2. “All she is is sex.”
The women of comic books all have something in comic: they’re in
great shape, and their skin-tight, low cut, short costumes show it off.
Many characters in comic books wear outfits of this sort, but there’s a
big difference. When Batman does it, he’s cool, but when Supergirl
does it, she’s a slut. The condemnation of female characters in comic
books is not only inaccurate, but destroys positive role models who are
sexually empowered.
In a man’s world, the women of comic books punch themselves a place
as ass-kicking, high-powered feminists, and in this project I hope to
help reveal them as such.
By analyzing two commonly critiqued characters—Catwoman and
Starfire— and their treatment by various artists and writers, I hope to
argue that female characters in comic books are about much, much
more than just sex. But they aren’t afraid of that, either. And that’s not
a bad thing.

3. Catwoman
“Yes, I draw overly sexy women. But they are all powerful
women in control of their own lives.” ~Adam Hughes, comic
book artist who did a 40 covers for Catwoman comics
Aka “Selina Kyle.” Sometimes called the “Feline Fatale,” Selina had a rough childhood
which motivated her to become a thief and train as a boxer. She became the female
Robin Hood of the East End of Gotham, sharing what she stole and taking care of the
young people who couldn’t care for themselves. Catwoman, with the encouragement
of Batman, eventually became a vigilante hero. She retired briefly, after she had a
baby, but returned to being Catwoman once she realized her life was too dangerous to
raise a child and gave the baby up for adoption.

4. Catwoman has had a number of
costume iterations, both in comics
and film. Her costume has become
more and more akin to the black
leather of Batman.
Her costume becomes less
feminine and more
intimidating.

5. “Catwoman is a
fabulous old-school anti
Empowered
heroine, and one of her
best aspects is her
‘doomed relationship’
sexuality
with the Dark Knight.
No matter how much
they are attracted to
each other, they can
never be happy
together: she’ll never
change her criminal
ways for him, and he’ll
never loosen up his
virtuous moral necktie
for her.” ~Adam Hughes
“She’s got that ‘I’m in
charge’ quality because I
drew her in the dominant
position, and he’s kind of
anonymously handsome,
thanks that film noir
lighting.” ~Adam Hughes

6. "I actually have a peculiar feminism that does not involve
the idea that women shouldn't be sexy. Female characters
written in comics have always been pretty damned
sexy, and used their sexuality.” ~Ann Nocenti
In September 2012, writer Ann Nocenti
took over writing the Catwoman series.
The zero issue was drawn by Adriana
Melo, in a rare combination of a female
writer AND artist in a male-dominated
genre. Ann Nocenti discussed that she
believes Catwoman to be an “accidental
feminist” who is “sexy and complicated.”
Nocenti sees this as a postive and
undeniable trait of a woman who is, for
all purposes, operating in a man’s world.
She should not be seen as worthless
because “it's empowering to have
control of your sexuality.”

7. The world of film…
Catwoman has been depicted by multiple actresses
in many formats, and the least successful of those
was the one who was little more than a sex icon:
Halle Barry in Catwoman, released in 2004. The
other interpretations-Julie Newmar
(1966), Michelle Pfeiffer (1992) and Anne Hathaway
(2012)-have been much more like the comic
Catwoman: strong, sexy and independent. They
also got to wear fully-functional pants.

8. Starfire
"She's like me. She's an alien new to the planet and maybe she doesn't always say
the right thing, or know the right thing to do. But she's a good friend, and she helps
people. She's strong enough to fight the bad guys, even when they hurt her… She's
smart too. And sometimes she gets mad, but that's okay because it's okay to get
mad when people are being mean. And she's pretty.“ ~7 year old reader
Starfire, upon her introduction, is an alien princess from another planet who comes
to Earth to escape her family (they sold her into slavery) and befriends a young
generation of heroes, most notably the original Robin: Dick Grayson. Starfire is
documented as one of the most powerful characters in the DCU: she can fly, has
superstrength, and uses solar power to shoot power blasts and turn herself into the
equivalent of a supernova. Many male characters in the DCU-including Superman-
have said they would not want to take her in a fight.

9. UNFORTUNATELY, Starfire is a character who suffers
greatly from being written for a male-oriented
genre. There are a few iterations of Starfire:
The cute, naïve teenager The powerful, but And, thanks to the
feminine, hero reboot: the mindless
Playboy sexbot

10. Here are the stats: Starfire is
6’4” (taller than Superman)
and weighs 158 pounds. She’s
a trained warrior.
So this makes a little more
sense, right?

