Back Issue Box: Action Comics #674

Earlier this week, on the Supergirl show, Supergirl faced off against Draaga in Roulette's fight club. And, while Draaga was formidable, Supergirl ended up taking him out pretty easily. It made me think that it was time to review Action Comics #674, the prologue to Panic of the Sky and the reintroduction of Matrix Supergirl into the DCU after a prolonged absence.

A bit of history before we jump into the story. The Matrix Supergirl was part of the (in)famous Supergirl Saga in the waning days of the John Byrne Superman run. Supergirl was back in the post-Crisis universe but she was a protoplasmic Matrix from a 'pocket universe' created by the Time Trapper and ultimately overrun by that universe's Phantom Zone villains, still amped up to Silver Age Kryptonian level. In that story, Superman executed the other universe's villains with Green K, thus giving Zach Snyder apologists an easy counterargument against his vile interpretation of the Man of Steel.

After that story, Matrix ... now called Mae ... became a childlike featureless being who was taken in by the Kents and slowly introduced to the new world around her. However, when Superman exiled himself from Earth over his guilt from killing those villains, Matrix used her shape-changing powers to live the life of Clark Kent and Superman. While it protected Superman's secret identity, it did further shatter Matrix's fragile psyche. When the real Superman came back, Matrix fought him in an attempt to keep the Superman identity for herself. After that brawl, the Matrix (now in the form of a gray clad Superman) flew into space to find herself.

Whew ... you get all that?

Suffice it to say, it wasn't an easy time to be a Supergirl fan. The Matrix Supergirl may have had a nice costume but she was a bit of a disaster. And in the end, she was so schizophrenic that she wasn't even Supergirl anymore. Instead she was Matrix Superman! Really?!?

So why does this cover sport the 'Supergirl in Action Comics' title font with a lovely pic of her standing over Draaga? Well, you'll have to read on as I present 'The Past is Prologue' by writer Roger Stern and artists Bob McLeod and Denis Rodier. Stern does a great job of weaving this story and setting up Panic in the Sky. And McLeod and Rodier have a clean house style which works nicely.

And while it was good to see Supergirl again things are going to get worse before they get better for her.

Supergirl Episode 204: Survivors

Supergirl episode 204 was aptly named 'Survivors' as it explored a number of themes around surviving a disaster. There are so many characters on this show that are sole survivors or 'almost sole' survivors and with that comes any number of issues. Whether it is guilt, or self-loathing, or looking back through rose-colored glasses, there is a lot of psychological trauma to deal with.

These themes are interwoven through a plot of an underground alien fight club. And yes, the action sequences are great. But for me the meat of this episode is looking at the lengths people will go through to deal with surviving.

For Supergirl, she has already had to deal with the trauma of being sent away from her planet. She has come to realize her parents weren't perfect. And now she is trying to live up to expectation of her being a leader for aliens, helping them cope with being on Earth. Now she has to come to terms with her own prejudices about Mon-El.

For Mon-El, he is at the beginning of understanding what it means to be completely alone, without a home planet to return to. He is young and brash. And I think he is in a bit of denial, looking at Earth as a playground until he sees that he needs some mentoring.

J'onn is still suffering from all the issues he has had to deal with from the purging of his race to witnessing his family's death. Now he is trying to latch onto Miss Martian as a way to keep his race and their traditions survive.

But Miss Martian has a secret. And that weighs on her to the point that she doesn't think she is worthy of surviving. She is part of the fight club because she thinks she needs to be punished. She wants to forget her past as much as Kara and J'onn want to remember theirs. This is excellent grist for the mill.

And all the other nameless aliens are out there struggling to survive on Earth and willing to debase themselves to do just that. The problem is that surviving by being in an arena only cements the prejudices Earth people have, viewing them as threats.

This is a long intro, proof that these themes were powerful, making this my favorite episode of the season, strong praise given the giddy feeling of the premiere and super-cousin team-ups.

On to some details.