Thursday, May 8, 2008

It Came from the Back Issue Box- Action 292





Since I know it will be impossible for me to collect all of Supergirl's Silver Age stories, I have made a list of seminal issues to watch out for. I was lucky enough recently to find a pretty ragged copy of Action 292 in a bargain bin for $4. It's importance to Supergirl? It's the first appearence of Comet the Super-Horse.



Overall, the story drips with Silver Age innocence. Kara has several dreams in which she is saved by a flying super-horse with an odd comet-shaped mark on his brow. In the first dream, the horse rescues her from kryptonite wielding aliens. In the second, Comet pulls a sinking submarine to shore. In the third, Streaky and Krypto travel back in time to WW2. A kamikaze plane is about to crash into a hospital ship but is thwarted by Comet, who suddenly appears just in the nick of time.



Completely mystified by these vivid dreams, Kara attempts to rid herself of these dreams by riding a real horse. As Linda, she visits the Supergirl Dude Ranch! (Please suppress that smirk ... it was the Silver Age!) Surprisingly, at the ranch is a wild white stallion with a comet-shaped mark, a horse no one has been able to ride. No one that is but Linda. While riding the horse, the stallion makes some motions to let Linda know he is aware she is Supergirl. He also secretly evidences some super-powers like flight and strength. The cowboys are all shocked that little Linda can ride the bronco with such ease.


The story ends on several cliff-hangers. Why did she dream of him? Who is he really? And what new adventures will they have?


Most Kara fans will know that Comet ends up being Biron, a centaur from ancient Greece under some enchantment.


As he did many times in his Supergirl run, Peter David did an homage to Comet in the 1996 Supergirl series who had a very very different origin.

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