And the icons of those movies are, of course, chiselled and sculpted white men: Thor, Captain America- even the "loveable screw-up" Starlord. Female characters are present, capable- even lethal, like Gamora or Black Widow- but are they aspirational figures? I'd argue that DC has more and better-known super heroines than Marvel- so how are they faring in a world of anti-feminist backlash?
While Agent Carter and Jessica Jones flew the flag on television for Marvel heroines, Supergirl successfully helms her own series. Melissa Benoist is very charismatic and coveys the optimism of the character well. It's undoubtedly a derivative and"fluffy" series that puts a YA spin on the Country Mouse adventures of Clark Kent. DC subsequently launched an Adventures of Supergirl series which was very true to the tv series while containing some comic-book Easter Eggs: John Byrne's Amazonian Rampage; Psi from the Infantino Daring Adventures of the 70s- even a fleeting reference to Peter David's " angel with wings of fire"
In addition, there is a Dark Knight format series Supergirl:Being Super by half-Jewish, half-Japanese author Mariko Tamaki and Joelle Jones. It's retelling the origin of Supergirl in a slightly different continuity from the tv show or the regular DC title. I wonder why it wasn't released as one of the Earth One graphic novels? It seems marketed at a more YA audience than the tv tie-in ( Kara's best friend identifies as a "badass dyke", which I don't think would fly in an All-Ages comic). It's pretty but a bit redundant and Kara's foster parents are very off-model.
Wonder Woman will be the star of her own movie this year but the Lynda Carter version from Seventies tv has a significant presence in modern comics. The Wonder Woman '77 digital-first series has been collected in a number of kitschy specials; number four introduced us to the retro pleasures of Superfunk " the hottest thing since Parliament"; an affectionate David Bowie parody; and the return of Harlow Gault, a disembodied brain in the mould of Marvel's Dr. Sun or Brain Drain, played on tv by John Carradine.
Wonder Woman '77 also stars in two team-up titles: firstly, a pop art collaboration with Adam West's Batman '66, Ra's al Ghul and the Eartha Kitt Catwoman. The other is with her Seventies contemporary, Jaime "Deeneeneenee" Sommers, the Bionic Woman. The classic tv superstars are caught up in the nefarious plots of Dr. Cyber and the Fembots (with affectionate nods to the likes of Bigfoot and Max, the Bionic Dog).
These campy interpretations are much more effective than the "god of war" iteration who has plagued comics for the last decade. WW'77 reflects the purity and positivity of a heroine whose mission is to "make a hawk a dove"
Finally today, the recent Black Canary series was Young Animal before there was Young Animal! Like Gotham Academy- the cancellation of which was announced yesterday- Black Canary was a spinoff from the Batgirl of Burnside ( which I've enthused about in previous posts).
In yesterday's post on Dr. Fate, I remarked that Black Canary was one of the Golden Age stars who developed something of a cult status in the Seventies. Now that the Cathy Gale episodes of the Avengers are being shown on Freeview, we can see how potent and transgressive this tough "broad" was. The mildly fetishistic look Mrs Gale shares with Black Canary goes someway to explain Dinah's trial launch as Starman's co-star in the mid- Sixties. Subsequently established in the JLA as a "girl gladiator" in place of a Wonder Woman explicitly modelled on Emma Peel, Black Canary was relegated to sidekick status in Green Arrow adventures.
For the last two decades approximately, Dinah has been Babs Gordon's partner in the Birds of Prey title. But with its loose, jagged style and punk rock colour, the DCYou series situated Dinah and "the most dangerous band in America" in a world of sci-fi government conspiracy. It broke with Black Canary's Nineties role as a superhero team member with a sonic scream and forged connections with the assassin-cult version from TV's Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.
In addition to its celebrated superheroines- including Titans alumni Raven and Starfire; Hawkgirl ( another Forties femme); somewhat more obscure characters like Katana and Vixen; and arguably the underrated Lois Lane, DC is also famous for its Bad Girls: Catwoman and Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. While not aspirational, they certainly are empowered and have agency in their own storylines. We have to conclude that, while DC struggles to compete with its cinematic universe, the women of the DCU excel in the comics pages.
Coming soon: A Star in Her Eye
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