It's the "Which Came First" question of the comics world... what's more important: the story or the art? Arguments can be made for both sides, but in the case of Adventure Comics #406, which features the Maid of Might, Supergirl, the art is the real... well, I can't say "star", exactly. How does "stand-out feature" sound? Better than "icky poo ca-ca", I can tell you. Don't get me wrong—the story sucks aplenty, but somehow the art in this comic is like the icing on the cake. A sludgy, foul-smelling icing on a cake made mostly of horse manure.

Anyone ever hear of this guy Mike Sekowsky? Is he the same artist that drew the origin of the Justice League of America in The Brave and The Bold back in 1960? 'Cause if it is, someone must have put the OTHER kind of mushrooms in his omelet one morning. I suppose both story and pencils were a product of their time (1971), but from the hideous cover (nice hairdo) to the gallery of bizarre eyes throughout, the art has a sense of... oh, I don't know, crappiness. How's that? Words seem to be failing me today because of this gem.

The issue's plot is rather reflective of the same quality—not exactly a surprise since Mike Sekowsky provided both story and pencils. It begins with a page-long synopsis of recent events in this series, introducing us to a host of characters and plot points, ninety percent of which have absolutely no bearing on this story at all. We do get to see a fabulous shot of Supergirl’s arch-villain-cum-drag-queen Nasthalthia (aka "Nasty", which, by the way, people call her to her face. Nice.), who happens to be... wait for it... Luthor's Niece, so the page isn't a total waste.

I am still trying to puzzle out what's going on in the tiny illustration at the bottom of the page, though. Is Kara getting fitted for special equipment by Kandoran technicians as the text implies, or is this some kind of hidden porn placement? I mean, what IS going on with that guy's head in her... maybe I should stop there to preserve this column's R rating.

After that useless page of catch-up, we see that Linda Danvers is about to graduate from that infamous party school, Stanhope College. Right away one notices the “absurd eyes” motif in this issue. Linda's look downright demented as she pulls a soft-core porn shot in the next panel. From the looks of things, I'm guessing Sekowsky had a Maidenform ad or two pinned up above his drawing desk.

This being set in 1971, we soon discover that the graduation ceremony is being set upon by a lot of unsavory and hilariously drawn stereotypes of ‘70s protesters. Sekowsky is trying to make a statement here. Actually, he's trying to bludgeon you with a sledgehammer with "statement" painted on its side, as the protesters are all ugly, unkempt folks who have mismatched signage and slogans, and who don't hesitate to interrupt a keynote speech by the lily-white Supergirl, innocent and fair (if somewhat invulnerable) flower of young American femininity. Why do I get the feeling poor Mr. Sekowsky was really upset with the behavior of young people of his day? Hmmm....

I actually recognize the type of protesters in the story, as we have plenty of them here in San Francisco; a march to stop the war in Iraq suddenly becomes a forum for arguing for a woman's right to choose, and then morphs into an anti-chain-store rally, which then becomes a candlelight vigil to take back the night from Leukemia or Lupus or Dr. Laura. Focus, people. I'm just saying.

So, long story short, Linda graduates, but not before Nasty decides that this is the year she's finally going to prove once and for all that Linda Danvers is Supergirl. That and give up carbs. When Linda follows a job lead given to her by cousin Clark ("One of the stations owned by Galaxy Broadcasting has just lost two girls through marriage!" he quaintly exclaims. Is this 1971 or 1951?) and when that lead takes her all the way to San Francisco, Nasty follows on her private plane (natch), and manages to get herself a job right along side Linda, making TV news in the City by the Bay. I can't speak for future issues, but I didn't see them covering the Folsom Street Fair in this story, though I'm betting Sekowsky would have had quite a time writing that sequence.

Weeks pass with apparently no chance of Nasty simply ripping the wig right off of Linda in front of everyone, when finally she gets her chance to prove the Supergirl connection. Oh no! It's a four-alarm fire at a “day school for children of working mothers!” I'm guessing the night school for children of working mothers has an operating sprinkler system.

The video team shows up complete with their station-issued hard hats (not kidding about that one), and soon Supergirl is confronted with tragedy: the rescued kids of the school have weird weird eyes! Well—that, and there's someone still trapped in the burning building! Nasty is distracted at just the right moment, so Linda slips into something more comfortable: her hideous Supergirl-as-Go Go Stewardess costume. Can't blame this one on Sekowsky, though; it was apparently designed by a reader. And we know what good fashion sense comic book readers have!

I could go on about how Nasty notices Linda's absence and tries to snap a pic of Linda changing to or from Supergirl (as if she doesn't use that famous super speed of hers to switch outfits), or how Nasty eventually gets caught in the fire and has to be rescued by the firefighters or how it's Linda who carries a rescued baby out of the fire in the end, but what I really want to point out is the woman Supergirl rescues!

In a sort of climax of grotesque eye-display, we see the woman, first speaking to a policeman and apparently being stuck with some kind of electrically charged straight pin. Her eyes, you see, are wider than the wide Missouri. Then, two panels later, we see the woman head on, one eye looking straight at us and one flailing wildly about on the right. "I didn't see her," she says. "I'm blind!" And a little cross-eyed too, apparently.

If we can take one thing away from this book, let it not be that hippies just can't get their act together, that TV crews wear hard hats and that girls should really just quit their jobs when they get married. No, no. Instead let us remember that Nasthalthia Luthor, aka "Nasty" Luthor could still be out there somewhere, and if she's not playing host to an OMAC or Eclipso or whatever, wouldn't she be a great new character? Obviously she'd be playing Luthor's nephew in his drag persona, but I think she'd translate.

Full of Super-stereotyping, Super-job searching, and Super-clunky expository captions, it's really no wonder that Adventure Comics #406 hasn't gone down in history as one of Mike Sekowsky's finest creative endeavors. It doesn't do much to settle that "art vs. story" debate amongst comics readers, but I for one think it makes a strong case for just going to the movies.

Educated in a day school for working mothers in his native West Virginia, Kyle Minor now works at a factory that makes hard hats for the television industry, though as soon as he and his partner of ten years can legally marry, he intends to quit and be a stay-at-home reviewer.

All images and characters TM and © 1971 of DC Comics, Inc. Review © 2005 Kyle Minor.

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