paperback. KELLY: It’s a good story. I reread it not that long ago and it reads like a classic episode of Star Trek. I definitely feel like I could have watched that in 1968 with all the actors. It has that feel to it. Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

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it was. [Rob laughs] And yeah, I don’t expect to do anything for DC again unless they surprise me and do the right thing by me and Dick. Marvel pretty much has the same work-for-hire terms, so… you know, if there’s an independent out there and it’s the right project, who knows? I might say yes. KELLY: Oh, that’s good! So, during all this time that we’ve been covering with your comics, you were writing TV shows, you did the reboot of the Twilight Zone in the ’80s which was such a great show, and then you talked about Buck Rogers, you wrote a couple episodes of China Beach, which was one of my favorite TV shows at the time, and you were writing novels as well! You had Time and Chance. What were other ones from that time? BRENNERT: I did a novel called Kindred Spirits, which was published in 1984, then Time and Chance in 1990. (My first novel, which shall remain nameless, was published when I was 24. It was a paperback original and it was not me at my best. I hadn’t started writing television at that point, and I really became a better novelist after becoming a TV writer because television taught me about structure.) After China Beach I worked on L.A. Law in the early ’90s, just after Time and Chance came out. The book did okay in hardcover but flopped in paperback. After that I decided that I was not going to go back and write another fantasy novel. So I concentrated on Hollywood development work—screenplays, TV movies, miniseries, pilots. When I finally started thinking about writing another novel, I came across the story of the people of Kalaupapa, the leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i; it was a story that I had heard of, as a frequent visitor to Hawai’i, but the more I researched its history the more I realized that the full story had never really been told, and I became obsessed with telling it. KELLY: All right! It’s a great book. I’ve read all the historical novels that you wrote, but that’s a great book. BRENNERT: It was really a labor of love. I wrote it entirely on spec. It took me three years to write and my wife and I endured a fair amount of financial hardship, because I stopped writing scripts to write this humongous book. After I finished it I did pick up a couple of TV staff jobs, but by 2007 Moloka’i had sold enough copies (today, over half a million!) that my publisher was offering me real money to write another book, which became Honolulu. I’ve been a full-time novelist ever since. I do have a movie version of Time and Chance 66 • BACK ISSUE • Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

which is theoretically alive; there’s a studio that wants to do it, there’s an actor that they want to star in it, and if he says yes, they’ll greenlight the picture. KELLY: Wow. BRENNERT: But this has been going on for a very long time. My friend Michael Reaves used to say that glaciers melted faster than things moved in Hollywood. Well, now glaciers are literally melting faster than things move in Hollywood! KELLY: [laughs] I don’t know why I’m laughing. It’s not funny at all! BRENNERT: It’s funny because it’s true. So I’m waiting to hear on that and I’m also working on a proposal for a new historical novel. KELLY: Wonderful! Like I said, your last book—for anybody who doesn’t know—was Palisades Park, which was a great read. BRENNERT: You can get it as a paperback, an e-book, an audiobook, large print—everything but action figures. And I should mention that there are a lot of comic-book references in the book. KELLY: There sure are! It would make a great comic book. They’re doing more and more of these sort of novelistic, long-form graphic novels. I can see Palisades Park as a comic book! I think that would be interesting. BRENNERT: Hm. I never thought of that. That might be an intriguing idea. KELLY: Yeah, all the stuff with people diving. That’s got a lot of visual to it that I can see being done in that format. I don’t know. Something to think about. What are you working on now? BRENNERT: Just this proposal for a new book. I’ll get it out to my agent and from there to my editor, and if she likes it, I hope to be starting work on a new novel pretty soon. KELLY: Thank you, Alan. Looking forward to it. ROB KELLY is a writer, illustrator, and comics historian. He is the creator/EIC of The Aquaman Shrine, the co-creator/writer of the award-winning webcomic Ace Kilroy, and the creator/editor of the book Hey Kids, Comics!: True-Life Tales from the Spinner Rack, which features the story “Mahalo, Keniki” by Alan Brennert.

