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Super Powers: Supergirl
Vintage paperback
118 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
17 people want to read
About the author
Andy Helfer
141 books6 followersAndrew Helfer usually credited as Andy Helfer, is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his work as an editor and writer at DC Comics, where he founded the Paradox Press imprint. Helfer joined DC in the 1980s, and was responsible for placing Keith Giffen and J.M. deMatteis on the Justice League titles; as well, he was the editor for The Man of Steel limited series by John Byrne. He also developed the Max Allan Collins-written series Road to Perdition and the John Wagner-written A History of Violence, both of which became successful films.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2024
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's 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!
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's 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!
February 27, 2024
Another Choose Your Own Adventure knockoff found in the thrift store. THIS one found a novel way to cheat the system. Several ways, in fact.
First, the preface lets you know that you aren't in the book, Supergirl is, and you're making Supergirl's choices for her. Now, the text says, if this were "real," Supergirl would always make the right choice and beat the bad guys, but you, you little dumbass, will probably fuck this up.
So I'm playing god more than I'm choosing an adventure. Maybe this is how you get around copyright: "I'm not choosing MY OWN adventure, I'm choosing SUPERGIRL'S adventure."
Supergirl happens upon an eccentric genius who is a physics professor at her high school. Which doesn't really make sense, why would a genius physicist teach in a high school? How much do you have to know about physics to teach high schoolers that density is mass divided by volume, know what I mean? I still remember that, ME, and I'm a complete dumbass who can't even make as good of decisions as Supergirl.
This professor apparently designed a ray that ray guns you into books, and you end up inside The Wizard of Oz, Supergirl in the Dorothy role.
Now, this is cheat number 2: you don't have to come up with a plot to a book if you just zap the character into a DIFFERENT book and then steal that book's plot. Which is basically what happens, you defeat the witch extremely easily, and then you make your escape.
The only downside seems to be that the professor is still trapped in the book, but he somehow gives you a message that he loves being in Oz, so he's totally cool with being perpetually stuck there, letting Supergirl off the hook.
The problem here is obvious: I know the story of The Wizard of Oz, so as long as I know some very basics there, I can get through this one easily.
But on the other hand, it doesn't have the typical CYOA problem where arbitrary choices, like the color of fucking jacket you're going to wear that day, determine your fate in ways you couldn't have possibly predicted.
CYOA books are like a mini lecture on chaos theory, the butterfly effect, other movie titles, where this Supergirl joint is kind of like a godly thing where there is order and purpose to all things.
First, the preface lets you know that you aren't in the book, Supergirl is, and you're making Supergirl's choices for her. Now, the text says, if this were "real," Supergirl would always make the right choice and beat the bad guys, but you, you little dumbass, will probably fuck this up.
So I'm playing god more than I'm choosing an adventure. Maybe this is how you get around copyright: "I'm not choosing MY OWN adventure, I'm choosing SUPERGIRL'S adventure."
Supergirl happens upon an eccentric genius who is a physics professor at her high school. Which doesn't really make sense, why would a genius physicist teach in a high school? How much do you have to know about physics to teach high schoolers that density is mass divided by volume, know what I mean? I still remember that, ME, and I'm a complete dumbass who can't even make as good of decisions as Supergirl.
This professor apparently designed a ray that ray guns you into books, and you end up inside The Wizard of Oz, Supergirl in the Dorothy role.
Now, this is cheat number 2: you don't have to come up with a plot to a book if you just zap the character into a DIFFERENT book and then steal that book's plot. Which is basically what happens, you defeat the witch extremely easily, and then you make your escape.
The only downside seems to be that the professor is still trapped in the book, but he somehow gives you a message that he loves being in Oz, so he's totally cool with being perpetually stuck there, letting Supergirl off the hook.
The problem here is obvious: I know the story of The Wizard of Oz, so as long as I know some very basics there, I can get through this one easily.
