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   […] Lynn put an intriguing blog post on Comment on Who are your favorite fictional, iconic female ….Here’s a quick excerpt:In fact, in the last scene of the movie, she is wearing a wedding band, but there is no mention of her husband, presumably the gentleman standing there with her. I think this is a good example from film of how attractiveness equals … […]

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1. Eccentric1 wrote:

   I wanted to help with this endeavor, so I decided to closely examine a sizable sample of my comic book collection and do a search. I went back as far at 1963 looking at both Marvel and D.C. comics, and a few other comic organizations. I specifically looked for women of color. I excluded Storm, of the X-men because she was already mentioned. It would appear that for reasons unexplained by comic book science, women of color are almost never:

   Empowered with superhuman abilities by unusual scientific/industrial accidents or cosmic rays

   Bitten by radio active spiders

   Sent to earth from far off planets

   Willed a multi-billion dollar inheritance and left with a burning desire to eradicate crime

   Raised by wolves or gorillas, granting them a greater attunement with nature and mastery of wild beast

   Born with mutant abilities that enhance mental or physical capabilities

   Genetically enhanced

   Injected with super serum to make them into super soldiers

   Trained from infancy to master the use of an array of weapons so they can fight crime

   Installed as the C.E.O. of a tremendously wealthy global business cabal with hidden, nefarious agendas bent on dominating the whole human population

   Bonded with ancient, mystical weapons with untold destructive capabilities

   Born an Amazonian princess with a duty bound sense of honor to serve and protect mortals

   On the whole, it was very evident that P.O.C. in general (male and female) are nearly completely immune to events of this nature. In the past couple of decades, there has been a slight increase in the presence of comic book characters of Asian decent (Jubilee and Psi Locke of the X-men, and a few story arcs in China and Japan for example). But, other P.O.C. are rare. As a P.O.C. myself, this is disappointing, to put it very mildly. I’m now going through my vast science fiction and fantasy novel collection, but I fear for the worse.

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 9:21 am ¶

2. gatamala wrote:

   And herein lies the rub!!

   I, for one, can’t recommend what is not there.

   You’ve already found [the] 3. Cleopatra Jones is subsumed by Foxy.

   First, please include Eartha.

   You don’t come across as ignorant at all!
   You come across as someone undertaking an ambitious and fun project who moved beyond theory and saw the practice in all its ugliness.

   I’d say you include that large penultimate paragraph as part of your project. You could also address how issues of ageism, maturity and vitality take more precedence in the lives of white women, whereas everybody else is just trying to prove their existence by being seen.

   Is it too late to adjust the focus of your project?

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 9:31 am ¶

3. Maureen wrote:

   eccentric1–thank you for your exhaustive research analysis…at the very least, my project can do something to highlight this very absense.

   gatamala–I am a little short on time, as this project is due in two weeks, and I’m doing this as lithographic prints which is very process-heavy. However, I do have to include an artist statement with it, so I may submit my email.

   my tentative character list is this so far:
   Snow White, Pocahontas, Princess Jasmine; Foxy Brown, Xena, Buffy; Storm, Wonderwoman and Batgirl. I will be looking up Eartha (which I’m wondering if you mean Kitt as Catwoman…but again, I’m looking it up).

   Thank you for your comments so far. Off to the studio!

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:22 am ¶

4. Nicki wrote:

   hey, your project sounds awesome - i’d love to see some of the final pictures.

   i came up with the friends of strawberry shortcake: she had a relatively multicultural group happening - and after a google image search, i think i can say that
   one of them may even have fluorescent yellow skin. not too sure who she represents… she’s on the far left (sorry, it’s small, i know)
   http://img.webring.com/r/s/strawberryshortc/logo

   and there was a token black kid in the peanuts gang by charles schultz - franklin. (note: also to the left and not quite part of the group…)
   http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/4/40/Peanuts_gang.png
   hey, he even rates a mention on wikipedia. there you go.

   hope you can come up with something more!

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:31 am ¶

5. Barbara wrote:

   Psylocke and Jubilee were the characters that first attracted me to the X-Men. Looking back at them, though, I realize how they’re really not so great. Psylocke was a white English woman who’s mind got implanted into a Japanese assassin. So the woman (Kwannon, was it?) was a villain until she got a white brain. OK, whatever.

