Superman #123

Superman #123 (1958)
by Otto Binder & Dick Sprang
cover by Curt Swan

The last of the Supergirl predecessors, and by far the most well-known.
Technically speaking I already reviewed this one, but it was before I did the other predecessors so I believe it’s worth a second look.
It’s not because I totally forgot I already reviewed it when I started looking at this the second time.

We begin with Lois Lane being Lois Lane.

Had we already seen several characters called Superwoman before, this would be silly.

Later, Jimmy Olsen is gifted a magic totem from an archeologist (no relation).

I guess Jimmy talked to Lois about Superman’s comments, because is first wish is for a Super-Girl.

And then the totem solidifies moonlight radiation (???) into Super-Girl.

I’m guessing there’s no emergency during the night, because it’s only the next day when she zoom-whooshes to Superman.

You have to love how straightforward the Silver Age can be: there’s no mystery to anything, Super-Girl shows up to immediately reveal everything about herself.

Good thing she’s not his cousin.

Jimmy, that is a very rude way to call her!

Lois really has a one-track mind in this period.

She IS tempted to get rid of Super-Girl for good…

…but in her defense, she doesn’t go through with it.

All the various super-women introduced up to this point had one thing in common: the stories were adamant that Superman was the only one capable of using his powers correctly.
This story is no exception.

There is, however, a crucial difference this time: Superman doesn’t have a problem with Super-Girl using her powers on her own, or with her having a heroic career.
Batman from Batwoman’s first appearance could learn a thing or two from him.

Then again… maybe tell her you have a secret identity first!?!?
I mean she was literally born yesterday!!!

This leads to Superman continuing his duties alone, in a pretty great panel.

Too bad that some criminals got their hands on Kryptonite. Which, being pieces of a planet scattered across the universe with only random chance allowing a fraction of it to land on Earth, obviously means it’s the most readily available substance on Earth.

Super-Girl swoops by to save him, but ends up being poisoned by Kryptonite since she’s “an exact duplicate of Superman”.
Well, not THAT exact, I can think of a couple of differences.

While Superman is usually fine if the Kryptonite exposure doesn’t last too long, this was apparently a lethal dose for Super-Girl.
She’s so depressed about being unable to help Superman (despite saving his life) that she commits suicide by wish-granting.

There’s still the matter of Super-Girl exposing Superman’s identity to Lois Lane.
Which is a good moment for the long-awaited return of “Guess the stupid ending”!
How does Superman save his secret identity?

A) using the totem to make Lois forget everything
B) giving Lois a memory-erasing kiss
C) by asking Lois to marry Clark Kent
D) forging evidence Super-Girl was in love with Clark Kent
E) by pretending Clark used the totem to briefly become Superman

And the answer is…

Yes, the resolution is basically “nobody could ever wish to marry Lois Lane”.

There are other two parts to this, but they basically function as separate stories so let’s rate this one first.

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Historical significance: 1/10
Nine months later, the definitive Supergirl will debut in Action Comics #252, by the same writer too!
So I guess you could say this issue is her conception.
I’m lowering the score from the 2/10 of the previous review, considering this is not the only predecessor.

Silver Age-ness: 10/10
There’s a magic wish-granting totem that can grant life and alter reality itself… and we’re leaving it in the hands of Jimmy Olsen.
Same score of the previous review.

Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
Slightly better than the other Supergirl predecessors, since at least Superman does consider allowing Super-Girl to be her own person.
Just like the others, however, all of Superman’s problems would have disappeared if he even considered training the other superpowered individual.
I previously scored this a 0/10, but I can definitely say there were much worse predecessors.

Stupid Jimmy Olsen moment
He could have wished Super-Girl to become immune to Kryptonite. Or heck, wish for both her AND Superman to become immune!

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Remember that the totem is capable of granting THREE wishes, and we still have two left.

I think the Daily Planet is underselling the news.

Publishing the news that Jimmy Olsen has the magic totem is so monumentally dumb that I wouldn’t put past the Daily Planet to also publish his address.

Guys… you have a wish-granting magic totem, and the best thing you can come up with is to take away Superman’s powers? Why not just wish him dead?
Also, I’m going to assume you guys know there’s a third wish to be made… and instead of making ANY wish, you’re just burying it!?!?

And so Superman wakes up discovering he has lost his powers.

I mean EVENTUALLY he figures it out.

Would lifting a thousand-pound weight even be the slightest amount of exercise for Superman?

This is bad for Superman; you’d have to be some kind of investigative journalist to find criminals without relying on superpowers.

