Action Comics #279

ACTION COMICS 279 (1961)
Jerry Siegel & Jim Mooney

We’ve already met Lesla-Lar in Action Comics #297, but this is her first appearance.

We actually begin in the middle of the story, with Supergirl having already lost her powers.

We then cut to Kandor and we’re introduced to super-scientist Lesla-Lar, who is jealous because Kandorians stalk Supergirl instead of paying attention to her.

Then, in the fifth panel where she appears, she has already invented a special ray that strips Supergirl of her powers! This girl makes Lex Luthor look like an amateur!!!

Back to the present, it’s adoption time once again at the Midvale orphanage. And Supergirl is finally breaking out of her cousin’s brainwashing!

These are the Danvers, and it’s in this story that Supergirl’s secret identity switches from the original Linda Lee to Linda Danvers.

It’s VERY easy to spot when a story is taking place: if she has pigtails she’s Linda Lee, but if she doesn’t she’s Linda Danvers.

For once, even Superman isn’t being a dick about this.

It’s about time for the story to turn insane, because Lesla-Lar:
1) switches places with Supergirl
2) takes over her secret identity
3) brainwashes Supergirl into believing she’s Lesla-Lar

Apparently the two girls looks exactly alike, something that the comic doesn’t explicitly say.

We do discover that all Kandorian scientists are weird…

…and that Supergirl’s adoptive father is some kind of rocket scientist.

At this point in time the existence of Supergirl was a secret, so Lesla-Lar (posing as Supergirl) allies herself with Lex Luthor.

You never thought you would ever see a comic where Supergirl shows up with a blow-up doll of Lex Luthor. Or at least I hope you didn’t.

But get your mind out of the gutter, it’s just to fool the prison’s guards.

Fortunately we’ve established that the Kandorians are stalkers, so Supergirl (who thinks she’s Lesla-Lar) alerts the authorities that there’s a rogue Kryptonian on the loose.

Lesla-Lar switches places again, with Supergirl having no memory of her time in Kandor.

To be continued, because Supergirl is serialized at this point.

Historical significance: 10/10
Obviously Supergirl getting adopted is a gigantic change for her character and the kind of stories where she appears, plus Lesla-Lar is her first original villain.

 Silver Age-ness: 6/10
If it’s that easy to come up with a ray that takes away Supergirl’s powers, how come the various Phantom Zone super-scientists have so much trouble dealing with Superman?

 Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
It’s incredibly compressed for today’s standards and Lesla-Lar is quite stereotypical, but it holds up rather well.