Wonder Woman is currently crushing it at the box office. We’re all riding the high of its success, so why not keep the badassery, lady power going. If you’ve seen the movie already and perhaps are getting ready for your second (THIRD?) screen, check out Redheadedgirl’s review of the movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry! This post will be spoiler free.
We’ve collected some great heroines from books, TV, and comics to fully complement your warm & fuzzy Wonder Woman feels.
Television
Sarah: Steven Universe ( A | BN | G | AB ), the show and the graphic novels, if you need any and all super powered women and careful character development!
Carrie: I also second Steven Universe. Never hurts to revisit our beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of course!
The Bionic Woman ( A | BN | AB )! Loved her as a kid! Especially once I became bionic!
Redheadedgirl: Supergirl ( A | BN | AB ):
This show has a lot of promise, and I have hopes that’ll find it’s footing. I like seeing a woman superhero who is also a fun, happy woman. She’s not a tomboy, or trying to prove that she’s better than the boys and boy-things, and there are enough women in the show that no one needs to worry about being “The Ur Example of Woman-ness” (or the Smurfette Principle).
Comics
Carrie: Ms. Marvel!
Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run of Captain Marvel ( A ).
(Not to be confused with Ms. Marvel.)
Redheadedgirl: But also Ms. Marvel!
I know you said her already but I luff her so much.
Carrie: Yeah she deserves the repetition. Lemme say it again: MS MARVEL Y’ALL SHE ROCKS
Chelsea Cain’s run on Mockingbird ( A | BN | G ) – in this version Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird, technically is super-powered.
Cain’s version of Bobbi is like what might happen if Buffy Summers and James Bond had a super snarky, super feminist baby. I adore her and I had so much fun with these eight issues. They were the perfect entertainment for a stressful day. The art has bright colors and a lot of movement combined with beautiful pen and ink lines. The dialogue is my favorite brand of snark.
Books
Some of these are books from around the site or through some Googling!
Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee ( A | BN | K | AB ) was reviewed by Carrie, who gave it a B- for awesome characters, but an eh plot.
Dynama by Ruth Diaz is another recommendation from Carrie, who said:Not Your Sidekick is an adorable YA superhero romance with an Asian bisexual heroine, science fiction elements, and some cute robots. It’s also about mistaken identity – a common theme in superhero stories, but one that irritates me no end (as does the Big Misunderstanding trope, which have many similarities). For this reason, I wasn’t crazy about the plot of this book, but I did love the characters and concept.
This f/f novella about a Latina bisexual superheroine, who juggles being a superhero with being a single mom, had me from the very first scene, in which she’s interrupted in the middle of a battle with a bipedal shark by a call from the school office telling her to come pick up her sick kid. The story has some problems with logic and logistics, but it’s portrayal of complex women in a world in which superheroes are beset with problems both mundane and unusual is fun and touching.
Even Villains Fall in Love by Liana Brooks ( A | BN | K | AB ) and Aphrodite’s Kiss by Julie Kenner ( A ) both popped up on superheroine Goodreads lists. The first features a villain hero trying to save his marriage, while the latter features a woman trying to decide whether or not to commit to the superhero lifestyle or become a mortal.
Elyse: The Rook by Daniel O’Malley! ( A | K | G | AB | Au )
Amanda: My recs are a little less literal and more…superhero adjacent. Ilona Andrews has some amazing heroines who kickass in magical worlds. The Kate Daniels series has your usual paranormal fare with shifters and such and the first book is Magic Bites ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). The heroine also wields a sword.
There’s also the Hidden Legacy series, which I prefer over the Kate Daniels series. It’s set in Houston where MAGIC IS REAL! The heroine, Nevada, is a private detective who can sense when someone is lying. It’s all sorts of awesome. The first book is Burn for Me ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ).
Kresley Cole features some amazingly strong heroines in her Immortals After Dark series. Standout super-powered heroines include:
Sabine from Kiss of a Demon King. She’s the Sorceress of Illusions, who traps a demon king. She’s a bit of an antiheroine in some aspects and she has some deep sisterly love!
Regin the Radiant from Dreams of a Dark Warrior ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). A valkyrie! She’s super fast, super strong, and causes lightning storms when angry. Her beloved is cursed to be reincarnated again and again, with no memory of his past lives. This time, he’s been reborn as her enemy.
