What About The Women?

by Michael Hutchison

When Grant Morrison was put in charge of a new JLA series, DC Comics' Powers That Be had a simple plan for restoring the glorious name of the Justice League: all of the members would be big-name characters of the DC Universe, preferably ones known to Mr. and Mrs. General Public. The only exception to that rule so far has been Aztek, who falls under DC's Character Nepotism Act: "The writer of Justice League can induct any characters from books of his that we canceled." Grant Morrison can be forgiven for that, since A) Gerry Conway invoked that rule on a couple occasions, and B) Aztek has left the group already.

Many people have taken issue with the League's membership, particularly its lack of females. So far, the only women in the group have been Wonder Woman (currently "dead") and Tomorrow Woman (an android programmed to kill them). In a way, history is just repeating itself. Historically, Wonder Woman was the only woman on the team until Black Canary joined almost 90 issues later; and post-Crisis, with the removal of Wonder Woman and possibly Hawkwoman (it isn't clear whether the JSA's Hawkwoman filled the old Thanagarian's spot), Black Canary would have been the only female until Zatanna joined years later.

The problem is this: what big-name superwomen can be added to the JLA?

Currently, DC has only three big-selling female characters: Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Catwoman. Of the three, Wonder Woman is the only original creation (in the sense of not being a spin-off). Even in her current non-Kryptonian form, Supergirl is still a member of the Superman Family. Similarly, Catwoman is a Batman Family character…and as a somewhat-reformed criminal, she wouldn't fit in the JLA.

The fourth big-name female, Batgirl, was eliminated a decade ago when the Joker shot her through the spine. Barbara Gordon resurfaced in Suicide Squad as Oracle, hacker extraordinaire and information broker for the DC Universe. Oracle currently has quite a following and it's believed that she may join the JLA in a supporting role. The fact remains that, without a costume and with limited physical abilities (yes, she can defend herself well for a person in a wheelchair, but she can't very well tackle Shakedown), Oracle isn't a "superhero".

So far, the only conspicuous absence from the Justice League has been Black Canary. Her omission from the current line-up is especially odd given that, in rewritten continuity, she was a founding member of the team. Part of this may be due to the loss of her Canary cry, which for a generation of fans was Dinah Laurel Lance's defining characteristic. Green Arrow scribe Mike Grell had Canary lose her cry (due to throat damage when she was raped and tortured) in an effort to make her more realistic. Currently, BC's only abilities lie in her martial arts skills. Black Canary was lying in the margins of obscurity (despite a mini-series and a short regular series) when Chuck Dixon teamed her up with Oracle to form Birds of Prey (an odd name, given that Oracle isn't a bird). The Birds of Prey mini-series and one-shots have been extremely popular and there's little doubt that they could become an ongoing series soon. Given that, it's likely that one or both will be joining the Justice League of America when JLA #16 comes out later this month.

Still, aren't there more than just these five characters? There are a wealth of commercially-viable men in the DC Universe; the list of potential male candidates for JLA membership is around fifty! And upon closer inspection, there appear to be many heroines just waiting for the right opportunity (and the right creative team) to put them back in the spotlight.

One of the most deserving of more attention wasn't even a DC character at first. Nightshade is beautiful, beguiling and intriguing. Between her demonic heritage, her presidential-leaning father, her government-intrigue and espionage background and her romance with Nemesis, there's more than enough material here for at least a good miniseries. There is a Charlton Heroes miniseries in the works which will hopefully pump new life into Nightshade as well as Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, the Question, Judomaster, Thunderbolt and Peacemaker. For more information, check out her origin later in this issue!

Firehawk is, in reality, senator's daughter Lorraine Reilly. Lorraine was forcibly subjected to the same forces which created Firestorm and thus transformed into Firehawk (she was really lucky that she just happened to also have the metagene). Firehawk has roughly the same powers as Firestorm…and since Firestorm's character has lost a lot of its fun elements, Firehawk doesn't seem like just a pale imitation of a bigger character. Unfortunately, nobody at DC has done anything with this character. When last heard of, the White Martians had made her too sick to show up as the President's metahuman escort in JLA #1 (note: she isn't in this issue, she's just mentioned). Here's an idea: since they're both daughters of senators, Firehawk and Nightshade could team up for a special (this is an election year, after all).

Phantom Lady is a young woman carrying on the tradition of the 1940s heroine. Her costume may be a little too…oh…chauvanistic in this day and age…although as her entry in Who's Who notes, no male attacker is going to get a good look at her face. Oh, and her dad is running for the Senate, too. (Just what is going on here?)

Vixen has been around since the 1970s and came to prominence in the mid-1980s, first in the much maligned Detroit-era JLA (there were several good storylines from that series, including her origin issue) and then in the Suicide Squad. Vixen is a supermodel of African royal origins; her parents fled their small African country when her uncle staged a military coup. She uses the Tantu totem (a piece of jewelry worn either around her neck or waist) to channel animal spirits and harness their powers. Since joining the Suicide Squad, she's had a romance with Bronze Tiger, but it chilled when Bronze Tiger had a breakdown and remembered his League of Assassins programming. Currently, she's still serving in the Suicide Squad (which was reportedly seen in the pages of the latest Hawk and Dove miniseries)

Another ex-JLAer is Gypsy, the woman with chameleonic and hallucinatory powers. Gypsy gained something of a following as one of the major players in Justice League Task Force. She also has the distinction of being the only comic book character to spontaneously change her ethnic group! She was a whitebread caucasian from suburbia, then, in the first issue of JLTF, she suddenly became an actual gypsy.