11. In 2011, Starfire was cast as a leading
character in a new title: Red Hood and the
Outlaws. This title was part of DC Comic’s
re-launch (also called the reboot), where
they restarted all their major titles from
issue #1. This is Starfire from RHatO:

12. The series was met with outrage
from fans and critics alike, most
specifically the writer/artist’s
treatment of Starfire. Instead of a
strong female, we’re given this: A
character who is part bitch, part
perfect sex doll.
Critics discussed the treatment of
Starfire as turning “Princess
Koriand'r... [Starfire] into
essentially a highly advanced Real
Doll...complete with installing a
lack of memory of anything
related to humanity“ and that the
authors had “taken great pains to
strip all the emotional motivation
behind Kori's gregarious outlook
and reduce her to nothing more
than a sex vessel. It's pretty
insulting not only to women, but
to male intelligence to boot.”

13. Fans hated the redesign just as much. The series is ongoing,
but since its introduction in 2011 has only had 13 issues
printed, when it was originally pitched as a weekly series.
"Do you think the Starfire from the Teen
Titans cartoon is a good role model?"
*immediately* "Oh yes. She's a great role
model. She tells people they can be good
friends and super powerful and fight for
good."
"Do you think the Starfire in the Teen Titans
comic book is a good role model?"
"Yes, too. She's still a good guy. Pretty, but
she's helping others all the time and saving
people."
"What about this new Starfire?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"Because she's not doing anything.“
~7 year old fan in a discussion with her
mother, writer Michelle Lee

14. Comics are for Boys
The comic book genre
is, unfortunately, very dominated by men.
This logically informs the characterization
of many characters—such as Silk Spectre
in Watchmen, who Alan Moore put in “to
have a love interest”—and makes it a
difficult environment for female writers
and artists to break in. However, comics
have come far from the “boys club” they
began as, including the introduction of
female writers and artists, as well as male
writer/artists who produce strong female
characters in a world of pinups. Some
examples include Adam Hughes and Brian
K. Vaughn. (Y the Last Man)

15. Alternative Sexuality in Comics
In the New 52 comic arc, which began in 2011, DC Comics began a new
run of Batwoman comics. This new version of an old character was
given a new identity: a gay woman. The new Batwoman identified as a
lesbian, one of the first “out” characters in DC Comics—female
characters; Marvel has a handful of gay male characters and DC
recently announced that in the reboot Green Lantern Alan Scott will
also be gay—and she has been hailed as one of the “best new titles of
the year.”
She has been associated with another character: the Question II.
Orginally a male character, the Question identity was inherited by Rene
Montoya when the original Question died. As one of the other “out”
characters in DC Comics—she has been out for the entirety of her
existence, whereas Batwoman was originally heterosexual—she has
forged new ground in the comic world. The Question costume has not
changed since the character became female, challenging the
stereotype of female sexuality on multiple levels.

16. Batwoman The Question

17. Sexuality as Power
“I mean, grown ups can wear what they want,” the girl said, “but
… she’s not doing anything but wearing a tiny bikini to get
attention. [...] I want her to be a hero, fighting things and be
strong and helping people. [...] Because she’s what inspires me
to be good.”
The complicated nature of sexuality in comic books in an ongoing, mostly uphill
battle. There are many powerful female characters in comic books—Wonder
Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Black Canary, Emma Frost, Storm, Rogue, Mystique and
Black Widow to name a few—but you would be hard pressed to find one that is not
sexualized. However, upon closer inspection, many of these characters also use
their sexuality as a part of their strength. They wear tight spandex because
everyone in the world of superheroes wears tight spandex, and should not be
dismissed because of the nature of their genre. The line is thin, but clearly
represented. When characters become more focused on their sexuality than their
goodness, they lose potency with the readers. They do not inspire. They are no
longer heroes. So instead, they take it upon themselves to be icons not only of sex,
but of strength.

18. Works Cited
• DC Comics. The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the
Characters of the DC Universe. New York, NY. DC Comics, 2008.
• DC Comics. DC Comics: Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. New York, NY. DC
Comics, 2010.
• Hughes, Adam. Cover Run. New York, NY. DC Comics, 2010.
• Hughes, Joseph. “Parting Shot: New ‘Catwoman’ Writer Ann Nocenti Calls
Selina Kyle an ‘Accidental Feminist.’” Comics Alliance. 2012. November 10,
2012. <http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/09/18/parting-shot-new-
catwoman-writer-ann-nocenti-calls-selina-kyl/>
• Lee, Michelle. “Dear DC Comics.” Michelle Lee: Breathe Words. 2011.
November 17th, 2012. <http://michelelee.net/2011/09/24/dear-dc-
comics/>
• “Red Hood and the Outlaws.” Wikipedia. 2012. November 10, 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hood_and_the_Outlaws>
• Rogers, Vaneta. “Ann Nocenti Takes Over a Still-Sexy Catwoman.”
Newsrama. 2012. November 10, 2012.
<http://www.newsarama.com/comics/ann-nocenti-takes-over-
catwoman.html>

19. GO
READ!