After Supergirl #16 I thought the tides were changing. I truly thought DC had turned this boat around and started making amends for bad writing with good writing. Obviously I was convinced too soon. While issue #17 was nowhere near as horrendous as previous issues, it still managed to be incredibly confusing. Last I knew, Superman had been trapped in the Phantom Zone. Now he’s trying to protect the city while wearing a bulky metal suit. The suit seems to protect him from the Phantom invasion, even though they’re supposedly coming through him (the “Curse of El”) but it also gives him powers because the Earth’s Sun is now Red instead of Yellow (Kryptonians garner their powers from our yellow Sun). I’m not really sure how the sun turned red, but I assume it was from Father Box (which Kara threw in to the Sun two issues ago).

This comic contained elements that were strikingly similar to many of the early issues, namely Supergirl fighting her fellow comrades. When Supergirl first started out each issue featured Kara battling her way through various super hero teams such as the Teen Titans. She would also square off against individuals such as Superboy and Powergirl… and even herself.
In this issue, Supergirl battles Wonder Girl and Robin (separately). Granted they are possessed by Phantoms from the Phantom Zone (as i much of the Earth’s population), but it resembled the previous fights none-the-less.
The issue concludes with Supergirl coming face to face with Supergirl… again. This time the new Supergirl looks like the Supergirl of olden days and claims that Kara is an impostor. I can hardly believe that DC is allowing yet another S-Girl vs. S-Girl comic. This is absurd, and whoever controls the previews that show up at the end of the comic admits this with the simple tag-line “Next in issue #18: The Final Supergirl vs. Supergirl story!” Yeah right… I’ll believe that when I see it.

The only positive thing I have to say about this comic is that Ale Garza did a good job with the art. Supergirl’s look is highly controversial, and although Garza kept the same costume (there’s nothing he can do about that of course), he managed to portray her as younger… closer to her age (16 years old), rather than the sex symbol she has become. Good job Garza!