House of Secrets #93

House of Secrets #93 (On Sale: June 1, 1971), has a nice cover by Bernie Wrightson.

We begin this issue with "Lonely in Death" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. At first circumstances in an old house lead a young woman to believe her recently deceased mother is attempting to kill her in order to have company in the afterlife, but then the resentful brother is revealed as the cause of the near-fatal mishaps. He attempts to stab his sister with a spear but falls out a window to his death when startled by something the woman takes to be her mother's ghost protecting her, not attempting to kill her as she mistakenly previously believed.

Next up is our first reprint, "The Curse of the Cat's Cradle" drawn by Alex Toth and reprinted from My Greatest Adventure #85 (1964).

That is followed by "Nightmare" by Gerry Conway and Jack Abel. A man being paid to sabotage a construction project has a nightmare about falling into a dark area and then being seized by a giant hand. After he wakes up and heads to the construction site he finds that his nightmare was a premonition.

Next, we have our second reprint, "The Beast from the Box" drawn by Nick Cardy and reprinted from House of Secrets #24 (1959). Charles Sanders releases and eventually kills a thing from a box.

We end this issue with "Never Kill a Witch's Son" by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. A niece and her husband plot to kill her uncle for insurance money, but since the uncle's mother fancies herself a witch, the husband hatches a scheme to drive his wife to suicide so that he can get all the money. He fakes the uncle's appearances after they push him to his death off the balcony claiming that he had a fainting spell, but does too good a job and while his wife has been sedated, she sees her husband at the balcony and mistakes him for her uncle and shoves him to his death. All this time, the uncle's mother has been tending her son's grave, believing herself to be responsible through black magic for what happens to the niece and her husband.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Heart Throbs #132

Heart Throbs #132 (On Sale: April 20, 1971), has a cover by, well, who knows? Some say this is Creig Flessel, but I seriously doubt it. He had not worked for DC in ten years and would not start back for two more. The woman reminds me of Bob Oksner, but it might be Winslow Mortimer.

We begin with our cover story, "Don't Believe What They Say About Me" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Kathy has a bad reputation for dating too many boys she doesn't love, so when she finally meets Noel and falls in love, she's afraid he will learn about her past and drop her.

Next up is "Blind Date" drawn by Artie Saaf and Vince Colletta. Sherry is bored with her fiancee Jeff and asks her friend to set her up on a blind date, but she can't go through with it and realizes that she only wants to be with Jeff after all.

This is followed by "Two Kinds of Men!" by persons unknown and reprinted from Girls' Romances #66 (1960). Suzanne is torn between Will, who's shy and doesn't really know how to behave on a date, and confident Andy, who doesn't always treat her right.

We end with "Price Tag on Love" drawn by John Rosenberger. Melissa's mother wants her to marry someone rich, but when she matches up Melissa with Foster Wynne III, it turns out that his family isn't as wealthy as everyone thinks

Edited by Dorothy Woolfolk.

Adventure Comics #406

Adventure Comics #406 (On Sale: March 30, 1971), has a nice Supergirl cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. Interesting that we had two covers in a row, Action #400 and this, that have characters split in two.

This issue features Supergirl in "Suspicion" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. The graduation ceremony of Linda Danvers at Stanhope College is interrupted by a demonstration by a group of radicals. During the proceedings, Nasty witnesses Supergirl enter Linda's dorm room. This arouses her suspicions that Linda is Supergirl.

After graduation, Linda has a hard time landing a job. She asks Clark Kent for help. He directs her to a TV station in San Francisco. Nasty who has followed Linda also takes a job at the station. Nasty is looking to prove her suspicions.

When Linda, Nasty, and reporter Johnny Drew are witnesses at a building fire, Linda slips away to rescue people trapped inside as Supergirl. Linda's disappearance is an opportunity for Nasty to get proof. Supergirl sees Nasty and switches back to Linda. The fire crews believe Linda was inside the building and take her to the hospital for treatment. Continued next issue.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Young Love #86

Young Love #86 (On Sale: March 11, 1971), has a cover by Don Heck and everyone says Tony DeZuniga, but once again everyone is full of it. Might be Dick Giordano, but the two main characters are not inked very well. This issue also has a new and not improved logo to go along with the new editor Dorothy Woolfolk.

We begin with "The Two Faces of Liza" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel.

