Monday, January 23, 2017

Decent Comics: "Fight With Fire Drake" by Bridwell, Saaf, and Giordano

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! "New Look Supergirl" writer/artist/editor Mike Sekowsky's tenure ended so abruptly (according to Back Issue #84 publisher Carmine Infantino fired him and replaced him with editor Joe Orlando) that assistant editor E. Nelson Bridwell was pressed into service to write a second story to fill out the ish (Sekowsky's finale only ran 14 pages). Romance artist Art Saaf was brought in to draw the story (and he'd draw a lot more!) and Dick Giordano inked it. Bridwell immediately started making changes by getting rid of Sekowsky's exo-skeleton (used to replace the now-you-see-me-now-you-don't  powers Sekowsky had saddled the Maid of Might with) with a Kandorian bracelet and her Legion flight ring. The highlight for Young Groove was the new costume (designed by fan Margret Berg), baby! Hot pants, a bathing suit top, and go-go boots! Still looks kinda cool, dunnit? Ahem, anyway, here's "Fight With Fire Drake" from Adventure Comics #409 (June 1971)!









A couple more notes: this is the first 52 page/25 cent ish of Adventure aaaaand the (Giordano) cover spotlights the above Supergirl story, but the title on the cover goes to Sekowsky's lead-tale. Weird, huh?

6 comments:

  1. That outfit looks like it came straight out of the Cockrum Legion!

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    1. I remember thinking that as a kid! She should have worn it when she went into the future to visit them, instead of her blouse/hot pant combo, which didn't fit in with what the rest were wearing as well.

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  2. This period for Supergirl in Adventure was exciting and interesting. Post Sekowsky they were trying to find a direction for the Maid of Steel, including multiple costume changes. There were some really good stories as we were treated to the talents of Albano, Skeates, DeZuniga, Oksner, Giordano and others in the DC bullpen at the time. Combined with some Zatana backups featuring beautiful Morrow artwork, solid reprints and awesome covers, I eagerly sought out the 25 cent Adventure on the stands. Unfortunately, I don't think Joe Orlando knew what to do with the character and there was a format change with issue 325 bringing the magazine in line with the other mystery titles he was editing at the time and which were thriving on the stands. Still I cherish Adventure #s 309 - 324 with their quirky 70s vibe and raft of excellent stories.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I agree with every word Keythd23 just wrote. Saaf was an extremely underrated superhero artist. He did some great work on Teen Titans too, inked by Cardy.

    James Chatterton

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  5. Those were the days... Linda in a bikini, and then changing to Supergirl...

    Sigh...

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


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