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DC, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year without including any super heroines in its 75th anniversary logo (see below right).
The logo includes Flash, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern... but not Wonder Woman. Some female comic fans have already petitioned DC about this injustice. The Zazzle store that is selling the anniversary merchandisedoes have a Supergirl and a Wonder Woman section, but a quick look at the Justice League section once again reveals an all-male club.
I would love a female Justice League t-shirt. Even more, I would love a* Birds of Prey* t-shirt. Get with it Warner Brothers marketing!
So, in a small attempt to correct this injustice, I made a list of my favorite DC heroines. This is not necessarily a list of the most popular or the most well-known heroines.
They simply happen to be the ones I like best and, definitely at least one of them is very obscure.
1. Black Canary
Canary dates back all the way to 1947, the Golden Age of comics, and is one of those rare female heroines that's not a spin-off of a male hero. The original Canary took up crime fighting because she wasn't allowed to be a police officer like her father. The current character (after much ret-conning and time/earth crises) is now Dinah Laurel Lance, the daughter of the original.
Unlike most heroines on my list, Dinah has a super-power: the sonic scream. Her sonic cry can shatter buildings and take down more powerful villains, as seen recently in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold television show. But she relies mainly on hand-to-hand combat skills honed through years of training to protect herself.
I'd been reading Canary stories in the Justice League of America for years growing up. I liked her fine but it wasn't until she received a starring role in Birds of Prey that I went truly fangirl over Canary.
She's tough, she's sweet, she's funny, and she's incredibly loyal. DC hasn't seemed to know what to do with her in the last few years, trying to put in a comic with her sweetheart, Green Arrow. This was a creative failure, at least to me, but she's back in the revamped Birds of Prey now and I couldn't be happier.
2. Lois Lane
Lois really needs no introduction.
No, she's not a costumed hero.
I don't care. I love Lois Lane. I love her because the most important single characteristic about Lois is that she loves her job, and when it comes to that job she's one of the best in the world. Sure, there were some Golden/Silver Age stories with her swooning and fighting over Superman's love, but by the time I picked up her stories -- in the early to late 1970s -- they* *focused on adventures relating to her job, not romance.
And because of the focus on Lois Lane doing her job, it delivered a radical message. Yes, you can have a life of adventure and a really cool job -- plus an excellent boyfriend in Superman. You can have it all. It's no coincidence I grew up and became a reporter.
3. Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl and then Oracle
I was first introduced to Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl via the Batman television show. She wore leather -- it looked like leather anyway -- she rode a motorcycle. She kicked butt. She even had a theme song. She was awesome and was quickly in the comics.
Barbara has undergone major changes since she was first introduced. She gave up being Batgirl because, I guess, DC editorial wasn't sure what to do with her.
Then she was crippled by the Joker in Alan Moore's The Killing Joke. Moore has made statements that he never intended this story to be in continuity -- meaning he didn't think the events would stick. But they did and Barbara ended up in a wheelchair. She might have been forgotten if not for the efforts of the late Kim Yale and her husband, John Ostrander, who reintroduced Babs as the mysterious figure known as Oracle in the Suicide Squad series.
She's been Oracle, computer expert and information specialist, even since.* Birds of Prey* was originally conceived as a vehicle for Oracle and Black Canary, though the team roster has expanded since them. (Sense a theme? Yes, if you're not reading Birds of Prey, you should be.)
4. Stephanie Brown aka Spoiler aka Batgirl
Another Batman universe character, Stephanie Brown was originally supposed to be a one-shot guest character in a Batman book. Her origin is much like Marvel's Runaways: her parent is a super villain. Stephanie originally donned a costume and called herself "The Spoiler" to spoil the crimes of her father, the Cluemaster. She's been through considerable changes since then. She was Robin briefly, then dead for a while, leading to a group of irate readers to create the Girl Wonder website, then her creator, Chuck Dixon, brought her back, and now she's starring in an excellent new Batgirl series as the lead character.
I guess that makes two Batgirls on the list. Another theme.
5. Wonder Woman aka Princess Diana
Yes, many comic fans would put her at the top of any list of female DC heroines. I'm a far more recent convert. I preferred The Bionic Woman over the Wonder Woman television show. I didn't collect any Wonder Woman comics growing up. I'm not sure why she didn't appeal to me. Part of it is that she seemed too powerful, the same reason Superman wasn't a favorite. I read his comics for his supporting cast. But Wonder Woman's cast seemed to change all the time and I could never get a handle on her.