Next is "Never Bet on Love" drawn by Jay Scott Pike and Vince Colletta.

We end with "My Sister's Lover" drawn by John Romita and reprinted from Falling in Love #52 (1962). As a little girl, Linda falls in love with Nicky, the older boy next door. Linda's sister, Rita, ridicules Linda and has her own designs on Nicky. As Linda grows up, Nicky tries to discourage her attentions, saying she isn't a little girl anymore. 

Eventually, he leaves town and Linda receives a letter from Nicky, telling her she should forget him. But Nicky is actually in love with Linda and just afraid he is stealing her chance of happiness with someone her own age. He comes back and proposes to Linda.

Edited by Dorothy Woolfolk.

Adventure Comics #404

Adventure Comics #404 (On Sale: January 28, 1971), has a Supergirl cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

This issue features "Super-Girl?" written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Continuing from Adventure #402, Supergirl awakens after she was nearly killed by Derek and Starfire's men. Her powers have vanished, but they suddenly return. Supergirl visits Kandor where she is examined by Kryptonian scientists. They conclude that the drug given to Supergirl has caused her powers to work only intermittently. To make up for her inconvenient power loss, they equip her with an exo-skeleton to boost her strength and boot jets that allow flight.

Meanwhile, Starfire believes that Supergirl is dead. She rewards Derek for his job by killing him. She then organizes a group of female crooks who commit a string of robberies during a Mardi Gras celebration. Supergirl finds the gang, but she is knocked out during a moment where her powers are not operational.

The gang brings Supergirl to their boss. Starfire then fights Supergirl using judo and beats her. Then Supergirl's powers return. She defeats the gang, but Starfire escapes. Continued next issue.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Secret Hearts #150

Secret Hearts #150 (On Sale: January 7, 1971), has a nice cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Memories of Love" a Table of Contents written by Len Wein and drawn by Gray Morrow.

Our first story is "A Scent of Love... A Breath of Hate" drawn by Frank Langford. This is the third of four DC romance stories drawn by the British artist. Cliff meets suicidal Judy, who is clearly running away from a bad relationship, but he is determined to make her fall in love again. Unfortunately for Cliff, he succeeds. I say unfortunately because Judy is a loon, plain and simple. That they end up together in the end, is frightening. Nice artwork though; Langford was pretty good.

Next, we have another one-page Beauty on a Budget by Liz Berube. 

We follow that with "Love Would Wait" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Falling in Love #71 (1964). When sister Lisa and her boyfriend Steve take Judy out on her 16th birthday, she falls for Steve. Every year, Steve, who is on the road most of the year, returns to take Judy out on her birthday, but he is always with her sister Lisa. Finally, one year, as Steve left, he asked Lisa to let him know if she finds another and he will not return the next year. Lisa starts dating Philip and decides to dump Steve. She writes him a letter and gives it to Judy to mail, but she does not, as she wants Steve to return. 

Things get serious between Lisa and Philip and they become engaged. As preparation for the wedding begins, Steve returns. Judy lets him know about Lisa and the letter she never mailed and Steve says he would have returned anyway, as the reason he asked Lisa to be sure about him was he was falling in love with Judy.  

Next is a one-page article illustrated by John Celardo entitled "The Aquarius Woman."

This issue ends with "No Home for My Heart" drawn by Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Julie is on the train home from Hollywood where she went to make it in movies. A man is staring at her on the train, but she ignores him, trapped in her thoughts of the Hollywood casting couch she has been trying to avoid. Each of her auditions ended with the director hitting on her and her leaving before anything happened, but in her letters home she bragged about how she was getting breaks and making it big. 

When she returns to her hometown, her parents tell her how they have been bragging about her to their friends and she is bombarded by a long line of suiters, all of whom make a move on her, having heard of her success in Hollywood and knowing how things work there, they assume she is "easy."  Unable to stand it at home, she decides to return to Hollywood. 

While waiting for the train, she once again sees the strange man who was staring at her on the ride in, and he confesses that he was witness to her leaving a few of her "auditions" and had fallen for her. The two of them decide to go off together to try and make it in New York.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Girls' Love Stories #157

Girls' Love Stories #157 (On Sale: December 29, 1970), has a cover at least inked by Tony DeZuniga. The pencils might by Artie Saaf, Werner Roth, or Bill Draut, or who knows.