   I really loved Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), but isn’t she evil now?

   In the Ultimates, the Wasp character is an Asian genius. I actually don’t like her character very much, like most Marvel Ultimate Universe heroes she’s pretty flawed and unlikable.

   Judd Winnick’s Sunfire character from Exiles was Japanese and a lesbian and a great character. LOVED her. There’s also Thunder (daughter of Black Lightning) and Grace Choi from his Outsiders series.

   Back in the 90s, there was a character named Shard who was around for about three seconds. Not really a hero, though, just background fodder for Bishop. Also there was a character named Cecelia Reyes who was an X-Man for a bit, but I wasn’t reading X-Men at that time, so I’m not sure how she was portrayed.

   That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:45 am ¶

6. deb wrote:

   First, please include Eartha.

   I’m with gatamala on this one! Eartha’s the first name that came to mind. And at 80-years old I bet she can still rock that Catwoman suit too!

   On the political side of things, you can include that she was blacklisted during the 60s after speaking out about the war. Here’s a brief article that mentions it, among other things.

   It seems that when Hollywood needs to cast a black female for the roll of a superhero, Halle (Catwoman and Storm.) seems to be the go-to girl. Does this speak to the dearth of modern day African American screen sirens? And if so, why?

   I’m old enough to remember the show “Get Christy Love!”. Teresa Graves played undercover police detective Love. I don’t think she’s experienced the longevity of someone like Pam Grier, but if you’re going to look at women in such roles, perhaps you could include her. Now, I’ve also got Angie Dickinson of “Police Woman”–another show that was on during that era–on my mind.

   When you think about it, if you’re a female old enough to be an AARP member, you probably won’t be fighting bad guys on the big or small screens.

   Anway, good luck with the project, Maureen!

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:49 am ¶

7. Angel H. wrote:

   Two words:

   Elisa Maza.

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:49 am ¶

8. RakuMon wrote:

   How about Lt. Uhura from Star Trek?

   Or Vixen from the JLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vixen_%28comics%29)

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 10:56 am ¶

9. gatamala wrote:

   Uhura! Yeah!

   Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:17 am ¶

10. Lynn wrote:

    Okay, feel free to tell me if I’m way off the mark here. But, I just watched the Color Purple over the weekend for the first time in years. I bawled my eyes out.

    Anyway, I thought it was interesting to note that Celie, though older, was the vulnerable sister because she was considered ugly. Nettie, however, was the “pretty one” and she was a fighter. Nettie is also not seen for the majority of the movie, and Celie presumes she is dead because she hasn’t heard from her in a long time. When she realizes that Nettie is alive and had been hidden from her for thirty years, Celie finds the strength to stand up to her abusive husband. Her sister helped her find her strength.

    Nettie is the only woman in the movie whose fate is not tied into a man. In fact, in the last scene of the movie, she is wearing a wedding band, but there is no mention of her husband, presumably the gentleman standing there with her.

    I think this is a good example from film of how attractiveness equals strength. Nettie is seen at the end of the movie, decades later, but she maintains a youthful appearance. I’d be interested in seeing the two of them further aged, with their prologue.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:18 am ¶

11. summer wrote:

    yeah, i was going to say vixen, too.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:26 am ¶

12. Mireille wrote:

    All I can come up with is the cast from Captain Planet. Gaia, the mother earth-type character, was a black women (I believe her voice was done by Whoppi Goldberg).

    Wow, I’m really surprised I can’t think of any more. I sort of feel like a failure.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:27 am ¶

13. deb wrote:

    “Lt. Uhura.” Oh, snap. Forgot her.

    But, that does remind me of Whoopi Goldberg’s “Guinan” in Star Trek: The Next Generation. (But, that be entering magic negro territory.)

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:28 am ¶

14. Jack D. wrote:

    I was going to point to DC comic’s Vixen character as well. Then there’s African-American Natasha Irons, the niece of Steel — she wore some kickin’ armor of her own and is now superpowered (via Lex Luthor’s manipulations), using the alias Starlight.

