Before Brightburn, Before Superman...

What happens with super powers in the hands of a child? The terrible potential of super powered toddlers is not a new topic for fiction. In fact, the notion pre-dates comic book heroes like Superman by decades. (But a few years after Hugo Hercules)

Let us meet Lovely Lilly, who had her brief run in the newspaper comics back at the end of 1906 and beginning of 1907. Lilly comes to us from the mind and quill of Carolyn Wells, back before she turned her prolific pen to mystery tales. The lovely renderings of Lilly are by George Frederick Kaber, who is better known for his paintings. The strip only lasted a couple of months, and not a lot of them survive today.

The comics typically let us see what happens when a child of power encounters the dangerous creatures dwelling in this world. Here we have the Hippo, the Crocodile, and the Tiger...

Wasn't she sweet?

strips by Carolyn Wells & G.F. Kaber (ca. 1906)