Author: Kara Lovett

Superman compliments of Radio Shack was a trilogy of promotional comics put out by Radio Shack to promote their new product, the TRS-80 Computer. The second of these books was titled “Victory by Computer” and of course starred everyone’s favorite girl of steel. Really killer creative team for this free promotional book, Cary Bates is writing, and Curt Swan & Vince Colletta on art, the book was published in 1981 and is a continuation of the previous year’s “The Computers that Saved Metropolis” but most of the references boil down to Alec and Shanna (the TRS-80 Computer Whiz Kids) briefly mentioning their previous tale with Superman and the story does a solid job of telling a complete story on its own, and how could you not with 32 pages and no ads.

As I mentioned, the story is 32 pages and there’s a lot of story jam packed into it. we open with Ms. Wilson’s class in an elementary school on the outskirts of Metropolis and we are soon introduced to our titular heroes, Superman and Supergirl. The pair of Super Cousins present the class with a brand new product called the TRS-80 Pocket Computer which fits snuggly into both hero’s cape pockets. After briefly going over what the pocket computer can do, Superman takes off to take care of a threat which we find out is a threat by Lex Luthor saying he plans to break out of prison by Superman’s hand.

Supergirl, now alone with the class, goes on to tell Ms. Wilson’s class about some of the functions of the TRS-80 computer and she is helped by Alec and Shanna who starred alongside Superman in the last Radio Shack giveaway book. After a few pages of promotional dialoge, Supergirl has the idea of a race. Supergirl vs the TRS-80 computer in a competition to see who could learn about Lex Luthor faster. The kids of course use the computer to access the Daily Planet online archives while Supergirl goes to the planet building itself to look through their paper archives. This race showed that using a TRS-80 lets you research just as fast as Supergirl can at super-speed.

With their in classroom education taken care of, Ms. Wilson takes the class on a field trip to the Metropolis Museum of Science and Industry where they’re able to explore and learn more about computers and how they work. Promising to meet the class there, Supergirl takes a quick patrol where she finds an odd building emmiting dangerous microwaves and takes a detour to investigate. The microwaves are a trap however, and red solar lamps quickly turn on taking away Supergirl’s powers and trapping her.

Superman checks in on the class and is surprised to find out Supergirl isn’t with them. A discussion with a concerned Ms. Wilson leads Superman to go off in search of his cousin. Switching back to the maid of might, she awakens powerless and in a locked room with a “PP” on the doors. Without powers, she’s forced to use her wit and intuition instead. Through one door she hears faint noises alerting her to a guard stationed outside. She then turns her attention to the other door, and with a paperclip and her leftover super-senses, she picks the lock to uncover a TRS-80 computer setup. She uses some of the features of the computer that were discussed at the start of the book to contact Ms. Wilson’s class. The Whiz Kids help Supergirl use the “PP” clue she found to figure out she’s been trapped at the old hideout of a crime organization called the Purple Palace. Supergirl uses this information to think up a way out. Meanwhile, Superman shows up at Ms. Wilson’s class where they tell him where Supergirl is trapped. Superman rushes over, but Supergirl has already gotten herself out thanks to reading up on the Purple Palace’s secret smuggling tunnel thanks to the TRS-80. Criminals captured, Supergirl saved, and the Whiz Kids learning more about the TRS-80 we come to a close on the story with Alec calling them “a pretty sensational super-team.

Promotional giveaway comics are generally pretty hit or miss, and the absurdity of them has always interested me. I’ve collected quite a few of these including the whole trilogy of these Radio Shack books, all 3 of the Drug Awareness Teen Titans books, a couple Supergirl specific books promoting safe driving practices, and a Batman Onstar comic. While this issue really leaned into the promotion of the computer it was advertising and a lot of dialogue felt unnatural because of the specific branding they were forced to use, the story was actually pretty decent. Supergirl was also able to shine in the story and it felt more like her book than Superman’s a lot of the time. Supergirl thinking her way out of a sticky situation as opposed to just waiting to be saved was really good to see. One point of the story that feels pretty out of place however is the Lex Luthor sub-plot. Lex mentions near the start that he’s going to escape, and it’s kind of implied at the end that Lex set up the plot to capture Supergirl, but it doesn’t add to the story at all. I guess it was there to give a named villain to the story and to give Superman a reason to head out of the classroom, but to me it just distracted from the plot. Also at the start it seems like this whole issue would be about the Pocket Computer, but that’s quickly brushed aside and the main plot revolves around the main TRS-80 instead.

Supergirl’s costume and her mention of working as a student advisor puts this story specifically in the early Superman Family era which is accurate to the time this book came out. One odd incosistency I noticed was that sometimes Supergirl’s shorts were depicted as a skirt instead. I feel like this is probably an inking oversight because they usually look like shorts and only a couple panels look like a skirt, but I could be wrong.