    Also in DC, Wally West, aka the Flash, is married to Linda Park — I forget her Asian heritage, and she’s not a hero in her own right, but the couple’s twin children (a boy and a girl) have superpowers and are “destined” to be notable some day.

    Several years ago, DC’s Milestone imprint made an attempt to break into the comic book market with several characters of color. (General background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milestone_Media) I loved those stories and was sad to see the unit closed.

    Marvel comics recently played with a young Latina character under the title “Arana.” She bore some sort of gift/curse superpowers related to spiders (no connection to Spider-Man). That series ended after 12 issues in 2005.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:33 am ¶

15. Eccentric1 wrote:

    Amanda Waller of the Justice League Unlimited series. She’s the closest thing I could find to a person that heads a secretive and powerful organization bent on world domination. She’s controlled large governmental and international organizations, and been in league with Lex Luthor! Hurray! A powerful and influential black villainess!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Waller

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:53 am ¶

16. tasha wrote:

    Yeah, I can’t think of too many either, outside of the ones mentioned.

    In all fairness, even male superheroes have an expiration date. There’s a reason why Pierce Brosnan is no longer James Bond. DC has a futuristic spinoff of the the Batman saga called “Batman Beyond,” where a geriatric Bruce Wayne plays Giles to Terry McGinnis’ (new young futuristic Batman) Buffy. Rarely do we get a glimpse into the lives of superheroes once they pass 40, unless it’s a time travel plotline or like in DC, where they do multiple dimensions like “Infinite Crisis” where they do Earth One, Earth Two, Earth Three, etc.

    And I don’t know if it’s really accurate to put Snow White in the same context as Cinderella in terms of how advanced age may have affected her saga’s outcome. If you want to suggest that Cinderella would have never won the prince had she been her stepmother’s age, that’s one thing, but the evil stepmother in Cinderella is not in direct competition with her, the way Snow White is in direct competition with the evil Queen. Rather, the evil stepmother sees Cindy as her daughters’ competition. There’s no reason to believe that the evil stepmother was/is unattractive. However, what you do know is that the stepmother’s daughters are considered awkward and plain, if not homely, while Cinderella is considered a great beauty, and therefore, far more likely to trade her appearance for a rich husband with ease, unlike her stepsisters. That is what irks the stepmother. In the end, Cinderella didn’t win the handsome prince because of her years of hardship and gentle, unpretentious manner. Cinderella won the prince because she was better looking than her stepsisters, which is why the stepmother went to great lengths to try to keep the prince from seeing her. The reason why Cinderella’s story ends with her royal marriage is not because interest in her would wane with her youth, but because her status was no longer contingent upon maintaining her youth. I would argue that Cinderella’s aging is irrelevant because as long as she married the prince while young, she would have eventually become queen and would have been set for life, no matter how many mistresses the prince may have eventually had on the side. Now Cinderella’s being barren, or the prince being impotent, or Cinderella running the risk of being beheaded for not baring sons are real threats to her security, but aging is not, unlike say Diana of Themyscira, who among other things, would have had to worry about fitting into that costume if she wasn’t an immortal Amazon princess.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 12:04 pm ¶

17. dnA wrote:

    Vixen is my favorite.

    Choice Quote:

    Vigilante: Can’t you use your jungle powers to track them?

    Vixen: What makes you think I know anything about the jungle? I live in a loft in Soho.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 12:24 pm ¶

18. Roni wrote:

    Uhura is a great pick!

    I’m a comics nerd so here are my submissions:

    “Runaways” is a comic series about super powered teenagers who break away and rebel against their supervillian parents. It’s currently lead by Japanese-American Nico Minoru.

    Then from “Y: the Last Man” you have Agent 355 an African American female US secret agent.

