Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, Zatanna, Black Canary, Hawkgirl, and Ms. Marvel are all to be compared today in terms of their contribution to their respective teams as well as who generates the most interest for you.
I have to say that Marvel is the clear leader for me in this category. I admittedly am not as versed in DC lore; I struggled to name many JLA featured characters although I suspect Power Girl and Vixen could have been added to the list. While for Marvel, I strongly considered adding Tigra, Black Widow, She-Hulk, and Captain Marvel (Photon) to the list as I felt they were all significant contributors, but discounted their impact due to length of service or contributions to other teams (She-Hulk on the FF and Black Widow and the Champions),
But you can add others to this Rank and File as you see fit.
My personal rankings are:
1. Wasp: The early days were rough, but I really grew to appreciate Janet Van Dyne during Roger Stern's run as I think he created a wonderful evolution for the character.
2. Scarlet Witch: Although she has had serious retcons and re-imaginings over the years. I still think of Wanda as a core and interesting member of the team. I find I prefer eras with her in the cast more so than those times she is absent.
3. Hawkgirl: The "Hawk" characters are so convoluted with their various reincarnations and shifting alter egos and origins. But I still like them. Out of all of the winged characters, however, I really like the costume and warrior-like intentions of Kendra.
4. Ms. Marvel: I have mixed feelings about Carol Danvers. She is a different and bold creation and I enjoy that they made her such a powerhouse, but I have never found her characteristics to be totally rounded and complete. I have not read her adventures for a while, but back in the Bronze Age I would have liked to see more depth to her motivation. And unfortunately Avengers #200 was a complete travesty that had impacted her future.
5. Black Canary: Despite coming first, I always felt that Dinah was a strange copy of Black Widow but with an added power with her vocal ability. I am probably completely wrong as I know so little about her history in the JLA, with the Bird of Prey, or when teaming with Green Arrow. I essentially defer to others' input.
6. Zatanna: Again, I am at a loss. Are there major arcs involving Zatanna? This may say a lot about my DC knowledge, but perhaps it also is a commentary about DC characters in general. Should other characters be on this list?
I also want to point out that in regards to the Avengers, the Wasp and Scarlet Witch are top tier. I would bump a couple from my "male" top six to make room for them on the team. In my eyes, they are more important to the team than Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Black Panther and many others.
What do you think about these heroines? How do you rank them? And how do you list them when side-by-side with their male counterparts?
.
12 comments:
Good morning! Very simply I only have a preference for Black Canary. That is because she has no superpowers and has a really really hot costume and I would really like to meet her in person. Does this mean I am a misogynist?
Cheers Everyone!
1. Scarlet Witch
Indivisible from another personal #1 pick The Vision and yet a strong and unique character in her own right. Her back story and powers are unique. And her depth of character and emotions were well written and drawn for so many years. Avengers Disassembled was a shame and took her out of contunity for quite a while if I remember correctly. On the fence about her variable powers depending on what a writer wished to achieve. Which brings me to my #2...
2. Zatanna
Like The Scarlet Witch Zatanna has a variable powerset that can be used creatively to fit any and all priorities in the plot and action. I enjoy working out her backwards spells and also enjoy the possibility that she could be the most powerful person in the DCU if she cared to do it. I like her engaging personality too.
Marti - the 'Search for Zatanna' storyline which launched her into the DCU starting in Hawkman #4 was the first DC title crossover (published in 1964 I think)
3. Wasp
Janet has had strong character evolution, in some ways parallel with Sue Storm. She starred on the front cover of my first SA back issue - Avengers #26 - which will always be close to my heart. On the other hand, there have been stretches when she seemed away from the centre of the action story-wise. Maybe that's just the nature of team books. I agree, the Stern years were a standout.
4. Ms Marvel
It's great fun to read Gerry Conway on Ms Marvel, how she was overtly intended to be a self-aware 'modern' female superhero. It makes what happened in Avengers #200 even harder to understand. When I think of Carol Danvers I tend to think of her solo book rather than her Avengers membership, but I haven't read those Avengers books in so long. It would be interesting to see how she fares on a re-read.
