Customer Reviews

The Supergirl Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a collection of stories which introduced us to Supergirl, the one true Supergirl, Superman's long lost cousin.

The simplicity and innocence of these stories are very appealing to me, even though some parts may be a little far fetch by today's standard. For example, we have Superman spraying amnesia gas over the town of Smallville after the people of Smallville discover Supergirl's existence. Superman then proceeds to produce new copies of the local newspaper omitting any mention of Supergirl.

Full credit to the writers who had the difficult task of keeping Supergirl's existence a secret until she was ready to face the world. This limited Supergirl's roles in the stories, but clever use enabled Supergirl to travel to the future and to the past, to be stranded on an asteroid by Superman, and even gets transformed into a superbaby.

Curt Swan has long been associated, and quite rightly so in my opinion, as the definitive Superman artist. Here we have the definitive Supergirl artist, Jim Mooney.

I don't really like the cover by Frank Miller. I would have preferred a new illustration by the main artist himself, Jim Mooney. But despite this, I still give this book a five star rating.

No news yet of a follow up edition, but the good news is that a Superboy collection is coming soon. This will make an excellent addition, and companion, for the Supergirl Archives.

In the meantime, this is an excellent addition to the Superman collection, and I give it my highest recommendation.

I enjoyed this early collection of the origins of Supergirl, who is Superman's cousin. This is when comics had a meticulous continuity and strived to create stories that made sense to the readers. I reccomend this to those fans of the DC family. It makes a lovely gift to someone who remembers those days. It will leave you wishing for still more as it did me.

The Supergirl stories are sweet-natured as is Supergirl herself. I look forward to seeing future volumes, hopefully some that will include the era of Kurt Schauffenberger's art.

Buy this while you can.

"Supergirl Archives Vol. 1" collects the Supergirl back-up stories from Action Comics #252-268. It also includes the Supergirl "try-out" issue from Action Comics #123, where Jimmy Olsen wishes up a "Super-Girl" companion for his buddy Superman. It all ends badly of course, but paves the way for Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El to arrive in a rocket 8 months later.

In these early issues, Supergirl is hidden away from the public. She is Superman's secret weapon and spends most of her time maintaining her secret identity of orphan Linda Danvers. Eventually, she goes to the future to meet the Legion of Super-Heroes and Tommy Tomorrow. Her pet, Streaky the Supercat shows up as well.

The stories, written mainly by Otto Binder of Marvel Family fame, showcase the beginning of what would become the Superman Family. Soon Comet the Superhorse, Beppo the Supermonky and the entire bottle city of Kandor would be roaming around with "The Last Son of Krypton." There is a charming innocence in the stories, and they are very well crafted silver age comics. The art, by Jim Mooney and Al Plastino, is suiting to the stories. The new Frank Miller cover is a nice addition, although an odd choice as he is not an artist one associates with the character of Supergirl.

I first discovered Supergirl when I had to accompany my ride to the grocery story. There I picked up Issue 9 of the current Supergirl and was *hooked*. I'd pick up a copy here and there, but couldn't really keep up with the storyline.
Then I picked up this book...Yowzah! I'm even more of a Supergirl fan now than I was before! I have to wonder if the current writers were tipping their hats to the original ones when they gave the new supergirl's alter-ego the name of "Linda"...
Oy, I catch myself rambling. I'm not a rabid comic book person, in fact, I'd have to say that Supergirl is the only one that ever caught my interest (though I do have to tip my hat to Wolverine, cause he's Canadian!). The publishers did a superb job in their presentation of this classic. The artwork is (of course) superb, and I find that knowing what the *original* Supergirl was like makes me like the current one even more. I earnestly await the second volume, and the next issue!
I'm sorry if this wasn't much help, I'm not much of one for reviews. All I can say, is that if you like Supergirl, or just classic comic books in general, this is a really good buy.

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. What you get here are the first dozen or so adventures of Kara Zor-El, Superman's teenaged cousin from the doomed planet Krypton. The one, true Supergirl. Not a protoplasmic blob, not an angel, the Girl of Steel in all her four-color glory.

DC Comics killed Kara off during a house-cleaning in the mid 1980s and, to their surprise, fans have been clamoring for her return every since. These are stories from another time, a simpler time, when comics didn't have to be scientifically accurate to be good, clean fun. Share these stories with a youngster who's just getting into reading, you'll make a fan, trust me.

Welcome back, Kara. Even if it's just a visit to some fond, old memories. You've been missed, kiddo.

When the planet Krypton exploded, Argo City miraculously survived under a bubble of air. However, the ground soon turned into kryptonite. Despite the diligent efforts of scientist Zor-El, Argo City was soon destroyed, save for Zor-el's daughter, Kara. He sent her to Earth, where he had discovered another Kryptonian survivor: Superman. In a quirk of fate, Superman is in fact Kara's cousin. Discovering her rocket, Superman takes the newly arrived Supergirl to a local orphanage, where, under the guise of Linda Lee, she must remain hidden. For Superman realizes she needs to learn Earth's ways, and he sees an opportunity to develop a secret weapon.

