Comicscape - October 22, 2003

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2003

OPINION:

Ever notice that there are far fewer female superheroes with their own ongoing title than male superheroes? A quick glance at the monthly offerings of both DC and Marvel, for instance, reveal just how huge a disparity it is. In the October listings for DC, there are only five ongoing titles with female leads (one of them starring a villain rather than a hero!) compared to fourteen featuring male leads (not counting team titles and miniseries, of course); and at Marvel, using the same rules for counting, the ratio is four to twenty-one!

Yeah, I know, this is hardly press-stopping news: comics have always been male-dominated, both in output and in production, ever since the beginning. But it does seem a pity that, despite the large amount of female superheroes out there who could carry their own books, very few actually do. I remember that back in the late 70s/early 80s, there was a push at Marvel (and perhaps an ill-conceived one) to give several of the male characters a female counterpart with her own series. Thus we got SPIDER-WOMAN, SHE-HULK, and MS. MARVEL, three series which gave the Marvel Universe some memorable characters but none of which lasted for very long. But now that Marvel has launched series such as ELEKTRA, ALIAS, SPIDER-GIRL, and MYSTIQUE, and DC has created series such as BIRDS OF PREY, CATWOMAN, and BATGIRL while continuing to publish WONDER WOMAN, the question arises whether there are any other female superheroes in either universe that we'd like to see carry their own series. And I don't mean a high-profile miniseries like EMMA FROST, either - I mean an honest-to-god ongoing monthly featuring a superheroine (to use a supposedly sexist term). Here are some possibilities:

SHE-HULK: I know, I know, she's already been given two shots already, though I don't even like considering the comedic John Byrne-written second volume a proper shot. Marvel touted her on its website this week as "the most demanded Avenger of all," so why shouldn't she be in high demand for the return of her own series? My guess is that it would be far better as a MAX series, but then again I seem to say that about all new Marvel series nowadays...

STARFIRE: True, she already gets quite a bit of exposure in the ongoing TEEN TITANS series, but given the right writer (preferably not the already overworked and probably underpaid Geoff Johns), she could become a character whose popularity rivals even that of Wonder Woman. (Have you been reading that series since Greg Rucka took it over, by the way? Phenomenal. Put him on this book, and watch miracles happen.)

WARBIRD: Hate the name, love the character. Carol Danvers didn't do quite so badly as Ms. Marvel (despite yet another despicable name), and given how long she's remained a vital part of the Marvel Universe, it's obvious she's considered a major player - at least, major enough to stay in the Avengers for umpteen years. So how about another go? Perhaps a series written by Brian Michael Bendis (who seems to have one of the few interesting takes on the character in years, if her portrayal in ALIAS is anything to go by) would give her some much needed attention.

ZATANNA: I kid you not - after reading Paul Dini's one-shot for Vertigo a little while back, I think this character has more potential than her infrequent appearances in other Vertigo titles would lead us to think. Just don't even think of bringing back that weird sorceress outfit she sported back in the early 80s - the black fishnet stockings and top hat are just fine, thank you.

BLACK WIDOW: She may have already gotten a Marvel Knights limited series back in '99, but that doesn't mean the character's completely worn out. Far from it - if Elektra can carry a monthly title, then so can everyone's favorite ex-Russian spy.

POWER GIRL: I know she's already tied up with her JSA duties, but the current lack of an ongoing SUPERGIRL title means there's a gap that could easily be filled. Granted, I much preferred this character when she was still the Earth-2 equivalent of Supergirl, but there's nothing that says she can't carry a title now that her powers are non-Kryptonian. Besides, can you imagine what someone like Ed Brubaker would do with this gal?

As I generated this list, I came upon what may be the main reason why there are so few female superheroes with their own titles: there aren't that many female superheroes who aren't already in a title, either as the member of a team or in some other capacity. But if there's anyone you feel I've left out, or if any of those listed above make you think I'm totally trippin', write me at comicscape@cinescape.com.

