The Daring new Blog of Supergirl

  • Supergirl (1984) Press Packet

    The subject of this week’s blog post is perhaps my most unique item of my Supergirl collection; the Press Packet released for the 1984 Supergirl movie staring Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, and Peter O’Toole. I am a huge supporter of this often ridiculed movie and as such have acquired a small collection of memorabilia and other products related to the film that I plan to cover in later blog posts.

    The press packet included these 2 documents from Allied Advertising Agency informing the recipient of the packet on where and when the film will be showing and the specifics on how the press should submit their reviews. As I am not a member of the press and got this packet secondhand I don’t entirely understand all the specifics of this information, but I do enjoy their inclusion and, for me, it adds to the novelty of the kit.

    The packet also includes a selection of portraits of the main characters as well as the director and producer. In order the pictures are; Helen Slater as Supergirl, Faye Dunaway as Selina with Helen Slater as Supergirl, another portrait of Supergirl now as a wide shot, Peter O’Toole as Zaltar, Faye Dunaway as Selina, Hart Bochner as Ethan, the director Jeannot Swarc, and the producer Timothy Burrill. Each of these images are printed on glossy photo paper with Tri-Star and Supergirl branding along with a brief blurb mentioning the legal requirements if the press were to publish any of these photographs along with their reviews. Each photo also includes a small slip of paper that lists the name of the character, the name of the actor, and a brief explanation of what the character is like.

    In addition to the 8 portraits, the kit also includes 6 images from the movie. These pictures depict some of the actors that have smaller, supporting roles like Mia Farrow and Simon Ward as Alura and Zor-El. These images also have caption cards that now describe the scene depicted as opposed to the character traits as the last set did. All together the kit includes 14 black and white photos. While none of these images feel exclusive to the kit they’re still very exciting to have and make an excellent addition to my collection.

    The most interesting part of this kit, however, is this blue booklet. This booklet opens with a full cast and crew list and the normal legal dialogue about ownership of the Supergirl character by DC Comics. The booklet then goes into a 10 page synopsis of the movie that also touches on the characters present, the thoughts of the producers, and some of the special effects utilized to bring Supergirl to life. The book ends with biography pages for Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, Jeannot Szwarc, Timothy Burrill, Ilya Salkind, and Alexander Salkind.

    While the biographies of the director and producers are fairly by the books, the biographies for Faye Dunaway and Helen Slater are quite interesting because they have quotes from the actresses. The biography for Slater is particularly interesting because this was her first film so it explores more so how she approaches this character with “Amazonian proportions” as she puts it.

    As I mentioned at the top, this is one of my most unique pieces in my Supergirl collection. My partner works at a used book store and this press packet, along with a couple others, came in with a collection someone was selling. I immediately knew I wanted it for my collection having no idea what it was. I’m glad I jumped on it when I did because when looking around online for press packets for this movie since acquiring it I have not seen anything close to as complete as the kit I have. This little blue folder is such a great look into the history of the film and I’m glad to be able to share it on my blog.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com

  • Supergirl in the Multiverse: Earth-14

    Earth-14 is perhaps the least explored universe in DC’s current local multiverse having just one appearance. Superman vol. 4 #15. The basic premise for this universe seems to be the amalgamation of the Justice League and Suicide Squad called the Justice Squad. The Justice Squad is quickly eliminated just moments after their introduction by the Gatherers and their leader The Prophecy as they attempted to kidnap Squad Superman of their universe. Since this world is largely unmapped, there is not currently a Supergirl present.

    The Superman of this universe seems to be the only hero with superpowers which implies the potential for a Krypton-14 that would exist in the universe. With the potential of a Krypton comes a potential for a Supergirl. This Supergirl, Squad Supergirl, has a similar powerset to Squad Superman and takes some design elements from him and his Justice Squad compatriots. For her civilian name, we are once again at a loss due to the lack of depth this universe. As such I will go with a classic, Linda Lee. After witnessing the attack on the Justice Squad, Linda (Squad Supergirl) Lee realizes she can no longer stay as the secret weapon of her cousin and must instead jump into the spotlight and become the prominent hero of Earth-14!

