I Made This Chart Tracking Female Superheroes from 1960-2010...
...why? Don't know, really. It tops out at 40% over there on the right, mostly on account of the X-Men now being 60% female mostly due to Grant Morrison.
Interesting. The Teen Titans are especially notable as they not only have (and have had) a large female membership on their roster but also some of the most powerful members were female.
Check out the famous Wolfman/Perez era Titans:
Cyborg - Male. Super Strength*, Super Tough, Ranged energy weapon. Not bad. Lower Heavy to Upper Middle Weight.
Beast Boy - Male. Shape changes into animals. Potential but not always fulfilled.
Robin - Male. Smarts, acrobatics, martial arts and gadgets. Extremely skilled but no real powers.
more than their "who-could-beat-who" quotient, the really cool thing about the wolfman/perez titans was their sticking power--they were really the only post-silver age DC heroines after the silver age that really manage to keep getting published and be in people's minds. Them and Harley Quinn and that's pretty much it.
Of course, as with all things Titans, the same pretty much goes for the X Men, except times 3.
@Anathematician - Couldn't agree more. My apologizes for the omission.
@Zak - It wasn't so much a who-can't-beat-who but rather a who-matters-in-the-universe. Generally, Batman and family aside, few low powered heroines get reused very often.
My best pal Dave and I talk about this all the time as the same holds true for minorities in comics (actually even more so in DC sadly). It's not so much a lack of female or minority characters as much as female or minority characters who matter and can stand toe-to-toe with Superman or Thor against Darkseid or Thanos.
I'm just pointing out DC is very cool in regards to not just having interesting female characters but ones with power, prestige and as you duly noted, staying power.
Now if they could just stop killing off Jade I'd be really happy...
Some of my favorite superheroes are female x-men so it's pretty interesting to see they've had a pretty strong percentage of ladies. Of course I just love the x-men in general.
Although it's also the only team with a gender specific name.
Interesting post, not quite what I expected when I loaded the site. How did you calculate the %. The rosters of the teams often changed dramatically, especially the Avengers.
I just calculated the total number of female members (all time) by the end of each decade over the total number of members (all time) by the end of each decade.
If you make the assumption that super powers are distributed evenly between males and females then this could imply that there are more females supers not in teams, either doing their own thing or hiding their powers.
It tops out at 40% over there on the right, mostly on account of the X-Men now being 60% female mostly due to Grant Morrison.
Oh man when you said porn stars I didn't know you meant chart porn! YEAH!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. The Teen Titans are especially notable as they not only have (and have had) a large female membership on their roster but also some of the most powerful members were female.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the famous Wolfman/Perez era Titans:
Cyborg - Male. Super Strength*, Super Tough, Ranged energy weapon. Not bad. Lower Heavy to Upper Middle Weight.
Beast Boy - Male. Shape changes into animals. Potential but not always fulfilled.
Robin - Male. Smarts, acrobatics, martial arts and gadgets. Extremely skilled but no real powers.
Raven - Female. Healing. Teleportation/Dimensional Travel. Creepy cover-you-in-vaguely-bird-shaped-darkness power. Pretty serious stuff.
Wonder Girl/Donna Troy - She's freakin' Wonder Woman lite. Flight, Super Strength*, Super Tough, Bracelets, Lasso. Heavy Weight class Superperson.
Starfire - Wow. Flight, Super Strength*, Ridiculously tough. Fires ranged energy blasts. Another Heavy Weight.
Regardless of how it sometimes appeared on the animated series, in the comics Starfire and Wonder Girl are both much stronger than Cyborg.
I love me some DC gals.
@barking
ReplyDeletemore than their "who-could-beat-who" quotient, the really cool thing about the wolfman/perez titans was their sticking power--they were really the only post-silver age DC heroines after the silver age that really manage to keep getting published and be in people's minds. Them and Harley Quinn and that's pretty much it.
Of course, as with all things Titans, the same pretty much goes for the X Men, except times 3.
You forgot Tara Markov, whose appearance in the the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans marks one of the most memorable storylines I have read in comics.
ReplyDelete@Anathematician - Couldn't agree more. My apologizes for the omission.
ReplyDelete@Zak - It wasn't so much a who-can't-beat-who but rather a who-matters-in-the-universe. Generally, Batman and family aside, few low powered heroines get reused very often.
My best pal Dave and I talk about this all the time as the same holds true for minorities in comics (actually even more so in DC sadly). It's not so much a lack of female or minority characters as much as female or minority characters who matter and can stand toe-to-toe with Superman or Thor against Darkseid or Thanos.
I'm just pointing out DC is very cool in regards to not just having interesting female characters but ones with power, prestige and as you duly noted, staying power.
Now if they could just stop killing off Jade I'd be really happy...
@Barking
ReplyDeleteJade is just green lantern but female, which, unfortunately means she'll always be a 2nd banana.
Some of my favorite superheroes are female x-men so it's pretty interesting to see they've had a pretty strong percentage of ladies. Of course I just love the x-men in general.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's also the only team with a gender specific name.
Interesting post, not quite what I expected when I loaded the site. How did you calculate the %. The rosters of the teams often changed dramatically, especially the Avengers.
ReplyDelete@0aa164c4-5d82-11e0-9ad8-000bcdcb5194
ReplyDeleteI just calculated the total number of female members (all time) by the end of each decade over the total number of members (all time) by the end of each decade.
If you make the assumption that super powers are distributed evenly between males and females then this could imply that there are more females supers not in teams, either doing their own thing or hiding their powers.
ReplyDelete