We begin with the cover story, "One Husband, Two Loves" by George Kashdan, Werner Roth, and Murphy Anderson. Felice marries Amos, her much-older boss, but when she meets her handsome stepson Jeremy she finds herself attracted to him.

Next is "Love Thy Neighbor" by Jack Oleck and Artie Saaf. Millie finds her new neighbor Ben to be extremely annoying, but of course they fall in love before long.

That is followed by an untitled one-pager by Henry Boltinoff and Lee Elias. A girl realizes that she copied her test answers from the wrong person when he fails the test.

Next, we have "Your Dreams Are Mine" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Heart Throbs #64 (1960). Meg's boyfriend Adam encourages her to pursue a singing career away from their small town, and he wants to go along as her manager. She becomes very successful in Los Angeles, but the big city lifestyle starts to change Adam.

We next have a half-page untitled story by Henry Boltinoff, Winslow Mortimer, and Jack Abel. Unwilling to accept her date's amorous advances, a girl tricks him into getting out of the car so that she can drive off and leave him stranded. 

We end with "Anatomy of a Romance" by Barbara Friedlander, Bill Draut, and Tony DeZuñiga. When Jean sees her boyfriend Gary with another woman she wants to break up with him, but her married sister helps her to see her mistake.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Adventure Comics #402

Adventure Comics #402 (On Sale: December 29, 1970), has a Supergirl cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. 

We begin with Supergirl in "Love Conquers All -- Even Supergirl" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Starfire, a crimelord, has successfully amassed a fortune with the help of her con man, Derek Ames, who romanced rich women and fleeced them of their money and jewels. Starfire is now ready to launch a world-conquering scheme, but she needs to destroy all superheroes first. Another of her subordinates, Dr. Kangle, has concocted a power-nullifier pill, and Starfire wants to test it on Supergirl.

Derek meets Supergirl on the Stanhope campus. He romances her but Supergirl feels she can not get romantically involved with him. During a last date though, Derek covertly feeds her the power-negating capsule.

When Starfire's gang attacks with machine guns, Supergirl feels her powers ebbing, and is knocked unconscious by a fall. Derek and the thugs leave her for dead. To be continued. There was speculation at the time that since Superman's powers were being siphoned off by the sand creature in Superman, that DC decided to cripple Supergirl's powers so that she would not be stronger than their main man in blue.

The back-up is Tracey Thompson in "Rat-Race" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Tony DeZuniga. Tracey Thompson and her friend Betsy are harassed by a group of bikers. An ex-marine called Bob Judd turns up and helps them out. In gratitude, Tracey decides to drive him back home. The biker gang chase after them, but the trio successfully escapes from them. This is the last Tracey Thompson story.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Our Army at War #229

Our Army at War #229 (On Sale: December 17, 1970), has a Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales cover by Joe Kubert.

We begin with Sgt. Rock in "The Battle of the Sergeants" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Our Army at War #128 (1963). Sgt. Rock joined the U.S. Army on the same day as his German counterpart Sgt. Krupp. Both men were trained by their respective militaries, then sent to North Africa.

The two Sergeants face off in the desert. Rock and Easy Company learn the location of a hidden German base. Krupp tries to destroy Rock before he can return to base and report the location. Rock and Ice Cream Soldier are the only survivors from Easy. Krupp chases Rock across the desert, leading to a struggle for Krupp's pistol. Krupp is shot and killed. Rock then carries the wounded Ice Cream Soldier out of the desert.

Next, we have "The Mouse and the Tiger" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito and reprinted from Star Spangled War Stories #73 (1958).

That is followed by "The Fighting Blip" by Bob Haney and Jack Abel and reprinted from Our Army at War #112 (1961).

Next is "Two Men -- One Hill" by Bob Haney and Mort Drucker and reprinted from Our Army at War #96 (1960).

We end with Sgt. Rock in "Surrender Ticket" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Our Army at War #149 (1964). As Sgt. Rock leads Easy Company to the front in North Africa, Nazi leader Colonel Von Krizt seeks to demoralize his opponents. He sends several waves of attackers against Easy Company, then drops surrender tickets, hoping that the Americans will give up the fight.

Despite their fear and great thirst, Easy Company makes it across the desert and confronts Von Krizt's forces. Instead of surrendering, Easy Company wins the fight and proves themselves in battle.

