The Other Heroes: A Portrayal of Women in Comics - Part 1

Editor’s note: This series of blog posts was adapted from a paper written by Erminia “Minnie” Saucedo. Minnie’s series on this topic will enlighten you on the portrayal of women in comics. We’re excited that she’s shared this with us.

By Erminia Saucedo

Of Men and Girls

Savin' the Day by Jen Monson
(c) 2014 Jen Monson

“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…Superman!!” Ever since my early childhood years, since the day I first heard this everlasting cry, comic books and the memorable heroes within their pages have been in my life; an obsession passed to me from my father. My fascination with the super powered began with his old comic collection that had consisted of Spider-man, Batman, The Hulk, Iron Man and scattered issues of independent titles. As I grew, I began buying and collecting series of my own. Soon I began to see a bit of a trend in my beloved illustrated stories of might: the girls were almost always secondary characters. Though the heroines in Harley Quinn-esque romance comics ruled their stories, super heroines were in a limited supply when it came to having their own legacies. For this paper I will set out to understand the portrayal of female characters in comic books, looking back to comic history and connecting it to our own modern day issues and that may reflect or deflect the image of the modern woman.

Supergirl Tooned by Jen Monson
(c) 2014 Jen Monson

In the Prologue (Goddesses of Tomorrow) of Super Heroines: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy & The History of Comic Book Heroines author Mike Madrid recalls his first comic book, Superman #95, and its storyline “The Fury of the Kryptonian Killer!”. His young eyes surveyed the cover on which a Superman weakened by deadly Green Kyrptonite sits on his knees in pain; however it was the pretty blonde wearing a costume like Superman’s on the far side of the page that actually caught his six-year-old attention. She, he would later learn from his older sister, was Supergirl. Madrid wrote, “She could fly and was incredibly strong, and I could tell from the way she was drawn that she was brave and noble…Although I wasn’t sure exactly what her relationship to Superman was, I could tell she was somehow considered inferior. And I couldn’t understand why.” What Madrid unknowingly stumbled upon at the time was the sort of hypocritical creation that was Supergirl’s potential as a hero. In America we are told we can become whatever we wanted, so with that in mind American comic book writers turned and used that same vein for their heroes: raising seemingly ordinary people to a kind and just god-like status. While male heroes were written to reach, fulfill and sometimes even surpass their potential, female heroes were not often given that role as they had to settle for lesser powers than those of their fellow heroes of the opposite sex. Perhaps this is why writers, who have always been a majority of men, created more “men” in the comic book universes: Spider-man, Superman, Iron Man, Batman. Wonder Woman aside, the heroines did not and do not have many “women” but rather a large number of “girls”: Supergirl, Powergirl, Batgirl, Invisiblegirl. With today’s titles, Wonder Woman is still barely followed by a small handful of “women”, she is surrounded by more “girls”; now even her own sidekick, Cassandra Sandsmark, Wonder Woman’s Wonder Girl.  Writers limited heroines’ potential by dubbing them “girls”, already marking them to be lesser to the “men” they fought beside. They separated the “girls” from legendary status before the “girls” ever had a chance.

The next post in this series discusses Women in Refrigerators Syndrome.

Ben's Captain America: Winter Soldier Primer on Good Day Sacramento

Get More Captain America: Winter Soldier In Your Life

Ben was on Good Day Sacramento yesterday to talk about Captain America. Want to read up on Cap before you see the movie? Want more Cap after? Watch to find out what you need to know.

We recently recorded an episode of Empire's Comics Vault's Podcast all about our Captain America movie predictions and expectations. Early this week, we'll have another episode up that reviews the movie.

Get me my books on time

By Kevin Winter

In today’s post I will tackle something that has vexed modern comic book fans to no end -- receiving comics on a regular schedule.

Busy-man, amazing artist and DC biggie
 Jim Lee runs notoriously late.

What do I mean by that?

When a comic says it will be monthly I expect it to come out monthly.  Some comics are bimonthly and others are biweekly.  DC Comics’ 52 was weekly.  As comic book readers, we expect to have issues of the comics we read on a timely schedule so that we are able to remember the story and so that we are not forced to re-read an older issue because we’ve forgotten what happened in the last issue.

On Time Is Better Than Perfection

Now, while getting comic books out on time is important for the story, I believe that it is also important for sales as well, especially for a new writer or artist.  Getting something out on time is often more important than making it perfect.  If you wait to make everything perfect in each issue you will fall behind and lose fans.  Losing fans is the death knell for titles.  Once you lose fans you are unlikely to regain them unless something big happens in your book.

Lateness Diminishes Customer Satisfaction

The timeliness of comic book releases affects the individual budget of the average shopper.  When I expect a certain issue each month and it does not come, I suffer because I live on a budget and can only get so many at once.  Then, other titles have to wait another week or two, or even the current issues will have to wait.  Even comic book shop owners are affected since it will effect their orders and can alienate customers.

Getting books out on time is important. Sometimes they might be a month late, others might be longer.  But comic books need to get back on time if they want to succeed.

Thankfully, the industry as a whole has done well with timeliness. It’s really the new publishers and overtaxed writers and artists that must be diligent about maintaining a good schedule.

About The Author

Kevin Winter is someone with an opinion about almost everything. A comic fan of several years, he can be seen around Empire's Comics Vault on Wednesdays, and generally spouting an opinion (if anyone wants to hear it or not)... also trying not to get on Ben's bad side.

