The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History

Comic books have historically emphasized male characters, but this compendium offers detailed backgrounds on more than 180 female detectives, nurses, and college students; there's even a single mom and a homeless girl or two. Nicholson sizes them up and pares them down; as a female comic book fan, she's sensitive to how misleading stereotypes can be. She enthuses about old-school heroines such as the protagonists of Sally the Sleuth and Moronica; she knows their stories, and she has their backs—even if their creators saw them as exploitable, all curves and no brains. Nicholson sees a link between these pioneering characters and today's tougher Gen X-types, such as the heroines of Street Angel and Bandette. Acknowledging historian Trina Robbins and the many women professionals in today's comics field, she notes there's still much inequality. Drawing on everything from zines to popular collections, Nicholson has done extensive research, thanks to what must be an impressive personal archive; she's also a publisher. This one-of-a-kind volume informs readers what's available and where. It's an invitation to celebrate the long-lived and the forgotten, the popular and the unknown.