As for last week's column, there was a decided lack of response, leading me to think that either a) very few are reading CAPTAIN MARVEL these days; or b) very few really care whether he's a villain, an anti-hero, or a hero nowadays. The single letter I received on the topic came from Freddy Nunez, who wrote, "The idea behind [this series] seems to be one of the weights of responsibility...It seems that the power and responsibility part comes a little harder for Genis than, say, Superman. What I think CAPTAIN MARVEL explores is the journey of someone trying to do good but realizing that some times to do real good you have to be bad. Is Genis an anti-hero? Yes. Why? Because he kills? Yes. To me, an anti-hero is a good guy who is just a little more aggressive. Wolverine is an anti-hero just as much as Batman is - just because Batman is a 'Super Friend' does not mean he won't bust your ass big time. Compare Batman to Superman, and you have two people doing the same thing but in different ways. Both Batman and Superman are good - they fight for truth, justice, and all things 'hero' - but Batman will crack a guy's head open if he needs to. Superman will just take a guy to counseling and tell him he is not a nice person. Both get the job done - it's just that one is a bit nicer and cleaner than the other...To me, the anti-hero is just filling a certain hole in the comic book world. Genis is overwhelmed with his power, and he shows us that things are not always easy. Some times you make the wrong choice, and you pay for it. Captain Marvel's imperfection is merely a reflection of our own shortcomings." Interesting take on it, Freddy! If you have your own thoughts on the issue, it's not too late - you know how to get hold of me. Now, here's what you should be buying this week:

THIS WEEK:

The big news this week, of course, is AVENGERS/JLA #2 (of 4), shipping out this time from DC (which is why the Avengers are first in the title - aren't these guys polite to one another?). Buy this one, or have your official Comics Collectors ID revoked.

If you want to see what a fine job Greg Rucka's doing on WONDER WOMAN these days, check out issue #197 this week, as the Flash makes a guest appearance. (Hey, they've already given Harley Quinn her own series, so maybe Greg can do a Cheetah solo series...?)

Speaking

of Avengers, one of that merry group is getting a solo series - and typically, it's not one of the women! HAWKEYE #1 debuts this week, in a story called "The High, Hard Shaft." Ahem. Guess I'll be picking that one up, just out of curiosity...

If you're an old school Rucka fan, though, you may be more interested in picking up QUEEN & COUNTRY VOL 4: OPERATION BLACKWALL, available from Oni Press in both a hardcover format for $20.00 and a trade paperback for $8.95. Oh, what the hell, just get both!

CrossGen fans get an easy week of it this time around: you only have ROUTE 666 #16, PATH #19, and SCION #40 to buy.

I know many of you have been going through T&A withdrawal after last week, so the cover of EMMA FROST #4 is at the top of the page to get your motors running again. I'm sure the story inside is pretty good, too.

Of course, you might

just be a bit more interested in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #500, which ranks right up there with AVENGERS/JLA as the must-buy of the week. Yup, you heard me: #500. Slowly but surely, Marvel is coming to its sense about its numbering schemes... This one goes for $3.50 this time around, so save up your quarters!

I guess if you're really looking for series with female lead characters, you could argue that CINNAMON: EL CICLO, the third issue of which ships this week, qualifies...but how many of you are willing to buy a Western every month? Anyone?

Vertigo's giving us a light week this time around, too, with only HELLBLAZER # 189 and THE LOSERS #5 shipping out. More, dammit, more!

The Bat-girls are in da house this week, as both BATGIRL #45 and BIRDS OF PREY #60 hit the stands. Interesting, isn't it, that both Black Canary and Huntress could probably each carry their own series, but DC groups them all together to avoid the necessity? Maybe they should put Robin and Nightwing together the same way, just so we don't have to endure them both...

I'm temporarily

breaking my rule about listing anything that Diamond doesn't list as shipping this week to tell you about the 21 DOWN collected edition for two reasons: 1) it's been listed for the last two weeks in a row on Wildstorm's site, so it's got to come out sometime; and 2) they were kind enough to use a portion of my review of the first issue as a blurb to sell it. God, I'm such a whore...

The bad news is that BATMAN has a new creative team with issue #620 this week, marking the end of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's incredible (but brief) run on the title. The good news is that the new creative team is Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso from 100 BULLETS! Man, if you thought the last story arc was intense, just wait to see what these guys do...

The Latverian

hi-jinks continue in FANTASTIC FOUR #505, as the FF are named traitors to the US for their takeover of Doom's kingdom. If this is the treatment they're getting for finding weapons of mass destruction, imagine how they'd have been treated if they hadn't... Oh, wait, that's right: nothing would have happened to them, and they'd still be called heroes. (I can see the tide of hate mail rolling in as we speak...)

TROUBLE's penultimate issue ships this week, and in issue #4 one of the girls discovers that's exactly what she's in. Trouble, that is. Hint, hint. Geez, do I have to spell it out for you?

And finally...Diamond says this is shipping this week, and Marvel says it's shipping this week, so I'm not confused about that. What I am confused about is that X-STATIX #13 is being touted by Marvel as the first issue of the "Di Another Day" storyline - and wasn't that cancelled after a lot of media attention a few months back? Lord, some days this job is so confusing...

Oh, well. Time to make the donuts!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at
comicscape@cinescape.com.

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