5. Black Canary
I enyoyed the Birds of Prey conics I read but haven't seen much else...yet. Interesting to get the esteemed opinions from here.
6. Hawkgirl
See Black Canary (minus the Birds of Prey bit) Hawkgirl is a total gap in my comics reading...so far.
There was a time, all-too-brief, when Captain Marvel a.k.a. Monica Rambeau would've been a great contender for this category.
She turned into a cornerstone of the Roger Stern era Avengers (and became iconic enough to be one of the core heroes featured in the Marvel Role Playing Game!).
She was visually distinct (both in terms of racial diversity, plus I liked her costume too!) and her powers were both original and pretty darn formidable. And of course, she had a really nice arc, going from trainee to Avengers team leader over 5 years.
A shame that she was sidelined in the late 80s, and never, to my knowledge, really recovered. Her most prominent comeback seems to have been in Nextwave, which was essentially a hero spoof-book (albeit a very good one).
So in my mind, Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel lead the pack on this one. I always liked Ms. Marvel as a character, but her role in bronze age Avengers was never quite as prominent as it probably should have been, starting out well in the Michelenie/Byrne run but ending with the Marcus fiasco.
Not too many opinions about JLA's women. Most of my interest in them revolved around the Morrison issues (where women besides Diana did not get much attention).
-david p.
Hmmm, this one's a bit harder to rank than the others. I'd have to go with:
1) Black Canary--she's been written well over the years, and she's a pretty cool character.
2) Scarlet Witch--I like Wanda when she's not crazy, and her powers are pretty cool
3) Ms. Marvel--I like the 70s/80s Ms. Marvel, but she basically disappeared after turning into Binary; I was glad when they brought her back. I thought Bendis's take on her was pretty good, but I haven't read any of the solo series. She was on the wrong side during Civil War, which made me like her a bit less.
4) Zatanna--I like Zatanna generally, and I'd probably like her more if someone actually did something with her. I haven't read her solo stuff yet, but one of these days ...
5) Wasp--I've never been a big fan, mainly because she was usually written as kind of an airhead fashionista type, and I see enough of that on TV and everywhere else. I liked the way Stern wrote her ... she was a really good leader for the Avengers, especially during the Masters of Evil storyline.
6) Hawkgirl--I've always found her and Hawkman utterly boring
I'd maybe swap in a couple of other names, like Shulkie or Power Girl, depending on who's writing them. Even Fire in DeMatteis's JLA run was pretty cool.
Hi Gents, when did Black Canary get this voice weapon??? I don't recall it in golden age reprints or in when she was hanging with Green Arrow???
Now, Wonder Woman's out because she's already one of the Trinity, right? (Which is fine, sure--)
Man, JLA just doesn't give me much to work with. The one I like most is probably Power Girl-- and I really think of her as JSA-first. Fire & Ice?--- bleaaah. And-- my own list is going to grab right onto some of the ones Marti didn't want to include. And-- it's gonna be mostly Avengers-- uh-huh. Purely favorite characters-- possibly a Dream Team:
1)Wasp
2)Monica Rambeau (Photon/Capt Marvel/etc)
3)She-Hulk
4)Black Canary ('cause I'm still liking her detective-character element that we mentioned a few posts ago).
5)Scarlet Witch
6)Hmm-- either Mockingbird, Songbird (AVENGERS FOREVER), Or Black Widow--- who was a rather solid core member for longer than folks realize during the dark late 90's time which probably not many folks around her read. . . I love all three of these female characters. For today, I'll take Songbird--!
Hey, does anyone 'round here recall the period of time when Claremont managed to work it out so that the ENTIRE X-MEN roster was made up of women super-heroes? The book itself was terribly dreary in general at that point, but I LOVED the fact that he did that!
