So I'm working on a new OP for the thread. I'm going through what's already in the OP and putting together something with links and stuff to make it even better. You can see what I'm working on here:
AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
The little synopses are good. You should put in a section for comics with strong female main characters and possibly link my DC thread OP for New 52 stuff (which I'll update once we know what's going on in September)
Do you have any particular recommendations for comics with strong females?
Secret Warriors is one that usually gets missed in the strong female superhero discussion, despite having Quake AND Yo-Yo, two of the best new female characters in ages.
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AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
I dug up my own question on that turned out to be exactly half the thread ago!
So from that we're primarily looking for stuff that features women in positions of identifiable, prominent agency: ie, where they are the active approachable stars, not just part of an ensemble or left as damsels in distress.
Here's my short list:
Batwoman (Elegy, then the current run)
Batgirl (both Stephanie Brown and Simone's current run)
Fables
Y: The Last Man
Mystique (BKV's run over McKeever's, both are available in TP right now)
Huntress (yes, the Paul Levitz mini)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
My Faith In Frankie
Here's a few others worth discussing but I'm not sure about:
-Simone's BoP run is really well written, but the first 30 issues are Ed Benes art and I don't want to foist beach-ball-sized tits on someone getting into comics
-This is actually making me realize there's a bunch of good stuff I haven't read, like the Liu/Swiercynski Black Widow series from awhile back, or actually all of Ms. Marvel's series (!). So I'm calling in @crimsondude to recommend Ms Marvel issues and also poking at @Munch for non-Big 2 stuff I've forgotten.
-I guess another thing worth thinking about is just cape comics or other stuff too, like you could include Erika Moen's DAR, Safe Home and Rucka's Queen and Country
I have no problem adding Amanda Waller has been, until recently, the star of the books she was in - specifically Ostrander's Suicide Squad and Rucka'a Checkmate.
I'll think about Ms. Marvel as it's been a while and my brain is preoccupied with other stuff right now. But I love the Secret Invasion tie in. Also good are the Brood issues, and the Annual that leads into her date with Peter Parker, which is a mixed bag issue.
Over at Top Cow, The Ron Marz run of Witchblade was pretty epic and managed to cut down on both the cheesecake and damsel in distress stuff that dominated the book before he came aboard.
The Magdalena series is also great for delivering a strong female hero, but has had a really horrible shipping schedule. It's fantastic when a new issue does come out, though.
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ArrynAsk not the InnkeeperFor destiny is thy name!Registered Userregular
So are you leaving out Worlds' Finest as an ensemble? I realize it's one issue in, but that also makes it a good place to start for someone looking to just get into the hobby.
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AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
So are you leaving out Worlds' Finest as an ensemble? I realize it's one issue in, but that also makes it a good place to start for someone looking to just get into the hobby.
I left it out simply because it is the rainbow at the end of the road known as my to read pile. I'm excited.
Warren Ellis has a few sci-fi works with strong ladies like Anna Mercury and Ignition City, though I haven't read either. I'd recommend the science fictiony Global Frequency myself, which features different characters every issue but has lots of women in starring roles.
poking at Munch for non-Big 2 stuff I've forgotten.
This is tough, because a lot of my favorites are out of print, but here's some independent books, with strong female leads:
- Bone, by Jeff Smith
- Local, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly
- Friends With Boys and Zombies Calling, by Faith Erin Hicks
- Empowered, by Adam Warren
- Powers, by Brian Bendis and Michael Oeming
- I Kill Giants, by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura
- Boneyard and Far West, by Richard Moore
- Dynamo 5, by Jay Faerber and Mahmud Asrar
- Proof, by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo
- True Story, Swear to God, by Tom Beland
- Scott Pilgrim, by Brian Lee O'Malley
- The Umbrella Academy, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
- Beast, by Marian Churchland
- Castle Waiting, by Linda Medley
I could get into webcomic reprints and manga, but I'd be here all night.
The Google document? I read it, it's a good sampling of some iconic work. Not really sure what I could add to it, though.
I mean, if I just start listing off comics I think are awesome, I'll soon be recommending obscure stuff that came out from Eclipse, never to be reprinted again.
Or like, Kurt Busiek's Power Company, or something.
Hensler, I think Empowered's terrific, for the right kind of reader. There's a really nice romance/slice of life comic, buried under the superhero stuff, cheesecake, and Warren's slangy dialogue. I usually point someone towards some of the stuff available for free online, before recommending they buy it, but I think if someone enjoyed Power Girl, they'd probably enjoy Empowered.
Centi, the problem with The Flash and Green Lantern, is that I kind of hate Geoff Johns' recent work, so it's hard to recommend any of the newer Flash or Green Lantern stuff.