Edited by Joe Kubert.

Adventure Comics #401

Adventure Comics #401 (On Sale: November 25, 1970), has a Supergirl cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "The Frightened Supergirl" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. As Supergirl gives a public talk in Stanhope College, Nasty Luthor douses her drink with a "fear serum" concocted by her uncle Lex Luthor that causes Supergirl to rampage through Stanhope, terrified of anything.

Nasty manages to talk a terrified Supergirl into going to her house where she and Lex plan on keeping torturing her. Though Nasty's idea to scare Supergirl further with a toy car backfires when Supergirl brings the house down in her effort to escape.

Then Linda wakes up and discovers to her relief it has only been a dream. Thank god it was not an imaginary story...oh shit, nevermind. 

The back-up features Tracey Thompson in "The Strange House" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky, with inks by Frank Giacoia. Tracey Thompson decides to investigate an abandoned haunted mansion to prove to her friend Betsy there are no such things as ghosts. As they explore the place, they run into two very real ghosts and several crooks. Tracey and Betsy manage to escape and call the police to get the crooks arrested, but Tracey still wonders who was that couple in the mansion's cellar. She realizes she doesn't need to know.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Adventure Comics #400 (On Sale: October 29, 1970), has a Supergirl cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Supergirl stars in "Return of the Black Flame" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Supergirl is contacted via news station by a mysterious person who asks her to go to a specific address because she is the only person who can help her out. Supergirl heads to the place, not knowing it is a trap of her old enemy, Black Flame.

Black Flame broke out of jail in Kandor and left the Bottle City, managing to enlarge herself afterwards. She then acquired a spaceship, went to a warp portal in the Phantom Zone, and took on three super-criminals from the Phantom Zone: L. Finn (a leprechaun), the Toymaster and the Inventor. She then tricked Supergirl into coming to the house which they use as their headquarters.

Kara realizes too late it is a trap, and is sprinkled with Green Kryptonite. Rather than waiting until the Kryptonite dust takes effect, Black Flame orders her subordinates to take Supergirl to a room where she can torture her before killing her.

Supergirl comes to and sees she has been made to be a "pin" in a bowling alley with Green Kryptonite bowling balls. The Phantom Zone criminals throw ball after ball at Supergirl. However, although she gets hurt, the constant battering shakes the Kryptonite dust off the ropes binding her. Kara manages to free herself and attack, but one of the allies of Black Flame is some kind of sorcerer and freezes her.

Then she is placed in a deathtrap with Gold Kryptonite slowly stealing her powers, and a Green Kryptonite spear is set to be launched through her body once she loses them entirely. But Supergirl manages to reach a remote control for Toymaster's miniature robots and uses them to cut her free. She recovers her powers once she is away from the Gold K, and uses the toys to capture the three Phantom Zoners while she herself takes care of Black Flame. Later, Black Flame is taken back to Kandor and the three other villains are returned to the Phantom Zone.

I think Sekowsky was just new to the Super-mythos, as he gets a few things wrong in this story.  First, Supergirl is exposed to Gold Kryptonite, but somehow instead of immediately robbing her of her powers permanently she retains them claiming that prolonged exposure is needed. This contradicts every other story featuring Gold Kryptonite. Secondly, Black Flame recruits three inhabitants from the Phantom Zone to assist her, but none appear to affected by either Green or Gold Kryptonite. It should therefore be assumed that either not all Phantom Zone inhabitants are Kryptonian, or Sekowsky just messed up. Additionally, Supergirl sends the villains into space at the conclusion of the story. The caption indicates that this is toward the Phantom Zone. No mention of the Phantom Zone projector is made during their release or return which either casts more doubt on whether they are really from the Phantom Zone or Sekowsky once again messed up.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Heart Throbs #129

Heart Throbs #129 (On Sale: October 22, 1970), has a cover by Bill Draut and Vinny Colletta.

We begin with our cover story, "Substitute Sweetheart" inked by Vinny Colletta.

Next is "Listen, Darling..." drawn by Bill Draut and reprinted from Heart Throbs #60 (1959),

That is followed by "You're Not My Type... Mr. Winslow" drawn by Artie Saaf.

We end with "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" drawn by Jack Abel. 

