I don't think I'd pass judgement on PAD until you've read every Supergirl story that appeared in one of Karas books.
Look, I'll take it back! That sounds a little cruel and unusual to me! I think the Abu Grabh prisoners were forced to do the same thing.
I was tempted to pick up the first PAD issue because of the cover, but never got past flipping through it on the rack. Now it seems they have junked most of the continuity from those 80 issues, superior writing or not.
Regardless, and all nit-picking aside, it kept a semi-authentic version of Supergirl alive for the best part of a decade.