As  many of us may be aware,  DC Comics is celebrating  its 75th anniversary. They have designed an eye-catching blue on white logo featuring major characters  Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash (picture above).  However, I`m far from the first to comment on the fact that no female heroes grace this icon: especially disturbing is the exclusion of Wonder Woman, who was one of the first comic heroine to get a decent combined gender fan base {and later made pop culture inroads with her own TV show}.

Now, I`m certainly not complaining about the featuring of the aforementioned heavy-hitters.  WhenI started reading comics many moons ago, marketing to a female demographic was unheard of.   Things were different in many ways. For instance, there was no manga in English, at least in the states.   Fantagraphics and other “realistic” books of that type were just getting off the ground, so you couldn`t read about people in relationships unless you bought sappy fare like the Charlton and DC romance comics {which have always just creeped me out}.  Basically this meant that any girl or woman who  liked comics liked super-hero subjects, or read them anyway-no problem here, I loved them.   And I had no problem relating to male characters,  just as lots of men have no difficulty relating to female ones.  Otherwise, how does one account for the huge popularity of, say, the Batman sagas with women and men? If you`ve got a classic story, people will embrace it-look at the enduring success of Lord of the Rings and Jane Austen`s books.

So  I have no quarrel with the great heroes on the DC logo.  I just wish there were room for at least one heroine. This is because inclusion is a pretty important thing.  Whether you are female, African-American, gay, whatever, there are times when seeing yourself in a work of art is extremely cool.  And a positive depiction is simply mind-blowing.   I found it so when I first discovered that Supergirl and WW had their own comic titles. This was special, exciting-it meant that they were heroes, too.  It showed that girls could have power and be more than just a supporting player.  They had origin stories and super-villains just as the male  heroes did.   And those female villains were also interesting.  The alluring but cruel Catwoman  demonstrated that someone could have power, yet misuse it in some frightening ways.  She helped fill out a full picture of conflict  and opposition in the comics world.

Ultimately, women superheroes,  those of both DC and Marvel, paved the way for  new generations of  female writers, artists, and fangirls.  It could not have happened without them and the  creative folks of both genders who drew and wrote about them. And that`s also a part of DC`s exciting 75 years. Though I`m celebrating this milestone and the logo, maybe the next anniversary will recognize a more diverse group.

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