Until, that is, when Gail Simone, a favorite writer of mine since her Birds of Prey work, took over Wonder Woman's book. Suddenly, the Amazon princess made far more sense to me. I waxed poetic about the stories in an earlier article on GeekMom called [Revisiting the Amazon](https://more-deals.info/geekmom/2010/06/wonder-woman-revisiting-the-amazon-with-gail-simone/%29.%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="paywall">6. Night Girl
Lydda Jath is probably the most obscure character on this list. She's from the long-running Legion of Super-Heroes comic but she's not a Legionnaire. Rather, she's a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes because her powers only work during the nighttime. Hence, her code name.
What I like about Night Girl is the same thing I like about Stephanie. Both of them have limited abilities and have been told that they can't make much of a difference as a hero. Both reject this notion and do their best anyway. In the one story that made me a firm and lifelong fan of Lydda, she's determined to patrol and stop a crime, even if it means operating during daytime, when she no longer has super-strength. In the Legion series I best remember, Lydda's boyfriend was Cosmic Boy, one of the founders of the Legion and its steadiest member. They were married eventually in that continuity but with all the reboots and re-appearances, it's unclear where Night Girl or the relationship stands now.
But I think, given her night powers, she'd made a great lead character for a vampire hunter series set in the Legion's time. Night Girl versus the Space Vampires? Perfect.
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7. Starfire-Koriand'r
She's an alien princess from a world with no inhibitions. She's survived slavery and betrayal and still keeps her essential sunny nature. And she's in love with Robin (Dick Grayson).
Perfect all around.
Starfire was created for the Teen Titans revival by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. She's an incredible bundle of energy who is never afraid to speak her mind; she's possessed of super-strength, she can fly as well as fire energy bursts, and she is great at hand-to-hand combat. A great many male creators tend to over-sexualize her (which, really, I didn't think was possible) but at her best, Princess Koriand'r is a confident, sexy woman, loyal to her friends and who loves fighting.
For me, it didn't hurt that her nickname, Kory, is the same as my nickname. Albeit spelled differently.
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8. Helena Wayne aka Huntress
Back to the Batman Universe. Helena Wayne is from an alternate comic book dimension called Earth-2. More, she's the daughter of the reformed Catwoman and Batman of that world. That alone might make it her destiny to put on a cape and cowl; but young Helena instead studied as a lawyer until the day her mother was killed as a result of blackmail and her father gave up being Batman forever.
Huntress was born to fill the void. She's determined to carry on her father's legacy to make the world a better place.
Unfortunately, Helena doesn't exist in the current DC Universe continuity. You can read most of her adventures in this trade, Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter.
A slightly altered version of Helena made it into the Birds of Prey television show, called Helena Kyle. In that series, Helena's parents had never married and her father had basically been a deadbeat dad, leading this daughter of Batman and Catwoman down a very cynical road. One of the many reasons I never warmed to the show.
9. Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress
All three current members of the Birds of Prey make my list. If I was making a longer list, it would also include Zinda, Lady Blackhawk, the team's pilot.
It took me a long time to warm to Helena Bertinelli. I was still a little bitter about losing the character of Helena Wayne and didn't particularly want to follow a different take on Huntress. What won me over was her appearances in the Robin series. Huntress, as written by Chuck Dixon, seemed far more well-rounded to me than just an angry woman with a crossbow, which was my original take.
She's also a school teacher, she had a good rapport with her students. That added another dimension to her character for me. She's still impetuous and still the most likely to consider killing in self-defense a valid crime-fighting technique, but I've come to love her honesty and her loyalty.
10. Dian Belmont
Dian never had a costume or a superpower. She co-starred in a Vertigo series from the 1990s called Sandman Mystery Theatre as the partner and eventual lover of the main character, Wesley Dodds aka the Sandman.
What I love about Dian is that she's a woman trying to figure out her own path during a time period, the 1930s, when choices for women were so very limited. She doesn't know if she wants to settle down and marry. And if she doesn't want to be a wife and mother, she's not entirely sure what she does want. But she knows what she doesn't want to do, which is sit back and let life happen to her.
She initially gets involved in Wesley's crime solving in an attempt to be useful and later discovers his double life. There's a lot of push/pull in their relationship until she finally comes to terms with who she is and what she wants her future to be like. In her last appearance, as an elderly woman, she's a successful and famous mystery novelist, still with Wesley, and very pleased with the way her life turned out. We should all be so lucky.
I'd love to hear about your favorites in the comments below!
