Welcome Back to the Land of the Living

Hi there.  It's great to be alive.

It's even greater to go five minutes without expectorating what appears to be mulched manila envelopes.

To continue, the second story of Superman 180 is our cover feature, "The Girl Who Was Mightier Than Superman," written by Leo Dorfman (according to the DC wiki).  Our favorite artist Curt Swan, assisted by trusty inker George Klein, puts pictures to the story.

First off, read the text box in the splash panel.  Why, it's the famous "Faster than ..." speech!  Now compare that with the actual image shown.  A "mere slip of a girl" is dragging a reluctant Man of Steel across the line in a good ol' tug-of-war.  Of course, when I was in grade school (the last time I played tug o' war) we used a piece of rope, not what appears to be ten-inch-linked anchor chain!

Now, unless (as I can) you can slip into a 1960s mindset, it may seem odd to you that on what appears to be a South Seas isle, we only see Caucasian women.  Good-hearted soul that I am, I can view this as unintentional and not offensive, because I know that God makes beautiful people in ALL colors.  So let's not be taken aback by this mindest, but go on with the story.

Superman, on patrol, sees a lady being mugged in a Metropolis park.  Before he can rescue her, she give the guy a heave-ho into a parkbench, dooming him forever to be mocked by his fellow louts as the guy who got beat up by a woman.

She doesn't even want to press charges!  She's named Stella Strand, and she says learned her judo moves in the Marines. Va-Va-Voom for the Marines, I say!

Next day, a different girl impresses Superman by seemingly being at BOTH ENDS of a cross-continental TV broadcast.  Both "versions" of her scoff at the idea that he could outrace his own TV image.  She's not the same girl from the park the night before, just another beautiful but intriguing gal.

Note that the "TV race" involves Superman outspeeding a TV signal on a CROSS-CONTINENTAL CABLE.  I bet that this was probably a delay of a few seconds.  I am kind of surprised that writer Dorfman didn't use the more modern idea of a TV satellite, which had its beginnings 1963-1967 (after being depressingly predicted by Arthur C Clarke in "I Remember Babylon" around 1960).

Anyway, this is the setup for our story, as Superman becomes aware of some smart and lovely women who appear to have some supra-normal abilities.

See you again soon!