It’s that time of year again, the time for a million lists, including my 25 Favorite Fictional Females in comics list. Like all years, this was tough. Like all years, I’m never quite convinced I’ve got the list right, but for better or worse, here we are!

Fair warning, if someone was repeated from a previous year, I often cribbed some of the text from my previous post with some light updates to reflect changes. Here are last year’s list and the first list in 2010 (as well as a 10 ladies making a run for the title list) in case you’d like to read about even more female characters in comics. It was a really exciting year and with a promising 2015 ahead of us I’m very excited about where we are when it comes to our progress with female characters – as always things are a bit two forward and one back, but we’re making progress! I’d like this list a bit better if there were more indie ladies on it (there are so many that are worthy) but Marvel’s push with female characters this past year did a good job of gobbling up a good number of spots.

Like last year, what I found most interesting is how some characters managed to triumph over lack of material or worse, bad material. Wonder Woman, despite the fact that I can’t read her book, hasn’t fallen much– maybe she’s just got so much iconic power that others are helpless to overcome the big shadow she casts? I spent a lot of time when trying to organize my list this year thinking about the characters that I’d most like to see creators work with in new series – that was how I ended up defining where they fell – how interested I found myself in seeing them in new stories. Still, you can’t underestimate the power of reading both old and new – Black Widow makes the list this year (finally) thanks to some damn fine work by Nathan Edmonson and Phil Noto, while Big Barda shoots up the list because I took some time out this year to read/re-read all her classic Kirby stories…and how can one deny her utter dominance after doing that??



It still seems that, for me, having a largely untouched run that is lodged fondly in my memory – such as Cass Cain’s Batgirl or Jakita Wagner in Planetary – works to a character’s favor. I guess I do a better job of preserving their memories and thus loving them unequivocally. However in character’s like Batwoman’s case (she went from #1 in 2010 to dropping entirely off the lists), she went from near perfection (Rucka and J.H. Willaims acclaimed Batwoman: Elegy), to a book that, while it had its highlights, was far from perfection for me, with inconsistencies in character, writing, and art as well as shifting creative teams, all of which left me unenthusiastic about the character. I have no doubt that she can rebound, but with so many tough competitors and a continued inconsistent portrayal she just didn’t make the cut.

Okay, enough chit chat…here we go!



25. MICHONNE (down from #23)

I’ve enjoyed Michonne on The Walking Dead television show, the actress (Danai Guria) is a great cast and the writing of her has been pretty solid all around. However, despite this being a really strong half season overall, Michonne hasn’t had much to do in the show except babysit. The same has been true in the comics. Michonne hasn’t had much to do for a long time now, and though she’s just naturally a badass, her personal romantic relationships have been a bit awkward and unrewarding and she has been shoved to the background a lot over the last few years. Basically this is an example of me knowing a character has a ton of potential, but being a bit disappointed in how she’s being allowed to show it off.

Read Michonne: The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard is the only place to find Michonne, but it’s all you need – there’s now an incredible 136 issues of The Walking Dead and with Michonne’s first appearance in issue #19 she’s in a whole lot of them. If you’re specifically looking for Michonne you should start with Volume 5: Heart’s Desire, which begins with Michonne’s first appearance in the series. You can also of course watch her on The Walking Dead on AMC which returns in February 2015.  Even with all these issues, this is still probably my favorite Michonne moment, so simple, so very Michonne:



24. AGENT 355 (down from #10)

Agent 355 from Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man, oh how I love you! Forever at Yorick’s side, sacrificing herself for the last man on Earth, even when he’s being a moron that deserves a bullet to the brain instead of someone to jump in front of one, 355 showed a strength of character and a restraint that I respected immediately.  Despite Yorick’s insane (but sweet) quest to find his girlfriend Beth and Agent 355’s emotionless front, the two characters become inseparable friends and tragically, lovers too late.  But ultimately, though the end of the series pains me, it’s hard to regret 355’s holding back of her emotions, as I could only respect her more for waiting until her mission is complete to admit her feelings and act on them. In a world gone mad with everyone reaching greedily for their share (or more than) that kind of fortitude takes a particularly level head and strength of character that I can’t even begin to comprehend.

Read Agent 355: There’s only one place to go, but it’s glorious: Y: The Last Man. Enjoy! And here’s one of my favorite bits:





23.
JAKITA WAGNER (down from #15)

I always loved the fact that Jakita is the muscle on Planetary.  And she’s not only the muscle, she’s also the leader (well until Elijah figures out he’s the fourth man), and she’s also got the best sense of humor and most of the best lines.  You almost never get that combination in a character, but Jakita just embraces it all and makes it work so flawlessly that you forget it’s kind of unusual to see.  Jakita inherited her awesome powers from her father (essentially Tarzan) and her big beautiful brain from her scientist mother that lived in a highly advanced secret city in Africa, though she was raised by a German family and all of that is just the tip of the iceberg of what makes Jakita so interesting.  And as if she isn’t fascinating enough already, she can fight Batman to a standstill.  So, ‘nuff said.

Read Jakita: Honestly? Don’t fuck around, just get the omnibus that releases in January. And here’s some of that Jakita fighting Batman to a standstill to whet your whistle while you wait:





22. STORM/ORORO MONROE (holding at #22)

As I wrote about Storm before, she’s a character I WANT to like very much, but frequently the writing she gets is pretty stilted. I guess the untouchable perfect goddess thing doesn’t work so much for me. Which is why I’ve always enjoyed the more human (and mohawk wearing) Storm. So I welcomed her return to that as she lost trust in Cyclops and ultimately broke loyalties with him in Brian Wood’s X-Men run. Add to that an Ororo on the heels of a divorce and feeling a bit salty — the mohawk returned, she got a slick costume update, and Brian Wood got another crack at her in his new X-Men volume. A crowded cast didn’t leave Storm with a lot of panel time after the initial few issues of X-Men, but I liked what was there. I’m not a fan of the Storm/Wolverine pairing that’s been going on, so that leaves me a bit cold, but I was really glad to see Marvel give Storm her own (long overdue) ongoing series this past year. Is it the perfect series I dream of? No. But it’s interesting and well worth a read. I hope that Marvel will give it time to grow, to find both its voice and an audience.

Read Storm: The best place to read Storm is in her current ongoing series: Storm by Greg Pak and Victor Ibanez. She’s also been in Wolverine & The X-Men but I don’t read that so I can’t tell you how good she is there or not. However, she really does shine in Brian Wood’s X-Men, both the previous volume (two trades) with David Lopez and the new one with Olivier Coipel. You can also find her in the now cancelled Uncanny X-Force, but I don’t recommend it.





21. RIPLEY (new)

When I started reading Lumberjanes I never would have pegged Ripley as my favorite character (though clearly she’s got the best name). Ripley is one of those characters that on first sight seems like maybe she’s trying too hard, like maybe her sense of humor will become grating or tiresome. NOPE. From adorable catchphrases like “What the junk!?” to kicking foxes with a bunch of eyes in the face without a second thought Ripley has kicked, punched, and catchphrased her way right into my soul. And even though Mal has the best hair (clearly!) Ripley managed to rise to the top of a pack of great female characters with her ridiculous enthusiasm and energy.

Read Ripley: You can read Ripley in only one place – the wonderful Lumberjanes comic! Lumberjanes is 8 issues in, and just got upgraded from a mini-series to an ongoing. The first trade, collecting the first 4 issues will be out in April 2015.





21. ELSA BLOODSTONE (new!)

Hmmm. Nobody published any new Elsa Bloodstone stories this year, or at least not that I know of, so why is she suddenly on this list? Well, re-reading Nextwave (which I do every year) is a pretty keen reminder of how damn awesome she is. And whenever I think of books I’d like to see, or characters I’d like to see featured, she’s always at the forefront of my mind. So yeah, on the list she goes! With her salty british-ness (she was born in the US but mostly raised in England I believe…a point of some contention in the comments section in a recent column of Brian’s) her often-inappropriate clothing, and her total lack of fear in the face of just about anything, she’s a total badass.

Read Elsa Bloodstone: Obviously Nextwave is the best possible Elsa to read, I’m not sure Elsa (or anyone or anything) can be done better than Nextwave, but Elsa is also great in the completely underrated Legion of Monsters mini-series by Dennis Hopeless and Juan Doe from a couple years ago. There’s also a fantastic Elsa Bloodstone/Tabitha Smith short story by Faith Erin Hicks in Girl Comics # 2. Here’s one of many Elsa badass moments from Nextwave:



Go to the next page for the next five!



19. BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOV (new!)

Finally! After much wishful thinking that Natasha would earn her way onto this list, I can easily feature her – and in the top 20 no less! Thanks to gorgeous and consistent work by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto it was easy for Natasha to find her way onto this list and it’s about time. As one of the most known superheroines in the world thanks to Scarlett Johansson and the Iron Man, Avengers, and Captain America films, this character was long overdue for her own title. I’m glad Marvel wasn’t too put off to try it again after they cancelled her 2010 series – which was also very good – so it’s a shame it was cut short. Natasha is often described as “the most dangerous woman in the world” and even though she’s technically missing super powers, it doesn’t really feel like hyperbole. In the hands of smart creators Natasha is decidedly complex, not particularly shiny or good, and smart as they come. I’ve been a fan for a long time and it’s great to see her getting some stories really worthy of her.

Read Black Widow: Natasha has of course been around for a long time, but some of her absolute best stories have happened in the last five years. Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuna’s mini-series Black Widow: Name of the Rose, with the exception of a questionable cover, is wonderful. The new Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto series, as mentioned is excellent and the first trade came out this summer. Also worth a look is one of my favorite Avengers runs in recent years – with one of my all time favorite Widow stories – Warren Ellis’s Secret Avengers – collected here in trade (Secret Avengers #16 - #21 – from 2012) – and featuring a ton of great artists from Jamie McKelvie, Alex Maleev, and Stuart Immonen, and including one of my favorite David Aja stories. Black Widow isn’t in all of them as they all stand alone, but she’s the inarguable star of one of the stories and appears in a few. Here’s a great Black Widow bit:





18. ALANA (down from #4)

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’s Alana from Saga has been a favorite since I first laid eyes on her and she debuted strong at #4 her first time on the list. Alana has fallen down the list less because I love her less and more just because she hasn’t gotten as much “screen time” as she did at the outset. When you’ve got as many great characters as Vaughan and Staples have, something’s just got to give. Unfortunately it did hurt her placement on this year’s list…but I still love this lady. She’s just so nuanced and complicated. She’s warrior and lover, mother and wife, badass but also almost childlike in her innocence of some things – her freakout that she had “broken her daughter” when Hazel’s umbilical cord nub fell off, was charmingly human and naïve – proving you can know all about the universe and still not know about the simplest of things. I just love her for all of it. Her chemistry with Marko, her fears contrasted with her incredible bravery, her terrible taste in books, her awful new career, her brush with drug addiction, it’s all just so wonderfully real and beautiful and awful. Never leave me, Alana.

Read Alana: Saga Omnibus. JUST BUY IT ALREADY.  Here she is being adorable:





17. MAGIK/ILLYANA RASPUTIN (up from #18)

Who would have thunk it? I’ve never been a big Magik fan, or didn’t know I should be, but the work that Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Bachalo, and Frazer Iriving have done with her in Uncanny X-Men is awesome. Magik is such an interesting character, kind of funny and mean at once, reserved in how much she connects to others (understandably given her nightmarish life) but also boldly unafraid to say whatever she thinks. She’s an odd fit with Cyclops’s team, but it works wonderfully, and not just because her teleportation powers are incredibly convenient. I also happen to love what Bachalo is doing with her soulsword – letting it change shape/size/and even design a bit, giving it a life of its own. I wrote about how much I’d love to see a Emma Frost/Magik book team up and I’ve decided to ask Santa for that book AGAIN this year. C’mon Santa, make a believer out of me, last chance!

Read Magik: The best place to read current Magik is in the new Uncanny X-Men book. There are a few trades out. Here’s a taste of Emma and Magik, being, well, magic:





16. EMMA FROST/THE WHITE QUEEN (down from #08)

Emma Frost is a total bitchy badass, and maybe it’s because I wish I could be more that way, but I just love the hell out of her.  A lot of writers really seem to “get” Emma’s voice as Grant Morrison, Joss Whedon, Warren Ellis, Scott Lobdell, Kathryn Immonen and several other significant writers have all nailed her voice over the last dozen years and made her a force in comics to be reckoned with. Under Brian Michael Bendis’s pen I was a bit worried as it took him a while to find the Emma Frost groove, but now that he has, he’s killing it...when we get to see her. Writers (and artists) spent YEARS rehabilitating Emma Frost into the character we’ve got today, one I wouldn’t trade for a million Jean Greys. But recent events (post Phoenix possession), which could have destroyed the character have only made her more complex, more challenging, revitalizing her yet again. She had a pretty interesting year last year, but hasn't gotten to do much this year, so I hope 2015 will find her getting a whole lot more panel time...perhaps that Emma/Magik team up I've been dreaming of. I still miss her in white and hope we’ll eventually return to it as the “baseline Emma,” but what has been happening with her in Uncanny X-Men has been truly interesting. Emma's changes mean it's an exciting time to be an Emma fan...if only we can finally get some of those stories.

Read Emma: Best bet these days is Uncanny X-Men, but also worth your time if you like the character is Generation X, Morrison’s New X-Men, Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, and Ellis’s X-Men: Xenogenesis. And in commitment to my demand for an Emma Frost/Magik team up, here’s another priceless bit of the two of them:



Go to the next page for the next five!



15. NIMONA (up from #19)

I wrote a whole post about Nimona I love her so much. Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona came to an epic (and staggeringly emotional) conclusion this year. You can read it in its entirety online, but I also encourage you to read the collected print edition forthcoming in 2015. What’s so great about Nimona? Well, she’s just so Nimona-y! She’s a shark! She’s a dragon! She’s a sheep so she can use her own wool to knit you a sweater! She’s everything and it’s awesome. Totally without any kind of traditional morals, she’s far more of a “true villain” than Blackheart (who she sidekicks for) but she cares for him (and he for her) in the most tender and realistic of ways. One of the best things about Nimona is the boundless energy, enthusiasm, and optimism she possesses. It makes her villainy contagious and keeps the webcomic from feeling too dark, instead Nimona is REALLY EXCITED ABOUT CRIME. You will be too.

Read Nimona: If you’re not reading Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona webcomic, you are using the Internet incorrectly. Please remedy that immediately. Here’s Nimona being a hilarious badass:



14. VELVET/VELVET TEMPLETON (new!)

Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, and Elizabeth Breitweizer's magnificent Velvet is unlike any other lady on this list...if only because she's actually been allowed to age. A rarity in comics, especially when it comes to women, Velvet is a woman that both looks and acts her age - she's still magnificent - but what's not magnificent about her age anyway, I ask you? - and so she stands out among the pack before we even get started. And once we get started she's wonderful too. Smart and badass but vulnerable and tragic, complex and fantastically flawed. Velvet is an incredible spy, long out of the game, now forced back in to clear her name (and keep herself alive) and she makes wonderfully human mistakes while still being magnificently capable. Velvet also has one of the best and most real fight scenes I've ha the pleasure of reading in comics in a very long time.

Read Velvet: There's only one place to read Velvet but its magnificent, so get on over there. The Image ongoing series Velvet by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, and Elizabeth Breitweizer is ongoing now, and the first trade collecting the first five issues is out now.





13.
MISS AMERICA/AMERICA CHAVEZ (down from #6)

Who knew!?! I basically didn’t know America Chavez from a hole in the wall when I began reading Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers, and yet here she is, not only debuting strong last year, but still on the list despite having not read much of anything with her this year. WHAT?!?!  America is like when surliness meets goodness…and the result is so goddamn good. A laconic, powerful woman of action, America grew on me without me even realizing it. America was an interesting part of Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers tapestry, certainly not the star the way Billy, Teddy, and Loki were, but her role was incredibly important just the same and she distinguished herself in every issue – oftentimes by what she didn’t say. I ended up loving her so hardcore for her terse attitude and interest in punching everything into oblivion. I do love characters that punch. What can I say, I’m a Neanderthal.

Read America: Go directly to the Young Avengers Omnibus by Gillen and McKelvie, do not pass go, do not collect $200. It collects the entire lovely Young Avengers run, it’s awesome. Enjoy. Oh, and here’s some terse battle strategy for you, courtesy of Miss America:





12. MONICA RAMBEAU (holding at #12)

Like I said with Elsa, ever since I (finally) discovered it, I re-read Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen’s Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. at least once a year. That keeps the perfection that is Monica Rambeau nice and fresh in my mind. She’s a favorite lady and like some others here, lack of appearance in stories doesn’t seem to hinder my affection for her. In Nextwave, Monica is the team leader and as a woman of color it was surprising to get to see her lead the team, since that rarely happens, but I have to say, it was everything I imagined it could be. Glorious. She’s a fantastic leader, a fantastic teammate, and an all around hilarious badass, even when she’s playing the ‘straight man’ which on Nextwave is of course a whole different thing then playing the straight man anywhere else.  Also? Lady wears an all white costume to go superhero-ing in…and that takes balls of steel.

Read Monica: Nextwave, baby, all the way. You can also pick up the Captain Marvel Vol. 2 trade as Monica guest stars in a couple issues. Monica is also in the new Mighty Avengers book, but I haven’t read it for dislike of the artist usually on that book, so read with caution. Here’s Monica going ultraviolet nova, so cool:





11. ARMOR/HISAKO ICHIKI (up from #20)

One of my favorite new characters in the last ten years, and completely underused. Where is she?!?!? I honestly do not understand why this character doesn’t get more play. She has an incredibly cool power set that also happens to be visually exceptional and that helps her she stand out with ease. I love characters small in stature and decidedly unimposing that can deliver a huge punch (literally), and Hisako has that in spades. Armor is one of the those characters you just can’t wait to dig deeper into. She got a ton of attention in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, but since then, with a few exceptions it’s been slim pickings. More, more, more, please! Like I said above, it might seem odd for Armor to rocket up the list when she’s not been in anything new, but re-reading some stories featuring her and finding myself yearning to see her in everything has her climbing this list even without solid representation.

Read Armor: Unfortunately Armor is not in anything right now so far as I know. The best place to read her is Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, available in trades and as an epic omnibus (I have it, it’s badass). She’s also pretty great in Brian Wood’s Wolverine & The X-Men: Alpha & Omega, which is not my favorite of Wood’s work largely due to the art, but Hisako really gets to shine. She’s also got a few fantastic moments in Warren Ellis and Kaare Andrews super off the wall Astonishing X-Men: Xenogeneis. Here’s one of my favorite little bits from Xenogenesis – what a way with words she has:



Go to the next page for the next five!



10.
SHE-HULK/JENNIFER WALTERS (new!)

Ah, so happy to have her here, so depressed that her book is going the way of the dodo. She-Hulk has been more on my radar in recent years thanks to an especially strong turn in FF a funny oddball book with gorgeous art by Michael Allred. Jen had a significant role there and I loved what I saw of her so I was delighted to see her getting her own series in 2014…only to be desperately sad to have that book (one of my favorites of the female led books Marvel launched in 2014) cancelled. Writer Charles Soule and artist Javier Pulido found a really wonderful off the wall way to deal with Jen’s surreal life, and Pulido’s flat cartoonish style was a breath of gorgeous fresh air. There were a few growing pains (including an unfortunate guest artist for two issues early on) but once Soule added Hellcat to the mix, there really was true magic going on. Jen was complicated and flawed, beautiful and magnificent, struggling to make it work, hilarious and heroic all at once. I love her. I hope she’ll be back.

Read She-Hulk: Obviously the best spot is in her ongoing series (which will end with issue #12). The first trade of the book (collecting the first six issues) is out now. Also worth a look is Fraction and Allred’s FF (out in trade), and though the cast is overly large and thus Jen gets a little lost, she’s got a few hilarious bits in Kathryn Immonen, Tonci Zonjic, and Emma Rios’s Heralds:





09. MIA “MAPS” MIZOGUCHI (new!)

Perhaps the entry deserving of the most side-eye on this list is Maps, who has been in only three issues so far, but that should speak all the more to just how wonderful – and needed – a character like Maps is. Full of joy and energy, up for any adventure and brimming with heart this character has just soared into my life. She’s everything I’ve been missing at DC Comics. Maps has a great very modern sense of humor and she’s outrageously nerdy and doesn’t really care who knows it, in fact, she wears it as a badge of armor. In life, were she real, she would probably sometimes irritate the crap out of you with her boundless enthusiasm and curiosity for and about everything, however, on the page she’s passionate and impossible not to love. Some small part of me likes to pretend that in a more perfect more idyllic world, Maps is a lot how someone like Cassandra Cain might have turned out if raised in love…instead of trained from birth to be a mute assassin. J

Read Maps: Unfortunately you can only read Maps in Gotham Academy and there have only been three issues so far so it’s not yet in trade. You can pick up individual issues at your local shop or online, or you can grab digital copies at Comixology.





08. BIG BARDA (up from #17)

I’ve always been a sucker for the whole stranger in a strange land thing, and nobody embodies it better (in the right writer’s hands) than Barda and her hilarious assimilation to modern Earth culture.  I’m also a sucker for a truly devoted couple in love, and Barda and Scott Free are one of the best in comics.  Someone somewhere on the internet (I’m sorry I don’t know who or where you are?) said that one of the things that makes Big Barda easier to love than Wonder Woman, is that her relationship with Free has always grounded her and humanized her in a way that Diana usually feels untouchable.  Now, I don’t necessarily agree that Barda is ‘easier to love’ than Diana but I can absolutely see the truth in that statement.  I think that HAS been a stumbling block for Diana over the years, and one Barda never had.  Regardless, I can’t think of much I’d like more in comics than a Barda/Scott Free book, in the meantime I’ll have to satisfy myself with the old tales and hope for a future DC where there’s room for a great character like Barda.

Read Barda: To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend any of the current Barda stuff. For the older stuff it’s obviously all the great Kirby/Fourth World/Mister Miracle stuff…where you can read about Barda saying things like that she will punch a shark to death FROM THE INSIDE. She’s the best. She also has some great stuff in Birds of Prey but I’m not actually sure what issues/trades you should look for – any readers want to shout out in the comments?





07. MS. MARVEL/KAMALA KHAN (new!)

What a damn treat to be able to add a YA heroine that’s also a Muslim-American. This time last year I don’t know if I could have predicted that. Well, mayyyybe as people were pretty excited about Kamala Khan’s forthcoming debut. Kamala has had such perfect debut and in part because creators and editors were so smart with how they rolled this character out we have been treated with one of the most exciting and rewarding debuts in a very long time. Looking at Kamala it’s hard not to be excited to be a comics reader…and hard not to be a female comics reader! She’s everything a young heroine should be -- smart, spunky, powerful, energized, optimistic, flawed, a bit tragic around the edges, and decidedly complex. The Ms. Marvel team – a perfectly chosen mix (even when it came to guest artist Jake Wyatt who just killed it on a two issue Ms. Marvel/Wolverine team-up) that are responsible for truly wonderful work should be damn proud of what they have done here. And here’s to Ms. Marvel being around for a very long time…on this list and many many others.

Read Ms. Marvel: The best (and only) place to go at this point is the Ms. Marvel ongoing comic book. The first volume is available in trade now. Here’s Kamala being hilarious:





06. CAPTAIN MARVEL/CAROL DANVERS (up from #7)

Seventeen year old me would probably spit on this list for Carol Danvers appearing on it, and in the top 10 no less! But what 17 year old me didn’t know was that Kelly Sue DeConnick was going to come along and totally make me fall in love with Carol, even though that’s in direct opposition to my fierce loyalty to Rogue. Under DeConnick’s pen I have come to care for Carol so much – it’s kind of incredible. Hell, thanks to DeConnick and Andrade I freaking cried. CRIED! Jesus. Anyway, Carol’s development as a character has been incredible and though 2012 series didn’t quite make it through the publishing gauntlet, it was so encouraging to hear that not only was Marvel giving the series another try, but with DeConnick still at the helm. The second try which began last winter with DeConnick and artist David Lopez was a wonderful re-start that jettisoned whatever didn’t work and kept everything that did. The result has been a smart and beautiful series full of heart, humanity, and heroics. I can’t wait to see where they take Carol next, and with a female led film on the (somewhat distant) horizon, let’s hope Marvel continues to invest in Carol as their leading lady.

