During the same deep dive into my archives that turned up a never-used plot for Marvel’s The Scarecrow #2, I also found a plot written on March 7, 1978 for an adventure of Supergirl meant to appear in an issue of DC’s mega-comic Superman Family.

I’d previously scripted a Supergirl story Gerry Conway had plotted for Superman Family #193 (February 1979), and wrote one entirely on my own which appeared in Superman Family #194 (April 1979).

That last one was inspired by the infamous Stanley Milgram experiments—

—but was also tied in with the mysterious energy being which had tormented Supergirl for many, many issues.

I no longer own a copy of Superman Family #194, so I’m not sure what kind of cliffhanger I used to end that story, but apparently, I’d planned for the next installment to begin moments later.

And here we go …

SPLASH: The splash for this story is the same as the cliff-hanger full-page last panel of the previous story. Flying from left foreground towards the midground, Supergirl is heading towards the dramatic and powerful-looking Lesla-Lar, who separates Supergirl from the unconscious Elongated Man, who hangs stretched out in space in the background of panel right. Filling half of the background is the JLA satellite in the distance. The hole through which Elongated Man was sucked into space is visible.

THE STORY CONTINUES: Supergirl ponders the problem with her superfast thoughts. Continuing to fly towards Lesla-Lar, Supergirl thinks: “Lesla-Lar expects me to freeze so she can zap me in a moment of indecision. But I won’t give her the moment she’s waiting for.” Without stopping, Supergirl zooms through Lesla-Lar’s legs, sending her spinning, and continuing on to Elongated Man. Superglrl quickly rips off her cape and wraps it about Elongated Man, exhaling into the cape the same way we’d blow up a paper bag—only Supergirl’s breath contains enough oxygen to keep Elongated Man alive. As Supergirl tosses the prize package through space where it lands within the hole created by Lesla-Lar’s exit from the satellite, Lesla-Lar attacks Supergirl from behind.

A sock from Lesla-Lar sends Kara hurtling towards the surface of the moon, where she lands beside the original LEM landing vehicle (or what’s left of it), the rover, and the American flag. Lesla-Lar zooms after her, and a fight ensues during which Lesla-Lar imparts (in flashback manner) the following information: Her original antagonistic relationship with Supergirl. Her escape from Kandorian prison. Her destruction at the hands of those she freed from the Phantom Zone. Her life as an energy creature, during which she pulled the strings for various villains Supergirl fought. Her putting herself back together again via the Superboy Robot and the JLA Transporter.

During the fight, Lesla-Lar would use the LEM as a weapon, a blunt instrument which Supergirl would have to catch and return to its place without allowing it to be destroyed. So that this historic site will not be harmed (and also because she’s figured out a way to defeat Lesla-Lar), Supergirl dives down into the moon’s crust … out the other side …

… and zooms towards Earth—towards Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Lesla-Lar follows Kara within, and Kara allows herself to be caught up with so the fight can continue, and so her plan may work. During the fight, Supergirl tries to convince a disbelieving Lesla-Lar that due to the odd manner of her regaining her form, etc., she will soon suffer the same fate that the Kandorians did whom Superman enlarged way back and that her only cure is to go back to Kandor. Lesla-Lar scoffs, and when Supergirl turns on the microwave projector in hopes of coaxing Lesla-Lar within, Lesla-Lar socks Supergirl, and the force of the blow sends Supergirl hurtling through the wall behind her.

In a split-second, she returns … only this time, she is now wearing her cape. (Which hopefully a few sharp-eyed readers should notice, since it should still be wrapped about Elongated Man.) Supergirl talks some more of Lesla-Lar’s possible fate—and the captions say that even though Lesla-Lar scoffs, there is still a small spark of belief in her which Supergirl is slowly fanning. And that spark explodes into flames of true belief when Supergirl, delivering her first blow since returning to the room, passes through Lesla-Iar entirely. Supergirl says: See? You’re fading fast! (And other I-told-you-so’s)

Suddenly, Lesla-Lar believes: Believes that she will dissipate, her atoms spread so thin she will have no form, in a way as horrible as the life from which she has just saved herself. Believes that she might as well stay alive and in one piece today—because she can always think of a suitable revenge on Superglrl tomorrow

She dives, in horror, into the opening of the microwave projector and shrinks down as Supergirl (with cape) watches.

