Thanks, Mr. Busiek. I've heard rumors about someone getting the boot over "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?", but never any authorative confirmation. In fact I somewhat dismissed the firing story since it seemed inexplicable to me HOW "Auld Acquaintance" could slip by into print if DC was THAT opposed to ever seeing "Kara" again, ESPECIALLY with that ending dedication:
"With respect and admiration for the works of OTTO BINDER and JIM MOONEY. We still remember."
(Arrgh... there's that old lump in the throat again.)
Seems pretty obvious to me exactly WHO this "Kara" was. Was there a deliberate conspiracy to sneak this story past DC's "Powers That Be", or a more innocent "We'll see if they approve it..." scenario?
Reminds me of how suprised I was seeing Tim Sale's "Solo #1" featuring a story by Diana Shultz that not only involved the Pre-Crisis Supergirl, but actually wrapped up the dangling plotline from her abruptly-cancelled last solo series in 1984! At that time Solo #1 was released DC was not only still insisting that the Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El "never existed" (despite her appearance in Peter David's final "Supergirl" arc), but they were just cranking up the promotional campaign for the "NEW" Kara Zor-El's grand debut.
With this in mind, I thought it was counter-intuitive for DC to resurrect the original Supergirl and refer to a twenty-year-old incident only dedicated Kara fans would recall. (The unexpected return of Linda's old boyfriend Dick Malverne -- she was literally still reeling in mid-kiss when DC yanked the plug.) When I asked Tim Sale about this, he admitted that he and Diana Shultz wasn't sure if DC would approve "Young Love", but apparently the Solo series was sufficiently removed from mainstream DC continuity to run such a story.
I'm wondering if "Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2" was originally viewed as such by DC's upper echelons, and it was only after "Auld Acquaintance" that DC decreed that "Kara" was TOO "out of continuity" to ever appear in ANY DC title, firing Waid to drive that point home.
Good to know Mark Waid seems to have weathered this incident rather well. While some may criticize his "The Kingdom", I particularly loved the "Planet Krypton" issue with so many familar "hypertime ghosts", including a couple Supergirl incarnations.