    Last and certainly not least, there is African American soldier and all around bad ass Martha Washington from “Give Me Liberty” and it’s several sequels. She’s the most iconic of my 3, and to my knowledge the only one with her own action figure. I strongly suggest checking her out.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 12:26 pm ¶

19. Kai wrote:

    When I was a young boy in Montreal, my parents would take me to see Chinese movies straight outta Beijing which were screened in a university auditorium packed with Chinese folks smoking cigarettes and pouring steaming tea from canteens and munching on bags of watermelon seeds. As I recall, the movies tended to be tragic and depressing; but anyway, I mention all this because I remember one female hero named Bai Mao Nu, or “White-Haired Girl”, from a revolutionary opera of the same name produced in China in 1945 during the CCP’s obsession with over-the-top opera-ballet extravaganzas. A poor peasant girl, our protagonist’s family is murdered by an evil landlord who then rapes and enslaves her. She manages to escape into the mountains, where she lives among wild animals and her hair turns white. Of course, she eventually seeks revenge.

    Now the White-Haired Girl is not to be confused with Ronny Yu’s 1993 Hong Kong action-fantasy hero The Bride With White Hair, who perhaps could be another candidate for this art project, though this is a story of star-crossed martial-arts lovers, which I don’t think is quite as interesting but it depends on what direction you want to take things.

    What’s kinda neat is that both of these characters, being white-haired, already connote the idea of aging — specifically, the idea of premature aging, in the first case caused by the tragic suffering of the oppressed, and in the second, apparently indicative of some sort of mystical power.

    Best of luck with the project!

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 12:50 pm ¶

20. CIJI wrote:

    Your project sounds fascinating, please share with us your final results!

    In addition to the other’s people have mentioned, you can find more black female superheroes here: http://www.blacksuperhero.com/gallery1/01gallery.html

    Dang, there really is a dearth of female superheroes of color… I guess I better get back to writing!

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 1:31 pm ¶

21. Kai wrote:

    I should clarify, from my comment above, that the White-Haired Girl opera was first staged in 1945 but went on to get produced countless times on stage and on film in many variations and sequels.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 1:33 pm ¶

22. soledad wrote:

    -the comic book series love and rockets by jaime and gilbert hernandez has tons of really string female characters, most of which are latina. many of them are superheroes and some are wrestlers. if you’re familiar with the comics, i think luba, chelo, rocky, rena, penny and maggie are all really heroic. the comics may not be very well known but i think if they were the female characters would be icons.

    -there was an asian female power ranger, but i think she was the yellow ranger, which is unfortunate.

    -gail from sin city is pretty cool.

    -jackie brown is tough too.

    sadly there aren’t a lot of good female heroes. but i would highly recommend that you check you the hernandez brothers if you’ve never read their stuff before.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 3:25 pm ¶

23. RobynT wrote:

    i wonder if it might be a good idea to call attention to this gap in another way. as you say, some of the possibilities are not exactly shining examples. then again, maybe some of the white female heroines are not always perfect either. still, i wonder if, rather than including these icons, there might be another way to highlight their absence. although i guess it would depend on your project as a whole and its overall purpose…

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 6:51 pm ¶

24. HighJive wrote:

    Well, if you’re including Foxy Brown, you might also consider Coffy and Cleopatra Jones.

    There’s a book you should try to find (unfortunately, I can’t locate my copy): Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans (Studies in Popular Culture) by Jeffrey A. Brown. It probably has sources, and it’s available via Amazon.com and other places.

    There are definitely a variety of Black comic book heroes being independently published. Go to any major comic book store to find them.

    Another book: Black Images in the Comics by Fredrick Stromberg. This book noted the first American daily strip (1970) featuring a Black female—Friday Foster.

    Would you consider Aunt Jemima as a hero? She’s certainly evolved over the years.

    There are plenty of international heroines that transcended being White, in my opinion. The Inhumans have a lead character named Medusa, who joined the Fantastic Four for a brief stint. Never considered her to be White, though I’m not sure why. Was Rima the Jungle Girl South American? The Black Widow is Russian.

    Don’t know if you could argue a lot of cartoons that came from Japan in the 1960s/1970s actually had Asian characters that translated to being White when introduced in the U.S. (e.g., Speed Racer, Gigantor, Prince Planet, Gatchaman, etc.).

    There was also a popular Marvel series called Master of Kung Fu, and I sort of recall there being Asian female characters interacting with Shang-Chi.