Then … the real Supergirl (sans cape) flies out of the hole in the wall that the caped Supergirl flew through.

Supergirl flies past the “Supergirl” who quickly dissolves into a blur. As Kara exits the Fortress, her thoughts tell us what happened: That she realized the only way to defeat someone as powerful as yourself is through trickery, getting the villain to defeat herself. That to make Lesla-Lar believe that she was doomed to dissipation, she managed to get herself socked into a room which stored holographic images of Superman and herself. That she programmed the Supergirl hologram (which had a cape because it was complete) to do what it did and say what it said. That she turned on the microwave projector first, because if Lesla-Lar had been able to turn it on by herself, she would have realized that she wasn’t dissipating when her hand was able to touch the machinery, and realized that it was all a trick.

EPIIDGUE ONE: At the JLA satellite, Elongated Man is tied neatly within Supergirl’s cape, at last awake. As he tries helplessly to punch his way out, not quite sure of what’s going on, Supergirl arrives. She fuses closed the gaping hole in the wall, and the support systems take over once more. Unwrapping Elongated Man, she dons her cape. Supergirl gives Elongated Man an unsatisfactory explanation for what happened, and flies off with the Superboy robot, leaving Ralph Dibney with his nose vibrating wildly.

EPILOGUE TWO: Supergirl flies through another hole, this time the one in the ceiling of the Midvale division of S.T.A.R. Labs. Within are Supergirl’s foster father, Fred Danvers, and Lucas “Snapper” Carr. Fred is shaking his head in disbelief at the carnage, when Supergirl arrives with the Superboy robot in tow. Snapper is overjoyed to see it, but he is not overjoyed by Supergirl’s speech about his irresponsibility, about how she was almost killed, etc., thanks to Snapper’s meddling. Fred Danvers apologizes to Supergirl, telling her what a great worker Snapper is, and Supergirl chalks it up to youthful enthusiasm (winking at her father as she does so). Supergirl flies off, leaving Snapper and Fred Danvers, with Snapper’s spirit undestroyed. Instead, he is interested and excited by Supergirl’s spirit, etc., leaving the reader to wonder whether here lies another subplot.

So … why wasn’t this plot used? Why was my run on Supergirl so short?

After all this time, I have no idea. (If only I’d begun my near-daily journal in 1978 instead of 1979!) If I had to guess, I say it was due to me and editor E. Nelson Bridwell never quite hitting it off. I don’t recall that we ever quite clicked, unlike other DC editors such as Joe Orlando and Paul Levitz, with whom I recall having had warm relationships.

Maybe it was because Bridwell thought my plotting sensibilities were more attuned to the Marvel style. Maybe (and I’m willing to admit it) I was still too green. After all, at the time I turned this in, I was still only 22.

Whatever the reason, he passed on this plot, and research shows me Jack C. Harris took over the writing assignment for Supergirl. Here’s how he concluded that cliffhanger, per a synopsis of the story from the site DC Database—

Supergirl is attacked by the Superboy robot in the sky over Midvale, but it stiffens and falls only seconds later. She takes it back to Snapper Carr at S.T.A.R. Labs, neither of them aware that the robot has been possessed by an evil intelligence. Paul French, a New Athens student, is seeking to erase the memory of his criminal past by developing a “transistorized brain” in the robotics lab. The emanations from the brain cause Paul to revert to villainy. He constructs a suit of armor for himself with circuits that can absorb power from Supergirl via a “biofeedback” technique. Conversely, when Supergirl tries to use that stolen power, she feels pain. The Girl of Steel overcomes her foe by using one of her “stolen” powers so severely that Paul French feels feedback pain and collapses. When she frees him from the armor, Paul has recovered from his spell of recidivism, and she intervenes with the authorities to get him another chance at New Athens.

Did that long-running subplot of a mysterious energy being ever come to a conclusion? That’s a question for which you’ll have to look elsewhere for an answer, I’m afraid. I’m lucky I can remember this much from 40+ years ago!