Carrie: Girl Genius by the Folgios ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Steampunk genius Agatha Hererodyne does all the things.
Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn:
This book is the first of a planned trilogy. However, it ends on a satisfactory note – no cliffhangers. You usually can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but honestly you can totally judge this book by its cover, which features two Asian heroines with obviously different personalities, a demonic cupcake (can’t get enough of those) and bright colors. If that cover causes grabby hand syndrome, then yes, you will adore the book
Amanda: Oh and Jennifer Estep has a superhero series, which begins with Karma Girl! ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd )
What about you? Which super-powered women in media would you recommend?
Oh oh! I’ve got a few!
– WYNONNA EARP – a Canadian TV series airing on Syfy/Netflix about the most recent descendant of Wyatt Earp fighting demons from Hell with her queer sister, Waverly, Dolls, from the Black Badge division of the US Marshals, and Doc Holliday (who…has me reconsidering western romances…)
– OCTOBER DAYE SERIES by Seanan McGuire – half faye October Daye solves mysteries her own family drama with her growing found family and Tybalt, King of Cats
– LOST GIRL – from the same creator of Wynonna Earp, this TV series features Bo, unwitting succubus who solves mysteries for the Light and Dark fae, navigates her complicated love life, beyond being bi, she needs sexual energy to, you know, survive, while navigating life with her best friend, Kenzi (on Netflix)
You can also find a great heroine in Katharine Kerr’s Nola O’Grady series! (The author is also known for her excellent Deverry series, for the Fantasy fans out there.)
Nola has a lot of issues – among other she has an eating disorder, which may be of interest to some out there. Darn good books, anyway!
Not super-powered, but awesome all the same: Balsa in Moribito. There’s both a Japanese anime TV series (with English dub or subtitles) and a book series (the first two have been translated into English). I prefer the anime. It started off a little slow, but grew on me. Balsa is a female bodyguard who fights with a spear. In the TV series she’s hired/forced to protect a young prince and sort of becomes a gruff mother figure to him. There’s a hint of potential romance involving a guy who, if I remember right, used to be a childhood friend of Balsa’s and is now a healer.
In addition to the fabulous comic recs above, I love Marvel’s A Force! It’s an all-woman variant of the Avengers featuring Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, and other awesome but lesser known super heroes like Medusa, Dazzler, and Nico Minoru. I love how seriously it takes the team dynamics and the relationships between these women.
I absolutely love SL Huang’s Russel’s Attic series that starts with Zero Sum Game. The heroine’s super power is that she can do any type of math really fast in her head, which serves her really well as a mercenary. She’s more of an anti-hero but the book’s supporting characters are pushing her towards the other direction. Fair warning to anyone who wants to read this series though. The author self published her original four books. They’ve now been sold to a publisher. She’s in the process of rewriting them. There’s no guarantee the books out now will look like the books soon to be rereleased. Also, I recommend Veronica Mars. Not a literal super hero but anyone who watches that show will understand why I recommend it.
Just finished and really enjoyed Jennifer Latham’s Scarlett Undercover. Scarlett’s a teenage PI, a Muslim girl, and is….not quite super-powered, but awfully smart and capable. While I think it’s a standalone book, it’s definitely a world that could have sequels.
I love the Kate Daniels books which leads me to recommend the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. And while
It isn’t really a super hero kind of thing, the TV series Orphan Black on BBCAmerica is amazing. Tatiana Maslany plays a group of clones, and she is so amazing at it, that I love each of her characters for the uniqueness she brings to each one.
Jessica Jones on Netflix is awesome. And iZombie though not technically a superhero is a fun supernatural detective show.
I have to put in a good word for the Agents of SHIELD show, too. A combination of superpowered (and not) ladies kick butt on a weekly basis. And it’s on Netflix in the U.S. – about to be all four seasons as of June 15th, I think.
One thing that I loved about Wonder Woman was her relationship with Antiope. Women mentoring women is my weakness. Can anyone recommend some superpowered heroines with strong female mentors?
I can’t believe I blanked on Jessica Jones and Orphan Black – thank you!!!
Ironheart by Nico Rosso is about superheroes, and the women are the ones with the really cool powers.
I still hold out hope that Agent Carter will be revived in some way, shape or form. I’m waiting patiently for it to come to any streaming service. (You can buy it on Amazon for now.)
