Swinging In The ’70s

When Mike Sekowsky took over stewardship of Kara Zor-El in the early ’70s, he was part of a line-wide effort to update the Superman franchise. Denny O’Neil launched his legendary “Sand Creature” arc in Superman, the edgy Rose and Thorn appeared as a back-up to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen welcomed Jack “The King” Kirby to the family.

Sekowsky, whose odd art style defined the Justice League in the ’60s, introduced several changes to Kara’s life. The heroine graduated from college, chose a career in the news media, suffered a power black-out and gained a villain or two.

However, Sekowsky’s run is most notable for the bizarre costumes Supergirl sported at the time. Ostensibly designed by readers, the outfits radically altered the Girl of Steel’s look to better fit in with the times. (If you defined the times by what the Brady Bunch wore…)

None of the looks were necessarily flattering, but were no more way-out than some of the costume deigns Dave Cockrum created for the Legion of Super-heroes and New X-Men.

Here’s a quick rundown, courtesy of Kara Zor-El herself:

Over the next several issues of Adventure Comics, readers were treated to a variety of looks:

After Sekowsky left Supergirl, the character settled on a costume that defined her look in the ’70s and created the image your humble narrator grew up with and identified as the “classic look” for the heroine:

OK, OK…so the Keeper’s fashion sense isn’t all that great! If you want taste, click over to Blockade Boy…