Related articles

• Store Signing with Ramon Villalobos and Sean Miller
• FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is Saturday May 3rd!!
• Revisiting Legion of Super Heroes

Podcast Episode 2 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier Predictions

Predictions and Expectations

Will our Captain America movie predictions be on the money or grossly off the mark? Listen in and find out. Plus, get some background info that will enhance your movie viewing experience. Then go see the movie and come back early next week for Episode 3 in which we offer our movie review.

Guest podcasters are long-time fans of Empire's Comics Vault -- Patrick Clarke and J.R. Weinzetl.

Listen to earlier episodes on this site, Stitcher (mobile and online), or iTunes. And if you like what you hear there, please give us a review.

Related articles

• Welcome to 2014 and What's New at Empire's This Year
• FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is Saturday May 3rd!!
• Sac City Rollers Tickets Now Available at Empire's

Go see Captain America: Winter Soldier today

Last night, an informal "movie crew" from the shop went to see Captain America: Winter Soldier. See this movie. You will not be disappointed.

Included below is our quick Instagram review. Don't worry. There are no spoilers.

Early next week, our podcast episode about the movie will be all spoilers from start to finish. Catch that new episode by clicking on Podcast here or in the top menu, on iTunes, or on Stitcher radio.

Related articles

• FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is Saturday May 3rd!!
• Welcome to 2014 and What's New at Empire's This Year
• Revisiting Legion of Super Heroes

Ride The Wild Spinner Rack - Part 2

Editor's Update 10/17/2014: The Ride The Wild Spinner Rack series appears in multiple posts, including, so far, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Enjoy.

RIDE THE WILD SPINNER RACK

Part 2: The Last Wave

Needless to say, I was hooked.  My thirst for more Fantastic Four, Spiderman (which of course featured the FF on the first issue’s cover!), Strange Tales, The Avengers and the rest grew exponentially in the months ahead.  Midway through 1963 a FF #14 letters page writer said he had started a New York City FF fan club.  The person answering the letters asked if anyone else out there had started a club.  Bingo!  What a great idea!  I immediately drew up a charter for the Sacramento branch.  Membership: me.  I also held all the offices.  I sent Marvel my good news and a few issues later (I’m not sure which one because I no longer own it) there was a half page dedicated to listing all the clubs around the country.  The Sacramento branch, along with my address, was right there in the mix.

“Surf fever brings them here to meet the test
And hanging round the beach you'll see the best

The Empire's podcast strikes back!

Episode 1 - We're so excited about Guardians of the Galaxy!

Here it is: Episode 1 -- 2014. Our first ever podcast hit the digital airwaves way back in 2011. We'll be sprinkling in excerpts or full episodes down the road, but best of all, we'll have all new episodes headed your way.

Our new format is shorter, 30-minute episodes. We'll get in to a topic, then we'll get out. We'll talk comics, movies, and gaming from time to time.

In this episode

Two guests joined us for this return episode: Jake DeSersa of Con Nachos Podcast and Kris Saldana of Wee Little Monsters. In this episode we talk about movies, from Guardians to Wonder Woman, and then wrap up with the comic book titles we're reading. We hope you enjoy it.

 

Join us for some shop talk

If you want to join us, just talk to Ben and he'll put you on the waiting list. Yes, there's already a waiting list!

Listen on the go using Stitcher radio on your mobile device. Stay tuned for our iTunes listing. We'll update that information right here.

Ride The Wild Spinner Rack - Part 1

Editor's Update 10/17/2014: The Ride The Wild Spinner Rack series appears in multiple posts, including, so far, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Enjoy.

Part 1: A Grocery Cart Full of Comics

Way back during the Silver Age, I was a pre-pubescent DC Comics fan: Carmine Infantino was a favorite artist, Gardner Fox was a favorite writer, and anything edited by Julius Schwartz was right about in my science-fiction possessed wheelhouse. 

There was a drug store about six blocks from my home where adults would get their fix from pharmaceuticals and I would get mine from the comic the book spinner rack.

I would scan it and bring home Mystery in Space, Strange Adventures, Justice League of America and all the rest.  I was hooked on DC and there didn’t seem to be anything else out there that mattered. 

My only other interest was music: what I played on the piano, movie musicals, and what I heard on the radio.  Around this time I bought my first record, a 45 (look it up) by Dickey Lee, a teenage tragedy song called “Patches."

Revisiting Legion of Super Heroes

  Since day one of reading comics I have been a Marvel Zombie. Not the nicest way to describe those of us who found their love of comics and passion for characters in the 616…but probably an apt one. There were only a couple DC titles I read as a kid and Legion of Super Heroes (LOSH) was my favorite. Back in the day, it was hard to find every issue of a book at your local convenience or grocery store so I missed a lot. As I got older and had more money, I completed some but not all of the LOSH. But it was not till yesterday that I had the opportunity to read a complete run from #283 all the way to the end of the 80’s.

     My good buddy Douglas Briel has spent the last couple years putting together this great run and last night he let me borrow the first box. I opened it to find a reprint of Adventure Comics #247, the first appearance of the LOSH from 1958.  In typical Silver Age fashion, Superboy is introduced to the Legion through a series of humiliating encounters that end in a big laugh as they take him to the 30^th century aboard their Time Bubble. Awesome!