But on the other hand, it doesn't have the typical CYOA problem where arbitrary choices, like the color of fucking jacket you're going to wear that day, determine your fate in ways you couldn't have possibly predicted.
CYOA books are like a mini lecture on chaos theory, the butterfly effect, other movie titles, where this Supergirl joint is kind of like a godly thing where there is order and purpose to all things.
July 20, 2023
Recently I was scanning my father's bookshelf for new books to read and stumbled across this little number. This is quite interesting! Apparently, Detective Comics commissioned a few books back in the eighties with a similar premise to Choose Your Own Adventure, with each one centered around a specific hero of their respective properties. Unfortunately, I believe a lack of popularity doomed the series to conclude after only five issues, yet I was still able to get my hands on this and check it out to see how it holds up all these years later.
The premise is definitely a product of its time, centered around Supergirl and a bunch of different wild tales as she navigates her life between civilian and heroine. Unlike the popular aforementioned series, this novel is written in the third-person rather than the second-person perspective, which makes sense given that it utilizes Supergirl as a focal point for the plot. The characteristics of these different plots unfold much in a similar fashion to the stories of the comic book counterparts of the same era, with supremely wild events occurring in order to challenge our stalwart hero. This particular novel took me all over the place, from King Arthur and his court in ancient times to literally leaping into the novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' to a legendary showdown with Brainiac in an effort to save the esteemed Man of Steel. Such outlandish concepts, while a product of their time, definitely kept me on my toes and harbored a myriad of surprises.
This novel still felt average by nature however. While some pathways led to interesting results, other felt more banal or commonplace and more of a device to inspire readers to choose the other option in lieu of their original choice. Still, it was alright by me and was a neat little insight into the history of any general superhero story from back in the day.
The premise is definitely a product of its time, centered around Supergirl and a bunch of different wild tales as she navigates her life between civilian and heroine. Unlike the popular aforementioned series, this novel is written in the third-person rather than the second-person perspective, which makes sense given that it utilizes Supergirl as a focal point for the plot. The characteristics of these different plots unfold much in a similar fashion to the stories of the comic book counterparts of the same era, with supremely wild events occurring in order to challenge our stalwart hero. This particular novel took me all over the place, from King Arthur and his court in ancient times to literally leaping into the novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' to a legendary showdown with Brainiac in an effort to save the esteemed Man of Steel. Such outlandish concepts, while a product of their time, definitely kept me on my toes and harbored a myriad of surprises.
This novel still felt average by nature however. While some pathways led to interesting results, other felt more banal or commonplace and more of a device to inspire readers to choose the other option in lieu of their original choice. Still, it was alright by me and was a neat little insight into the history of any general superhero story from back in the day.
August 8, 2024
A fan of Superman and his family and I'm a fan of Which Way (which actually came before Chose Your Own Adventure). I've know about the existence of this book for 35 years. I had a chance to get a copy 28 years ago... but my friend was #!@% and wouldn't loan my the money for tax though he knew I was good for it. (I came back to the same store and OF COURSE since it was in a remainder pile of stuff that was a decade old at the time- thus a dollar plus tax- it was gone. I finally found it... and it was worth the wait.
Really, the only complaint I had- that wouldn't have bothered me when I was in my teens- is that those first few choices can take you on four VERY different adventures with not many options. Whereas I think I would prefer maybe two of them but with more outcomes. I mean it is CLEAR from the number of bad endings in certain of the four branches which ones Helfer really wanted to do and which ones were probably the Which Way editors.
Really, the only complaint I had- that wouldn't have bothered me when I was in my teens- is that those first few choices can take you on four VERY different adventures with not many options. Whereas I think I would prefer maybe two of them but with more outcomes. I mean it is CLEAR from the number of bad endings in certain of the four branches which ones Helfer really wanted to do and which ones were probably the Which Way editors.
Read
December 19, 2009Been reading this with Isabel. Of course Supergirl is blonde.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews