Let's face it: comic books have always been, and continue to be, dominated by male characters. In the early days, the creators would sometimes throw readers a bone by giving one of the established male heroes a female sidekick. Usually, these characters would have a name derivative of their male counterpart's, and their femininity would be emphasized as much as possible. For example, Batwoman has practically the same name as Batman, and she initially fought crime with a giant purse filled with cosmetic-themed gadgets. The writers also had a habit of referring to these female characters as "beautiful" or "feminine" every other panel. You know, just in case anyone forgot they were girls and needed the reminder.

So yes, many heroines started out as tagalongs and damsels in distress. And yes, the male characters were often less than appreciative of receiving help from "a girl" and spent just as much time trying to get rid of the female newcomers as they did punching bad guys. Happily, all of this has started to change in recent years. Plenty of female heroes beat the odds to became distinct and beloved characters in their own right. Some have even surpassed the male characters they were meant to be emulating. Not all of them have done so well, of course. Not everyone is cut out to be a superhero. But hey, at least they tried, and that's nothing to sneer at. So here they are: ten superheroines who stumbled and ten who learned how to soar!

20 BETTER: SHE-HULK

Meek Bruce Banner famously became the Hulk after getting caught in the middle of a gamma ray explosion. His cousin, the equally meek Jennifer Walters, less famously acquired her own powers after a blood transfusion from Bruce. Since then, as the sensational She-Hulk, Jen has gained a reputation for being just as intimidating as the Hulk but twice as much fun.

She-Hulk is also more popular in-universe than her cousin. Not only did she temporarily replace the Thing for the Fantastic Four, she also became an Avenger. In fact, she lasted much longer with the Avengers than the original Hulk, who quit after two missions.

19 FAILED: NIGHTWING

Cheyenne Freemont wanted nothing more than to live the ordinary life of a fashion designer. But nature saw fit to give her telekinetic powers and plant her in Bludhaven, home of the superheroic Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing. After getting close, Dick and Cheyenne discovered each other's secrets, but no matter how Dick tried to convince her to become a hero, Cheyenne resisted.

That changed when Dick's brother-in-arms, Jason Todd, was captured. Cheyenne finally caved, designing a Nightwing-inspired costume and joining the fight to save Jason. And then she just disappeared from comics, never to be seen or heard from again.

18 BETTER: CAPTAIN MARVEL

Carol Danvers has so far outstripped her male predecessor that many casual fans may not realize she ever had a male predecessor at all. She started out as Ms. Marvel, as compared to Mar-Vell's Captain Marvel. Then, after cycling through a few other codenames, she decided it was finally time to accept the title of captain. That was only a few years ago, but she's already become the definitive Captain Marvel.

Regardless of moniker, Carol is among the most famous and most powerful Marvels ever. She has overcome family trouble, multiple depowerments and alcoholism to take her place as one of Marvel's A-list heroines.

17 FAILED: ROBIN

The original Robin, Dick Grayson, was such a success that it's unlikely any other Robin, no matter how accomplished or beloved, will ever get out of his shadow. Some, however, had better luck than others. Among the bottom of the heap in terms of good fortune is Stephanie Brown.

After Batman fired her for spurious reasons, Stephanie went snooping around the Batcave for something that would help her prove her worth. Instead, she accidentally started a gang war in Gotham that resulted in her own apparent demise. While Stephanie's failures aren't entirely her fault, she has done much better for herself as Spoiler and Batgirl.

16 BETTER: THOR

For the longest time, Jane Foster was the loyal love interest of both Thor and his alter ego, Dr. Don Blake. It was her job to make goo-goo eyes at Thor while lamenting Blake's perpetual disinterest in her. But everything changed in 2014 when Thor was deemed unworthy of his hammer, Mjolnir.

Thor's loss turned out to be Jane's gain, as the cancer-stricken Dr. Foster taught herself how to wield Mjolnir. She quickly proved herself against many of the original Thor's most dangerous foes, including Mangog, who she sacrificed both her hammer and her life to defeat. Now there's a real heroine!

15 FAILED: BLACK PANTHER

After receiving grievous injuries, T'Challa was forced to turn over the role of the Black Panther to his younger sister, Shuri. Unfortunately, Shuri's time as Black Panther was plagued by extreme violence and ruthlessness. Her fellow heroes, and even her own brother, were often stunned by how far she was willing to go to protect Wakanda.

Shuri ultimately received such a beating that she entered a coma-like state from which T'Challa, now Black Panther again, had to save her. It was all for the best, though. As the 2018 blockbuster Black Panther proves, Shuri can serve Wakanda and the world just fine without a costume.

14 BETTER: THE QUESTION

Vic Sage was the Question for many years, during which time he defeated everyone from unscrupulous scientists to corrupt politicians. But he couldn't beat lung cancer, and when he received the diagnosis, he set about selecting and training a replacement. Renee Montoya, a longtime Gotham detective, was just the woman for the job.

Renee was always tough, but she became even more so after her training with the original Question and his old friend, Richard Dragon. The new Question has done her mentor proud, risking all to protect Gotham and those she loves -- with an occasional assist from her ex-girlfriend, Batwoman.

13 FAILED: CYBORGIRL

LaTonya Charles has a very similar origin story to that of her more famous cousin, Victor Stone. Each had catastrophic injuries that should have ended them. And, just as Vic's father built a robot body to keep his son alive, LaTonya's aunt, Sarah Charles, used her own scientific knowhow to build her a robot body as well.

But there are vast differences between LaTonya and Vic. While the latter put his cyborg body to good use as a superhero, the former turned to crime. She even battled her cousin more than once, though of course he always got the upper hand.

12 BETTER: HAWKEYE

Kate Bishop started her superhero career with the Young Avengers, a group of teens modeling themselves after the original Avengers. Kate took on the "Hawkeye" role, dressing in purple and using her archery skills to save others. Eventually, she left the Young Avengers and teamed up with the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton. Some fans refer to this new dynamic duo as Hawkguy and Hawkeye to avoid confusion.

Kate may lack her mentor's experience, but she is just as brave, just as observant and just as good at shooting pointy sticks. Deadpool even thinks she's a better Hawkeye than the original! High praise indeed.

11 FAILED: THOR GIRL

Before Jane Foster wowed everyone as the Goddess of Thunder, another woman, Tarene, attempted to follow in Thor's footsteps. Tarene's destiny was to use her unfathomable powers to help "worthy" species jump to the next level of evolution. She's basically the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

After losing most of her powers, Tarene chose to remain on Earth and fight crime as the Asgardian-themed Thor Girl. Unfortunately, she could never quite live up to her lofty namesake. She frequently got beat up and mistaken for the enemy.  When Tarene regained her full powers, she happily left Earth far, far behind.

10 BETTER: WHITE TIGER

After the original White Tiger, Hector Ayala, was accused of a crime and shot, two female relatives took over the role. First was his niece, Angela Del Toro. She tried hard but ended up mind controlled by the enemy. Hector's sister and Angela's aunt, Ava Ayala, took over from there.

So far, Ava's tenure as White Tiger has been by far the most interesting. The magic amulets she inherited from her relatives granted her superhuman endurance and martial arts skills. But even after losing the amulets, Ava refused to retire, using her own natural skills and determination to break Angela free of the mind control.

9 FAILED: NEGATIVE WOMAN

The original Doom Patrol seemingly gave their lives to protect the residents of a tiny Maine fishing village. Not long after, Soviet pilot Valentina Vostok crashed her plane into the same place where the Doom Patrol perished. One of the late heroes, Negative Man, had been radioactive, and his residual energy entered Valentina. She was promptly turned into the Negative Woman.

But of course, few comic book heroes truly croak. When Negative Man inevitably turned out to be alive, the energy quickly returned to him, leaving Valentina as the mortal woman she'd been before the plane crash. She then became an agent for Checkmate.

8 BETTER: CAPTAIN AMERICA

Dr. Abraham Erskine's original plan was to create an entire army of super soldiers. This plan was derailed when Nazis assassinated him after just one soldier, Steve Rogers, received the treatment. But in the universe of Exiles, Rogers, too, was taken out before he got the Super Soldier serum. It was up to Agent Peggy Carter to step in and allow herself to be injected with the serum instead.

Thus did the English Peggy Carter became her world's Captain America. Not only did she have Army training, she was already a highly trained secret agent at the time of her transformation, making her a truly formidable Captain indeed.

7 FAILED: DOCTOR FATE

Kent Nelson changed into Doctor Fate by donning the Helmet of Fate, at which point he became a powerful if emotionless sorcerer. After Kent's passing, the helmet went to young Eric Strauss, who was artificially aged to adulthood by his new powers. But he wasn't alone: Eric had to fuse with his stepmother, Linda Strauss, to become the new Doctor Fate.

Their partnership would not last long. First Eric fell in battle. Linda tried to continue on as Doctor Fate alone, but the helmet didn't like that, effectively ending her superhero career. Linda was ended as well, and another woman -- Kent's widow, Inza Cramer -- continued the Fate legacy.

6 BETTER: RED HOOD

The most famous Red Hoods are the Joker and Jason Todd. But there is another Red Hood out there, one who is far more heroic than either of her predecessors: Lian Harper, daughter of the hero Arsenal and Cheshire. Like her father, Red Hood's weapon of choice is the bow and arrow. Also like her father, Red Hood chooses to use her talents for good.

In Kingdom Come, Red Hood and other young heroes work with Batman to try to infiltrate Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front. Once Luthor's true plan -- to use a brainwashed Captain Marvel to permanently wreck human/superman relations -- is revealed, Batman, Red Hood and company semi-successfully put a stop to it.

5 FAILED: SHE-THING

After passing through some cosmic rays, Sharon Ventura started calling herself She-Thing, because she now resembled the Thing of the Fantastic Four. Sharon reacted to her mutation about as well as the original Thing did. She made a deal with Doctor Doom: he would reverse the mutation if she would spy on the FF for him.

This plan failed on multiple levels. The Thing, who Sharon was in love with, was disgusted by her willingness to throw in with Doom. Worse, Doom later reversed the procedure, causing Sharon to mutate further than before and become mentally unstable. She did get better, but her run as She-Thing was still a resounding failure.

4 BETTER: X-23

Laura Kinney, designated X-23 by the mad scientists who turned her into a living weapon, is a Wolverine clone.  Although she often struggles to fit in and control her temper, she is undoubtedly a good guy, forever trying to follow in her "father's" footsteps by being a hero despite her questionable origins. And in the wake of Wolverine's demise, she took his name and costume to honor him.

During her tenure as Wolverine, Laura discovered other Wolverine clones who needed her to guide them just as the original Wolverine once guided her. Clearly, she had learned her lessons well.

3 FAILED: TARANTULA

Jonathan Law, aka Tarantula, is a relatively obscure hero. When he is remembered at all, it's probably for serving with the All-Star Squadron during World War II. One would think that any woman taking on the Tarantula mantle would have an easy time of surpassing the original, but Catalina Flores is not "any woman."

Despite her desperate eagerness to be taken seriously as a hero, Catalina constantly needed rescuing by her mentor, Nightwing. Worse, she once took advantage of Nightwing's catatonia and assaulted him, even after he told her to leave him alone. Catalina was relegated to hell in the pages of Secret Six.

2 BETTER: DOVE

The original Dove, Don Hall, sacrificed himself to save civilians in Crisis on Infinite Earths. But the heroes Hawk and Dove have always been a duo. They need each other to maintain balance and be effective superheroes; Hawk alone would be too aggressive, just as Dove alone would be too passive, and so a new Dove in the form of Dawn Granger was born.

Hawk, still mourning for his brother, rejected Dawn at first. But true to her nature, Dove persisted patiently and quietly until Hawk accepted her as his new partner. Dawn has now been Dove for far longer than Don was.

1 FAILED: HAWK

When the original Hawk, Hank Hall, turned evil, Dove's sister Holly stepped in to fill his bright red boots. Holly was a reluctant superhero, unwilling to compromise or cooperate with anyone, even her own sister, with whom she'd never been especially close. They joined the Titans twice, but they never stayed for long.

In the "Blackest Night" event, many deceased heroes, including Hank Hall, returned as bloodthirsty zombies. Hank ended Holly, thus ending her brief tenure as a superhero. After "Blackest Night," Hank was resurrected for real and became Hawk once again. Holly, meanwhile, is still waiting on her resurrection.