Supergirl #3 - The Garden of Death.

There aren't many people in this world who can come up with plans even more unlikely than the Maid of Might's but Supergirl issue #3 provides us with just such an individual.

After being dumped by her latest boyfriend, our heroine discovers that horticulturalist Albert Brooks, the father of a fellow student of hers, has been arrested for murdering various people, including local crime boss, "Lucky Coin," Lacey.

With all the evidence pointing toward him, it looks like curtains for Brooks.

But it's not long before the clue-happy Kandorian discovers he's been framed by Lacey who's alive and well and, thanks to a crooked plastic surgeon, now looks and sounds exactly like Brooks.

His plan is this;

He's framed Brooks for his murder, so that Supergirl will get involved and clear Brooks. Then, when Brooks is released, Lacey can kidnap him, kill him and take his place, on the grounds that no one would suspect him of having killed and replaced the man who's just been cleared of murdering him.

This plan, of course, depends on his fake body being found, even though it's buried in a private garden, Supergirl getting involved, Supergirl believing Brooks to be innocent for no good reason, Supergirl clearing Brooks and then losing all interest in the case and making no attempt at all to solve it from that point on.

Call me a sceptic but, given all the variables involved, I can see no way this plan could possibly succeed. Nor can I see why Lacey didn't just kill Brooks and take his place without all the other stuff involved, thus avoiding the involvement of Supergirl who's clearly going to be the biggest threat to his plan's prospects of success.

As with the other tales I've so far reviewed in this series, it's all a bit tame, as, for the second time in three issues, Kara goes all Murder She Wrote on us and faces no danger to herself whatsoever.

Admittedly, there is a scene where she's eaten by a giant Venus flytrap - whose presence is never explained - but there's never any threat that it's going to be able to do her any actual harm.

Probably the real mystery that sticks in the mind in this issue is the whereabouts of Wanda Five.

I'm sure you recall that, in issue #1, she was introduced to us as Linda Danvers' enigmatic new flatmate - the one with strange alien artefacts in her room. At the end of that tale, we were left in no doubt that the solving of that riddle was going to be a major plank of the series and probably its driving force. In this tale, however, Linda now has two totally different flatmates who we've never seen before and there's not a mention of Wanda Five. Where on Earth - or off it - has she got to and how has Supergirl so totally forgotten about her?

Of course, anyone with any sense would at this point be asking why I'm bothering to review Supergirl stories when they're totally tame, lack any kind of tension and make no sense.

The answer's simple. Like Supergirl herself, these tales have a strange charm that defies all attempts at critical analysis. They're just oddly likeable. Like candy floss.