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Adventure Comics #398

Adventure Comics #398 (On Sale: August 27, 1970) has a Supergirl cover by Dick Giordano. The news here is the new Supergirl logo which dominates the cover  Also, if you don't count the Johnny Double Showcase cover (and you should not), this is Dick Giordano's first  super-hero artwork for DC.  I find it odd that Mike Sekowsky is not yet branding this book with his own covers, but that will come.

We begin with a reprint for some reason. From Action Comics #306 we have "The Maid of Doom!" by Leo Dorfman and Jim Mooney. To prepare Earth for conquest, the Plasmos of the planet Mutor, who have the power to transform their bodies, send their secret agent Sklor to eliminate Supergirl and Superman. First, imitating Supergirl, Sklor tricks Superman, Krypto, Streaky, Comet, and the Kandorians into going to the 40th Century. Then he imitates Superman, Krypto, Streaky, Comet, and Mr. Mxyzptlk in succession, pretends to die and glow blue when Supergirl touches him, and convinces her she has gained the "touch of death" for super-beings. However, Supergirl deduces the truth when she hears Comet speaking to her instead of using telepathy. She forces the Mutorians to sign a peace treaty and abandon war forever.

The back-up is the new material, "Catcher in the Sky" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Supergirl, investigating the disappearance of an aircraft carrier, follows two vanishing planes. All of them turn up on the examination table of a gigantic alien child, who has stolen his father's dimensional grappler to bring in objects and tiny people from another dimension. Supergirl gets the attention of the child's father, and, just before they are sent back to their normal dimension, the humans see the child's father giving his son a licking.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Girls' Love Stories #154

Girls' Love Stories #154 (On Sale: August 13, 1970) has a cover by, well, we are not quite sure. Sequential Crush seems to think this is Bill Draut, but I don't think so. I'm thinking more like Ric Estrada.

Our cover story, "Too Spoiled for Love" is drawn by Ric Estrada and Jack Abel. Lila is a part of the local rich crowd, a spoiled girl just out for fun, breaking the heart of any guy who gets serious for her. Then one night her car breaks down on the way to a club and Brett stops to assist her. She invites him to join her in the club and very soon Lila realizes that she is seriously smitten with Brett. 

Plans for a "real" date are thrown up in the air when Lila's father informs her that he has invited his new assistant to dinner. She calls Brett and lets him know their date will have to be postponed, but later, when she heads downs to meet the assistant, she finds it is Brett.

Lila plays along as her father tries to hook the two kids up, but when Brett and Lila get some private time she is furious, figuring he only stopped to help her to get ahead with her father.She chases him out of the house and out of her life, but when she tries to resume her playgirl lifestyle, she finds that all she has on her mind is Brett.

She decides that one way to get over him is to overdoes on Brett, so she asks her father if she can work on the assembly line which Brett manages. Her tedious job is to keep track of the pressure gauges on some chemical tanks, but she is distracted by Brett's presence and one of the tanks explodes. Horrified by what her negligence has caused, she leaves. Later her father tells her that Brett admitted to forgetting to inspect the gauges and so he fired him.

Realizing that Brett only took the blame for her mistake out of love for her, Lila rushes to Brett and, of course, they live happily ever after.

Next is an eight-pager, "Country Girl," drawn by Artie Saaf and Frank Giacoia. 

That is followed by  "Advice to the Lovelorn," a three-page story drawn by George Tuska and Vinnie Colletta.

We end with "Awakened Heart," a seven-page reprint from Secret Hearts #38. This story is drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs and has been touched up to modernize the clothes and hairstyles. 

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Adventure Comics #397

Adventure Comics #397  (On Sale: July 30, 1970) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano featuring Supergirl.

I gotta tell ya, I admired Mike Sekowsky a lot. He was an idea man that for a while, during these few years of the Silver Age, at least got a chance to put forth his ideas and let the public decide. With this issue Sekowsky is given the reigns of Supergirl, to do with what he will. He definitely had a few ideas regarding this character.

Right off this cover says he is trying to appeal to female readers, with its paper doll convention of possible new costumes. This cover is not aimed at males. I have to tell you though that I was fascinated by all this. Not the new costume, but Sekowsky transforming Supergirl.  I had seen his Wonder Woman, his Jason's Quest and his Manhunter 2070, so I knew I was in for action and adventure (sounds like good names for two comic books!).

