Supergirl v2 #10 (1983)
by Paul Kupperberg & Carmine Infantino
cover by Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano
It really says a lot that I can skip so many issues after the first one and not really miss anything other than atrocious artwork.
How does it feel to be drawn by 80s Infantino, Supergirl?
Yeah that’s about right.
Kidding aside, Supergirl is knocked out so badly that she’s hospitalized!
She’s actually been knocked out by the lame villain she battled last issue. That’s not really important to the rest of the story.
She eventually wakes up, but she’s put on blast by the authorities for crashing on the sidewalk.
I guess I could see the point of few if she suddenly collapsed, but the fact that she was knocked out by preventing nuclear Armageddon (the villain was nuclear) makes this ridiculous.
You wouldn’t even see this kind of attitude in the Marvel Universe!
She’s more interested in her latest romantic plot, which involves a music director who is drawn to be old enough to be her father. Then again her civilian identity is drawn like she’s a time traveler from the 1920s, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
She has to get out of the date because A) she’s not feeling well B) a robot is attacking the city.
That’s not a multiple choice, both are happening.
And just in time for the worst panel of a superhero changing into costume I have ever seen!
She ends up losing to said robot. This just isn’t Supergirl’s day.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, is when the plot goes absolutely bonkers.
Though thankfully not in the way you might expect from the first panel where she wakes up.
This mad scientist has figured out that she’s been weakened enough by the radiation blast that she can now be cloned. He has one of the most annoying speech patterns I’ve seen in a while.
And the cliffhanger of the first part is that Supergirl now has tiny naked clones of herself.
I did promise a bonkers plot, didn’t I?
Supergirl v2 #11 (1983)
by Paul Kupperberg & Carmine Infantino
cover by Gil Kane
Yep. We’re really doing Tiny Clones again.
The annoying mad scientist explains to his mysterious boss what he’s been up to. Clearly they’re ignoring the marketing potential of a crossover with Barbie.
Meanwhile Supergirl manages to get out of the fish tank where she was being kept in stasis. She’s so weakened that even that takes an enormous amount of effort.
Nice bit of continuity by remembering Supergirl HAS been sick a couple of times.
She still has a little bit of power left, certainly enough to deal with security.
I did enjoy the fact that the possibility of losing her powers is not the end of the world. That’s an interesting difference of perspective when compared to Superman, who in this period would probably not conceive his life without them.
I do wonder how old is Supergirl supposed to be at this point. I would guess maybe 23 to 25?
You don’t make 12-inch clones of Supergirl without using them at the first opportunity.
After you’ve made sure to give them Comics Code approved tiny costumes, of course.
Supergirl then flies to the Fortress of Solitude by flying at Mach 3. Considering she starts from Chicago, and assuming the Fortress is at the North Pole, that would take her 1 hour and 20 minutes.
There’s nothing explicitly contradicting this is how much time passes, but it feels like too much.
It’s actually pretty rare to see the giant key outside the Fortress to be used as, well, a key.
Even rarer to see how much tech Superman has installed to stop intruders!
I did enjoy her pointing out the weirdness of excluding the possibility of anything outside of Kryptonite and magic hurting Kryptonians.
Although to be fair, while Superman hasn’t literally faced any single thing in the universe, at this point of his career he’s pretty close to having seen it all.
While Supergirl is being examined by the Fortress’ computers to see what’s wrong with her, the clones manage to sneak inside with ease.
Okay, time for some Supergirl on Supergirl action!
(that sounds dirtier than I considered)
Unfortunately this isn’t as entertaining as you would expect. Not just because of the artwork, but also because the tiny clones don’t talk.
It makes sense that they don’t but it still sucks.
This ALSO is not Supergirl’s day.
That’s two issues in a row ending with her being knocked out.
Supergirl v2 #12 (1983)
by Paul Kupperberg & Carmine Infantino
cover by Gil Kane
Will we get to see Supergirl win a single battle in this storyline?
We begin with the tiny clones throwing Supergirl into the Disintegration Pit ™ that Superman keeps in his secret base. Because that’s totally something any superhero needs.
Despite the name, the pit doesn’t disintegrate her immediately. In fact, once she stops herself from falling, it seems to cure her!
Yep. All it took to fix her was the “miracle of modern something”.
Either Kryptonians are natural contortionists or they just broke her spine!!!
She eventually manages to defeat the tiny clones by exposing them to Gold Kryptonite, which removes their powers permanently.
Once she’s back the mad scientist, however, he’s already been murdered.
So in this storyline Supergirl has accomplished… pretty much nothing.
Historical significance: 1/10
Believe it or not, the fact that the tiny clones ruined her costume is going to be the reason for her next change in her looks… the very last one, in fact.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
I am still bugged that the tiny clones don’t talk.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
Better than the first issues, that’s for sure. But the artwork is still atrocious, the civilian subplots barely exist, and the plot is very meandering. Seriously, what was the point of this entire thing!?