Still, the Flash Omnibus by Johns and Kolins is pretty good, even if it features a bunch of characters that no longer exist in continuity, or exist in different forms. If we're talking about out of print stuff, Flash: Time Flies by John Rozum and Seth Fisher is pretty awesome, as is everything Mark Waid did with the character during his original run, including Impulse.
For Green Lantern, I suppose everything by Johns, Gibbons, and Tomasi is as good a starting point as any, and it's all still in continuity. And I'm fond of Green Lantern: Willworld, by JM DeMatteis and Seth Fisher (now out of print), and Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, which is just old-school Green Lantern action.
For Wonder Woman, I'd just go with everything Rucka did. The Hiketeia is a self-contained OGN, but really kind of dour, and not at all fun. I'm actually a fan of the character's portrayal in Matt Wagner's Trinity. But again, both are now out of print.
Really, I'd probably just go with all the first volumes of the New 52 stuff, for most of the DC characters. Notable exceptions being Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc.
Man, I keep running into these weird gaps in trying to catalogue DC stuff for some reason. The first Rucka Wonder Woman collection, for instance, is "Down to Earth", which collects Wonder Woman issues #195-200. DC's Comixology collection does not have Wonder Woman from issue 174 until issue 201, and the Down to Earth trade is apparently out of print.
Mark Waid's first Flash collection is "Born to Run", which collects The Flash issues #62-65, along with The Flash Annual #8, Speed Force #1, and The Flash 80-page Giant Issue. The trade for this collection is also out of print, and DC's Comixology collection has a gap between The Flash #19 and #74, not to mention not having the Speed Force, Annual, or Giant-Size issues.
I'm shocked and pleased that someone besides myself has read My Faith in Frankie.
Also, if we aren't just talking about adult females, I'd throw in I Kill Giants as a book with a strong girl protagonist.
Credit for that goes to Munch, because he pulled on my sleeves like woah for the reprint back in…October?
Also, I wouldn't include Scott Pilgrim because there's not really that much agency among its women. (The exceptions are Kim Pine and Knives Chau.) It fails the Bechdel test pretty hard I think, and while I like Ramona, she's figured mostly in relation to men and as a recipient for their desires. (Even Volume 6's stuff falls into this category.)
Also Centipede you should put the Palmiotti & Gray/Conner run of Power Girl in there.
Scott Pilgrim the movie might not pass, but the books definitely pass the test. We see Kim talking with Holly about problems with her (female) roommates, Ramona and Stacy hanging out, Julie tries to suck up to Envy because she's famous, Lisa and Ramona and Kim all talk about Lisa being an actress, Kim and Ramona talk about Sex Bob-Omb... And they definitely have agency, I'm not sure what you're basing that on.
But yeah, Power Girl will definitely be added. Man, I hope this list isn't too big by the time I'm done.
Well I mean one of the themes of the second half of the series is that everyone around Scott is moving on with their lives, while he's kind of just stalling.
AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
Right, but none of the women are directly involved in moving the plot forward on their own terms, except for Knives' attack on Ramona. Their actual contributions are very secondary.
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If you go to Amazon or Comixology though, and enter the titles listed, you should be able to find them pretty easily.
This is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. It should be in the OP. :rotate:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yRck4dCxoxe0TpplsvndYOk6C-DNpt7illyjDl-6kZA/edit
If you want to help edit it, send me an email at centipededamascus@gmail.com and I'll give you permission.
What kind of strength are we asking 'bout here?
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Secret Warriors is one that usually gets missed in the strong female superhero discussion, despite having Quake AND Yo-Yo, two of the best new female characters in ages.
So from that we're primarily looking for stuff that features women in positions of identifiable, prominent agency: ie, where they are the active approachable stars, not just part of an ensemble or left as damsels in distress.
Here's my short list:
Batwoman (Elegy, then the current run)
Batgirl (both Stephanie Brown and Simone's current run)
Fables
Y: The Last Man
Mystique (BKV's run over McKeever's, both are available in TP right now)
Huntress (yes, the Paul Levitz mini)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
My Faith In Frankie
Here's a few others worth discussing but I'm not sure about:
-Simone's BoP run is really well written, but the first 30 issues are Ed Benes art and I don't want to foist beach-ball-sized tits on someone getting into comics
-This is actually making me realize there's a bunch of good stuff I haven't read, like the Liu/Swiercynski Black Widow series from awhile back, or actually all of Ms. Marvel's series (!). So I'm calling in @crimsondude to recommend Ms Marvel issues and also poking at @Munch for non-Big 2 stuff I've forgotten.
-I guess another thing worth thinking about is just cape comics or other stuff too, like you could include Erika Moen's DAR, Safe Home and Rucka's Queen and Country
I'll think about Ms. Marvel as it's been a while and my brain is preoccupied with other stuff right now. But I love the Secret Invasion tie in. Also good are the Brood issues, and the Annual that leads into her date with Peter Parker, which is a mixed bag issue.
