Yvonne Craig 1937-2015

Photo © 1967 ABC / 20th Century / Greenway.

TV’s Batgirl, Yvonne Craig, left us last month at 78. She was more than just that description — to fans of Star Trek, in which she appeared as the green-skinned Orion woman Marta; to Elvis aficionados, having co-starred in two of his films; and of course to her loved ones, as wife, sister, mentor, and philanthropist.

Craig’s passing was announced on her website through an obituary and more personal note from her family. Mark Evanier posted a remembrance that includes a delightful anecdote of meeting her and Julie Newmar at a Hollywood autograph show. (Well, I should warn you that it ends somewhat less than delightfully, after the part about the comic book wherein Batgirl first appeared, depending on your taste for cringe.)

I find Craig’s Batgirl and Barbara Gordon one of the absolute best things about the 1966-68 Batman series, and not merely for her striking figure in that skintight purple suit. Her sass, her keen intellect, her confidence, her literal as well as figurative poise — all elevated the show’s final and otherwise least impressive season whenever she was onscreen.

52 Geek-Out: DCU Part 4

[continued from yesterday]

Supergirl
Writer: Landry Q. Walker / Artist: Zander Cannon

While numerous extraterrestrials have appeared on Earth following Superman’s revelation to the world, none have concerned Kal-El more, in both senses of the word, than a girl named Kara. She claims to be the sole survivor of a Kryptonian lunar colony known as Argon, wiped out in the wake of Krypton’s destruction, but there’s no mention of Argon in what little information Superman has of his birthplace and the memory tapes in her spacecraft are Kara’s only evidence. Americans, Amazons, and even Atlanteans — most especially her occasional boyfriend — have embraced her, yet for all her charm questions about Supergirl remain. Landry Q. Walker provided a delightful spin on Kara Zor-El in Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade; now he transfers to the brand-new DC Universe proper to teach some revised history. The Replacement God creator and Top Ten artist Zander Cannon handles the interior art with covers illustrated by Age of Bronze’s Eric Shanower.