I have a personal caveat when it comes to reading vintage comics: plot over character. This is especially true for silver age super-hero comics, which were predominantly aimed at kids, and so went more for elaborate plot gimmickry. Another caveat must be brought to "The Supergirl Archives" Vol. 1: this series of stories, written by almost exclusively adult men, was aimed at girls. As such, it's not hard to see certain presumptions of the day taken at the heart of most of these stories. Indeed, the central premise of the series it pretty "girl-friendly": Supergirl must live covertly as Linda, never allowing her existence be known. When she does go into action, it's usually to prevent some disaster, or solve some minor problem around the orphanage. In other words, Supergirl wasn't given much opportunity to punch out Lex Luthor.

Written mainly by Otto Binder, the stories are whimsical, and get a great deal of mileage out of the simple idea of a 15-year-old girl with super powers. While Linda can't operate in the open, she does get a great deal of satisfaction in being able to help her fellows at the orphanage, be it to help them with adoption or simply blowing away rain clouds. Jim Mooney's art, while similar to the other artists on Superman, is still very good, and grew more distinct as the series progressed, conveying the good natured fun cleanly and with tremendous energy.

It's hard to pin down any favorites. Most are quite fun and satisfying. There are some that take the premise of the character to illogical extremes, as Superman puts Supergirl through some harsh and dubious tests to prove her ability to keep her secret. There is also one story, "Mighty Maid", in which Supergirl poses as Superman's super-powered girlfriend, that is just creepy when one thinks about it too much. However, these are minor pitfalls in a collection of stories that feature Supergirl trying to develop immunity to kryptonite, and then accidently giving a normal cat super powers, Supergirl getting adopted by a police officer and his wife, and a team-up with the Legion of Super-heroes, among others.

"The Crisis on Infinite Earths" killed and then erased this version of Supergirl from existence. She's recently been reintroduced after a couple of different versions. It's nice see the character when she was fresh and simple.

The best part of the Supergirl archives is that it is strongly set in the Superman universe where the most outlandish things can happen with nary a bat of an eye. This is the tall tales and folklore of the 20th Century.

A fun read and a vacation from the all too self conscious comics of today.

The modern cover of the Supergirl Archive Edition did not do justice to the virtual treasure trove of Silver Age DC Comics art and masterful story telling found in this edition. Buying this book is like purchasing an imitation painting and finding a masterpiece under the surface. Guess you can tell, I like it!

If you are not familiar with DC Archive editions, Supergirl is a great one to start with. DC has done a fantastic job in providing a quality hardbound collection of the world's greatest comics at a very low price. You could spend thousands of dollars to purchase these comics, if you could find them. The reader must prepare for a time trip back to nearly forty plus years ago in comic story telling. Remember these stories came out in the late 50's and have a completely different flavor compared to the new age of comic story telling.

Find out how a teenage Supergirl survived the destruction of the planet Krypton! Discover Argo City! Find out how Superman is related to Supergirl! Where did Supergirl's costume originate? Why did Supergirl come to Earth? How do you deal with being a normal teenager on Krypton, to one of the most powerful beings on Earth? What kind of pet would a Supergirl have? How did the pet get super powers?

This is a great book to purchase for your children, girlfriend, significant other or just treat yourself. It shows how a teenager from Krypton can be attractive, intelligent, resourceful and a great role model. If you have never experienced silver age Supergirl stories, you are in for a real treat.

The first Supergirl Archive contains the introduction and the earliest adventures of the Silver Age(classic) Supergirl, the one and only Kara Zor-El. In this book, you will see Kara struggle with maintaining her superhero identity(as Supergirl) secret from the world, and you will laugh at her ingenuity as this spunky female superhero finds ways to balance the secrecy and still fight the good fight as Supergirl. By modern standards, the art may seem simplistic, but the stories are fun, and move along at a relatively quick pace. Stories included are : Superman #123, and Action Comics #252-269.

~part 2~

The second Supergirl Archive includes the following stories: Action Comics # 269-285. In this volume, Supergirl(a.k.a Kara Zor-El) is publicly introduced to the world as Supergirl. Also, this second hardcover collection of classic stories contains Supergirl's first encounter with the futuristic superhero team, the Legion of Superheroes. Once again, these classic stories are suitable for all ages.

This first volume of adventures featuring the original, Silver Age Supergirl have plenty of fun moments, and that goofy, don't-take-it-too-seriously quality that makes the old DC books so enjoyable. There are some problems, though...

I got this volume because I was looking for superhero "girl" role models for my daughter to enjoy, and while I appreciate the relatively nonviolent nature of the Supergirl stories, I did have problems with the underlying sexism of the series. For many months in the early episodes, Supergirl was hamstrung by her bossy older cousin, Superman, who tucks her away in an orphanage and tells her never to go out in public and use her powers. Now, this isn't to protect her from harm -- no, it's so that he can use her as a "secret weapon" against crime, a backup superheroine who will blow the minds of criminals when she's finally let out of the box. Thus, most of the early stories revolve around endless clumsy and utterly unnecessary plot devices employed so that Supergirl can sneak out and break her super-curfew. The only real reason for the character to be neutered this way is because the editors just weren't ready to have a "girl" be as strong as Superman; surely they could have come up with *some* way to make the stories more interesting without playing the same old hiding-her-true-identity trick over and over again. Still, even with the silly restrictions, Supergirl had her fun, and these late-vintage Silver Age stories are way more engaging than the sluggish super-comics of the '40s, and far less dark than the stuff we've been reading since the 1980s. In short, this era and these stories are an ideal introduction for newer, younger, more innocent comicbook readers. Definitely recommended. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)