ACTION COMICS 281 (1961)
by Jerry Siegel & Jim Mooney
The good thing about Supergirl being serialized is that it allows for more complex storylines.
The bad thing is that it’s serialized in the Silver Age so it can go crazy at any moment.
Lesla-Lar has replaced Supergirl and she’s been able to fool Superman. But can she fool Krypto?
Nope! I would argue that Superman should’ve been able to pick up the same clue, since he has super-smell… but I prefer to think that he’s not routinely smelling his 16 year old cousin.
Now you might be thinking that this story would be a battle of wits between Krypto and Lesla-Lar, but you’re forgetting: Silver Age.
There are sooooo many things wrong with this scenario…
1) Supergirl and Lesla-Lar just HAPPEN to be identical
2) she just HAPPENS to run into a movie producer
3) he just HAPPENS to hire her on the spot
4) on Krypton everyone was using anti-gravity and the producer just HAPPENS to use a wire
Also Krypto is somehow able to use “Superman’s Exchange-Ray” to rescue Supergirl.
Supergirl is still powerless from Action Comics #280, so Superman attempts to cure her by the same fake method that Lesla-Lar suggested last time.
And obviously it doesn’t work.
Also: by “removed her disguise” the narrator means “changed her clothes”.
Okay at this point Jerry Siegel is basically trolling the readers.
But a couple of panels later, Superman has an incredible idea:
Surprise, this is now a time travel story!
Superman leaves for the present, assuming that Supergirl will keep her powers once she’s back.
As she looks around, however…
Let’s hope she doesn’t run into Spider-Man.
So far I’ve been pretty critical about Superman’s idea that Supergirl wasn’t ready for the spotlight since she had to learn how to hide herself from the public… but when THIS is her idea of doing things without attracting attention, I kind of see his point.
Once she’s done and she returns to the present, however…
What did I say about Jerry Siegel trolling the readers?
And so we end with Supergirl discovering herself in the history books…
…and Lesla-Lar being a creepy stalker.
So basically we’re back to the status quo of the previous issue.
Historical significance: 0/10
The reset button is very powerful this time around.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
“Why does Lesla-Lar’s ray takes away Supergirl’s powers only while she’s in the present? Who knows, I want to do a time travel story!”.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
What a mess. There are several good moments and as always Supergirl is pure concentrated wholesomeness… but we jump around way too much. It’s a story about the impostor, then it’s about Krypto, then it’s about a Kandor movie, then it’s a time travel story…
Bonus: we actually get the results of the poll from Action Comics #273 for Supergirl’s new hairstyle. I would’ve voted for “contempo cut”, which of course had the least number of votes.