HB
Agree with all the bonus points for Monica Rambeau. Horribly underused beyond the core Avengers years, all her potential has gone to waste. She was a likeable, genuine character who brought both realism and immense power to the team *sigh*
@Charlie Horse 47: The Silver/Bronze Age Black Canary first used her sonic cry in JLA #75, the same issue she went from Earth-2 to Earth-1 and joined the League. It was thought she gained the powers because of energy she absorbed when fighting Aquarius, but in JLA #220 that was revealed to be untrue (and everyone found out she was the daughter of the Earth-2 Canary, not the original).
In post-Crisis continuity, there were two Canaries on the same Earth, mother and daughter; I think the daughter got her sonic power from a curse placed on her as a child by the Wizard; I'm not sure if her mother had sonic powers post-Crisis.
Hiya,
Come on now!! No love here for Shanna the She-Devil or The Cat? These might have been blink and you miss them when first published back in the early Seventies, but each title had potential that was never really realized and it would have been nice to have had something more made from them.
I started looking for more Shanna after I picked up the second issue when she displayed a fighting style that included knives, automatic weapons and absolutely no regard for human life. The plot revolved around slavers with, as I recall, an emphasis on attractive females so this might have been one of the first stories regarding the sex trade ever published in American comics. I believe the story was, at the very least, co-written by Steve Gerber and the art was by the seldom used team of Andru and Colletta. Here both artists were at the top of their forms and complimented each other splendidly. These creatives stayed with the book, I believe, for its brief run.
Unfortunately for Shanna's sister title, The Cat never had a particularly steady creative team and this did the title no favors. Whatever potential the character had was eventually given over to Patsy Walker's Hellcat which may or may not have used it wisely or well.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
Hmmm, several of my favorites all bunched up together in this list! But, to make a choice:
1. Scarlet Witch- Wanda has always been at the top of my heroines hierarchy. Intriguing character (when handled properly), great costume.
2. Wasp- Jan has long shown an admirable strength of spirit. Especially liked her fun-loving attitude, combined with her apparent reservoir of personal strength.
3. Hawkgirl- one of the most striking female heroes in appearance, and an early example of a strong, confident woman. When they suggest a woman carry Mace, she doesn't kid around.
4. Black Canary- a perfect foil for Oliver Queen. And loved her in the 'bwa ha haa' Justice League.
5. Ms. Marvel- Wasn't impressed at first, as too derivative of Mar-Vell. But she has grown on me, and I'm impressed with the current version.
6. Zatanna- Would place higher, perhaps, if I was more familiar with her.
But like HB, several of my top choices are off the page today. A couple of them: Patsy Walker/Hellcat (yes, mainly a Defender, but I loved her time with the Avengers). She-Hulk- She rocked with the FF, and worked well too as an Avenger.
Thanks for that Mike! I can sleep easy tonight. I find myself preferring less power and more story. Natasha, Black Canary - I like their concept.
Hey pfgavigan, nice write-up on Shanna... I collected her Gerber series last year, SUCH an untapped potential for a great magazine, it just never found it's (brief) audience.
Back in the day, I collected DD&BW during the Gerber tenure and had the issues Shanna guest-starred in, so I was happy to find the backstory actually revealed in her short book. Loved the Andru/Colletta art as well.
Not many comments to add, big Scarlet Witch fan, aided greatly by her costume I will admit. I'm so glad Englehart played her up in their squabbles with Mantis (my beloved 'this one'..), but as I've said otherwise, her character took a mundane plunge with her betrothal to ol' Vish.
Frankly most Bronze readers' comments on the JLA letters page found the likes of Batgirl and Hawkgirl a tad banal for JLA membership. Oddly enough, most JLA issues I have didn't include WW, so it's hard for me to gage her input, although I was aware of a bit of Flash-WW conflict when Englehart penned his JLA stories.
Not as a team member, I'll always remain fond of the Bronze-era Natasha..., always. :)
Contrary to Redartz, but keeping in mind I didn't read as many Avengers/FF comics in the '80s, I felt She-Hulk made a much-better FF fill-in member than an Avenger. I liked the FF outfit better as well.
In the Avengers issues I did read, she just seemed kinda lost in the larger team mix, but that criticism's more pointed at shoddy writing than anything else.
Post a Comment