    As with all my Supergirl in the Multiverse posts, this is my own artwork that depicts Squad Supergirl in the left foreground crouching with a pair of high tech binoculars to her eyes. Her costume includes red shorts, red boots, and a silver and gray body armor over her torso and arms. The sun i s setting in the background over a desolate city. A motif in the top right depicts the Squad Supergirl logo with a 14 on top.

  • Supergirl Surprise 1: Supergirl Vol. 4 #5

    In a new feature of my blog called “Supergirl Surprise” I will go to my Supergirl comic boxes and pick an issue at random to read and talk about. My goal for these posts is to explore the issue on its own and on its own as a collection of paper and staples. As such I will be taking pictures of the comic as opposed to finding digital screenshots of the panels. I will also bring in pictures of the ads or letters pages if there’s anything that catches my eye.

    Supergirl #5 has the cover date of January 1997 and is written by Peter David and has art by Gary Frank and Cam Smith. The story opens with our heroine visiting her, at one time, adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent.

    This interaction gives some nice closure to Supergirl’s life before the new status quo introduced in the vol. 4 iteration of Supergirl. This Supergirl, Mae, is a protoplasmic clone from another dimension. More recently, when this comic had come out, Mae had merged with the dying human Linda Danvers. Showing her interacting with her past life in a way that feels almost alien to her as Linda now was a nice way to respect where the character was before and allow for the character to start anew.

    We then fly from Smallville back to Leesburg, the home of Linda Danvers. Here we are briefly introduced to the new Dick Malverne who says “sometimes you recognize people’s souls from previous incarnations” which is of course a clever nod to the pre crisis Supergirl and Dick Malverne. To find out more about Dick Malverne take a look at my blog post about him here.

    Meanwhile, in the background, a b-plot has been brewing that involves Chemo reforming in a lab in Leesburg. The A and B plots come together and result in a fight between Supergirl and Chemo. This fight results in a dialogue between the two where Supergirl tells Chemo he isn’t alive because he’s a collection of chemicals and the result of a freak accident. This conversation ends the fight and Chemo dissipates into the sky but Supergirl is met with a crisis of conscious wondering if she is alive or not when she is also just a creation that wants to be more and wants to be human.

    This issue is a great look at Supergirl and her transition from the Matrix Supergirl into something more and helps further build the new world of Linda Danvers and Leesburg. This issue is the first appearance of Dick Malverne in the post crisis universe and has been reprinted in Supergirl Volume 1 TP from 1997, Supergirl by Peter David book 1 from 2016, and will be reprinted in the upcoming DC Finest: Supergirl – Body and Soul that realeases in October. This issue also came bundled with a Supergirl action figure based on Linda’s later white t-shirt costume that came out in 2005.

    None of the ads really caught my eye but were mostly advertising PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. The letters didn’t intrigue me much aside from this one that called this new Supergirl title “Supergirl Vertigo-style” and “Twin Peaks on Kryptonite”.

    The letters page also came with a little blurb that briefly caught readers up on the previous 4 issues of the title.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com

  • Supergirl in the Multiverse: Earth-13

    Arcane Supergirl comes from the magical dimension of Earth-13. Earth-13, as depicted in the game Infinite Crisis, is home to a collection of Arcane superheroes who use their magical powers in the multiversal battle against the oncoming Infinite Crisis. Earth-13, also known as Earth Arcane, is a desolate place ravaged by the magics of the Shadow League. The universe is briefly explored in the game and tie in comic, Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse.

    Kara Zor-El, Blessed of Rao, is the Arcane Supergirl. Zor-El, as she is most often called by her companions, is the last daughter of Krypton and Herald of Rao. Saved by the magical Flamebird before the Black could fully consume Krypton, she now possesses the powers of the Flamebird which she uses to fight back against the Black.