While there aren’t any page ads in this book, the inside front and back covers both have advertisements for Radio Shack products. The inside front shows off the TRS-80 itself, and the inside back gives you a look at some science fair kits. The back cover reads: “Now… Radio Shack brings you the fun way to learn all about microcomputers!” it shows off an educational programs catalog, “My TRS-80 Likes Me”, and the comic that’s already in your hands. It seems weird that they aren’t instead advertising the previous issue but maybe it’s meant for teachers to request more for their class.

One more little bit I want to show off before signing off this time is this glossary of terms that were used throughout the story given to us on the last page. None of these terms seem like anything too crazy but its a fun time capsule of the 80s era of computing. Thanks for reading! If you liked this and want me to look at other promotional or PSA books let me know by emailing daringnewblog@gmail.com and keep checking back for more posts!

The Brave and the Bold is a title from DC that has appeared a few times throughout DC’s rich history. The title doesn’t have a specific star but is instead a team-up book and often has Batman teaming up with a fellow hero from across the DC universe. The book has not always been a Batman team-up book, it started with all manner of characters like the Challengers of the Unknown, Cave Carson, and the Suicide Squad. This book is also notable for being the debut of the Justice League and the Teen Titans, but that’s not who we’re here to discuss. Instead we will be looking at the issues that Supergirl appears in as a starring feature. Supergirl appeared in 3 issues of the initial run of the Brave and the Bold, issues 63, 147, and 160. She would also show up in the 2007 run of The Brave and the Bold but I’ll save that for another time and stick to the Pre-Crisis series instead.

The Brave and the Bold issue 63 presents us with a story of “Two Super-Chicks on a New Kick!” Supergirl and Wonder Woman are the stars of this particular issue and it’s here that the 2 mighty heroines meet for the first time. Bob Haney as writer and John Rosenberger as artist present this story called “The Revolt of the Super-Chicks” in 1965. After rescuing a couple of movie stars and getting no recognition for her amazing feat, Supergirl decides to give up the Superhero life and live as an ordinary girl. She takes a year off college and her foster parents send her on a trip to Paris where she takes up a job as a model, here she is much more recognized and idolized unlike when she was saving lives. Her cousin, Superman, is having none of this and sends the much more mature Wonder Woman after his young cousin to set her back on the path of heroics. The plan unfortunately backfires and Wonder Woman herself is caught up in the joy of living as a woman without any heroic duties. The pair continue on as normal girls and each find a charming young French man to woo over them, and both couples end up on the Ile d’Amour. Here we are introduced to the antagonist of the tale, Multi-Face, who can change is face to whatever he wishes. The two couples carry on with their dates but continue to be met with challenges only their super-powers can handle. A new conflict arises where each girl has a need to save the day, but are unable to show themselves as strong in front of their suitors. Even so, the heroines both continue to preform miraculous feats and find new ways for their companions to be distracted while doing so. Eventually however they both realize that they must work together to stop Multi-Face and go to their respective French boys and tell them that they no longer have time for love. And thus Supergirl and Wonder Woman are back fighting for Justice and Henri and Andre are left alone on the Island of Love as the heroes fly away.

Wowee what a doozy. As I began reading this, and even up to like halfway through I was convinced the story was going to involve Multi-Face somehow tricking the gals into giving up their lives as heroes by changing his face into that of the French suitors that we met in part one, but it was totally unrelated. Even on the island, which also stood as Multi-Face’s base was just a happy coincidence that everyone ended up there, Henri and Andre could’ve been portrayed as working as goons for the evil mastermind but were instead entirely unaffiliated. So we are instead left with the two most prominent and long standing DC Heroines deciding to give up the hero life to be pampered of their own free will, Wonder Woman herself barely needs a new dress and a kiss to convince her. Also Multi-Face barely uses his face changing ability, the most he does is change into a fox while saying “what a foxy idea”, he could’ve been any other mad scientist villain but instead he has budget Clayface powers that he doesn’t even use in his plans. Also there’s a moment in the story where supergirl uses gold to block Kryptonite radiation as opposed to lead which isn’t accurate. I tried to go into the story with an open mind and I’m quite fond of Pre-Crisis Supergirl stories, but I really could not get behind Kara deciding to not be a hero anymore just because she wants to be more in the public eye. It seems selfish and childish especially for the girl that worked tirelessly for years to be a great hero and train herself to be her cousin’s partner, the same girl who wept when her powers were stripped from her by Lesla-Lar before she could be revealed to the world. Hopefully the next two issues present a much more appealing girl of steel.