RE: Steven Universe – I love the music from the show (Estelle!) and just last week the soundtrack was released for anyone interested. It’s pretty fantastic.
“The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” by Ryan North is just terrific. Well-written, very all-ages appropriate, and while USG is totally capable of throwing down, she also solves a lot of problems through communication.
Also, two thumbs up for iZombie. The conceit of the show is that when a zombie eats someone’s brain she takes on some of the victim’s personality and memories, which gives Rose McIver (Liv) the opportunity to play a range of really entertaining parts.
Xena!!
Nimona, principal character with superpowers who works for a supervillian. Fun, quick read with amazing drawings. Warning, I think Nimona was abused as a child. The Veronica Speedwell Mystery series, heroine is SUPER smart. She starts studying butterflies and ends solving mysteries. The dark days club, heroine has super powers to defeat demons in old England. The Kingmaker Chronicles, heroine has the power to know if somebody is lying but she’s abused as a result of her power, I find her whinny but I respect how she uses her power. The Lady Sherlock Series, super smart heroine solving mysteries, do I need to say more? The immortals, heroine is Diana, old and not so powerful as before, hero is the smart one in the relationship. I need smart and strong heroines kicking ass in my books!
I love Supergirl because it has so many terrific examples of smart and succesful women. In fact, Kara has three mother figures in her life: her biological mom was a diplomat/politician, her foster mom is a scientist and her boss is a super capable business woman who isn’t ashamed of her success and doesn’t give a fuck if people think she is a bitch. I am so sad Calista Flockhart sort of dropped out the show. Her character was amazing.
And that is just three out of plenty of interesting female characters they have on the show.
Oh, by the way: Waid’s current run on the Black Widow comics is pretty excellent as well!
Supergirl, for sure, lots of strong female characters (both good and evil!) Lynda Carter is the president!
iZombie is GREAT as well.
I don’t love Legends of Tomorrow (another Berlanti show on the CW) but the second season especially features Sara Lance as a very strong capable queer woman who kicks ass.
CW Seed has Vixen, an animated show that’s pretty great.
And Young Justice and Justice League Unlimited (and originl JL fine) on Netflix. They are cartoons and more of ensembles that are men and women, but the female superhero representation is fairly god, especially in YJ. JLU also is basically the only D.C. property that has ever made me ship Wonder Woman with anyone and surprisingly that person was Bruce haha.
For real life badass strong women, just watching any of the women on American ninja warrior run. They are amazing.
Book wise, one of my guilty pleasures is Jennifer Estep’s series before her current UF zone (which I don’t like) which is Bigtime Superheroes. It’s very much an ode to Golden zafe cheesy superheroes, everyone’s secret identities are honestly so easy to guess, but they are really fun and the romances are really sweet.
Yeah, it’s goofy as heck, but She-Ra was very formative for me as a tiny girl. A girl who saved people! Who saved the day! Who was strong and smart and kept getting the guys out of trouble. I still love her.
@Amanda — Thanks for the Bigtime shout-out. I appreciate it.
@Sunshine — Thanks! Glad you are enjoying the Bigtime series.
I would second all the recommendations for Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, Agents of Shield, and Supergirl.
I would also recommend Killjoys on the Syfy channel. Dutch, the heroine, is very strong and has an interesting relationship with her mentor/father figure.
The heroines on 12 Monkeys, also on the Syfy channel, are also interesting, especially when it comes to what they are willing to do to try to save the world.
@Jennifer: Oh! You’ve convinced me to give Killjoys a try. It’s not on Netflix, but I’m hoping I can watch it OnDemand through my cable provider.
@Amanda — It’s a fun show. The special effects aren’t great (for a space/sci-fi show), but Dutch is an interesting heroine — strong, sassy, and vulnerable at times too. I like the secondary characters too.
It’s a little slow in the beginning, but once the mythology kicks in, it’s really entertaining. I’m looking forward to season 3 in a few weeks. Hope you enjoy it!
This is so my jam. I’ve been a Marvel girl for 50 yrs. From Jean Grey’s transition from weak link to most powerful being in the universe and back to girl next door, to the advent of Storm and the reformation of the White Queen Although, can you call it a reformation if she gives no shits how you feel about her taking the girl next door’s man or her villainous past?
