Female Heroes in Comics

Yesterday I mentioned that men or boys tend to read less than women or girls. But when it comes to comics, I believe the opposite is true. Like sports, the comic book industry has tried to bring more women into the fold. Female characters and superheroes are featured today more than ever.

I discovered the greatness of comics when I was twelve, and there were some genuinely great comic books back then. I don't read any now, and haven't bought one since my first son was born 14 years ago. That's OK with me, because I don't think comics are as good now as they were then, and I don't miss them.

But back in the day, the Marvel brand was tops. It was when DC had sunk to the level of Television's portrayal of Batman starring Adam West. But Marvel enjoyed a true Golden Age, even though they referred to it as their Silver Age.

Back to the point of Female superheroes. Besides Wonderwoman, it seemed that all the writers back then would just make a female version of the popular male superhero. You had Superman, so they made Supergirl. You had Batman, so they made Batgirl. Marvel checked in wtih Spiderwoman and She Hulk. To me, it was ridiculous and lazy. I have nothing against female superheroes, but it was really a horrible idea to just make a female version of a male superhero.

The superhero groups did it better. In the Fantastic Four, you had Susan Storm, who became Mrs. Richards, but she was no Female clone of a male superhero. She was original. The Avengers had The Wasp, Janet van Dyne, who became Mrs. Henry Pym. (Henry Pym was Ant Man.)

In The X-Men you had Jean Grey, AKA Marvel Girl, (which name was dropped) and she was an original character. It's the X-Men that really took off with female heroes, by adding Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, Psylock, and The Scarlet Witch, (who actually never was an X-man, because she started off as an innocent inductee to Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and when she turrned to the good side, she became an Avenger.)

Originality is the key. Sure there will be fans of the female copies of male superheroes, just like there are people out there who like anything, even those gawdawful Conan movies, but who would argue besides them that an original character tops the carbon copy gender bent hero?