The First Supergirl

[ozaline]

The first Supergirl (or Super-girl) appeared in Superman #123. She was a magical construct made from a wish by Jimmy... and she looked very similar to Kara Zor-El who would appear a year later. Both were creations of Otto Binder and it's often thought that Super-girl was a market test, or that fan response lead to the creation of Kara.

But while that first version of Super-Girl looked similar to Kara, (just a red skirt instead of a blue one)... When the story was reprinted they decided to recolour her to distinguish her more from Kara. Now she's a redhead who dresses in orange and green... she looks a lot like her creator, Jimmy. Jimmy made a dream girl for Superman, and she looks like him...

hmmm...







As this is the silver age, Jimmy gets a magical wishing totem the very next day and uses his first wish to create a super powered woman to be by Superman's side forever.




But she's so much Superman's match that she just gets in the way. Eventually Superman decides to just let her do the heroing while he does the Clarking.

Comments

[locuatico]

Oh my god Lois... OH MY GOD.
LEX LUTHOR in Byrne's Man of Steel was less stubborn than you.

[zachbeacon]

Paging Doctor Freud!

(So Jimmy wants to be Superman and also wants to date Superman. They are not picky about what gender they are at the time. Yeah, this all checks out.)

[bradygirl_12]

Yep, Jimmy created Super-Girl by rubbing his magic totem! ;)

[icon_uk]

Oh good, not just me who had that thought...

[bradygirl_12]

It's never just you. ;)

[scorntx]

Silver Age Superman - "Hold My Beer" in comic form!

... probably shouldn't read anything in the fact this reprint gives Super-Girl Aquaman's color-scheme, huh.
Anyone else, it'd just be a coincidence, but with that Jimmy Olsen... probably better not to ask.

Whatever happened to Unnamed Criminal? Did Superman ever use his array of fantastic abilities to track him down, and in a suitably labyrinthine Silver Age fashion make him pay for his misdeeds / drive him to the brink of insanity?

Come to think of it, why didn't Jimmy just use that magic totem to heal Super-Girl?

And, uh, damn, Lois, that's cold...
(... no wonder Kal doesn't want to marry her.)

[alicemacher]

Imagine if very early Golden Age Clark had pulled that on Lois, though. She would've blown her blood vessels in anger. (Back then she despised Clark as a coward and a pest.) At least Silver Age Lois is making an effort to be nice to him.

[hot_pie]

I rub my magic totem as well.

HEYY-OOOOOOOOOOOH

I'll see myself out.

[bravest_spinja]

I'm absolutely certain this is a touch-up of a previous story where the Supergirl Jimmy wished for resembled Kara. (I think the reception encouraged the creation of the "permanent" Supergirl.)

[ozaline]

Yes, it is a touch up. The original story with the red, blue and blonde colour scheme was in Superman #123, this colour scheme appeared in Superman #217 and Giant Annual #6.

I said it was a recolour in the post, but it's hilarious!