I thought of Mike Sekowsky books like a good ride. I get in, I hang on tight and I see where he takes me. I may not be thrilled in the end, but I will have a good time along the way as he takes me someplace no one else would have. So for me, Mike Sekowsky being handed the reigns of Supergirl was a treat.

We begin the Mike Sekowsky era of Supergirl with "Now... Comes Zond." This 14-pager was written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel and from the very first page you can tell that this is not Mort Weisinger's Supergirl.  When a girl is found in a zombie-like state on the Stanhope campus, Supergirl goes into a trance and probes her memories. She learns that she was terrified into catatonia by a being named Zond whom she met at a witches' coven.

Supergirl tracks down the coven and confronts Zond, but his magic powers defeat her and shred her costume somewhat. Supergirl consults with Diana Prince, the former Wonder Woman, and has her ask her old foe Morgana the Witch for help. Since Zond is a common enemy, and her mother's former stable-boy, Morgana agrees.

Supergirl gets a new uniform from Wonder Woman's boutique before she goes with the other women to the next coven meeting. Morganna takes care of Zond's magic, and Supergirl kicks him around the block. Morganna leaves with Zond, but not before releasing his victim from her fear-trance.

Our back-up story is "Supergirl Meets Nasty" is also written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel and is the first appearance of Lex Luthor's niece, Nasthalthia, or Nasty for short. Lex wants his niece to terrorize Stanhope with her motorcycle gang, Nasty's Nasties. Their objective: flush out Supergirl and discover her secret identity.

It backfires, as Supergirl tracks down Luthor and imprisons him again. Then she takes Nasty and her gang on a harrowing series of carnival rides, hyped by her super-powers. She warns the gang sternly not to try their terror tactics again, but Nasty later promises to strike again in the future.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Action Comics #392

Action Comics #392  (On Sale: July 30, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson featuring the Superman/Batman team. This is an great example of the due personality of DC at this time. The company that was brining you the Dark Knight and Deadman and Bat Lash and Green Lantern/Green Arrow was still being brought down month after month by the likes of Mort Weisinger and his ever silly "imaginary stories." Poor Superman, his sun is a klutzy loser! Yikes!

The lead off "imaginary" tale, "The Shame of the Super-Son" is the work of Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. I think the less said about it the better. Thankfully it has never been reprinted.

The back-up feature is the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Legionnaires Who Never Were," 12 pages by Cary Bates, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Saturn Girl and Princess Projectra are sent after the space renegade Pozr-Du. After spotting his parked ship, they approach only to be blasted by the villain's ray gun. When they awake hours later, they find that Pozr and his ship are gone. They return to Legion headquarters to find their cruiser suddenly surrounded by the H.Q.'s energy-grappler. The girls are ordered to identify themselves. Confused, they comply and ask permission to land. Their request is refused, and their ship is brought to a landing dock by the energy-grappler. The heroines leave the ship only to find themselves at gunpoint, surrounded by Legionnaires.

Karate Kid says that the two of them must be crazy spies to try to infiltrate Legion Headquarters by pretending to be two Legionnaires who don't even exist. Projectra demands that they get a chance to prove that they really are Legionnaires. She takes them to the clubhouse's archive computer, which has pictures and data on all members, but discovers that Saturn Girl and Princess Projectra are not included. There are two blank slots on the board, but Karate Kid explains that they have just admitted two new members - two male members - and their data is not yet in the computer.

Next, Projectra takes the others to the Legion's Hall of Trophies, but she and Saturn Girl are upset to discover that none of their own awards are present. The two girls try to demonstrate their powers but find they no longer have them. Karate Kid presents to them the new Legionnaires, who turn out to be male versions of the heroines: Prince Projectur and Saturn Lad. The boys demonstrate the super-powers of illusion-casting and telepathy before the girls are imprisoned in the team's detention sphere.

Projectra wonders if Pozr's weapon might have caused them to have a weird but realistic dream. Saturn Girl theorizes that they have been hurled into a parallel dimension in which they don't exist. When Projectra notices that Karate Kid has left them their flightrings, she comes up with an escape plan. She and Saturn Girl use their rings to propel them in opposite directions, putting pressure on the elastic detention sphere. Finally, it snaps and the girls are free to discover what has happened to them.

