DC Heroes - The Femme Fantastique
In light of last month's Ravenclaw Pride Month with Loki's super-villain madness (which the Holy Egg Empress has failed to finish properly), I thought it was high time to do an article on something from the good ole' superhero comics genre. Particularly DC Comics. No, it has nothing to do with my preferring them over their major competitor, Marvel. No, it has nothing to do with my super-exposure to the awesomeness that is The Justice League and the villains thereof. Nope. None. At. All.
Okay, fine. You twisted my arm. It is about the fact that I have been reading up on, watching, and playing games about superheroes, DC-related superheroes in general. My bias to DC didn't start out because of superheroes, however; my first trip around their comicverse happened early on with Neil Gaiman's Sandman and much later, Bill Willingham's Fables, neither series focusing on superheroes in any respect.
But I do love reading up on comic superheroes. Though admittedly, I did not--and have not--followed the superhero issues as zealously as the comic book fans, I am probably somewhat of the demographic DC had in mind when they unleashed the New 52 continuity. And with the release of histories and stories, there was definitely going to be changes in the dynamic of the characters within DC's universe.
Take the women of DC Comics, for example. While still filled with the popular male icons of the DC Universe, the Big League (Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow, etc.) has gradually been chipped away to include more empowered females with tremendously kick-butt abilities. This phase of female superheroes didn't start with Wonder Woman, but she certainly did kick down the door to allow others the chance to fight to the top.
I do have some favorites, so I'll list them down below. Let me just clarify this right away: these females are not ranked on this list in terms of who's the sexiest. That would be a silly and impractical denomination for gauging badassery, and clearly my tastes in "sexy" tend to run in the objectification of men. Like Clark Kent. Now that's super eye-candy.
Power Girl
Normally I'm opposed to the inclusion of Kara Zor-El because I wasn't a big fan of her as a teenage Amazon-trained cousin of Superman. As a more mature Power Girl in Earth-2 (one of DC's parallel universes), however, she becomes a different ballgame. Power Girl is depicted as Superman's first cousin, and in all respects, has his Kryptonian powers on Earth. Depending on the writers, this Kryptonian power either rises in level or decreases compared to Superman's abilities. She's pretty darn difficult to stop, and in some cases, doesn't even suffer from Kryptonite weakness.
Katma Tui
I'm still kind of waiting for an Earth female Green Lantern to be more prominent at some point. But since there are actually a myriad of female Lanterns, I went with Katma Tui. Part of the Green Lantern Corps, she is a mentor and leader, having taught--and eventually married--Earth Green Lantern, John Stewart. Katma Tui was assigned sector 1417 as a replacement soon after Sinestro went into the path of evil, fear, and despicable yellowness. While she is not widely popular among the citizens of sector 1417 because of her Green Lantern designation, she still protects them. Kind of like Batman, except green and with superpowers...
Zatanna
Now here's an illusionist if there was ever any. Zatanna hides in plain sight, often masquerading as a magician and performing sleight-of-hand tricks. Little do the Earthlings know that she actually does possess real magical acumen! Zatanna's flair for magic are owed to her parents, renowned magician Zatara and sorceress Sindella. In later origin re-writes, she is also known to be Bruce Wayne's childhood friend, though the use of her mind-wipe abilities tends to strain their relationship from time to time. Still, I doubt even the Batman can stay mad at Zatanna forever.
Hawkgirl
Admittedly, Chay-Ara's (or Shiera/Shayera) appeal has always been her character design for me. But then again, I'm biased to those awesome Nth metal wings that she and Hawkman sport on their backs. Hawkgirl has often been established as part of the major pantheon of the JLA, and though her origin story often changes--sometimes she's an alien from Thanagar, sometimes she's a reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian princess--there's no denying regarding some perpetual link to Hawkman. Talk about a love story that spans across ages...
Black Canary
The title of Black Canary seems to have been passed on from mother to daughter. Dinah Lance was the original Black Canary, though after her retirement, it was her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, who took the mantle. Laurel Lance is first and foremost a combat specialist, owing to both her superhero mother and cop father. While she does possess a meta-human ability--the famed Canary Cry--she is usually more often portrayed as a highly intelligent, strategic planner and fighter, and is known as a chairwoman of the JLA, as well as a founding member of the Birds of Prey faction.
Batgirl/Oracle
Okay, so this bird doesn't fly, but if lack of flight never stopped Batman, it sure as heck wouldn't stop Barbara Gordon from donning her Bird of Prey persona. The DC Universe often has several Batgirls in the running, though Barbara stands out because of her Commissioner father as well as her reinvention after getting crippled by the Joker. As Batgirl, she was a formidable crime-fighter. As Oracle, she is Batman's prime information gatherer and hacker. By the New 52, she's since resumed her role as Batgirl, though honestly, I liked her much better in logistics myself.
Wonder Woman
A favorite list of awesome DC females is never complete without Diana of Themyscira. While her origin story has gone through several rewrites (child of clay, Amazonian princess, demi-goddess), there is no denying that she represents the warrior and ambassador of Justice. She has been one of the more important members of the Justice League, and is even part of the triumvirate of DC superheroes, the other two being Superman and Batman. To date, I'm still waiting for a Wonder Woman live action movie that will do her ferocity justice, but sadly that hasn't happened yet.
