Action Comics #269

ACTION COMICS 269 (1960)
Jerry Siegel & Jim Mooney

We’ve seen Supergirl and Brainiac 5. We’ve seen Supergirl and Dick.
Time for Supergirl’s third canonical love interest of the Silver Age… the merman.

We begin at the orphanage, where a boy called Freddy Blake sees Supergirl use her powers in her secret identity.

Her explanation is “Who doesn’t use superspeed from time to time?”

Sounds legit.

I swear her orphanage is under some sort of curse because they’re ALWAYS in danger. Case in point, when they rent a boat…

We are still in the period where Supergirl can’t reveal herself to the world (because her cousin is The Worst), so she has to be creative.

While she’s underwater, she’s contacted by Superman’s eternal submarine side-chick Lori Lemaris.

That’s where she meets Jerro.

He guides her towards the super-weapons, with Supergirl having little trouble with them.
It’s not always clear from the scans, but the underwater scenes have some great coloring.

Unlike her cousin who has to do everything in the most convoluted way imaginable, Supergirl is VERY direct.

She’s still 15, though.

Superman must’ve asked for some grandiose tribute whenever he’s around.

Apparently Lori is the descendant of the guy who helped the Atlanteans turn into mermen.
Please nobody tell her about Adventure Comics #333 or they’ll make a statue about Star Boy sinking Atlantis or something.

Apparently Atlanteans are mostly farmers. (???)

Jerro thinks this is all fascinating stuff, but I have a feeling Supergirl isn’t even listening to him.

Also Supergirl is apparently big in Atlantis. Why, she’s as famous as Napoleon!

This is apparently hot.

Unfortunately the fact that everybody in Atlantis is a telepath means there’s next to no privacy.

As she flies back to the orphanage, her wig slips out of her cape…

…which is apparently enough to put her secret identity in jeopardy? What?

I would’ve gone with “I just had a look outside and my hair got wet” or with “Why the hell would having wet hair mean I’m Supergirl”, but okay.

And so we end with Supergirl dreaming about Jerro, but apparently their love is impossible because Atlanteans are racists.

 

Historical significance: 3/10
Jerro will make a couple dozen appearances in Supergirl stories, but their relationship won’t go anywhere. And I’m okay with that because he’s unbearably bland.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Not particularly silly for the times.

 Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This is mostly wholesome fluff. Just add the bare minimum depth to Jerro and everything else still works fine as “Supergirl’s first teen crush”.