Alex goes to the comic shop, pt 2

[terra]

So sometimes I post on those giant comics messageboards. It can be cool, I've had discussions with creators/had Ed Brubaker tell me to stop being so continuity-obsessive, but oftentimes it reminds me what a cesspit of racism and misogyny the comics fandom can be. Like, yesterday, when I stumbled upon this gem of a post:

Marvel is loaded with strong and aggressive SuperHeroines. The negative quality of the Sue Storm's leadership is that portraying her as aggressive and extremely powerful makes her just another Marvel SuperHeroine. Some of us old timer guys still think that Sue is most effective when she emphasizes her traditional feminine qualities that she excelled at during the Silver Age (or should I say "Golden Age" of Stan and Jack), such as crying, screaming, acting afraid, being a wonderful mother, looking gorgeous, having to be saved by the men a lot, etc.

Yeah, this guy is confirmed not a troll, and several people either flat-out agreed with him, or parrotted his general thesis in slightly less blatantly offensive terms. (It's not that Sue can't lead because of her gender, it's because she's too much like a overemotional adulterous single mom!!) A fair number of sane people pointed out...you know, that this stuff is crazy sexist. But it just reminded me that one of the (many) reasons women are underrepresented in comics is because quite a few comics fans are misogynist toolbags. And one thing I can personally do to help counter this phenomenon is to buy a ton of comics featuring the ladies.

tl;dr rec me some comics involving womenfolk

Comments

[hexappeal]

My experience with Marvel magic is... pre-90s, mostly.

DCU's mages and mystics are ridiculously awesome. I also am always prepared with enabling links, if you are interested!

I mean, the leader is Nightmaster, but he really takes a passive role. June's usually the one doing the pushing and shoving and while I liked her back in the old Suicide Squad and all, she just was really kind of a generic magic villainess. Nightshade's cute, but her personality also outshines the men in the series. I think Willingham handled it excellently.

[terra]

There have been a couple good Strange minis lately. I especially liked the BKV one.

And oh, go ahead, enable me!! This is an enabling post. And I don't think women have to necessarily be the leaders or main characters to be written well, they just need to be fleshed-out characters with presence. Yeah.

[hexappeal]

That was mostly because of the animated film, though, right? I did actually catch that one. The animation was foxy.

Done and done. But I figured that adding that they weren't main/leaders would be a little important, since a lot of comics with large casts tend to focus on the dudes or the chicks as wives and nurturers, etc. WHICH! I have no problem with, it's just when that's all they do or... morons like the ones you have regrettably come into contact with. :(

If anyone else is interested, just PM me. I feel it is important to spread the gospel of the Shadowpact and DCU's magic lamers.

[terra]

It was partially a tie-in, but there have been some Strange stuff since. I think he's a popular character with creators who just can't sustain an ongoing. There was one three-issue thing just recently that subscribed to the acid-trip in comic form school of Dr. Strange, which is something I am personally cool with but I wouldn't necessarily foist on everyone. The first arc of New Avengers is supposed to be magic but the jury is still out for me.

Yeah, I know what you mean!! All female characters are just under more of a microscope in comics by default, that's just the way it is.

[hexappeal]

I imagine that's the problem with magical characters overall, but more the writers not knowing how to use villains (and create villains) properly. Still, Zatanna's been around regularly since the 60s and was the JLA's chairwoman for... about 10 years? Something like that. Idk. I feel if they had their own titles it'd obviously be easier, because they'd be up against their own kind of villains. DCU has the Sentinels of Magic, too, which have never had their own title -- it'd be nice to see it, but I won't hold my breath.

Or even a female secondary or third character. OH. I SHOULD ALSO SUGGEST DCU's Vixen. I still haven't gotten around to finishing her one-shot, but it was fairly good. The problem is that she tends to be involved in other series (specifically JLA, where she's had pretty good treatment in the current run). Not only is she a woman? But she's strong, black, feminine, and a former model that doesn't take shit from anyone (I have a crush on her).

HM. WHAT ELSE? I haven't caught up to the new stuff, but Gen 13 was pretty good for bad ass women, but the last incarnation I read was... 90s. And there were plenty of bad ass women in the 90s, but a lot of them had ripped shirts (no different in this, sadly). There's also Irredeemable, which is written by Mark Waid. Because it's a "mature" title, the women are sexy and empowered, etc. More recently, a spin-off called Incorruptible has been released, which I like more, actually, but... underage female villainess called Jailbait who is a former stripper. But I like her.