I’d also recommend Carrie Vaughn’s After The Golden Age Celia West, daughter of superheroes, is trying to live outside their shadow. She becomes an accountant. It is many times amazing. The sequel Dreams Of The Golden Age is about Celia’s daughter.
I know I’ve recommended it before, but once again I am a pushing my favorite WW book: Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth by Alex Ross and Paul Dini. It is an amazing story about Diana exploring her roles as a woman and a hero. The art work is gorgeous. I don’t think anyone has or will depict her better.
Like other commenters, I adored iZombie, Lost Girl, and Wynonna Earp. The actor who plays Doc Holliday in Wynonna Earp also played a character I despised in Lost Girl, so seeing him being all sexy and drawly in Wynonna Earp is giving me complicated and unwelcome pants-feelings. I don’t even like mustaches, god damn it, and I think smoking is gross, so why is it so hot when he smokes cigars?
Also, as a bisexual woman, I really appreciate Lost Girl. It’s campy and cheesy, but I freaking love Bo and Kenzie, and it’s so good to have representation that isn’t totally alienating and fetishizing. Yes, Bo is wildly promiscuous, but it’s never portrayed as a consequence of her bisexuality, nor is she slut-shamed for it (that I recall–if anyone ever tries, they are definitely not portrayed as correct or morally superior). Nerd confession: I dressed up as Bo for Halloween in 2014. I really, really love that show, and I’m sad that it’s over.
Love, love, love Girl Genius; it has a myriad of kick-ass female characters (hm, haven’t seen Zeetha in a while.) And for those who love Wynonna Earp, that is also a comic series by the fantabulous Lora Innes. http://www.idwpublishing.com/product/wynonna-earp-1/
And while she may not be superpowered, let’s have some love and a moment of silence for the original Kickass Woman, Princess/General Leia, from whom almost all of these heroines get the liberty to be who they are, take no shit and give no fucks.
“Jessica Jones”! She might be a hot mess, but still awesome, rolls her eyes at superhero tropes and yet is one.She does things her own (often violent way) and pretends she doesn’t care while sticking up for the under-dog.
An idol of mine was “X”, alias Charlotte, the kinetically-powered, problem-solving alien girl in Halfway Across The Galaxy and Turn Left. Not the books (the writer is too keen on depowering her, in various senses), the TV series.
The TV series is not available on DVD, though. And I didn’t realise how dark some of the material was at the time. The constitutionally dishonest fraudster father. The fact that the tweenie middle child functions as head of the family – and is officially recognised as such – namely, as “Family Organiser”. (Parentification is child abuse, I found out later. At the time, I was all “yeah, kidz RULE; watch X rock that boss job!”.) The police state planet, with officials who stalk the family across the galaxy, planning to impose the capital penalty (which involves LAVA) on the fraudster (the dad) and the intellectual author of the escape/accessory after the fact (X). The creepy neighbours going all amateur immigration police/Rear Window on them, at home and (the kid neighbor) at school. Sadly topical stuff.
Pick meeeeeee!!!! I got dis. Buffy, ALWAYS. And I kept paging down because I KNEW Heroine Complex had to be on here. Also, seconding the hell out of The Rook and Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley.
I have to throw out some love for the following badass ladies.
Verity Price from Seanan McGuire’s Incryptid series. Reminds me I still need to read Antimony’s book.
Harper Grayson from The Fireman by Joe Hill. A perceptive, compassionate nurse and protective of those around her.
Victoria McQueen from NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Hill writes a damn good superheroine.
All of the clones that aren’t Rachel from Orphan Black.
Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones (hey, I’m counting invulnerability to fire, dragonriding, and being a faceless ninja as superpowers).
Seconding Jessica Jones, Mockingbird, and Jean Grey, and adding The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Hellcat.
Feyre from the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. By the time you get to A Court of Wings and Ruin, she is pretty superpowered, and willing to ruthlessly protect those she loves and stomp all over those who would do them harm.
Karou from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. What I wouldn’t give for her power set.
Molly Carpenter from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Recently made the Winter Lady, and with a sneaky skill set that could do so much damage were she to decide to be as destructive as possible.
Good lord, I could do this all day.
Comics-wise, everyone should be reading “Faith” from Valiant Comics. Faith is a body-positive comic featuring an overweight woman who can fly (and other powers) who is also a total geek. :https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/04/faith/478386/
And although not a superhero or a romance, Bitch Planet is *awesomely* feminist. “Think Margaret Atwood meets Inglourious Basterds” is the tagline.
