Good history of heroines This is a solid history of superheroines from the 30s to the 90s with particular attention to those lost years between the end of WWII and the launch of Marvel comics in the early 60s.
Obscure characters and creators are highlighted and given their due.
A worthwhile read for anyone interested in comic history.
Damsels In Distress Need Not Apply Celebrating the distaff side of the superheroic fraternity, Trina Robbins' examination of the place of women superheroes in comics history is a fascinating and compelling read. Yes, the expected entries are here - a lengthy analysis of Wonder Woman, for example - but countless lesser-known heroines are enumerated and critiqued, from the sidekicks and helpmeets such as Supergirl and Batgirl to stand-alone adventuresses such as the Phantom Lady and Liberty Belle. However, the book is more than merely a dry recital of history. Robbin's energetic and vivacious style emphasises not just that these characters are remembered, but why they are special, as powerful role models for girls and women in a medium too often dominated by teenage hetboy fantasies. Robbin's informed and enthusiastic text places each figure, from the 1940's to the present day, into a social context, while never losing sight of the sense-of-wonder appeal that is at the core of the comics medium. Copious illustrations liven up the text, and if a dash of colour would have helped the monochrome pages - well, there's always the next edition!
Comic book heroines changed with the times. Comic books, like all other aspects of pop culture, reflect the attitudes and mores of society. Therefore, the changes in the female super heroes in the comic books over the years are what you would expect. In the physical sense they wear a lot less clothing, have (much) bigger breasts and their rears are more visible and attractive. Many of the early incarnations of the heroines were very stereotypically female, sometimes to the point of stupidity. Sue Storm, the only female member of the Fantastic Four, insists on shopping and regularly faints through effort. However, the worst case is one involving Batman, Robin and Batgirl. In the midst of a major brawl between the Batgroup and a gang of villains, Batgirl refuses to join the fight until she fixes a run in her tights. To a man (naturally) the criminals stop to ogle her leg, giving the dynamic duo an opportunity to knock them around. No wonder the level of female readership was so low. Fortunately, everyone grew up in the liberation-tainted seventies and the female super heroes grew more powerful, less prone to act silly and gained in personality. Unfortunately, none ever seemed to catch on with the readership and the majority only had short runs. This book, a combination of explanatory text with a large number of cartoons, takes you through approximately six decades of women heroes in the comics. You see all these changes, and quite frankly, despite my lifelong interest in comics, I had no idea that there had been so many females with super powers. I put this down to the short life as pen and ink so many of them had. Once again, I was reminded of the difficult time comic books had in the fifties. It was truly a paranoid decade where enemies of the American society were found everywhere, including on the pages of comic books. In looking through the excerpts from that era, it is really difficult to comprehend what could have been so dangerous. Comic books do reflect the changes in society and that is no more evident than when you examine how female super heroes have been portrayed. Like their human counterparts, many of them went from ditzy sidekick to powerful, independent entities.
A Fine Survey of Women Heroes Trina Robbins puts her years of both comic professionalism and comic fandom to effective use in her survey of The Great Women Super Heroes. She begins in the Golden Age and ends in the mid-90's and is quite thorough. The concentration of the book is on the heroines of the golden age which should be interesting for most readers as this will be the least familiar period to many of them (and readers of other comic book histories will be surprised that there were so many women heroes fighting the good fight). The section that is the most fun, though, is the discussion of the silver age and the recent period as the author allows herself a little more room for editorializing rather than simply surveying and Ms. Robbins opinions are always worth the wait. This area could even be expanded to into a book in its own right. The book is amply and appropriately illustrated. This is a great book for anyone interested in comic books and their checkered history of portraying women. But most of all it is a fun, breezy read.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
