Let's Hear It For the Ladies (in comics)!

By Rachel F. RSS Wed, December 21, 2016

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... to be a lady who likes comics. One day you get to celebrate the appearance of the first African American woman to own a comic book store on a cover of a major comic and then the next you have entitled jerks creating impossible and sexist art (NSFW link here). It’s a give and take that is not unfamiliar to many of us who present as ladies—whatever form that takes. But let us not be down, let us celebrate the good that there is to celebrate, like the bumper crop of awesome female-led graphic novels and comic books currently available to read! There are literally too many great ones to choose from, yet I made a LONG (and I’m sure incomplete) list for you to check out.

Pregnancy is a thing that happens to some women, right? Well check this out: in the new Spider-Woman reboot, not only is she totally kick ass—she’s also hella preggo at the same time. ON THE COVER EVEN. Can you handle that?!  Her overprotective cohorts can’t seem to in Spider-Woman:Shifting Gears, but I think maybe you can. Even when our hero gets kidnapped by aliens while trying to save the day, she’s tough enough to handle herself in any situation, pregnant or not.

I’m sure you’ve heard that Iron Man is now an African American teen girl in the current Marvel Comics reboot on shelves, yes? While you wait for that first story arc to be collected, try Princeless: the ultimate self-rescuing princess takes familiar fairytale fair maiden tropes and turns them on their head. Princess Adrienne is trapped in a tower and she’s supposed to be all the things that princesses are in regular fairy tales, but our hero is NOT HAVING IT. After all of the princes sent to rescue her fail epically, Princess Adrienne—with the help of her dragon, obviously—sets out to rescue herself, her sisters, and set out for adventure. She’s funny, she’s fierce, and she’s the best kind of hero.

What about a plus-sized superhero, you ask? I’m so glad you mentioned that, because now the world has been gifted with Faith Herbert. She’s living in LA, has the classic secret identity (you guessed it—reporter!), an online best friend, and a terrible ex-boyfriend spilling secrets on reality tv. But Faith is really Zephyr, a superhero battling a heavily entrenched alien conspiracy while also trying to live a normal life. You know, just your average young adult trying to make it in the city.

There are literally hundreds of amazing lady comics right now from lady Thor to A-Force to Batgirl to Silk to Lumberjanes to Unbeatable Squirrel Girl to Paper Girls to... I could do this all day. Browse through this list of titles we currently have here at the Free Library and let me know in the comments what we may be missing or some additional comic books and graphic novels we should check out!


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Wonderful!!!
dawn scott - philadelphia
Thursday, January 19, 2017