It would be over a decade before the Maid of Steel graced the pages of The Brave and the Bold again, but 1978’s “Death-Scream from the Sky” has Supergirl featured along with Batman. Cary Burkett writes with Jim Aparo and Jerry Sperpe on art duties. Opening with Bruce Wayne in a board meeting, the plot is soon thrust upon us as the Children of Light hijack the screen that Bruce was using to show a broadcast from the other side of the world using a new technology called Globe-Span. The Children of Light mention they have taken over Globe-Span and plan to destroy lives if their demands aren’t met. Bruce expertly sneaks away so that Batman can begin his investigation at the source; the Midvale STAR Labs facility where the satellites were manufactured. Upon entering however, he finds an unconscious Supergirl who was busy investigating herself. The pair work together and figure out there has been tampering to the satellites in the form of red sun energy that can take away Supergirl’s powers. The pair take their investigation to space in a more direct attack on the satellite. But with Supergirl being unable to get close to it on her own, Batman approaches himself in a space shuttle but he was unprepared for laser defenses and nearly lost his life if not for the quick reflexes and thinking of his Kryptonian companion. Back on earth the pair follow up on Supergirl’s lead, a young man she met at the New Athens school who was sapping her powers, Josh Kimble. His exposure to the red sun energy while working on the satellite was the cause of Supergirl’s power loss, at his place they find a note that says “Light is Under the Sun.” Batman’s deductive reasoning of course leads the pair to Le Soleil a club in Gotham. Here they find none other than Dr. Light, and Batman easily takes card of Light and his goons while Supergirl has to race a radio signal into space that Dr. Light transmitted. Supergirl of course wins the race and Batman of course takes care of Dr. Light’s terrorist gang and the day is saved.

While this issue definitely felt more like a Batman story than a Supergirl story, Supergirl was still given plenty to do and both members of the team-up bring plenty to the table. Supergirl is often removed of her powers throughout this story which helps Batman to stay in the spotlight, but Supergirl still gets to race a radio transmission and she even uses her super speed and indestructible cape to save Batman’s life. Quite a fun little read and by all means a step up from the former issue that I covered, but at only 17 pages its a rather light read.

The final story this time out (issue 160) advertises “Together again — the team you demanded!” on the cover wo I imagine issue 147 was quite popular. Once again we have Batman and Supergirl, and with the same Burkett, Aparo, and Serpe team giving us a story called “The Brimstone Connection”. From the start of the issue, Batman is on the case of Brimstone, the mastermind behind stealing a secret new rocket fuel formula. Very soon however we learn that Linda (Supergirl) Danver’s father, Fred, has been kidnapped due to his work on this formula. The pair set off immediately to Mr. Danver’s study where Batman finds a clue. This clue leads to to “a seedier section of Gotham” and to Jasper Casbeer specifically. They find Casbeer but not before he burns the document showing the route for the formula. Thanks to Supergirl’s Super-recall she is able to expertly reconstruct it. Now they can lay a trap of a phoney formula and track it back to the source, Brimstone himself. Supergirl uses her Super-vision to keep track of the bait that finally leads to an old abandoned factory. Supergirl is taken away with a diversion of a plane taking off and Batman is soon trapped by Brimstone’s gang. While Batman can easily break from the ropes that bind him, the preassure plate he stands on is tied to a bomb that will kill Fred Danvers if Batman escapes. Batman is able to out-think this trap and free’s Danvers, then the pair radio for Supergirl. A clue points the team to a submarine where the criminals have used to get away, but a submarine is no match for the maid of might as she lifts it back onto land and incapacitates the crew and the ringleader. With another crisis adverted and the day saved, Batman suggests the three of them (Batman, Supergirl, and Fred Danvers) go get coffee to celebrate a job well done.

I enjoyed how much more the story this time focused on Supergirl, and having her father so directly involved with the plot made the stakes that much higher for long-time Supergirl fans. Supergirl was also able to use a wide array of powers this time out and even mentions at one point that Super-vision is required to keep track of the formula trail, cementing her as necessary to solving this particular case. We’re also given a very detective oriented Batman which I much prefer to a more brutal punching kind of Batman. I would say my main beef with the story is how they introduced the rocket fuel formula case to Batman. While on its own it makes sense that Batman could save a secret agent who tells Batman of this rocket fuel thing, I think if we just started with Linda coming to Bruce Wayne with her Dad being kidnapped it would’ve been a much more natural introduction to the conflict and would’ve saved a couple pages. Really fun story all around and probably my favorite of the 3 issues.

The original run of The Brave and the Bold is a series I’ve not really read much of so this little trip into the series was fun even with the rather disappointing first issue. The Supergirl/Batman team, especially in the bronze age, is dynamic and fun and they can play off each other nicely. The Batman/Supergirl dynamic would be played with again in the post crisis era which led to some nice scenes. Thanks for reading and feel free to email me at daringnewblog@gmail.com if you have any suggestions for other Supergirl things to cover.