What was that I was saying the other day about Supergirl being lured to alien worlds to fight battles for their inhabitants? This one's even stranger as we never actually learn why there's a war being fought, or between whom. Instead, we're told the story of a group of wizards who join their minds together to protect themselves and their people, and who manipulate Supergirl into attacking their enemies. Who those enemies are, we're never told - the story is more about the collateral damage of war. Togran, son of one of the wizards, tries to stop Supergirl from falling for the plot, only to be killed by his own father. Sometimes I think it would be best if Supergirl just stayed on Earth.
The Animal Man story in this issue is one of his earliest costumed appearances. It's not the greatest story, but what it does highlight is the difficulties associated with becoming a superhero. Animal Man (or "A-Man" as he's called in the story) pursues the same gang of crooks repeatedly in this story, always failing to capture them until the very end. Though he's enthusiastic, his experience with his powers is slight, and it's kind of fascinating seeing how he gets around the limitation of having to be around animals to absorb their powers. I'm glad that that aspect of his power set gets retired eventually, though having such limitations does force some creative thinking, both on the part of the hero and on the part of his creative team. Regardless, it was nice to see the old orange and blue again.
The other stories are typical 60s and 70s fare. The "Star-Men" story read like an old EC sci-fi story, and, according to the GCD, the second Supergirl story is actually a reprinted Superman story that's had his name replaced with hers to make her seem like the star. And, though it hardly bears repeating, Supergirl sports very different costumes in both stories. I wonder if anyone's ever collected the various fashions she's sported over the years into one place. It would be interesting to see where she's been.
Perhaps more Supergirl tomorrow.
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