Supergirl Mondays is a weekly celebration of the Girl of Steel, who has graced the pages of DC Comics in a variety of forms for more than five decades.

This feature’s primary focus is to take an issue-by-issue look back at Supergirl’s adventures in the post-Crisis universe. From an artificial being on a mission to save her home world, to an Earth-born angel on a mission to save her soul, each Monday, before the airing of “Supergirl” on CBS, reflect on the earliest days of the incredible and winding journey of a frequently divisive, sometimes confusing, but always entertaining era for the Maid of Might.

In this issue

Issue: ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #441
Cover date: June 1988
Cover price: 75 cents ($1 Can./40p U.K.)
Cover by Jerry Ordway
Story: “The Tiny Terror of Tinseltown”

Credits

Enryb Nhoj, scripter/co-plotter
Yawdro Yrrej, penciller/co-plotter
Eknaj Sinned, inker
Nillot Ynohtna, colorist
NamzuGed Trebla, letterer
Retteatsrettiw Eener, assistant editor
Nilrac Ekim, editor
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Overview

In Antarctica, the scientists talk about how the mysterious woman is awake but has been drifting in an out of conciousness and unable to speak. Just then, the woman staggers weakly into the room, pleading for help. The men ask if she can tell them who she is or where she came from, and she gives a cryptic reply.

Thoughts

This issue’s installment is another one-page interlude in the middle of a larger, unconnected Superman story. Supergirl’s story is a slow-burn that plays out over the course of several months. This issue provides the first time the woman has been referred to as “Supergirl” — even if she is calling herself that — but gives no real clues toward the mystery of her identity or origin. But, the baby-steps approach works to prolong the mystery and keep the reader intrigued.

Next time on Supergirl Monday: North, Miss Teschmacher. Due north.

Supergirl Mondays is a weekly celebration of the Girl of Steel, who has graced the pages of DC Comics in a variety of forms for more than five decades.

This feature’s primary focus is to take an issue-by-issue look back at Supergirl’s adventures in the post-Crisis universe. From an artificial being on a mission to save her home world, to an Earth-born angel on a mission to save her soul, each Monday, before the airing of “Supergirl” on CBS, reflect on the earliest days of the incredible and winding journey of a frequently divisive, sometimes confusing, but always entertaining era for the Maid of Might.

In this issue

Issue: ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #440
Cover date: May 1988
Cover price: 75 cents ($1 Can./40p U.K.)
Cover by Dave Gibbons and Jerry Ordway
Story: “The Hurrieder I Go”

Credits

John Byrne, scripter/co-plotter
Jerry Ordway, penciller/co-plotter
Dennis Janke, inker
Tony Tollin, colorist
Albert DeGuzman, letterer
Mike Carlin, editor & nervous breakdowns
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Overview

Thoughts

This less-than-one-page interlude (the entire scene is included above) gives another look at the mystery woman found in the Antarctic ice in the previous month’s SUPERMAN, but serves only to deepen the mystery of who she is, namely due to the fact that the scientists determine she had been there for several hundred years — predating Superman’s debut by, oh, several hundred years.

One thing interesting from a publishing standpoint is that this interlude comes in a different title than the first. Both titles were written by John Byrne at the time (albeit with Jerry Ordway on co-plotting duties for ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN), and they interconnected nature of the two gave readers an early taste of what was to come across four Superman titles just a few years down the road.

Next time on Supergirl Monday: An awakening!