The 360 Supergirl--a complete novel
ACTION COMICS--all stories by Siegel and Mooney
278 (July 1961)--2nd story, "The Unknown Supergirl"
279 (August 1961)--2nd story, "Supergirl's Secret Enemy"
280 (September 1961)--2nd story, "Trapped in Kandor"
281 (October1961)--2nd story, "The Secret of the Time Barrier"
282 (November 1961)--2nd story, "The Supergirl of Tomorrow"
283 (December 1961)--2nd story, "The Six Red 'K' Perils"
284 (January 1962)--2nd story, "The Strange Bodies of Supergirl"
285 (February 1962)--1st & 2nd story, "The World's Greatest Heroine" & "The Infinite Monster"; cover art by Swan and Klein:
The Supergirl stories from ACTION COMICS 278 through 285 are all one arc by Siegel and Mooney. An abridged version is collected (with ACTION 281 and 282 mostly missing) in ACTION COMICS 360 (March-April 1968)--80 pg. Giant G-45--advertised on the cover as [b]"A Comic First! A Complete Book-Length Novel!"[/b]; with cover art by Curt Swan and George Klein.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/T1cfCKHp/act360covertoc.jpg[/img]
[b]Warning[/b]: Some alterations were made to the stories in that collection and it seems that subsequent reprints have used those altered panels rather than the work as it originally appeared!
Ladies and Gentleman--Linda Lee Danvers!
In issue 278's "The Unknown Supergirl," Kara mysteriously loses her powers. As issue 279's "Supergirl's Secret Enemy" reveals, this is all a plot by [b]Lesla-Lar[/b], a scientist in Kandor--it is she who has de-powered the Girl of Steel with a ray she invented.
Because Linda is no longer Supergirl, there's no reason for her not to be adopted. [b]Fred Danvers[/b] and his wife take in Linda--just as Kara's biological mother hasn't got a name (as yet), neither does Linda's adoptive mother. Fred has a creepy fascination with his new daughter's hair and insists she should change it; to please him, Linda styles her wig in the [b]Campus Cuddle-Bun[/b] that got the most votes from readers (to be shown in issue 281).
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/HjGshGTh/act279p4b.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/kGRgsMPS/act279p5b.jpg[/img]
Streaky goes with Linda to their new home, but like her the pussy-cat is powerless. Neither Streaky nor Linda realize that the source of the Super-Cat's powers--the X-Kryptonite inside a ball of string--remains in the cellar at the Midvale Orphanage.
Lesla-Lar is able to exchange bodies with Linda Lee Danvers, with Linda believing she is Lesla-Lar inside Kandor, while Lesla-Lar reveals herself as "Supergirl" to Lex Luthor and aids him in his crimes.
More Powerful Than Even Superman
Likewise in the next issue, "The Supergirl of Tomorrow," when Linda takes a time bubble several thousand years into the future, her powers return.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/x1nbfHSF/act282p4b.jpg[/img]
There she finds that the Earth has repelled a Martian invasion, but giant birds from Mars called [b]Angark[/b] were left behind. Other animals on Earth have been changed into strange creatures by the Martian evolution-bombs. There's a bust of Supergirl that proclaims her "More Powerful Than Even Superman."
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/BZPFM4gN/act282p7b.jpg[/img]
[b]Gizmak-Ral[/b] and his underground fighters called the [b]Unconquerables[/b] are in resistance to the new regime in power, the [b]Clan of Censors[/b], led by the [b]All-Seeing Eye[/b]. The Clan have ordered that all books be banned, so people will not learn about freedom. With Supergirl's help, the Unconquerables overthrow the All-Seeing Eye.
Imaginary Interlude . . .
SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN 57 (December 1961)--1st story, "Jimmy Olsen Marries Supergirl" by Siegel, Swan and Kaye; r. ACTION COMICS 351 (June 1967) - 352 (July 1967); cover art by Swan and Kaye:
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/Mp3ZCjZB/jo57cover.jpg[/img]
As events head toward a conclusion in ACTION, over in JIMMY OLSEN's mag, a what-if story supposes what could happen if Jimmy and Linda were to marry. This is set in a possible future, but it has to be in an immediate future, given Linda has her new haircut and is adopted by the Danvers, but she's not yet been revealed to the world.
Red K. makes Linda lose her powers and forget she is Supergirl. She falls for Jimmy and marries him. When she gets back her powers and memory, she conspires to make her husband fall in love with the Girl of Steel--even though this would mean he was cheating on his wife.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/7YxxbNf7/jo57A.jpg[/img]
Jimmy encounters Supergirl for the first time (because he didn't believe she existed when he met her previously) and falls for her.
The Maid of Might takes Jimmy to another planet where a green giant uses him like a yo-yo
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/SKz4HTv0/jo57B.jpg[/img]
Olsen is torn because he loves two women, but Linda is happy because she made him fall in love with Supergirl and cheat on her.