Projectra asks Saturn Girl to stay in hiding while she tries something. The Princess makes her way to Karate Kid's quarters and asks him to tell her if the whole thing is a hoax. When the Kid acts distressed that an enemy spy knows his real name, she begs him to remember that he once confessed his love for her. She then kisses him. When the two part, Karate Kid turns away and tells her it was a nice try, but he doesn't know her. Before he can try to re-capture her, however, he blacks out.

Projectra had stopped by the equipment lab earlier and concocted a knockout serum that only works on Earth people and had coated her lips with it. She had also slipped a miniature device on his neck when she kissed him, which she then checks. Projectra tries to return to Saturn Girl but finds her missing; instead, she comes upon Prince Projectur.

The Princess finds that she has regained her power and creates an illusion of an alien gas-creature threatening her. When her boy double tells "Jeckie" not to panic and then races to her rescue, she drops the illusion and snatches a mask off of "Projectur" revealing Brainiac 5's face beneath. He admits that he had used a device to simulate her power. When she asks why, he tells her that the new archive computer predicted that she would break down in a time of crisis and jeopardize other members. They had to check the accuracy of the computer by putting her through a test, which she has now passed. Saturn Girl arrives, saying that she had previously only made Projectra think she had lost her power.

Sun Boy had been disguised as "Saturn Lad" and Chameleon Boy had been Pozr. They ask how she figured out she had been hoaxed and she tells them how she put a truth disc on Karate Kid's neck which indicated that he was lying. Also, Brainiac 5 had called her "Jeckie" when he thought she was in danger, a nickname only her friends would know.

Karate Kid comes up to embrace Jeckie and says that tomorrow he is going to order the new computer dismantled and repaired. Mon-El breaks in and says that he will issue the order, since it is past midnight on Karate Kid's last day in office. At a ceremony the next morning, Mon-El is sworn in as the new leader, with Element Lad as his deputy. Projectra asks Val if he is sorry he's no longer leader and he wishes he had left office a week ago so he wouldn't have had to put her
through that ordeal.

Reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC and Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Adventure Comics #396

Adventure Comics #396 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a Supergirl cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. 

This is the end of an era, or an error, depending on how you feel about Mort Weisinger. This is the last issue of Adventure that Mort will edit as DC shows him the door. Next issue, editor/writer/artist Mike Sekowsky will take over the helm of Supergirl's adventures in Adventure. We begin with "I am a Witch" by Robert Kanigher and Kurt Schaffenberger.  I tried to reread this story this week, but it is just painful and I will save you from the agony of a recap.

We end with our cover-story "The Mystery of the Super-Orphan" by Leo Dorfman, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. Our story begins with Supergirl waking up in the Smallville Orphanage nd finding herself up for adoption. The people think it must be part of a fundraiser, but Supergirl is unsure, her memories scrambled a bit.  When a family shows interest in her, she appears to be not in full control of her powers and almost ruins their car, but we learn that she did it on purpose, not feeling that the couple were the right people to adopt her. The rest of the people are shocked when she flies off, ignoring the orphanage events.

She sees a storm and when she checks for damage she finds a ruined Supergirl statue in a park. As she looks closer, she sees it is a Superboy statute and wonders why they didn't build it for her. She rebuilds the statute in her image. A visit to Smallville Stadium brings her in contact with Krypto, who wonders why Supergirl is in Superboy's old hometown. Not wanting to deal with a crazy woman, Krypto leaves and Supergirl heads for police headquarters where she quickly solves a crime. As she departs the cops say how it reminds them of when Superboy used to help solve crimes in Smallville. 

She feels compelled to visit the Kent farm and and finds her old room and lab and secret compartment with the Supergirl robots. Only, the compartment is filled with Superboy and Clark Kent robots. When the robots notice what day it is, they head out into the night in search of flowers they take to the cemetery to lay on the graves of Johnathan and Martha Kent, her foster parents. She becomes angry and has to be subdued by the robots. Just then Krypto returns with another Supergirl in tow; the real Supergirl. It seems our Supergirl is a robot, accidently programmed with an old defective memory tape of Superboy's.  As this is being explained and she is being reprogrammed, Superman arrives to lay flower's on his foster parent's graves, on this, the anniversary of their deaths.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #391

Action Comics #391 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story, the imaginary tale "The Punishment of Superman's Son" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

The back-up is the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Ordeal of Element Lad" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. This story was reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Adventure Comics #395

Adventure Comics #395 (On Sale: May 28, 1970) has another Supergirl cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Supergirl in "The Rejected Supergirl" by Robert Kanigher, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. When the class at Stanhope College votes for the men they'd most like to be, Superman wins. Supergirl is asked to place capsules bearing the nine winners names on each of the nine planets. On Pluto, she encounters a group of metal lions which resemble the Metal Men. After defeating the lions, she returns to Earth.