    I realize you were focusing on Western icons, but every country has its own comic book and film heroines. Again, visiting a major comic book store would certainly offer more possibilities. And considering international films (especially action movies) is another route.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 7:07 pm ¶

25. Free wrote:

    Eartha Kitt for sure as Catwoman.

    Max Guevara (Jessica Alba) of the Dark Angel series (2000). Max was a genetically enhanced super-soldier living in Seattle-of-the-future with no electricity (cause: electromagnetic pulse weapon).

    Nebula (Gina Torres) in Hercules: The Legendary Journey. Nebula is pirate captain of the Leviathan, Sumerian Princess and Gilgamesh’s half-sister. Nebula and Iolaus fall in love: Sista warrior princess dazzles Greek hero.

    Zee (Nona Gaye) in The Matrix: Revolutions. A minor, but important citizen-soldier character during the Machine War, Zee embodies courage, strength and intelligence.

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:01 pm ¶

26. Maureen wrote:

    I really wish that I had sent out this email waaay earlier, as now I’m committed to a few characters as they are already complete (Snow White, WonderWoman and Xena) and I can’t drop them (due to time). Damn!

    I still have time to add Uhura though for sure; I completely forgot about her. And I think I will be adding Vixen as she definitely comes up enough here to be considered quite recognizable among masses and iconic in spite of my own ignorance. Plus, I love any excuse to hit up a comic book store in search of recommended material.

    I think another possibility too may be a julie newmar catwoman juxtaposed with an eartha kitt catwoman. Maybe. I’m really short on time though, and my character limit as a result is 9.

    Some characters mentioned I still have to mull over, mostly because an important element to this project is the recognition of these icons through their costumes. I’m not aging these women with particular reference to their face recognition as much as I am to their costume recognition. I wanted to go for icons that people recognized regardless of their familiarity with the source from which they came from (ie Wonderwoman–of whom I’ve never seen an episode or read a comic–but she is instantly recognizable to me)–but then, therein was where my initial email to Carmen came from–the fact that my cultural memory concerning women of colour is so shite…

    so…so far…I’ve got snow white, xena, wonderwoman(completed) storm, vixen, uhura, foxy brown, pocahontas, princess jasmine? does that seem like an okay list?

    so I’ve dropped Batgirl and Buffy…though if I miraculously find some never-ending time to spend in the print studio, I will go back to buffy as I really had my heart set on her…and maybe do my catwomen? or even the love and rockets characters? Hmmm…

    I don’t know that I will be honestly satisfied with whatever list I end up with…and I know that whatever list I do come up with will be inherently flawed…but here I go anyway…

    Posted 05 Nov 2007 at 11:03 pm ¶

27. Nicki wrote:

    ha, realised today that in my 3am brain last night i totally forgot the whole point of your project - STRONG WOMEN.

    meanwhile, i came up with more suggestions, but i feel that none of them are really ICONIC - you know? you might have to expain who they are, which is kind of sad.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 1:06 am ¶

28. Michelle wrote:

    I think your project sounds really great.

    If you will allow me, it sounds like your project hangs on the popular images of female heroines. Menaing, heroines that people have heard of or are somewhat familiar with.

    I agree with the above posters who said that it would be far more powerful to highlight the dearth of women of color who are included in the Superhero canon. The larger problem being the invisibilty of women of color in general….can you tie that into the invisibilty of older women? Or is that not really where you are going with your project.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 1:25 am ¶

29. justin wrote:

    chun li from street fighter might be a good fit.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 7:14 am ¶

30. RakuMon wrote:

    Does Claire Huxtable count?

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 9:31 am ¶

31. hoo_boy wrote:

    Agreed with “Friday Foster”– not only had the advantage of a comic book turned into popular blaxploitation flick but with iconic actress to boot.

    Totally surprised folks overlooked the women from the Hanna-Barbara cartoons of 70s-80s, including:

    Valerie Brown (”Josie and Pussycats”) [Note: The wardrobe, the instrument, that hipshake thing times three. Pretty good one-liners too.]

