Hot Night Girl!

by Anj

After re-reading a bunch of early 1970s Cary Bates/Mike Grell Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes issues, I am convinced that we could have a 'hot' entry for each and every issue.

Case in point, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #212. Now anyone who knows me at all would immediately assume that I would be showcasing Calorie Queen, one of my absolute favorite tertiary characters in the Legion mythos. She is all sorts of hotness.



But instead, I'll be looking at the back-up story in this issue and ... Night Girl!

It is clear that in this time period of the Legion, either drawn by Dave Cockrum or Mike Grell, the women are all beautiful. And their costumes seemed to keep shrinking. In most cases there is plenty of exposed skin. And sometimes the costumes become little more than strips of cloth.

If you thought that Saturn Girl's bikini costume was skimpy, or if you thought Princess Projectra's plunging neckline plunged a bit too deep, wait until you see Night Girl's costume by Grell.

You get a sense of how little there is of it here when Shadow Lass stumbles across Night Girl in danger at the hands of a criminal gang.

Shadow Lass arrives just in time to plunge the whole area into darkness. But one of the gang members has 'radar vision', allowing him to 'see' in the darkness and try to shoot Shady. Luckily, Night Girl, again super-powerful given the now-dark environment, is able to dive into the way of the blast.

But look at that costume. This is a far cry from the black body-suit and bouffant hairdo we are used to seeing Lydda in. She is mostly uncovered in this outfit which is akin to a revealing bathing suit.

Grell sure knows how to draw beautiful women.

And here is a closer look at Night Girl's uniform. So the top is a strip of cloth connected to her belt buckle and wrapped around her neck. I can't help but imagine that this is a set-up for any number of wardrobe malfunctions, especially given the pulchritude that Lydda has in this story.

Her belt buckle being the Night Girl symbol is a nice touch!

We also get some back story of Night Girl's origins, about how much she loves Cosmic Boy, but how she also wants to be independent and a hero.

Cosmic Boy is a bit of a jerk in this story. He seems a bit too controlling as he tells Lydda that he doesn't want her to go out on missions when she could be easily injured. Any bright light makes her powerless. Of all people, you would think Rokk would know about duty.

Instead he goes out on a date with someone else. It is only then that he realizes how much he loves Night Girl, so tries to chase her down.

Unfortunately, he runs into the same gang that Night Girl fought earlier. And just as they are about to kill Cos, Night Girl comes flying in like a human cannonball. Even with the sun rising and her powers fading, she has to save her man.

I love this panel. Lydda really looks out of control as she careens into the criminals. Plus ... those legs!

This frees up Cos to wrap things up.

Yes, this ending seems dated as Cos scoops up his girl and promises to take her out on a date in bright light where she is powerless.

But this isn't a post about the backwards thinking of Cos.

Instead it is a celebration for Night Girl. Stunning, sexy, powerful, and determined. She never looked better.