Read Comics

I have been meaning to repost this Jezebel commentary and join the conversation started in this list of 10 Great Female Comic Book Characters Of The Decade.  Be warned that there are spoilers in this link (though not in my post below), particularly for the wonderfully badass selections of 355 from Y the Last Man (#3) and Michonne from Walking Dead (#2).

I really enjoyed the post, and I’m interested in reading more of Kelly Thompson’s She Has no Head posts in Comics Should be Good now. I am familiar with most of the women on the list.  I love the inclusion of Frau Totenkinder (#10), though it does seem wrong for me to root for a child-eating witch when I’m on the verge of having a baby.  I really didn’t connect with Promethea (#9), but I can reluctantly respect her inclusion on the list, and the post itself echoes many of my criticisms about the abstract turn the story took.

I love the inclusion of Jessica Jones from Alias (#5).  Despite my terrible memory, which prohibits me from saying anything about the characters listed from Powers (#7) or Planetary (#6), despite having read both, Alias definitely stands out for me as one of my favorite titles/ new characters of the last decade.

There were three characters listed that I have never seen; Tara Chace from Queen & Country (#8), Cass Cain as Batgirl (#4), and Kate Kane as Batwoman (#1).  I will probably continue to skip Queen & Country, since it seems to have a miliary focus that totally puts me off, but these incarnations of Batgirl & Batwoman sounds fascinating. I may have to check the library, since I don’t think I know anyone who collects these DC comics (speak up if I’m wrong).

I was initially indignant about the absence of Strangers in Paradise, Buffy, and Sandman, whose female characters shaped and fueled my fandom, but I can understand them being excluded as characters who appeared in comics after 2000, but who were created in the 90s.  You could still make a case for Joss Whedon’s Fray, since it debuted in 2001.

Any suggestions of other missing characters who should have been eligible?

Tags: jezebel, women in comics

This entry was posted by florence on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 11:27 am and is filed under issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.