Power Girl, who has long since outgrown that "girl" appellation, has been a member of four, count 'em, four superteams! She began in the Justice Society of America (although this may not be in continuity anymore), joined Infinity Inc. (ditto), was a founding member of Justice League Europe and is currently in the pages of the destined-to-be-canceled Sovereign Seven. Where she goes to from here is anyone's guess. The grand-daughter of Arion of ancient Atlantis, she has Superman-level powers.

Dr. Light, another ex-Justice League member, is one of the few Asian females in comic books. She first appeared in Crisis On Infinite Earths as a hot-headed, self-centered person and has, over the years, mellowed out into a sweet, rather unassuming woman. This character has a lot of strikes against her making it as a name-brand superhero…one of which is that the original Dr. Light is still running around bearing the same name! If she reappears, it's time to give Kimiyo Hoshi a new name.

Big Barda (Barda Free) is one of my personal favorites, in that she is a woman who clearly doesn't fall into the "feminine rules" category. This woman is built stronger than most men in the world, so she never has to rely on the trite "You Wouldn't Hit A Woman, Would You?" defense. She could take on Wildcat in barefisted boxing and probably win! She also proved that she wasn't a dumb warrior in the 1980s Mr. Miracle series and the Giffen Justice League; she was seen doing technical repairs on her mega rod, training Beatriz Costa in the ways of a warrior and could be pretty romantic when she wanted to be (though she's usually the one carrying her husband to the bedroom!). Just don't ask her to cook lasagne!

Zatanna has been around for decades and was a member of the Justice League of America for over a hundred issues (back in the good old days of the original line-up). Her character has been languishing in the limbo of Unpopulardom ever since her really, really bad mini-series Zatanna: Come Together (yes, it's as bad as the title). Zatanna needs a major influx of blood before she can be popular again.

Jesse Quick, the daughter of Golden Agers Jesse Quick and Liberty Belle, has been a supporting character in Impulse. She's a great character but, let's face it, the DCU is overrun (sorry!) with superspeedsters.

Huntress was a hot character when she was the daughter of Earth-2's Batman (that was her big hook), but she's had a checkered history since her re-introduction. Still, she's got a lot of potential in the right hands.

Fire (formerly Green Flame, formerly Green Fury) became famous as one of the central figures in the Giffen-era Justice League International. She and Ice Maiden changed their names to Fire and Ice. Now that Ice has died (see below) and Fire hasn't really meshed well with Ice Maiden I (Sigrid Nansen), Beatriz Costa needs a different name. Or better yet, just bring back Ice!

Thorn (Rose Forrest) has a large fan following, but numerous attempts to make her popular have failed. Thorn isn't really a team-player. Due to her multiple personalities (Rose doesn't know that she's the Thorn), she can't really respond to a JLA signal device.

Other good female characters include Sentinel's daughter Jade, Dolphin, Tsunami, Plastique, Artemis, Deep Blue, Stealth, Arisia(ex-GL, now a weapon-toting "waitress" at Warriors), Arrowette and Spoiler. And let's not forget such strong, enjoyable non-superpowered heroines as Lois Lane, Amanda Waller, Linda Parkand Sue Dibny!

Dead Women Aren't Much Fun

One of the big hazards of being a popular female character in comic books is that as soon as people care about you, you run the risk of being killed off in some overly-dramatic fashion. And if you have white hair, you may as well step in front of a bus right now. The reason that heroines are often the ones to die in comics is fairly obvious: the majority of readers are male, and men can be more easily jarred by a woman's death than the death of a man.

Killing off superheroines isn't always a bad thing; a death scene can be a way to immortalize an underdeveloped character such as the Silver Sorceress (who was basically a parody of a Marvel character). Many people fondly remember Justice League Europe #35, the conclusion to the "Breakdowns" saga, in which Silver Sorceress fought and won a psychic battle against Dreamslayer as her body lay at the bottom of a canyon, dying of an arrow wound. Other grand demises have included the sacrifice of Triplicate Girl against Computo and the now-irrelevant death of Supergirl in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, just to name a few.

But many more female characters have met less noble deaths.

The second Wildcat and the second Dr. Midnite both met single-panel deaths in the pages of Eclipso. That wasn't a good day for affirmative action in the DC Universe, considering they were also both members of minority ethnic groups. Wildcat in particular is sorely missed.

Recently, Crimson Fox met her ignoble fate in the pages of Starman #38, slashed by the knife of the psychotic Mist.

Surely, the most miscalculated demise was the death of Ice(Tora Olafsdotter) in the penultimate conclusion of the "Judgment Day" mini-epic that spanned the Justice League titles. Ice had grown into a fan favorite during the Giffen-DeMatteis era of the Justice League titles. There was a lot to like about Tora. She was beautiful, devoted, kind and modest (How else would you describe a woman who wears a T-shirt over the top of her skin-tight costume?). Her sweet romance with the doltish Guy Gardner was a highlight of the title.

However, Dan Jurgens took over the reins of the Justice League and turned her into a schoolgirl; suddenly, she started mooning about how big and strong and wonderful Superman was in comparison to Guy. Fire and Ice became supporting players in a title they used to dominate. Thus, it isn't too surprising that Mark Waid thought it OK to kill her off…a move which he now admits was a mistake. It was ill-timed, too, as Guy Gardner wasn't in the JLA at the time. Thus, Guy's reaction to her death happened almost off-panel several months later.

Fans want Ice back almost as badly as they want Hal Jordan to return. The Powers That Be at DC Comics have been fighting to make death permanent as much as possible, as bringing a person back too often clearly diminishes the intensity of death in comic books. But in Ice, they have an out: Tora Olafsdotter was a goddess and shouldn't be bound by mortal rules.