Read Carol: The current ongoing series by DeConnick and Lopez is the obvious place to start, there is one trade of that volume out now. Also worth a look are Captain Marvel Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. though I actually recommend Vol. 2 as I think Andrade is the better Captain Marvel artist and he takes over partway through that volume. I also think DeConnick really hits her stride in that volume AND Monica Rambeau shows up as a guest star. Super cool bonus point? I’m quoted on the cover of Vol. 2 (from my CBR Review of the book). So, yeah. Volume 2, yo!  Also worth a look is The Enemy Within crossover which is good, and I really loved DeConnick’s work on Avengers Assemble: Science Bros with gorgeous art by Stefano Caselli and Pete Woods. Carol’s only a guest star, but it’s really fun superhero stuff.



Go to the next page for the last five!



05. WONDER WOMAN (down from #2)

Forgive me again for pretty much reposting what I wrote back in 2010. Its still how I feel, so there’s no sense trying to reinvent the wheel: When I finally fell for Wonder Woman, I fell hard. You can read about my feelings for Diana in more detail here. But I will say that a five years ago I don’t know that Diana would have made my list at all, let alone in the top 5, but that’s what opening one’s mind and reading some excellent stories by some excellent writers and artists can do. When I fell, what I fell for was Diana’s kindness and compassion, her strength and wisdom, but most of all her sense of humor and her humanity, which I had been missing for some reason. I really do love her now and feel excited that she exists as such an iconic and powerful figure in comics. At the end of the day I feel she’s one of the only truly iconic headlining women in mainstream comics and that’s a hard thing to do and be…it’s a lot to live up to everyday and yet Diana has done it for 60+ years with hardly a stumble. Those are some massively strong shoulders. I haven’t been able to read much Wonder Woman over the last three years, but I take what I can get and when I can’t read her I just sit back, bide my time, and wait until I can again. When she’s for me again, I’ll be there waiting, that, I can promise you.

Read Wonder Woman: Well, there’s a hell of a lot to choose from, though little of it recent. There’s my favorite Greg Rucka Wonder Woman trade, Eye of the Gorgon; as well as his standalone Hiketeia story. Always worth a look is Gail Simone’s take and I’d recommend starting at the beginning with The Circle. I can also happily recommend the first trade of the current Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, but don’t get attached if you care about the Amazons because Azz will break your damn heart in issue #7 and you’ll have to stop reading. Also always worth a read are Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier from which these iconic panels hail:





04. FOREVER CARLYLE (up from #10)

Forever shot onto my list at an impressive #10 her first time out and every single thing Greg Rucka and Michael Lark have done with her since has only helped her climb steadily up the ladder until she unseated freaking Wonder Woman! WHAT?! Yeah, suffice to say, that’s some impressive character work. I never would have thought a newbie, even one written by Greg Rucka could have managed to unseat Diana, but Forever has impressed me at every turn. In issue #5 Greg Rucka and Michael Lark managed the kind of subtle, smart character building that poises a character to become one of the greats – that’s what got her on the list last year and everything they have done since then have only made her more impossible to ignore. If you read comics and you’re not reading Lazarus you are straight up screwing up. Get your head on right, kid!

Read Forever: The first deluxe Lazarus trade collecting the first 9 issues is out now, collecting. Get it! You’ll thank me. Here’s some Forever taking care of business, unsavory though it is. Shades of Jakita, yeah?



HAWKEYE/KATE BISHOP (up from #5)

Easily one of my favorite ladies of the last year thanks to exceptional work by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Annie Wu in Hawkeye. And though she didn’t get nearly enough panel time for my tastes, wonderful work by Gillen and McKelvie in Young Avengers didn’t hurt a bit either. Kate is so wonderfully complex and delicious as a character, embodying both the ultimate badass, who has her shit surprisingly together for her age (especially when compared to the adorably not together other Hawkeye) but she’s also full of neuroses and flaws, just like any real person. The result is a hero you root for so hard and want to be just like, but at the same time cannot help relating to and feeling for. Kate has an incredibly bright future ahead of her if these two books are just the start of things for her. Though Kate arguably didn’t have AS big a year this year as last, I’m still every bit as in love with her (if not more) and when I think of characters I want to see more of, she’s always foremost in my mind.

