The first being why did I wait until now to realize how cool Batman actually was?
The second being why do the great, like Heath Ledger, have to pass on right when their genius is on teh upswing.
And the final being WHY THE FUCK aren’t there any dark, brooding violent yet emotionally poignoint superhero films with a female superhero? And really….Halle Barry’s Catwoman hardly counts.
What I am really asking is….are there ANY female superheroes that aren’t jsut off-shoots of male superhero stories? Like Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Spider Woman? My boyfriend suggested Elektra, but a quick Wikipedia revealed that she’s from the Daredevil series.
Seriously?
Anyone?
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July 23, 2008 at 4:46 am
Am-Chau
What about Alan Moore’s Promethea series? That features several strong young women who take on the role of superhero Promethea.
July 23, 2008 at 11:16 am
Anonymous
Check out Joss Whedon. He created Buffy and River (in Firefly), and has a new TV series in the works with another ass-kicking female lead.
July 23, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Black Thirteen
Wonder Woman is not an offshoot. She was introduced in “All-Star Comics” #8, in 1941.
She was thought up as a concept, and given a debut in that comic because it was a very popular line with DC at the time, and it would be seen by a lot of people if she were placed there for her introduction.
She also helped found the Justice League. You can’t really complain about that setup.
Or, there’s Ms. Marvel, (1968).
I admit, it’s a little difficult to find ones that were introduced solely as their own thing, but for a lot of male characters, they were also introduced in someone else’s comic, either as a villain, or a guest star.
Very few characters, male or female actually started in their own book, with no one else.
Jean Grey appeared in the first issue of the X-men, (1963). You could also say Sue Storm, because she appeared in the Fantastic Four #1, so it’s not as though she was added later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superheroines
Have a go at that.
As for the “dark, brooding” thing, it’s because most superheroes aren’t really dark or brooding. They tend to go against the grain of what people want a superhero to be.
July 23, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Sarah J
I’m a comics nerd but I don’t really read superhero books. There’s a few though…you can check out Painkiller Jane (which I think they made into a TV show? don’t watch much TV so not sure) and Anna Mercury is not necessarily brooding, but I love her.
July 23, 2008 at 3:11 pm
earlgreyrooibos
I’ve given up thinking about that one . . . instead, I’m pondering if there is ever going to be a non-white actor playing Batman in a future movie.
July 23, 2008 at 4:14 pm
jemimaaslana
Witchblade and Lara Croft
As far as I’m aware none of them are offshoots of anything else. And the x-women aren’t offshoots, but equal members of the team/x-verse.
That’s my best suggestions.
July 23, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Black Thirteen
“instead, I’m pondering if there is ever going to be a non-white actor playing Batman in a future movie.”
Why would there be? Batman is white.
That’s like asking if a white man might play Blade, or Luke Cage.
July 23, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Ryan
What about NBC’s Heroes? I have not thought much about within the context of gender but it does not seem conventional.
While it could be argued that there are several “main” characters, Claire is probably the most integral to the plot in the first season. I believe the tagline of the first season is, “save the cheerleader (Claire), save the world.”
Some of the powers that characters have could be thought of as a bit unconventional as well. For example, Nikki’s power is incredible physical strength. Peter, another central character, is an “empath.” I took this to be a shortened form of empathy; he absorbs others’ powers by feeling or remembering connections/emotions. A lot of people would probably describe Peter as “emo.” In the second season there are twins; the female twin can conjure a deadly plague but her brother is the only one that can cure it.
July 23, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Atlanta blogs today | Fresh Loaf
[...] with, it seems, everyone else in America with the exception of your’s truly) and wonders on Dirty Rotten Feminist why there are so few female super heroes? And I agree with her: Halle Berry in Catwoman hardly [...]
July 23, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Danny
As for brooding female heroes I’d point to Rogue of the X-Men. It has to be quite the burden to be as powerful as she is but not even be able to touch someone. And it really doesn’t help that when she uses her powers (the ability to drain life energy and usually temporarily steal mutant abilities) she runs the risk of copying memories from her target and adding them to her own.
I’ve given up thinking about that one . . . instead, I’m pondering if there is ever going to be a non-white actor playing Batman in a future movie.
I hope not. I still don’t like the fact that they had to use a black man as the Kingpin in Daredevil. The real desire, IMHO, is to have more non white heroes.
I don’t think any counts Halle Berry in Catwoman as anything. It says a lot when the fanboys don’t flock to a movie about a comic book character that stars a very attractive woman.
July 27, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Jha
Someone else pointed out Wonder Woman, and yeah, she started out as her very own person.
How about Cybersix? Brooding superheroine. The only bad thing is that she masquerades as a guy during the day.
HALLE BERRY’S CATWOMAN DOES NOT COUNT. Rar!
July 28, 2008 at 1:03 am
genyriotgrrrl
Halle Berry did portray a poor Catwoman, and a poor role model for girls. As did Michelle Pheifer I think. She became what she was because, she was quite literally ‘pushed’ by a man too far. Of course her obsession of cats and nearly being devoured by them (as far as the movie goes) didn’t help. I’m currently working on my own comic series with a cheery, lesbian girl super hero. Hopefully the rest of the world will follow in suit.
I did a post on Batman as well and the metaphors it uses to relate to our harsh reality of society. http://ironjawedangst.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/the-dark-knight-in-depth/
July 29, 2008 at 10:22 pm
beanphed
http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html has some pretty interesting criticisms of Mr Whedon regarding Firefly, which in my opinion had a great idea, but the execution wasn’t all there. Buffy was better.
I’ve been visiting the local library lately and finding some old comics I read when I was younger in graphic novel form. The New Mutants started off nice with 3 strong women out of team of 5 members even though one disappeared after 7 issues. Dani Moonstar was a kick ass (didn’t brood) even if her powers weren’t as flashy as some other characters. (If you visit Dani’s wiki page you can see just how boobified she has become) (Relating to your Sin City post).
Hey I just thought of Xena, she broods sometimes. Probably one of the most powerful female characters out there.
Anyhow wonderful blog, keep up the great work!
July 30, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Anonymous
Wonder Woman was DEFINITELY not an offshoot.
August 20, 2008 at 7:54 am
lala
Sorry this is late, since this post is a month old, but I would like to mention Tank Girl. I haven’t read it, so I can’t say how good or bad she is as a feminist role model. I get the impression that it’s pretty positive, though.
I also sort of half want to recommend Aeon Flux, since she certainly would be a great role model if only if it weren’t for that awful outfit. There is at least some consolation in that you do get to see boys in revealing fetishy outfits in that comic, too. One thing I really like about Aeon Flux is that she isn’t the only strong woman in the comic. I noticed that in a lot of stories with a strong female, it’s like she’s some sort of magical rare being and all the other strong characters are men. Aeon Flux has plenty of strong female characters both as protagonists and antagonists (as well as mixes between the two).