In honor of the release of "Wonder Woman", I thought it would be an appropriate time to look at some of my favorite female superheroes. These are the heroines who have inspired me and my ideals in the same way male heroes have done. These are also the heroines who, I feel, have the coolest powers/abilities and have the most interesting backstories/mythology tied to them. These are the ladies who people (men, women, and everyone in between) should aspire to be. So let's take a look at these special women and see why they left such an impact on me. Before we start I would like to give a small shout out to the heroines who didn't make the list.
The runners up are Rogue (X-Men), Silk (Spider-Man), Big Barda (Mister Miracle), Black Widow (Avengers), Captain Marvel (Captain Marvel), X-23 (X-Men), and Scarlet Witch (Avengers).
6. Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel)
Kamala Khan is one of my favorite "new" heroes within the Marvel Universe (along with Miles Morales). She has abilities similar to those of Mr. Fantastic (she can stretch and bend her entire body). While Mr. Fantastic, however, was a seriously minded scientist.
Kamala is a young teenager who's fun and bizarre personality gives her powers an added sense of creativity and makes her entertaining to read. She has the same appeal to me that young characters like Spider-Man have on me. I like watching a young person like her deal with the struggles of being a young person (which is code for high school and puberty) while also dealing with the struggles of being a superhero.
Kamala, however, also has the added bonus of living her life as a Muslim woman (she is of Pakistani descent) in New Jersey. It's rare enough to see a Muslim superhero in the first place and her character serves as not only a benchmark for underrepresented minorities in America, but also gave me a window into Muslim American life and helped me under stand some of the struggles they go through. She helps create human empathy in a time when we need it the most.
She is also has a lighthearted, free-spirited, nerdy, and fun-lovingly sarcastic personality, which should make her adorable and appealing to almost anyone (seriously, I dare you to read one of her comics and try not to find her appealing).
5. Kara Zor-El (Supergirl)
There have been several different versions of Supergirl over the countless decades, however, the version that has always stuck with me was the original; Kara Zor-El. Kara is the cousin of Kal-El a.k.a Clark Kent/Superman. Like Clark, she too was shot into space from Krypton, specifically Argo City (a city of Krypton that briefly survived destruction), however, Kara was launched to Earth as a young woman instead of as a baby like Clark was. Clark grew up on Earth his entire life. He grew up knowing Earth customs and cultures, and knew little of Krypton to genuinely miss it. Kara, however, lived most of her young life on Krypton.
She was a citizen of Krypton and when she arrives on Earth, we see her struggle with accepting this strange new planet and its traditions as her new home and wishing to maintain her Kryptonian heritage. She has the capacity to genuinely miss her native land and that really spoke to me and most people who immigrate to a foreign land for a better life.
People often say Superman represents the immigrant experience, but I somewhat disagree. He better represents 1st generation immigrant children who have grown up and are knowledgeable of the land they have lived while learning of their heritage from second hand experiences. Kara, however, embodies the immigrant; the person who has left their home and struggles to make a new life in a strange new place. This always made her interesting to me. She also has the power of flight, laser eyes, super strength, and all those powers that make Kryptonian heroes so cool.
4. Peggy Carter
Is this one cheating? I only ask this because most of what I love about the character comes from the movies and television show, even though the character has existed in the comics long before. Whatever the case, Peggy Carter is awesome. She started as the love interest of one of my favorite super heroes, Captain America.
Peggy, however, eventually grew out from that box and became a fun, interesting, and cool character; period. She's one of the few love interests, I know of, to evolve from the status "love interest" to an independent hero. Her romance with Steve Rogers was beautiful and tragic, but her relationship with Steve is not what ultimately defined her.
After Steve's, supposed, death she went on to become one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. and helped thwart several plots during the Cold War era. She did all of the during a time when these professions were almost universally viewed as "men's work". She was a serious minded agent, but she also had a playful wit hiding underneath. She was great in the films and here own, sadly, short lived television series "Agent Carter."
I hope Disney/Marvel find a way to write more stories about her, because she is too good of a character to go to waste... and bring back "Agent Carter" on Netflix or something, because cancelling that show was downright criminal.
3. Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)
How was I supposed to make a list about my favorite female superheroes and not put "the" female superhero. I first became interested with Wonder Woman, as a character, when I was growing up watching the animated Justice League cartoon. I was always liked the fact that her mythology was tide to Greek legends and stories. I love superheroes who take inspiration from real world mythology, such as Thor. It made her world more interesting and mysterious. I also liked any episode where her and Batman fought side by side (seriously, these two had really fun chemistry on the show). However, what I really liked about her was the same thing I liked about my other favorite hero, Captain America; she is a good human being at heart.
She always wants to help people out of the kindness of her heart and fights for those who don't have the ability to fight for themselves. She is a very humble person who respects all forms of life. Like Steve Rogers, I love a character who is both a skilled warrior and a decent person who embodies all of the positive qualities of humanity and makes you want to be a better person. That's the impact superheroes have on us. That's the impact Wonder Woman has on us.
People who often criticize "goody good" superheroes (like Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Superman), they say their overly good nature makes them "unrealistic" and "unrelatable". However, I feel that we need heroes like that more than ever and it says a lot about humanity when we can't relate to really good people. Anyway Wonder Woman is great and you should totally watch her movie.
2. Barbara Gordon (Batgirl)
Similar to Wonder Woman, Batgirl was a character I was initially introduced to in an animated television series, specifically "Batman: The Animated Series". As a kid, this show is what got me interested in superheroes. Batgirl was another fun addition to the "Bat family" along side Robin. While there have been several different women who have worn the suit over the years, to me, the best is still the original; Barbara Gordon. Barbara is the teenage daughter of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon, who is one of Batman's closest allies.
Barbara is a strong willed and intelligent young woman who has technological skills and detective skills that could easily match Batman's. For as young as she is, she has excellent fighting and stealth skills. However, like many young heroes, she has to deal with balancing her personal life and her crime fighting life. This is twice as hard when you are trying to hide your hero identity from your father, who just happens to be a detective and police officer.
She also doesn't have the wealth to help balance her double life like Bruce does. I also found her youthful and playful attitude to be a nice contrast to Bruce and his brooding, downbeat one. She is a character who looked up to Batman and followed his example to fight for good. She serves as an example of the positive behavior heroes can inspire in others. I also really like the black and gold color scheme of her costume; those are two colors I love seeing together.
1. Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk)
Jennifer Walters is both a Hulk and a lawyer; what more can I say about this character to make her sound awesome? She beats up bad guys and then takes them to court the next day. She wears both superhero tights and a formal suit and skirt.
I was first introduced to She-Hulk while reading a book called The Ultimate Guide to The Incredible Hulk. She was a part of Hulk's history I knew nothing about, but I wanted to learn more just by hearing that she was a lawyer as well. Jennifer Walters started as a young lawyer and was the cousin of Bruce Banner. After she became mortally wounded from an attempted assassination attempt, Bruce was forced to give her a blood transfusion using his own gamma radiated blood. This gave Jennifer similar powers to her cousin.
While she's not as strong as the Hulk, she retains her human intelligence; keeping her from devolving into an unstoppable, mindless beast like her cousin. She has many of the positives of being a Hulk with almost none of the drawbacks. However, as I've said before balancing crime fighting and a day job are struggles many can relate too. What always fascinated me about the character was what her Hulk persona represented.
Hulk personas always seem to be the manifestation of some repressed or unconscious element of the character. For example, Bruce's Hulk persona is an uncontrollable rage machine, because it represents his repressed anger from his troubled childhood and never finding a proper outlet for that anger. Jennifer is a shy and fragile young woman who rarely got what she needed in life because never had the confidence to assert herself. Her She-Hulk persona is the manifestation of her repressed confidence and will power.
This persona also represents her repressed sexual confidence since Jennifer was a shy and timid girl most of her life. It's rare to see a female heroes sexiness be tide to her character in this way and used as a positive example of a woman embracing,confidently expressing, and owning her own sexuality. She has always been a fascinating character to psychologically examine. Unlike her cousin, these gamma powers have led to a mostly positive change in her life and that's very satisfying to see. Her been a lawyer also makes her one of the few heroes who actually and officially operates within the criminal justice system and, by extension, the law.
She-Hulk has everything; looks, brains, skills, a sense of justice, and an interesting psychological character study.
