Selina the Moon Maiden

Selina the Moon Maiden chronicles the adventures of young Claire Delune, a ten-year-old girl granted superhuman powers by the ancient goddess Eurynome. Assuming the name Selina the Moon Girl, Claire battles an array of robots and alien menaces while attempting to keep her identity secret from her friends and family.

Fictitious Publishing History
Originally published during the 1960s, storylines often reflected the cold-war anxieties of the period. Selina's adversaries were often militaristic, totalitarian species bent on the complete subjugation of the United States. Selina, on the other hand, represented the innocence and idealism of the Great American Dream, fighting for truth, justice and liberty against (seemingly) overwhelming odds.

According to most sources, Selina was first published by Goldman Periodicals in 1964, making her official debut in Journey into Adventure no. 23. Devised by industry veteran Ray Haddingsly, Selina was originally intended to capture a young female audience by combining science fiction with teen-romance.

The debut story featured most of the primary cast (Claire, Selina, Janey and Miranda); the following issue introduced teenaged love interest Chip Sanders. Early stories employed stock science-fantasy elements of the period; giant robots, marauding aliens and lumbering monstrocities similar to Marvel's output of the same period. As the decade wore on, however, the stories took on a progressively darker tone, influenced by more supernatural characters like Doctor Strange or DC's The Spectre.

Journey into Adventure was renamed Selina the Moon Maiden with issue 30, suggesting the strip enjoyed some measure of success during its initial run. Unfortunately, interest in girl-friendly comics began to decline towards the end of the decade. Selina ran for four years until February 1968, when falling sales across the board led to a cancellation of many of Goldman's girl-oriented titles.

2020s Revival
For over sixty years, Selina the Moon Maiden has fought supernatural menaces high over the streets of Empire City, acclaimed as one of the greatest champions the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, her never-ending battle finally comes to an end after a devastating attack by her most powerful enemies.

Mortally wounded during a series of co-ordinated strikes, Selina falls from the skies in a flaming heap, using the last of her strength to survive the fall. Sensing her thanatos drawing near, she realizes she needs a new host for her essence and - with no other alternative at hand - reached out for the first person who passed her way.

This apparent 'good samaritan' is a teenaged boy named William Carter, a high school-drop out from the Westside ghetto. With her dying breath, Selina takes William's wrist and transfers her divine essence into his body, telling him to call her name when the time comes. She then dies, leaving behind a badly charred corpse only vaguely resembling a human being.

With the forces of darkness closing in from all sides, William runs for his life, but is swiftly overtaken by a pack of ravenous hell hounds. In the extremity of his fear, he screams out The Name and is instantly transformed into a superhuman teenaged girl. Making short work of the canine demons, she flys off to safety, reveling in her newly acquired powers. Selina the Moon Maiden had arisen from the ashes, fully revived and - perhaps - even stronger than before.

Unfortunately, fifteen year old William Carter is no hero. Immature, petulant, and something of a coward, he is far more interested in settling old scores than defending the innocent. His first target is a neighborhood bully who humiliated him a few months before, followed by more or less anyone who has ever looked at him sideways. Re-enrolling at high school, he picks fights with students and teachers alike, covertly transforming into Selina to avenge even the slightest of insults.

Despite his spitefully narcissistic behavior, William has a sole redeeming quality - he actually tried to help Selina just before she died. It was this single spark of altruism that allowed her essence to pass into William's mortal form. He has the potential to become as great a champion as his predecessor - but will that be enough when Selina's murderous enemies come to his school, seeking to steal her power for themselves ... by destroying the human vessel it now inhabits?