boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (06/18/85)
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7 [DC, maxi-series, $1.25] [A-]
This is the first really spectacular issue of the run. For the first
time, there's real action as the heroes go on the offensive against the Anti-
Monitor. And what an offensive --- *the* most powerful heroes of the various
universes: Superman-1, Superman-2, Supergirl, Captain Marvel, Mon-El, Green
Lantern-2, Jade, Firestorm, Captain Atom, J'onn J'onzz, Wonder Woman, Lady
Quark, Wildfire, et al.
We also have the origins of Pariah, Harbinger, the Monitor, and the
Anti-Monitor, which to Marv Wolfman's credit, works in neatly with certain
origins from early issues of GREEN LANTERN. (If you've guessed that the Anti-
Monitor comes from the anti-matter dimension of Qward, give yourself a No-
Prize (oops! wrong company :-) )).
And Supergirl dies.
It's hard to explain just what those two words mean to me. It's hard
to explain to someone who wasn't there in the late 50's/early 60's how some
of the effects of CRISIS have affected someone who had been there.
I was there when the Flash first discovered Earth-2. I was there when the JLA
first teamed up with the JSA. Wasn't that a time. A time when the annual
JLA/JSA team-up was something special, instead of something done out of trad-
ition. The thrill of discovering a whole new world of heroes, heroes that had
been gone for a decade or two. The blurb in INFINITY, INC. #18 announcing the
last JLA/JSA team-up chilled me to the bone for that reason. A part of my
youth would be no more.
I was there when the JLA and the JSA discovered Earth-3 and the Crime
Syndicate of America. I suppose those of you who met the CSA for the first
time a couple of years ago in DC COMICS PRESENTS ANNUAL #1, or perhaps even as
far back as SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS just didn't feel the pangs I did
when Earth-3 was totally eradicated in CRISIS #1. A part of my youth disap-
peared with Earth-3.
Supergirl dies.
In the course of my comics-reading life, only four other deaths have
affected me much.
First, there was Gwen Stacy in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #121/122. I'd been
reading SPIDER-MAN for two or so years (after a hiatus of many years), and
this character was relatively new to me. Her death had an impact on me, not
so much because it marked the end of *her* as the effect it had on Peter
Parker. Also, it was the first major character death I'd experienced (the
various false deaths of villains, of course, don't count).
Then (not really next, chronologically speaking) there was the death of the
Earth-1 Batwoman. Back around 1970, there was a period when a lot of the
material from the 50's and early 60's (the so-called Weisinger Era --- even
though his editing extended only to the Superman titles, the rest of the line
pretty much followed in his footsteps) was looked down upon as being silly
claptrap. Most fans dumped most of the spin-off characters into the same
trash can. The only exceptions seemed to be Supergirl and Krypto. All of the
others, from Batwoman to Bat-Mite to Comet the Super-Horse to Beppo the Super-
Monkey were conveniently forgotten until the middle-to-late 70's when twinges
of nostalgia made some of those hokey characters seem not so bad after all.
Batwoman was one of those characters who enjoyed an occasional guest spot.
Batwoman (and the original Bat-Girl) always held a place in my heart
because she appeared in those days when, as Ambush Bug put it, Batman was
always coming up against aliens, or fighting criminals on top of giant appli-
ances. These were the days of my youth, when I was <10 years old and very
impressionable. Batwoman's death in saddened me and infuriated me. It seemed
so pointless (not that any death doesn't seem so), and it broke another link
to the past. It it was also done so cavalierly --- alive one page, dead the
next; with a whimper, not a bang. She deserved better.
And, then, of course, there was the Golden-Age Batman, who died in ADVENTURE
#262. It's not clear whether I really experienced the thrill of the adventures
of the Golden-Age Batman as a youth. After all, I wasn't there during the
Golden Age, but the Earth-1 Batman is considered not to have started until
the "New Look" (the yellow circle around the chest-bat) started circa 1964
[which doesn't take into account Batman's appearances in the JLA prior to
this.], so it could be said that the Batman I read in my youth *was* of the
Earth-2 variety. But still, though he went out fighting, it seemed less than
he deserved --- I mean, this was the BATMAN, man! So it was "only" the Earth-2
Batman; when I think back to my youth, I remember only one Batman, and this
was the guy.
I saved Jean Grey for last, because she had the biggest impact on me. I grew
up with her and the rest, from when she first arrived at the mansion, to when
she "died" for the first time, to when she died for real. All of the X-Men
were like close friends to me --- a credit to the various writers on the book
--- and Jean's death was like that of a friend.
Batman(-2), Batwoman, and Jean Grey all shared one thing in common: like
Earth-3, they were there in the formative years of my comics reading (well,
Jean Grey came a few years later, but...), and there were strong associations
for me with all of them.
And now Supergirl.
I was there when Kara first stepped out of the rocket that brought her
to Earth. I was there when Superman first revealed her existence to the world.
I was there when the Danvers adopted Linda Lee. I was there when she first
joined the Legion of Super-Heroes. I was there when she first struck out on
her own as Linda Lee Danvers. I was there when she first tried on her new
costumes. I was there when she got her own comic for the first time. I was
there when she got her own comic a second time.
Supergirl was always a problem character. It's as if no one really knew
what to do with her. The early stories were fine, even if they seemed more like
YOUNG LOVE with a cape than SUPERMAN with a skirt. But when she grew to real
prominence, she lost something somewhere, a sense of direction, of purpose.
No one wanted her around, and the creators at DC were hard pressed to figure
out what to do with her. She was just a complete wimp.
Then Power Girl came along, the Earth-2 version of Supergirl. Somehow,
what failed with Supergirl worked with Power Girl; the latter had the person-
ality that the former badly needed. And over the years since then, everyone
still seemed to favor the "imitation" to the detriment of the "real thing". I
admit, I preferred Power Girl too, but there was always a secret wish that
someone at DC would just take Supergirl and give her Power Girl's personality.
But it never happened, and Supergirl continued being the black sheep of the
DC family.
And now I'm here for her death. I've heard the main reason why she was
done away with, and it doesn't really seem that unreasonable from one point of
view. DC wants to get back to the basic Superman, the one who is the *only*
survivor of Krypton. So all the others had to be done away with. That she went
out with a bang, fought the good fight, died a true hero, is small consolation.
I recognize and accept why she had to die, but that certainly doesn't mean I
have to like it.
Perhaps the above can give you some idea how her death affected me.
But I don't think that you can really know unless you were there with me.
Rest in peace, Kara Zor-El. Here's at least one fan who will miss you.
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)
UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
soon to be:
boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.COM