Super Powers Which Way Book #2: Supergirl, The Girl of Steel

Growing up, I loved those Choose Your Own Adventure books. Being given the chance to be your own director and guide was such a novel idea that I fell in love with. It's a genre of book, that if I find a comic or graphic novel that follows the Choose Your Own Adventure format, I will read it and review it.

I'm also a member of a Facebook group devoted to Kenner's Super Powers lineup. It's where I discovered the existence of this book. From 1984, this novel dropped during an important time for the Maid of Might. Supergirl was set to take the world by storm with a live action film starring Helen Slater. Unknown to fans, the existence of Supergirl in the DC Universe hindered on the success of the film. Unfortunately, it was a flop. Thus, the axe fell on Superman's cousin, resulting in her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. Also on the chopping block was Kara Zor-El's inclusion in the Super Powers toy line.

This interactive novel debuted a year after book #1 starring the Man of Steel did. A Wonder Woman and a Darkseid heavy Justice League volume were both slated to join the lineup. Later in the year, fans got to control the JLA's fate against the New God despot. Batman was given the CYOA treatment in 1986. Ultimately, Wonder Woman's adventure never came about.

With this Supergirl time, there are essentially 4 main story lines that readers can explore:

Direction A: Resist or assist Mr. Mxyzptlk in a 5th dimension contest of strength.

Direction B: Research the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table for a school project by going back in time.

Direction C: Save Superman from the clutches of Brainiac.

Direction D: Escape From the Land of Oz after being transported into the pages of L. Frank Baum's masterpiece due to a mad scientist!

There's also a minor 5th plotline where Supergirl remains in her secret identity of Linda Danvers and helps a classmate struggling with math.

One peeve I had with 'select your fate' books would be if you made a wrong turn and the story ends after literally only making 3 or 4 choices. This time around, I made sure that I would explore as many story lines as possible. The cover to this book informs you of the 4 main paths to take Supergirl. You'll have to dig to find that secret identity plot and there could be more. I dug deep. But maybe I didn't hit the absolute bottom line of material available.

I liked that Supergirl battles traditional villains such as Brainiac and Mxyzptlk. I'm torn over the inclusion of Superman. He's only in 1 plotline. Yes, I'm more than aware how much the Kryptonian cousins fared in each other's titles. But did Supergirl guest in Superman's book? Or did writer Andrew Helfer or this book's editor lose faith that the Girl of Steel could lead the book on her own?

I enjoyed the heck out of this book. Now I've got to figure out a way to display it in my office because this is going into my Supergirl collection!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Official Prince Valiant Collection (Vol. 1)

A young prince rises through the ranks of King Arthur's Court. Thus begins the saga of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant. 

I'm not sure where I scored this over-sized collection of early newspaper comics. I think it might have come from a grab bag which is a pretty nice find if that's the case. Nearly 100 pages of story. 

That had to be how I came across this book. As a child, I loved the dynamic artwork of Prince Valiant. But the writing and lack of word bubbles bored me to tears. Prince Valiant was always the lead feature in my area's Sunday Funnies. Yet, there never was anything funny about it. Plus, with the story being continued week after week, if you missed anything, you were totally lost.

That's why I appreciate this collection. At least 3 stories are collected in their entirety here and there's a beginning of a fourth. Though the cover doesn't say it, this is supposed to be volume 1 of a continuing series. However, I don't think publisher Pioneer was in business long enough to produce other volumes. There is a small shining light of hope to all this as Pioneer did manage to release 18 issues and an annual of further Prince Valiant material. So I could continue the story if I ever felt like searching for the other 15 issues not covered by this edition.

This book does manage to collect the very first stories of Prince Valiant. Getting to read the character's origin story was really cool. It's set at a time where dinosaurs are dying off but there's just enough for folks to think they're dragons and monsters. The aspect of Prince Valiant not just being around in the days of King Arthur's Court but also as a full-fledged member of Camelot was new to me. The original full title of Hal Foster's series was Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur. However, by the 1980s when I first encountered the strip it was simply shortened to Prince Valiant.

A lot must be said of Hal Foster's work. Yet, I don't think it all could be put into words. There's an air of realism mixed with bravado in Foster's art. Every character looks modeled after a movie matinee idol. The scenery is given just as much loving eye to detail as the characters. And Foster's prose is a mix of Old English bard and 1930s pulp.

I enjoyed this read. I think I was finally old enough to enjoy it. Having a bunch of the strips in order helped too. Though the editing of them was a bit hap-hazard. Whomever was in charge of formatting this book did happen to number the panels, often of different shapes and sizes, from time to time. But I shouldn't have to find panel #3 right next to panel #8 of the next page over!

Swashbuckling action in the vein of Errol Flynn or in this case: Robert Wagner. Google it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.