'A woman's place is saving the universe.'
A great history lesson about the leading ladies in comic books, who, along with female creators and artists, have always been around in a supposed boys' club.
'The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen' by Hope Nicholson lists long-forgotten and overlooked female characters in chronological order from the 1930s to the 2010s. It is all very interesting. And with so many diverse and totally different females who are products of their time, you will find that Ms Nicholson has missed out some of them. For example, there is no mention of 'Rat Queens' - but 'Jem and the Holograms' gets its own section! - nor specific analyses on a lot of DC and Marvel superheroines like Power Girl and Kitty Pryde. Plus, why no history on Betty and Veronica and Sabrina the Teenage Witch?
However, Nicholson recognizes stereotypes of women, including the "feminist", "strong female characters", who are, again, products of their time; such as the dark, brooding, scantily-clad, dominatrix anti-heroine that was so popular in the 1990s (i.e. Witchblade, and this could apply to "empowered" heroines like Catwoman).
Unsatisfactory fan elements aside, I recommend the fun and educational 'The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen' to any comic book fan - young and old, male and female, and everything else. It can be devoured in a day.
Women have always ruled. They have always been cool. We only need to remember and include them in any medium and field.
Final Score: 4/5
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