    Suzie, Anne, Nancy or Mimi (”The Amazing Chan Clan”) [Note: Yes, *that* mystery-solving Chan clan. Name another all AsianAm cartoon on Sat morn network tv.with a crime-fighting family this large since.]

    Dee Dee (”Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels”) [Note: They all dressed well, but she was the smart brave one.]

    They were actually voiced by WoC (for the most part) and factored significantly into the storylines, even if they still felt kinda…, well, y’know, cartoony. Giving a pass to the ridiculous nature of the plots and overall show scenario as well.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 10:00 am ¶

32. imdeep wrote:

    You know, what about ISIS (-:

    When I watched this as a kid in the 70s, along with Shazaam/Captain Marvel, I always found this quite an interesting slice. It was a live action then a cartoon show.

    Now although I think she was played by a white female, the character is an ancient Egyptian goddess heroine who finds herself in the body of a schoolteacher. She had this guy she was always flirting with and a WoC assistant. Weird pet bird. Always showed up before she was actually needed. But she was always talking directlu to the camera and giving advice to students, in addition to being hot. Sounds goofy huh?

    (cf to Shazaam criss-crossing the country in his teenage alter-ego with that old guy wizard mentor of his alone in an RV. Wow…)

    When it got canned, they brought her back in cartoon form for “Tarzan and the Super Seven” where she was part of the “Freedom Force” (explain how Hercules, Merlin, Super-Samurai, and Sinbad all fit here?!?)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secrets_of_Isis

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarzan_and_the_Super_7

    You might also remember the “Jason of Star Command” Star Trek knockoff as well as the other horrid shows with this effort.

    So thanks for reminding me of how f*’d up the 70s were and how glad I am to have been too young to understand it when it was happening.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 10:34 am ¶

33. Rachel wrote:

    Danielle Moonstar, of the New Mutants and later the X-Men, is Cheyenne. I’m not sure if she’d qualify as an iconic character, though.

    Wonder Woman briefly had an African counterpart named (sigh) Nubia: http://hometown.aol.com/linastrick/nubia1.html

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 11:21 am ¶

34. F.L. Ball wrote:

    All you have to do is look at TV right now ,to understand what’s going on. Look at the writers strike. You will be hard pressed to find someone not White walking the picket line. So until more people of color are hired to write for movies and TV our story will not be told.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 2:42 pm ¶

35. deb wrote:

    Rachel wrote:

    Wonder Woman briefly had an African counterpart named (sigh) Nubia

    Wow! I learn something new every day! Don’t recall this character ever appearing on the tv show. Maybe I missed that episode.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 4:20 pm ¶

36. cookie wrote:

    The Wall.

    DC’s Amanda Waller of Checkmate and the Suicide Squad.

    Never blink. Never stand down. Never give an inch.

    Nuff said.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 5:00 pm ¶

37. cookie wrote:

    The Wall.

    DC’s Amanda Waller of Checkmate and the Suicide Squad.

    “I’m fat. I’m black. I’m menopausal. You don’t want to #$& @ with me.”

    Never blink. Never stand down. Never give an inch.

    Nuff said.

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 5:13 pm ¶

38. Anzen wrote:

    “Promethea” by Alan Moore–the heroine of this graphic novel is Latina, but Promethia, the character she changes was born in Africa (Egypt specifically).

    Posted 06 Nov 2007 at 6:12 pm ¶

39. hannah wrote:

    Sofia Mantega (Winddancer) of the New Mutants (Portugesue by way of Venezuela) definatly ranks high on my list even if she is now depowered.

    Posted 07 Nov 2007 at 1:30 am ¶

40. Lea wrote:

    Well, if Vixen qualifies, how about Echo? She’s a Deaf Latina woman with perfect photographic reflexes, originally a supporting character on Daredevil but now (finally) a member of the secret Avengers. I really wish she had a solo book where she wasn’t overshadowed by people like Wolverine, Hawkeye and even Spider-Woman.

    Then there’s Zoe Washbourne from Firefly. She’s got the warrior stoic thing going on, which usually gets on my nerves, but Gina Torres pulls it off so gracefully. Not much with the costume, and more a cult character than an iconic one, though.

