Action #305: What Part of "I Hate Supergirl" Don't They Understand?

Linda Lee Danvers spotted a local girl going over the falls in her canoe, and rescued her.  But instead of saying "Thanks," Karen Blair says she'd rather die than be helped by Supergirl.

Why?  Obviously, Karen lashed out from a feeling of inferiority, "some sort of girlish jealousy," Supergirl figures.

Coincidentally, this is Supergirl Week in Midvale, celebrating the anniversary of her arrival on Earth.  Linda and her adoptive mom, Edna Danvers, find that downtown is so crowded, they can't get a good parking space. 

(By the way, Mrs Danvers's car, as depicted, is a small-to-midsize car, for the times.)

However, let's be honest -- doesn't Linda's trick cause as many problems as it solves?  I mean, how're they going to get the car OUT of this space without MORE super-shenanigans?  And what about the traffic cameras?  Won't they catch this little lagniappe? 

Oh, yeah -- this is 1963.  No cameras.

Anyway, in the local grocery store, they're giving away Supergirl statuettes with every $5 purchase.  Back then, folks, you got A WHOLE SACK OF GROCERIES for five dollars.

The part about "all profits go to the orphanage" seems wonky.  They're giving away something extra.  How does this generate a profit?

In the bottom panel, we see more evidence that the creators of the comics were of a previous generation than the readers.  "She's my ideal!" the little girl squeals about her statuette.

This is a reference to a song from Maurice Chevalier's 1930 movie Playboy of Paris. "She's My Ideal" remained in the popular songbook, played in the 1940s by Glenn Miller and recorded in 1955 by Bing Crosby. 


In the final panel of the page, we see racial tension rear its ugly head, in Karen's ethnic slur about giants from Poland.

Poor Supergirl!  Like me, she can't understand why everybody doesn't love her!  What's not to love?

Not Supergirl's honesty, to be sure.  In a bit of ballot-rigging, Supergirl cheats and draws Karen's name from a big basket of entries for a super-flight tour of the area.  How many children or adults had their hearts crushed when Supergirl ignored each of them?

You'll note that Karen hates the Maid of Might, yet she still showed up at this ceremony.  And she's so upset when her name is called that she dashes for the PASSENGER SIDE of her car.  Does she think she can get away faster by opening the wrong door and sliding across the seat?

Tune in Monday and you won't find out!  But you WILL get the next couple of pages in this Silver Age saga of angst, tragedy, and -- perhaps -- reconciliation.