Read Kate: I think I said it all. Hawkeye Volume 1 and Volume 2, and Volume 3 as well as and Young Avenger omnibus. Here’s something adorable and badass push you over the edge:





02. ROGUE (down from #1)

I’ll forever be grateful to Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel for rekindling my first love intensely enough with their X-Men to shoot her back to the top of the list. I’ve loved Rogue since I was 15 and though the character has had some atrocious sidebars (and some great things too in the MANY years since I was 15) my heart soared to see her returned to her roots and former glory. Of course I also had to watch Rick Remender not only brutally murder her, but perform an unfortunate character assassination at the same time over in Uncanny Avengers, but I’m just gonna pretend that is not happening over there in the corner. Yes, Remember brought her back, and yes he tried to repair what he had done (and yes, that was clearly his plan all along) but I object to the whole thing. It was too painful to watch and ultimately wasn’t worth the price of admission (for me). All that said, it barely tarnished my love for my girl (dropping her from #1 to #2) I have no doubt Rogue will be back bigger and better than ever – surely Marvel has something epic in store for her to make up for this rough year she had, right guys?

Read Rogue: If you want the current/recent stuff I can’t recommend X-Men Vol. 1: Primer enough when it comes to Rogue. Also absolutely worth the buy (digital I guess if you can’t find the single issue?) is the Black Widow/Rogue team up story by Chris Bachalo in A+X #2 – easily one of my favorite short stories.



 



01. CASSANDRA CAIN/BATGIRL (up from #3)

For Cass I’m going to lift straight from my 2010 post because not a damn thing has changed: Cassandra Cain is one of the greatest young female characters created in the last twenty years. Batman’s daughter, an assassin that made her own way when she found the one originally forced upon her to be reprehensible. Cass is this amazing combination of pure innocence and goodness, poured into a devastating bottle of violence.  She’s one of the most kind-hearted well-intentioned characters to ever wear the suit, despite her ability to defeat just about anyone, up to and including Batman.  Her absence from the Bat Family is…painful for me and constantly upsetting. The treatment of Cass Cain, and almost denial of her existence remains like a hard little pebble in my heart.

Read Cass Cain: She’s got a whole giant series out there – many trades. They can be hard to find, and pricey, but they are worth the work and cash. Stop before reading the Beechen stuff. You’ll thank me.



QUICK LOOKS:

Who Fell off the list: Catwoman (from #13), Sif (from #12), Jet (from #23), Dex Parios (from #21), Jessica Jones (from #25), Gwendolyn (from #9), Psylocke (from #16). Pained me to lose any of these ladies, and as always I never feel quite sure about my list, but they’re only a good year and a handful of good stories to get back on the list.

Who made the jump from last year’s bubble: She-Hulk! Black Widow!

Who’s on the bubble: Thor (Thor), Spider-Gwen (Spider-Gwen), Kamau Kogo (Bitch Planet), Pomeline Fritch (Gotham Academy), Suzie (Sex Criminals), Valkyrie (Various Marvel), Sif (Various Marvel), Jessica Jones (Mighty Avengers/Various), Future Molly Hayes (she’s only been in a few odd stories, but I LOVE her…she’s one mini-series or guest-starring appearance away from making this list).

Who’s most likely to make the jump next year: Thor and Spider-Gwen. And maybe not next year but with Jessica Jones getting a TV show I hope we’ll see some focus on her in comics too, which could get her – a long time favorite – back on the list with ease.

Annnnnd that’s all. So what about you? Who makes your top 25? Does it change a lot from year to year or hold steady?


Kelly Thompson is a freelance writer living in Manhattan. She is the author of the superhero novel THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING recently optioned to become a film, and her new novel STORYKILLER is out now. She is also writing the forthcoming JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS comic from IDW. You can find Kelly all over the place, but twitter may be the easiest: @79semifinalist