For Your Consideration: DC Comics’ Supergirl Book 1

Robert Greenberger

Robert Greenberger


by Robert Greenberger

As the first season of CBS’ Supergirl winds down this spring, DC Comics is finally unleashing a number of collections to capitalize on the series. Normally, they are far more atop these developments but better late than never considering the wide variety of material coming. First up is perhaps the most idiosyncratic incarnation since this Maid of Steel is not from Krypton and does not share any blood with Superman.

When John Byrne reinvented Superman and his mythos for a post-Crisis world in 1986, one rule was to keep him the Last Son of Krypton. Two years into the run, we visited a pocket universe where a synthetic lifeform was created by Lex Luthor, dubbed Matrix and using Lana Lang’s DNA, was created and she became Supergirl, coming to Superman’s world to recruit his help. As Byrne left, Roger Stern took the reins and turned her into a charming supporting character. So much so, DC’s management thought the time was right for her to have her own series.

Supergirl Book 1

Supergirl Book 1


What resulted was Supergirl, launched in 1996, and this was unlike any version seen before, one reason it was also the longest running solo title she ever had. In a recent conversation with writer Peter David he explained, “They offered the series to John Byrne and Byrne passed on it, which always amused me when I was later criticized for taking the character away from what Byrne had come up with. I always figured that if Byrne himself couldn’t come up with anything to do with her, why were they dumping on me?”

Since this wasn’t the Kryptonian version, David felt he had a tremendous amount of latitude to make her different. “I wanted to do something unique to the ‘S’ line of books. So I studied pretty closely what material the others were exploring, and realized that no one was attempting stories about mysticism or faith. So I effectively came up with the notion of doing an ‘S’ version of Doctor Strange, minus the spell casting.” We meet Linda Danvers in Leesburg, Virginia (a nod to Silver Age identity of Linda Lee), a troubled young woman, who is merged with the Matrix, altering her life forever.

Supergirl #7

Supergirl #7


Before Sunnydale discovered its own Hellmouth, Leesburg was situated atop its own portal to the underworld and its denizens. As a result, all manner of creature showed up to challenge the town’s new protector. Much later in the run, it is revealed this new entity was in actuality an Earth Angel, whose fate had been somewhat predetermined. “I liked the notion of her absorbing Linda transforming her into some manner of new being. Plus her origin up to that point was insanely complicated,” David explained. “If someone said, ‘Who is Supergirl?’ the answer was ten minutes of backstory. Once I made her over, it was much simpler: ‘Who is Supergirl?’ ‘She’s an angel.’ Nice and simple. Yes, there was far more to it than that, but then again, there’s a lot to it if you ask who Sandman is, but there’s also the short answer of ‘King of Dreams’.”

Gary Frank was tapped to illustrate the series, his highest profile assignment at that point in his storied career. David praised his work, saying, “Gary is a wonderful artist. No matter what I told him to draw, he could pull it off. One story is basically Buzz, Linda and her parents sitting around a dining table for half the issue, which sounds lethally dull, but Gary pulled it off.” Buzz, very much a foil, became one of David’s more memorable supporting players in his career.

The first story arc comprised issues #1-8 which are included in Supergirl Book One. Looking back, David said, “I’m very proud of our work on it.” He cites issue one as his favorite. “I was very pleased how it all came together and how it set up the ongoing series.”

Supergirl Plus #1

Supergirl Plus #1


So successful was this version, that she was spotlighted in other titles such as Showcase ’96 #8 in a short from David, Terry Dodson, and Karl Story where a reporter tries to understand the heroine. She also appeared in Supergirl Plus, one of a series of one-shots designed to showcase lesser seen characters. In this case, that meant Mary Marvel. David, Mike Manley, Bret Blevins, and John Nyberg told the story of a misunderstanding resulting in the two having a powerful catfight. There’s a short back-up piece from David, Jennifer Graves, and Chuck Drost, which focused on Linda Danvers’ artistic career.

Rounding out the collection is Supergirl Annual #1, part of 1997’s Tales of the Dead Earth annual theme. There’s a trio of stories exploring the concept from Chuck Dixon, Ron Wagner and Bill Reinhold; Barbara & Karl Kesel, Dick Giordano, and George Pérez; and Joe Lansdale & Neal Barrett, Jr., Robert Teranishi, and Stan Woch. While it veered from David’s vision, it‘s a visual appealing collection of material.

If you’re unfamiliar with this run, you’re in for a treat.

Purchase

Supergirl Bool 1 SC

Individual issue covers from the Grand Comics Database.

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