    As with all my Supergirl in the Multiverse posts, this is my own artwork and depicts Arcane Supergirl in front of the Diurnal Sphere. The Diurnal Sphere is the information hub of Earth-13 and looks like a giant glowing globe surrounded by sorcerers. Arcane Supergirl, in the foreground, is hovering and projecting flame bursts from both of her outstretched hands. A motif of Arcane Supergirl’s S Symbol is in the top right with a 13 on top of it.

  • Supergirl: Being Super

    Supergirl: Being Super, written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Joëlle Jones, is my favorite Supergirl story. This story came out in late 2016 and early 2017 and was one of the first Supergirl stories I read after really getting into the character. At the point when this story was coming out most of my exposure to the character was from the television show and the Rebirth era Supergirl ongoing title and general knowledge of the character from stories I read as a kid where she would show up. Since then I have read a lot of supergirl stories but this one has maintained its position as my favorite Supergirl story and one of my favorite comic stories of all time.

    The story follows Kara Zor-El, who came to earth in a rocket 8 years ago. Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers are farmers from Midvale who find the young alien and adopt her as their daughter. The story explores Kara experiencing life as a teenager with superpowers in a way that feels natural and real. Kara has 2 best friends Jen and Dolly and they’re all on the track team together.

    I think the story does a lot of very interesting things to the lore of Supergirl and explores common concepts in some new and interesting ways. Part of the story revolves around Kara randomly losing her powers which ties into a plot where she learns to deal with not being able to save everyone. The story also introduces a new Kryptonian character, Tan-On, who was an explorer from Krypton that left the planet long before the destruction and was imprisoned on earth soon after landing. I thought this was a clever way to approach Kara learning about Krypton and also explain another Kryptonian who escaped Krypton.

    The Danvers that are presented in this story are very different than any other version that had been presented, and while they were depicted as farmers, they didn’t feel too much like the Kents. Eliza is a very kind hearted mother that doesn’t know how to approach Kara’s powers but knows how to be a good mom, and Jeremiah, while a man of few words, loves his daughter and will do anything to protect her.

    One of the most impressive things to me about this story, is how it handles the Superman question. As the story is presented, Kara doesn’t remember Krypton aside from brief flashes, most likely due to the trauma surrounding the experience of her home and everyone she knew being gone in an instant. Because she doesn’t remember her planet, she doesn’t know she has a cousin that also came to Earth. The story is also set up in a way that Superman doesn’t expose himself to the world until nearly the end of the story which really adds to how alien and confused Kara feels about her powers. Structuring the story like this allows Kara to stand on her own as a hero and shine without being in her cousin’s shadow.

    The story was initially published as 4 prestige format issues and was soon collected as a single trade paperback. The coloring for these first 2 versions of the story was done by Kelly Fitzpatrick. In 2020 a new version of the story was released and the book was formatted at a smaller size similar to DC’s young readers line of graphic novels. This newer version had coloring by Jeremy Lawson who approached the story using a limited color pallet and having all the art use only blues, yellows, and reds. Most often the panels would have mostly a single color and sometimes use an additional color used to create a focal point.

    I’ve collected a couple examples of the coloring to show side by side comparisons. In my opinion, while I enjoy the thought and concept of a triadic pallet, I prefer the coloring by Fitzpatrick. I feel like in quite a few places that some of the details get lost or some of the artwork blends together too much. This being said, I did like how Lawson approached Kara having her powers fail on her. I felt like the hard contrast of the red line work and white coloring on the blue backgrounds worked really well and really helped illustrate the power loss.

    Before I close out I would like to mention this (minor) Kryptonian typo I noticed on my most recent read through.

    I assume this line is supposed to read “be safe, Kara Zor-El, my daughter” but it instead translates to “be sage, Kara Zor-El, my daughter”. This is of course inconsequential to the overall story but I noticed it and I wanted to mention it in this blog post.

    This is a perfect Supergirl story for anyone to read. I think it’s great for newcomers to the character and long time fans. I think it’s also a great coming of age story for young girls. As mentioned above, this book has been collected in 2 different ways since its initial run and should be fairly easy to get your hands on.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com