Crisis on Infinite Earths may have been the end of Kara Zor-El as readers and fans originally knew her, but Supergirl’s adventures were just beginning as a new DC Universe was emerging from the ashes of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s classic. This article will examine the life and times of Supergirl in post-Crisis DC Comics in and out of the four-color panels. DC Comics’ characters went through some major shake-ups after Crisis on Infinite Earths. The main three heroes—Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman—and their “families” seemed to be the most affected by the creation of the new post-Crisis universe. This is especially true of Supergirl, who had gone through some significant transformations throughout the mid-1980s and beyond.

NEW GIRL IN TOWN

James Heath

The 1986 reboot of Superman brought about great changes in the character, supporting cast, and titles. One of the biggest rules set up by DC was that Superman must be the sole survivor from Krypton in the post-Crisis DC Universe. However, John Byrne, who was working on the Man of Steel’s titles alongside Marv Wolfman, Jerry Ordway, and Dick Giordano, felt something needed to be done with Supergirl. According to his website FAQs, Byrne didn’t think DC should let the copyright on the Supergirl name slip away. Thus, he went to work on a new storyline for the Maid of Might. However, this Supergirl would not be Kal-El’s cousin from Krypton. Beginning with a cameo in Superman #16 (Apr. 1988) and continuing in scenes in #19 and 20 and Adventures of Superman #441 and 442, an unknown woman in a costume similar to that of the Last Son of Lantz Krypton appears in Antarctica. She has no memory of who she is Photo by Corey Bond. beyond the fact that she is Supergirl. She needs to escape a laboratory to complete her mission. After using her superhuman strength on the doctors studying her, the mysterious Maid of Might flies to Smallville, a place familiar to her, yet different. Supergirl knows only one thing for sure: She must find Superman. It should be noted that there had been some confusion about this new Supergirl. Some panels showed her as a blonde, while others had her with red hair. John Byrne stated that it was a coloring error. However, Byrne would eventually use that mistake to his advantage when he revealed the new Supergirl could change shape. She had taken the form of redjohn byrne head Lana Lang. In fact, she was Lana Lang. “But Lana Lang was never Supergirl,” you say, and in a sense, you’re right. To understand this new Supergirl’s origins, one must go back a bit in John Byrne’s stories. Clark Kent never became Superboy before growing into Superman in post-Crisis continuity. This would cause problems in the Legion of Super-Heroes book, as the team often shared adventures with the Boy of Steel. Enter the Time Trapper. He had created a “Pocket Universe” where the Legion could travel to the past. This dimension was much like the pre-Crisis comics, except the other DC superheroes did not exist. Superboy was this world’s only protector until he died defending it from the Time Trapper’s nefarious schemes. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #68 for the Time Trapper’s history.] Superboy’s demise left the Pocket Universe without a Superman. That dimension’s Lex Luthor is desperate to help somehow. He finds the Boy of Steel’s secret laboratory and is duped into freeing three villains—General Zod, Zaora, and Quex-Ul—from the Kryptonian prison called the Phantom Zone. The result of the trio’s trickery is the near-

She’s Back…! …sorta. Matrix/Supergirl punches her way into post-Crisis continuity in John Byrne’s Superman vol. 2 #21 (Sept. 1988). TM & © DC Comics.

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Supergirl of Two Worlds (left) Joshua Middleton’s cover to Supergirl #36 (Feb. 2009). (right) Does TV’s Supergirl (actress Melissa Benoist) make you jump with glee? TM & © DC Comics.