When she returns to earth, the class votes for the most admired female and Supergirl finishes last. Linda is surprised and hurt by the results. Despite her bruised ego, Supergirl helps a fellow classmate whose father has gone bankrupt attempting to produce a movie. She then helps a transport ship with a cargo of medical supplies.

When she returns to Stanhope, Supergirl discovers metal in her hair from the alien lions. She suspects that the metal caused the computer tabulating the voting results to fail. The vote is taken again, and this time Supergirl is the winner.

We end with our cover-story, "The Heroine in the Haunted House" by Robert Kanigher and Kurt Schaffenberger. Actor Vincent Sale takes up the challenge of staying overnight in a haunted house that belonged to inventor Amos Ameswell. When Sale is frightened out of the house earlier than expected, Linda Danvers decides to take up the challenge.

The next night, Linda stays in the house. She grows bored and turns on the television before falling asleep. She is awoken by the ghost of Jor-El who mocks her. She is then confronted by a Kryptonian thought-beast. After the beast is melted by the Girl of Steel's heat vision, she begins laughing hysterically. Supergirl has apparently gone mad.

The Phantom Zone criminals then reveal themselves and gloat over Supergirl's mental state. However, she was faking in order to turn off the device which resembled a television. The inventor actually created a device which allowed the Phantom Zone prisoners to appear on Earth. The inventor, wearing a cloak and carrying a scythe, then appears and attacks Supergirl. Continued next issue.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #390

Action Comics #390 (On Sale: May 28, 1970) has another Superman cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issues begins with our cover-story, "The Self-Destruct Superman" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and George Roussos.
An earthquake near the White House accidentally activates an anti-Superman weapon given to the President by Superman himself. Superman intended for the weapon to be used against him should he ever go mad. Using super-hypnosis, Superman blocked the knowledge of how the weapon worked from his own mind.

The weapon attacks Superman, leading to a chase around the world and through time. Eventually, Superman is contacted by a Kandorian who explains that the weapon was invented by Jor-El on Krypton. Fearful for his life, Superman begins to suffer from stress. He then realizes his own fear is killing him. He makes a stand against the machine. It self-destructs when Superman uses a helmet to alter his own brain waves.

Superman at last remembers an incident that occurred as a child on Krypton. Jor-El's weapon nearly killed young Kal-El, so Jor-El deactivated it. However, Kal-El developed an instinctual fear of the weapon which lasted his entire life.

The back-up, "The Tyrant and the Traitor", featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, is by E. Nelson Bridwell, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. President Peralla of the planet Lahum, used an army of indestructible androids to conquered his world and plans to expand his empire to other planets. Diol Masrin, who has led his people in revolt against Peralla, is secretly allied with the Dark Circle empire. Unable to intervene officially, the United Planets requests the aid of Chameleon Boy and the Legion Espionage Squad.

Chameleon Boy, Brainiac 5, Timber Wolf, Element Lad, Saturn Girl, and Karate Kid capture a ship carrying contraband weapons to Lahum, weapons supposedly effective against the androids but actually obsolete. Impersonating the ship's crew, the Legionnaires rendezvous with Chavak, Masrin's lieutenant. They capture him, and Chameleon Boy takes his place, while the other male Legionnaires pose as new recruits. The disguised Legionnaires, accompanying the rebels on a march to their base camp, where they are ambushed by the humanoids. When blasted, the chemical beings burst into pieces, each of which then grows into a new humanoid.

The rebels manage to escape and reach their camp, where they meet Masrin and the disguised Chameleon Boy encounters the real Chavak's girlfriend, Yroa. Saturn Girl, meanwhile, reaches Hueuas, Lahum's capital city, and schemes to infiltrate the Presidential Palace by applying to become the assistant of Wanpar, Chief of Scientific Development, unaware that a woman on his staff recognizes her as Imra Ardeen. Continued next issue. This story was reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC and Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.