Superman decides he can’t postpone his public appearances without alerting the criminals that he’s lost his powers. Would’ve been easier to claim he’s on a far-away mission like he always does.
But also, does Superman EVER refuse a public appearance in this era?

But how will Superman survive being shot if he’s not invulnerable anymore?

Magnets.

Cue the montage of Superman faking powers in the most absurd ways possible.

Convinced that the wish didn’t work, the criminals lure Superman into a trap… but unfortunately for them, pre-Crisis Kryptonite is harmless to non-powered Kryptonians.

Jimmy cancels the second wish, and instead of taking the totem from him, Superman just allows him to keep it and make the third wish!
At this point he’s just asking for trouble.

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We’ve reached the third and final wish.
I should point out that we’re not operating under “monkey paw rules” here… the wishes are not automatically backfiring in an ironic way. And we haven’t seen any limit in what they can do.
So Superman can wish for ANYTHING AT ALL… ending war or disease or famine, make Lois fall for someone else, stopping DC Comics from rebooting every six months… and yet he wants Jimmy to make a selfish wish.

Instead, he wishes for Superman to get back to Krypton.

And after some sightseeing of the weirdest parts of Krypton…

…he comes across his father Jor-El.
While this issue should probably be considered an early Silver Age one, we’re still in the transition period so not all the classic rules have been firmly established yet.
For example, Superman showed up as a ghost because this is a time where he hasn’t been born yet.
That’s kind of the opposite of the classic Silver Age rules, where he would have showed up as a ghost ONLY if it was a period where he already existed.
In fact, that’s the reason why he will be able to interact with his parents in Superman #141.

That story was ALSO set before Superman’s birth; this time, his parents haven’t married yet.

But wait, you might be asking yourself: if Jimmy wished Superman to meet his parents, why did he send him to a time where he can’t actually meet them?
Well… he didn’t exactly wish for that.

Good thing that in the first story Jimmy didn’t try wishing Superman to meet Super-Girl.

Also: Lois Lane will also try to mate Jor-El.

Stalking his parents, Superman discovers a shocking secret…

…they’re Space Nazis!
Is that worse than finding out they were into mating their son?

Stuck as a ghost, Superman can’t stop his parents or prevent them from being arrested by Space FBI.

I’ll give this story credit for coming up with a creative method of authentication.

This story pre-dates the creation of the Phantom Zone, so Krypton has a different way to deal with its criminals.

The 50s were big on this idea of curing crime by wiping criminal tendencies from the brain; you see this idea pop up in a lot of sci-fi.

What happens next is weird.
As opposed to a story where Superman is wished back in time to mate his parent, I know.
But the reason given for him being a ghost is that at this time he hasn’t been born yet… what does it matter if he’s on Krypton or not???

The exact origin of Superman’s powers has not been linked to the Sun yet: in this period, it’s specifically Krypton’s gravity and atmosphere.
So as soon as he’s away, he has his powers back AND he’s able to breathe on this asteroid.
Not sure how they’re talking.

The parents were not the only ones to be sent into space: there’s also their boss, Kil-Lor.
Yes that is his actual name.
Considering he had a swastika in his base, I’m shocked he’s not called Hit-Ler.

Kil-Lor flies away thanks to the asteroid’s lower gravity…

…and ONE PANEL LATER he claims he’s had time to practice his powers?
WHEN??? What was Superman doing in the meantime!?

I should point out that Kil-Lor is able to immediately use his powers with the utmost efficiency, despite having developed them five minutes ago, while Super-Girl struggled with them despite having been created to be Superman’s equal.
What, do you need to have testicles to use Kryptonian powers well?

Good news: Kil-Lor won’t have powers if he goes back to Krypton.
Bad news: he can still do a ton of damage.

Worst news: Superman can’t stop himself from teaching him how to build nukes.

Kil-Lor is indeed able to blamm his own nuclear explosion…

…and creating Kryptonite in the process.

And that’s the story of how Superman witnessed his father propose…

…and kissed his mother.

That is one mess of a family.

The moral of the story is that you should never give anything to Jimmy Olsen.

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Bonus: while I’ve talked about the main Supergirl predecessors, I skipped one from 1953.

This one is an alien from planet Zor, and yet another case of a “born ahead of time” mutant like Captain Comet.

The twist is that she comes from a planet with lower gravity to Earth, so she loses her powers once she lands.

Superman spends the whole story making her believe that she still has powers.

Eventually she returns to her planet to continue being a hero there.

She never shows up again; in my headcanon, she tried to have adventures on other planets believing she can keep her powers and ends up being killed.