Theory About Prez, Supergirl, and Alternate Earths

 Prez: The First Teenage President is a wonder-soaked product of the Bronze Age, created by Captain America co-creator Joe Simon and artist Jerry Grandenetti. While only having four issues, the character did appear in 1973's Supergirl #10 by Cary Bates, Saaf, and Vince Colletta. In this story, the first teenage president interacts with Supergirl after she saves Prez from being assassinated. No other heroes are mentioned, but Prez does relate how Supergirl flew him to the safety of the Fortress of Solitude.

That prompted some speculation about the existence of Supergirl in Prez's world. Were there any other heroes in that world? Superman apparently exists or did exist to give Supergirl her identity, but who else? Is the Sandman story about Prez's fate after leaving office count? If so, then Wildcat is in this alternate Earth as well. However, since Supergirl has access to the Fortress of Solitude, and with no mention of Superman, the thought came that Prez might exist in a world where Superman is dead, and Supergirl took over for him. The world of Superman #149 from 1961 is one such world where Lex Luthor kills Superman.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition puts Prez's story occurring on Earth-72, denoted by the year Prez debuted. Superman #149 is an imaginary story taking place on Earth-149. The tale in Sandman #52 is told as a story, with Dream appearing at the end, claiming jurisdiction of Prez's fate as "the prince of stories." This ending to Prez's journey should likely not be considered canon, but nothing directly contradicts anything. The Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition firmly notes it happening on Earth-72. 

The problem also comes when Supergirl #10 is cited in the Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition as occurring on Earth-12. In re-reading the issue, the second story could easily be the odd placement, but nothing in it has the demented requirements of Earth-12. If the first Supergirl story in the issue is on Earth-12, then that alternate reality has its own version of Prez, where his canceled fifth issue occurred, according to the listing of alternate realities.

If the theory is correct, Earths 12, 72, and 149 are all the same world. This means Prez's world has Bizarro, Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, the Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. With Earth-12, there are also the unique characters from The Inferior Five, the youthful Green Team, Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Mister Freeze, Captain Cold, Abra Kadabra, and Plastic Man. The only wrinkle comes in Superman's appearance in Adventures of Jerry Lewis #92 and #105. Of course, this can be explained by a parallel world where Superman survived Lex Luthor's plan, or it's a time-traveling Superman from before 1961. Of course, that means Superman knew that he was going to die sometime before he met Jerry Lewis. It's probably better to ignore them if the theory is going to hold.

Then again, Earth-12 might just be it's own thing apart from Earth-72 and Earth-149.

Reviews Of Old Comics: Prez #4 (Updated)

PREZ #4

March 1974 - DC Comics

Writer: Joe Simon

Penciller: Jerry Grandenetti
Inker: Creig Flessel

Letterer: Joe Rosen

SYNOPSIS:

After returning from a state trip to the European nation of Moravia, where Prez's administration has helped build a billion-dollar canal for irrigation, Prez and Eagle Free (head of the CIA) remark on the Moravians' strange custom of wearing garlic wreaths. That night, a bat-shaped helicopter unexpectedly visits the White House, carrying the Transylvanian Ambassador, the Wolfman. The Moravian canal has drained the lakes of Transylvania. Prez refuses to destroy the project, and the Wolfman delivers a formal declaration of war on behalf of his country's leader, Count Dracula. Wolfman storms out, with no one realizing that he has left his coffin-shaped briefcase behind.

Prez calls a cabinet meeting only to be frustrated by a lack of intelligence on the area other than the superstitions of legend. The next night sees Wolfman's briefcase open to reveal a vampire with no legs strapped to a small cart for mobility, wearing blocks on his hands to ease his propulsion. Dracula's attempt to turn the sleeping Prez into one of the living dead is thwarted by Eagle Free, who fights off the vampire with an Indian hooked cross resembling a swastika.

The Monrovian Ambassador reveals that Dracula plans to release thousands of rabid bats over America. Prez goes before Congress for a declaration of War against Transylvania, but Congress doesn't believe him and launches an investigation. Eagle Free concocts a final solution against the Transylvanian plane (their only plane), using birds on a suicide mission to dive into the plane's jet engines and cause it to crash, apparently killing Wolfman and Dracula, who were at the controls of the jet.

REVIEW:

This comic is just goofy fun. For the time it exists, it's wacky enough to make the various elements work in the genre of the story. As a reader, you cannot take this comic seriously. The absolute best part of this particular issue is its timelessness. If a young cartoonist produced something like this today, without DC having already done Prez, we'd all be talking about it. The fact that this was written by one of the co-creators of Captain America is a testament to the talent behind that creation and the range that is possible in comics, even with just one creator.

The art conveys the story very well, and for its weaknesses, it's still strong enough to add to the story's bizarre nature without distracting from it. Nothing about this comic goes into an overly wacky area that would be so easy with this issue. The creators play it completely straight.

This series should be on the reading list for alternative comic creators. It reads like something that could have been published by any independent publisher or even self-published.

FINAL RATING: 8 (out of a possible 10)

NOTES:

This issue was part of 2016's collection Prez: The First Teen President. Finding a copy of the individual issue may prove tricky, given that demand escalated after the character's appearance in Sandman. Now everybody that wants a copy most likely has one. You won't find a Near-Mint condition copy in any dollar bins, but you should be able to get a reading copy for not much more than the price of a new comic today. Graded copies in high condition can cost hundreds of dollars.

Digitally, it is available on DC Universe Unlimited. It's included in the initial subscription price as of this writing. The entire series is there, as well as Supergirl #10, which features Supergirl helping Prez.