Space Girls Are Tricky

Now, along with Superman, we find out the mystery behind the lovely ladies of Florena -- who they are, and how they came to be!

We get a clearer look inside that lead-lined cavern and see a spaceship!  Also, Orella explains the "super" gals who had lured Superman here.  Plus, they just happen to have whipped up a Kryptonite force-shield to make him stay put!

As Orella says, Superman must best her in combat to escape; otherwise, he's goin' to the chapel, and ... you get the idea.

And now the origin story.  Orella and her crew hailed from the planet Matrion.  In a style similar to the legendary Amazons, they were an all-female society who bred by choosing mates from the men they'd defeated in battle.

As an aside, take a look at that top, page-wide panel!  Didn't our Curt (the artist) do a great job of visually explaining the caption?  On the right you've got a crashed space ship, then the defeated men -- some brave, some hanging their heads in shame -- then the women of Matrion.  Get a gander of the pair of warrior women giggling and pointing as they make their choices!

The reason Orella and the ladies of Florena are here on Earth? Well, they're the puny ones.  Some of the Matrionettes (is that the word?) grew weaker physically, but much smarter.  Since they couldn't cut the battle mustard, they were booted offplanet.

So here they are on Earth, trying to toughen up their stock.  By mating with Superman!

Why the heck is Superman protesting?  Why doesn't he just demand a "group marriage"?

Oh, I forgot.  This is a kid's comic. 

See you next time!

Who Knew How Attractive a Wimple could Be?

So, Superman lets the girl (who had seemed to be at BOTH ends of his cross-continental super-speed flight) just walk away.  However, his super-vision (or MICRO-vision, as Smallville would have it) confirms that her clothing is treated so that it COULD theoretically resist the friction of super-speed motion.

But he's due at the U.N. to talk about how scientifically invalid global warming is, so he has to rush away.

But, at the U.N., he sees yet another remarkable woman, who is stabbed without harm.

What is it with these gals?  Is there a whole race of super-powered women running around he didn't know about?  Either this is going to turn into a Shaggy Girl (a la Shaggy Dog) story . . . Or Superman's dating pool just got a LOT larger.

Wait, what?  The gal is NOT wearing the armored vest that she said had protected her against the assassin's knife?

Look!  the gal dropped a scrap pf paper with the name of her tiny island country, Florena, and now Superman recognizes that each of the mysterious women had been wearing brooches with the same palm-tree insignia.    He decides to investigate . . .

And now we see that Supes has fallen for an intricately-planned scheme, all set up to get him to come to the island of the women of Florena.  Bum-bum-BUMMM!

And, we see it's a scheme to get Superman hitched with one of them.  A gal named Orella, whom we recognize from the cover art and this story's splash page, cheats in the selection process and thereby wins the right to make Superman hers.

But . . . did anybody tell Superman about this South Seas Sadie Hawkins Day?

Evidently not.  The gals had been using some sort of advanced super-scope to track him, but have hidden it in a lead-lined cavern.  Evidently they have high technology, but when Superman arrives, they show no evidence of it.  They give him gifts, like a primitive tribe honoring a strange visitor.

We'll see if Superman is ensnared by their plot, next time!

By the way, does Curt Swan know how to draw gorgeous women, or what?!?