The Ottawa Comic Book Guy

Hi, due to time constraints again this week I haven't been able to spend a lot of time here, so here is another article I have written years ago for your (hopeful) reading enjoyment. Superman: “Great guns! A girl, flying ! It –Uh—must be an illusion!” Supergirl: “Look again, Superman! It’s me – Supergirl! And I have all your powers!” Action Comics No. 252 Cover dated May 1959. With the words above, comic lovers were introduced to the graceful, petite blond girl that was Kara Zor-El, better known to the world at large as Superman’s younger cousin, Supergirl. She is arguably the most popular DC character to make her/his debut in the Silver Age without having a Golden Age predecessor. Hailing from Argo City , a settlement that had somehow miraculously escaped the destruction of Krypton (with an air bubble no less), she was the daughter of Zor-El (who was the younger brother of Jor-El) and Alura. As the chunk containing Argo City moved away from the holoca...

Research for the Wasp is taking longer than I though, as I am having a bit of trouble sorting through all the various incarnations of the Janet van Dyne character (Marvels various reboots over the last twenty years and various titles with different names are actually confusing me.) I will start with them very soon. The comic pictured above is the earliest book I remember reading. It probably wasn't, as I was only five at the time (and then, this b ook had een out for ten years.) This book was part of my uncle's collection of Silver Age DC. I knew about Superman, and I do remember being attracted to this book because of the cover of Superman (I didn't know it was Superboy at the time.) This issue, however opened my eye. Part of it was the Curt Swan art, part of it was the story (written by E. Nelson Bidwell), but two things stood out to me in this story. one was near the end, where the doctor removed his mask to show his nose was on his forehead, and the presence of a fl...