Winged thieves commit skyrise burglaries in Metropolis. Superman gave chase, but strips of lead foil blocked his x-ray vision. Maggie Sawyer's daughter had run away from her home in Star City. Toby Raines, Sawyer's lover, consoled her.
Skyhook ran the aerial theft ring, transforming children into winged creatures, and his newest inductee was Jamie Sawyer. Maggie borrowed Jimmy Olsen's signal watch. After a tiff with Lois Lane, Superman answered the signal.
Flashback: Maggie's marriage to James Buchanan Sawyer ended in divorce with her declared an unfit mother. Because of her alternative lifestyle, she lost visitation rights.
Superman captured one of Skyhook's mutated kid thieves. The Man of Steel and Maggie Sawyer tracked Skyhook down, but the villain grabbed Jamie as a hostage. Maggie grabbed her daughter's leg as Skyhook took flight. Skyhook dropped the pair over the city. Confident Superman would save them, Maggie pumped Skyhook full of lead. Kal-El did his part, and joined Maggie in rounding up 22 more kids. Jamie was returned home to her father, with goo from the process still clinging to her arm.
"Wings" by John Byrne with Karl Kesel.
I totally missed the not-so-subtext when I read this as a rather dense 'tween. I just thought Maggie Sawyer worked too many hours around bad men wearing swim trunks and thick mustaches to properly oversee her daughter. I'm not 100% sure I knew women could be gay then-- at least outside of Penthouse. I was aware of gay men from the Blue Oyster Bar, but I don't think "lesbian" or even "flannel" were in my vocabulary yet. I do know from too personal and reflectively tragic experience "mullet" wasn't.
Further Reading:
The Outing of Maggie Sawyer, Part I
Part II
I have this and #17 for sale
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