FAMILY MATTERS While Peter David’s last Supergirl story arc is going on, writer Steven T. Seagle and artist Scott McDaniel begin their run on Superman with Superman 10-Cent Adventure #1 (Mar. 2003). The character of Cir-El debuts in that issue. Her story is continued in Superman #190–200. The mysterious Futuresmiths introduce a dark-haired, black-clad female as Supergirl. She believes that she is Superman’s daughter from the future. She is actually called Mia, and she was created as a vessel for Brainiac 12. She sacrifices herself by jumping into the time stream to prevent her timeline from ever occurring. Yet she is eventually rescued and joins Linda Danvers, Power Girl, and Kara Zor-El to rescue Superman in Superman/Batman #24. Linda Danvers has her hands full with another member of Kal-El’s family as Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El comes to post-Crisis Earth in “Many Happy Returns,” in Supergirl #75–80 (Dec. 2002–May 2003). This is not the first time Kara’s return was proposed. A character named Kara appeared in Dan Jurgens’ Superman/Aliens series. Jurgens originally wanted her to learn that she was Superman’s cousin as her Kryptonian abilities emerged. Yet that never came to be. In “Many Happy Returns,” Kara must adapt to the ways of this new world while Linda takes her place in the other dimension to prevent her demise. Linda eventually falls in love with that version of Superman. They marry and have a daughter named Ariella Kent. However, Linda’s happiness doesn’t last. Kara Zor-El’s presence in Linda’s universe makes the timeline unstable. The Spectre, who is now former Green Lantern Hal Jordan, tells her that Kara Zor-El is destined to die, and Linda must return to her old life. She agrees to go back if Ariella is saved. The Spectre keeps his word as we see Ariella skateboarding through space in DC One Million’s Supergirl’s costume. Linda, upon her homecoming, meets her newborn brother Wally and goes off to be on her own. She is seen in Gotham City fighting Shadowpact before being sent to Hell by Lilith in 2008–2009’s Reign in Hell miniseries, while Matrix appears in 2015’s “Convergence” event. Peter David’s Supergirl series ended with issue #80. He had intended for Linda, Kara Zor-El, and Power Girl to team up for a series of stories with Kara being named the one true Supergirl. He never got to do this, but many plot elements David wanted to use in Supergirl were reworked into his creator-owned series Fallen Angel, which began at DC before moving to IDW Publishing. Kara Zor-El made her official post-Crisis debut in “The Supergirl from Krypton.” This serial, published in Superman/Batman #8–13, was written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by the late Michael Turner. It saw Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and even Darkseid fighting to mentor the Girl of Steel. This story leads to another volume of Supergirl that ran from 74 • BACK ISSUE • Supergirl in the Bronze Age Issue

2005–2011. There, Kara Zor-El tries to find her place among the heroes on Earth while becoming a girl of two worlds in “New Krypton.” She has to discover the identity of the enigmatic Superwoman and track down Reactron, the villain with a heart of Gold Kryptonite who killed her father Zor-El. Lana Lang also becomes Kara’s “aunt” as Supergirl adopts the civilian identity of Linda Lang. Kara even finds time to be a part of the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes. After the “Flashpoint” crossover had ended, DC Comics once again rebooted its universe with the first issues of the New 52 line of comic books. Supergirl #1 was among the established titles that started over from the beginning. While much of this series deals with the theme of Kara Zor-El trying to fit in as the previous volume did, some things are different in the New 52 pages. Silver Banshee is Supergirl’s friend, her mother Alura killed her father Zor-El, and a new Cyborg Superman has been revealed to readers as Zor-El revived by Brainiac. As of this writing, Kara Zor-El has been training at an intergalactic school called Crucible, whose students and faculty seem to have plans for Superboy. Supergirl can also be spotted in Justice League United. What happens next in DC’s various New 52 series is certain to make great changes in the life of Kara Zor-El. Perhaps the most well-known version of Supergirl outside of the comic pages is the 1984 film starring Helen Slater in the title role. (See Andy Mangels’ article elsewhere in this issue for a look at that movie, as well as Supergirl’s other screen appearances.) Of course, the biggest news of 2015 for Supergirl fans is her new live-action television series, which debuts on CBS shortly after this edition of BACK ISSUE hits the stands. This television series, combined with her DC Comics adventures, will make Kara Zor-El a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. Dedicated to my beautiful wife Laura—who will always be my Supergirl; Pupino the Cat and all our Legion of Super-Pets; my nephew Kento—who aided Pupino in launching Argo City into space; and the many writers and artists who made and continue to make the Supergirl legend live on for generations to come. May Rao guide you and watch over you forever. JAMES HEATH LANTZ is a freelance writer who was heavily influenced by television, film, old-time radio shows, and books—especially comic books—growing up in Ohio. He’s co-authored Roy Thomas Presents Captain Video with Roy Thomas. He also wrote the introductions for Pre-Code Classics: Weird Mysteries Volumes One and Two and Roy Thomas Presents Sheena, Queen of the Jungle vol. 3 (all published by PS Artbooks) and reviews the New 52 Supergirl series for Superman Homepage. James currently lives in Italy with his wife Laura and their family of cats, dogs, a turtle, and humans from Italy, Japan, and the United States.