. . . And Pause for One Minute of Silence
SUPERMAN 150 (January 1962)--1st story, "The One Minute of Doom" by Siegel and Plastino; r. BEST OF DC [Blue Ribbon Digest] 59 (April 1985):
In this story, the Greatest Super-Dog in the Universe, Krypto, erects his [b]Doghouse of Solitude[/b] somewhere in outer space. This will be shown in many subsequent stories.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/1z7dz8HP/sm150p3a.jpg[/img]
But the Dog Knight of Steel must leave his newly established headquarters to join Kara Zor-El and Kal-El at the Fortress of Solitude on Earth. There they stand in front of the bottle city of Kandor and pause for one minute of silence.
This is their memorial day, the anniversary of Krypton's destruction. Along with the people in Kandor and even those in the Phantom Zone, they all reflect on the tragic death of their home planet.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/26PX4gMK/sm150p4p5a.jpg[/img]
Overcome with grief, this memorial doesn't seem enough for the Man of Steel. In another solar system, the trio of Caped Kryptonians find a planet that resembles Krypton. There, according to Clark's photographic memory, they erect "an exact duplicate of Krypton, down to the slightest detail!"
They then populate the planet with android duplicates of Kryptonians--including copies of Jor-El, Lara, Zor-El and his still nameless wife. The Super-Family make a pact to return to this planet on every Krypton memorial day.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/FRfBkhWS/sm150p9a.jpg[/img]
Supergirl blows her cover
The cover for ACTION COMICS 285 has the names of the cover artists--Curt Swan and George Klein--hiding in the background. For some strange reason I haven't been able to find out, later reprints of that cover have replaced Supergirl's original head with a different head--mainly it's the hairstyle that's changed.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/rpdyMFzP/act285coverx2.jpg[/img]
The whole of ACTION 285 is dedicated to Supergirl's coming out to the world and to the universe.
The Super-Cousins plan to reveal the truth to the Danvers first. Mrs. Danvers is given a first name and it's [b]Enid[/b]. Linda is forced to come out to her parents ahead of schedule, when the old bridge gives way as their car passes over it, and their daughter must save them.
Linda Lee Danvers alias Supergirl gives her folks the latest version of her origin story.
Next, from their Arctic Fortress, the Man and Girl of Steel break in to all broadcasts around the world (probably against many international laws) to air their propaganda video about Supergirl. They then take a round the world tour so the public can stare up at them in awe.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/G3DBvzL5/act285p8a.jpg[/img]
They go to the White House, in Washington, D.C., to meet President Kennedy and then to the United Nations building, in New York City, to present the Maid of Might to the General Assembly. Of course, Kandor (but presumably not Lesla-Lar) approves, even if Kara Zor-El is from another city.
And the Caped Kryptonians use their telescopic vision to witness the celebrations on other worlds, including the duplication population on Nyorp and the Flame-People on Mringa.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/02qznmr2/act285p11a.jpg[/img]
[b]Note[/b]: Not only is the cover altered for modern reprints, they also use the altered panels from ACTION COMICS 360. So, for example, when Linda recounts her origin to the Danvers, in the original Argo City still has an air pocket, while in the Giant reprint that's changed to a plastic dome. Check your [b]ACTION COMICS[/b] 80 YEARS OF SUPERMAN: THE DELUXE EDITION (2018)--that reprint is [b]wrong![/b]
Infinite Karma's Gonna Get You
In the next part, when the Man of Tomorrow is away on a mission in the 50th century, the Action Amiga must step in to handle the [b]Infinite Monster[/b]. On account of a rip in space, the Infinite Monster drops down onto Earth--but because the giant is so big, only its scaly, red legs appear through the space warp.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/6qCyw6bX/act285p4b.jpg[/img]
The Girl of Tomorrow sends a capsule through time to the Legion of Super-Heroes, asking them to send her something that will defeat the Infinite Monster. When Brainiac 5 reads the message, he reminds the other Legionnaires that he fell in love with Kara when they first met. With Brainy's help from the future, Supergirl is able to construct a device that shrinks down the Infinite Monster so she can put him in a bottle and keep him as a trophy.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/jdQLF5J6/act285p7p8b.jpg[/img]
As the Legion observe Supergirl with their time viewer, Cosmic Boy notes it's time to reveal the lettering on their bust of Supergirl, which has been hidden with a lead plate so the Girl of Steel could not read it. The inscription says:
YEAR OF
SUPERGIRL'S
ARRIVAL ON
EARTH
1959
YEAR SUPERGIRL'S
EXISTENCE WAS
REVEALED ON
EARTH
1962
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/qRhNbx8g/act285p10b.jpg[/img]
When Superman returns from his time trip, he dedicates a whole wing of the Fortress to Supergirl as her annex.
[b]Note[/b]: They don't show the reverse side of the Legion's bust of Supergirl--I wonder if it said:
YEAR OF SUPERGIRL'S
DEATH IN CRISIS
ON INFINITE
EARTHS
1985
I pity the poor Infinite Monster. It seems like it just accidentally fell through a hole in space and had no way to get out of the hole. Now it's trapped in a bottle--as a mere trophy for some girl's vanity.