    Posted 07 Nov 2007 at 3:54 am ¶

41. Mary wrote:

    I am doing a paper on Western Movie Iconography and found your blog via Google.

    I would love to use the idea of the missing aging women in Westen movie genre, of course noting that the only aging women in these movies are exactly as you describe - devalued. Mature women are absent and/or silent.

    Anyone have any further ideas on how I could expand this idea to use for my research paper for this Western Lit class? Yeah, A western literature class, but all we do is watch western movies. I’m learning to love John Wayne and Clint Eastwood (or else!).

    I noticed that the only iconic women in these movies are all young, white and pretty.

    I loved reading your blog and thanks in advance for any ideas to use this idea with Western Cinema. I was toying with the idea of doing my paper on the absence of the older women, and then I found your blog - awesome to share a brain! You Rock!!!

    Posted 07 Nov 2007 at 12:50 pm ¶

42. April wrote:

    Hey there Maureen. Check out my site as well as a feminist critique of animation. The link is on my feminist links list.

    Posted 07 Nov 2007 at 1:00 pm ¶

43. Elton wrote:

    Captain Niobe from the Matrix sequels.

    Posted 07 Nov 2007 at 1:30 pm ¶

44. notintheface wrote:

    Skyrocket from Busiek & Grummett’s late, lamented POWER COMPANY.

    She was literally the conscience of the group, especially after Josiah Power got incapacitated, and was a counterweight to the sleazy tactics of Kirk DePaul.

    Posted 08 Nov 2007 at 2:36 pm ¶

45. Kesha wrote:

    Oh man angel. I remember Gargoyles, I loved that show! Eliza Maza was voices by a Black/Native American actress named Sallie Richardson. Suprisingly enough, they look alot alike. The artists changed Eliza’s last name from Spanish to a Navajo one, inspired by Salli’s heritage.:
    http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/Salli_Richardson

    http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/Elisa_Maza

    ….and I believe Goliath was voiced by Keith David. That man is seriously awesome and has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard.

    http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/Keith_David

    Posted 08 Nov 2007 at 5:32 pm ¶

46. Philip Wilson wrote:

    You want iconic or you want cool? (Warning: male idea of cool)

    I like these characters, but they’re not all household names, nor are they conventional fairy princesses:
    Monica Rambeau from Marvel Comics’ “Avengers” & “Nextwave.”
    Any character played by Grace Jones. I’m thinking the barbarian woman in “Conan the Destroyer.”
    Amanda Waller from DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad.”
    Empress from DC Comics’ “Young Justice.”

    My first thought was Storm from the X-Men. Hey, I was linked by a comics blog.

    Posted 08 Nov 2007 at 9:30 pm ¶

47. Philip Wilson wrote:

    Oh, should I mention Philippus & Magala, the black Amazons from the Wonder Woman comics?

    Eh, Philippus is a token, & Magala wasn’t used that much.

    Posted 08 Nov 2007 at 9:33 pm ¶

48. Philip Wilson wrote:

    I think you should have some mention of Michelle Yeoh or some kind of Hong Kong action heroine.

    Posted 08 Nov 2007 at 9:35 pm ¶

49. blackagar wrote:

    great idea, i can’t come up with anyone that hasn’t already been mentioned but i do have a PROBLEM…..and i’m sorry because it isn’t even realy relevant to your work so excuse me. i have a problem with the phrase “people/persons of color” …. i am what people call white but my skin is deep brown, my grandfather was black and he was light brown. my main problem is that black and white aren’t colors technically…their shades and tones…i only say this because every decade has a new way of labeling skin tones i.e. colored,negro,black,caucasion…… caucasians have little to do with the caucacus at all…..see? i think it’s just another phrase we’ll feel stupid for using eventually.my father is darker than tyra banks but he has to be “white” and it ignores the lovely shade of brown he actually is.

    once again i’m sorry to put this into something that is so positive. i’ve just thought a lot about it.

    Posted 09 Nov 2007 at 8:41 am ¶

50. becca wrote:

    i’m profiling Black Female Superheroes on my blog. I’ve got about 90 so far from comics, television and movies.

    Posted 13 Dec 2008 at 6:13 pm ¶

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