conducted December 28, 2013 by

Shaun Clancy

transcribed by Steven Thompson

SHAUN CLANCY: I write for a comic-book magazine called BACK ISSUE, and what we do is specialize in stories about the comic books from the 1970s and ’80s. You’re listed in one of the comics as the grand-prize winner of the Wonder Woman contest of 1979, which was supposed to have been an all-expenses-paid Wonder Woman weekend in New York for two including an afternoon at DC’s offices. Are you that same person? ORLANDO WATKINS: I am that same person. CLANCY: Cool! So do you remember anything about that trip, how the contest happened, what you did to win, anything like that? WATKINS: I think the original prize was to appear in an episode of the Wonder Woman television show. CLANCY: Oh, that’s right. That’s the reason you first wrote in? WATKINS: You had to write a story—a storyline, really—about what you wanted Wonder Woman to do, how you envisioned an episode of Wonder Woman. But, of course, by the time they announced the winners—the silly thing’s canceled! [both laugh] CLANCY: Did they inform you ahead of time that you were in the running, or did they just announce out of the clear blue that you had won? WATKINS: They just announced out of the clear blue that I had won. CLANCY: How did they notify you? WATKINS: By phone, actually. I remember very clearly, I was at home. I’d come home from school—I was a freshman in high school and they just called my house. CLANCY: And do you remember at DC who made the call? WATKINS: No. CLANCY: What did they tell you on that phone call? WATKINS: They just told me that I’d won the Wonder Woman contest and that I’d won an all-expenses-paid trip to New York and a tour of DC Comics. CLANCY: How many people were able to accompany you? WATKINS: It was originally only supposed to be two, but they made arrangements for my entire family to go—my mother, my father, my little sister, and myself. CLANCY: Did you take a lot of pictures or any pictures of the event? WATKINS: You know, I’d have to check with my mom, but I do have the original letter. They followed up with a letter. CLANCY: So, was Wonder Woman was one of the comics you were following at the time, or you were following the TV series? Which was it? How did you hear about the contest? WATKINS: It was the comic book. There was an actual ad for it in the Wonder Woman comic book. I had a buddy of mine who used to work at a little store in the neighborhood and he used to have a ton of comic books. He’s the one that kind of actually got me into ’em. I was not really into Wonder Woman, but he had ’em so I read some of his. I was more into Superman, Batman, like that. CLANCY: Was this the only contest you participated in? WATKINS: Yeah, it was, and it actually sort of convinced me to write more. And I did. Journalism was my major, but I never followed that career path. It helped to convince me that journalism was gonna be my major. I could write. When I had got to New York, they sat me down and told me that my entire story frame was about stealing oil from the Alaskan pipeline and introduced the Wonder Woman snowmobile that I put into the story, but that their writers were pretty much working on the same thing, writing the same thing. We went to the artists’ area and spent some time there listening to the Wonder Woman artist explain to me that I had won because the story I sent in was almost identical to something they were also working on. CLANCY: [laughs] Did you ever see that storyline in print?

You’re a Wonder, Orlando Watkins! The announcement of the Wonder Woman contest winners, from a DC house ad. TM & © DC Comics.

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