The Magdalena series is also great for delivering a strong female hero, but has had a really horrible shipping schedule. It's fantastic when a new issue does come out, though.
I left it out simply because it is the rainbow at the end of the road known as my to read pile. I'm excited.
Also, if we aren't just talking about adult females, I'd throw in I Kill Giants as a book with a strong girl protagonist.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Hey, can anybody recommend some more horror and sci-fi comics to flesh out those genres in the list?
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Horror: Locke and Key, Neonomicon, American Vampire
Sci-Fi: Fear Agent, Top Ten, Prophet
I think at this point not putting Hickman's FF on the sci-fi list would be criminal.
Very true. I just tend to recommend books outside of the main Big 2 universes.
"Ride or Die" confirmed Dominic Toretto, as they took off to find the Dragon Balls in hopes of reviving their friend Sonic
This is tough, because a lot of my favorites are out of print, but here's some independent books, with strong female leads:
- Bone, by Jeff Smith
- Local, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly
- Friends With Boys and Zombies Calling, by Faith Erin Hicks
- Empowered, by Adam Warren
- Powers, by Brian Bendis and Michael Oeming
- I Kill Giants, by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura
- Boneyard and Far West, by Richard Moore
- Dynamo 5, by Jay Faerber and Mahmud Asrar
- Proof, by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo
- True Story, Swear to God, by Tom Beland
- Scott Pilgrim, by Brian Lee O'Malley
- The Umbrella Academy, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
- Beast, by Marian Churchland
- Castle Waiting, by Linda Medley
I could get into webcomic reprints and manga, but I'd be here all night.
Tumblr Twitter
I mean, if I just start listing off comics I think are awesome, I'll soon be recommending obscure stuff that came out from Eclipse, never to be reprinted again.
Or like, Kurt Busiek's Power Company, or something.
Tumblr Twitter
For Flash,
Return of Barry Allen
Blitz
Rogue War
Trial of Barry Allen / Crisis?
Green Lantern
Rebirth
Sinestro Corps War
Blackest Night
Secret Origin
"Ride or Die" confirmed Dominic Toretto, as they took off to find the Dragon Balls in hopes of reviving their friend Sonic
Hiketia
New Frontier
Azarello's current run
are like the only Wonder Woman stories that I know to be good.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Centi, the problem with The Flash and Green Lantern, is that I kind of hate Geoff Johns' recent work, so it's hard to recommend any of the newer Flash or Green Lantern stuff.
Still, the Flash Omnibus by Johns and Kolins is pretty good, even if it features a bunch of characters that no longer exist in continuity, or exist in different forms. If we're talking about out of print stuff, Flash: Time Flies by John Rozum and Seth Fisher is pretty awesome, as is everything Mark Waid did with the character during his original run, including Impulse.
For Green Lantern, I suppose everything by Johns, Gibbons, and Tomasi is as good a starting point as any, and it's all still in continuity. And I'm fond of Green Lantern: Willworld, by JM DeMatteis and Seth Fisher (now out of print), and Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, which is just old-school Green Lantern action.
For Wonder Woman, I'd just go with everything Rucka did. The Hiketeia is a self-contained OGN, but really kind of dour, and not at all fun. I'm actually a fan of the character's portrayal in Matt Wagner's Trinity. But again, both are now out of print.
Really, I'd probably just go with all the first volumes of the New 52 stuff, for most of the DC characters. Notable exceptions being Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc.
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Man, I always forget to buy this, and I'm a huge fan of Matt Wagner. This Wednesday, it shall be mine!
Mark Waid's first Flash collection is "Born to Run", which collects The Flash issues #62-65, along with The Flash Annual #8, Speed Force #1, and The Flash 80-page Giant Issue. The trade for this collection is also out of print, and DC's Comixology collection has a gap between The Flash #19 and #74, not to mention not having the Speed Force, Annual, or Giant-Size issues.
Also a fan of Matt Wagner, but strangely my favorite work of his is the Dr. Mid-Nite mini, the one that introduced Pieter Cross.
I'd put Terminal Velocity up there as one of the best of Waid's arcs. Chain Lightning also amazing.
Credit for that goes to Munch, because he pulled on my sleeves like woah for the reprint back in…October?
Also, I wouldn't include Scott Pilgrim because there's not really that much agency among its women. (The exceptions are Kim Pine and Knives Chau.) It fails the Bechdel test pretty hard I think, and while I like Ramona, she's figured mostly in relation to men and as a recipient for their desires. (Even Volume 6's stuff falls into this category.)
Also Centipede you should put the Palmiotti & Gray/Conner run of Power Girl in there.
But yeah, Power Girl will definitely be added. Man, I hope this list isn't too big by the time I'm done.