An actual superhero comic is “America”, a Marvel comic featuring America, a queer Latina superhero. It was just rebooted back in March, so it should be easy to read (no huge backstory).
Another unusual superhero(ine) is Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, about a genius inventor who is also a nine year-old black girl. http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-moon-girl-and-devil-dinosaur-became-one-of-marvels-1739466468
I would also recommend the Silk and Spiderwoman comics, also from Marvel. I was reading Spider-Gwen, but my interest is petering out (ha, see what I did there?)
And duh, Ms. Marvel, who totally rocks. LOVE Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan.
Most of these comics have women involved in their production, too.
If you like Jessica Jones, check out her comic, called Alias. It’s soooooo good! (Her character continues in The Pulse, which was not my favorite.)
Squirrel Girl! Squirrel Girl!!!! She’s a computer science major! She loves her “big badonk!” It’s so funny!
Hey, let’s go old school – Sailor Moon for ALL the s super females!
Yes, definitely “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.” If you have readers of different ages, Moon Girl (Lunella) is a tween, Ms. Marvel is a teenager, and Doreen (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) is a college student, all dealing with the issues of their age group as well as fighting crime and supervillains.
A couple of ensemble superhero series with a lot of strong female characters include “Runaways” (a group of teenagers who have known each other all their lives discover their parents are a cabal of supervillains; they run away and become superheroes) and “Astro City.” “Astro City” is an anthology series about a city with a lot of superheroes (not Marvel or DC…totally separate universe) and what it’s like to live there. The tone is more melancholy than the other series we’ve been discussing but there are a lot of female characters of all different kinds, powered and not, and it really is beautifully done.
Seconding the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire! This series is full of little hints about the characters, some of which end up becoming very important several books later, and I pick up new things every single time I read through (approximately twice a year). The characters grow and change and Toby goes from being a loner w/ clinical depression to having a support structure and found family (and named heroine of the realm). This series is one of my absolute favorites. Just be prepared for her to be injured, because her magical powers come from her blood!
Lost Girl is my new Netflix go to show and I’m absolutely loving it so I third (fourth, whatever) that rec. Special shout out to Sailor Moon for blowing my mind as kid for being a show centered on female characters.
For books anything by Ilona Andrews. I’m so in love with their current Hidden Legacy series. Nevada Baylor is tough, powerful, and gets the job done.
I saw Wonder Woman with my bookclub and we all really enjoyed it. I was so excited I even made my second sewing project a Wonder Women tote bag. I left the theater thinking we need to read a kick ass female superhero romance for our next book and am taking notes from this thread.
@Cerulean, this is such a weird coincidence! I was early for my guild meeting tonight, which is held at a local library, and cruised their graphic novels section hoping for Saga 7, and found an Armstrong & Archer which I’d never heard of having resolved to stay out of comic shops. I would have totally passed it up if it weren’t for Faith on the cover and the promise of romance in the blurb. It featured Obie’s & Faith’s first date. It wss so sweet. They go see The Princess Bride!
Again, I resolved to stay out of the comics shop and now…… I really want more Faith.
Not superhero, but I have been wanting good futuristic/sci-fi books (not comics, anime, manga, or shows) that are female-centric after watching “Ghost in the Shell” at the theater (which I really enjoyed). I read Ann Leckie’s Ancillary trilogy last year and LOVED it (and she has a new book coming out this fall! WOOHOO!). I really loved the whole atmosphere of GitS. Any recommendations?
No recs from me except chiming in to say I’m so happy Amanda agrees with me and likes the Hidden Legacy series better than the Kate Daniels series. I’m so obsessed with Hidden Legacy books!! And thanks to the commenter who mentioned Veronica Mars, definitely an amazing character. I guess between Nevada and Veronica, it’s reminding me that scrappy witty female PIs are way more my catnip than superheros 🙂
@HeatherS: There is the Obernewtyn series by Isabelle Carmody, but it does have the possibly fatal flaw of LENGTH. Thousands of pages. Just one book is 29 hours in audiobook, and iirc that one was split in two for the North American market.
I can suggest reading short stories first to get a feel for the writing, but she kind of reprises the standalone novel I like best, Scatterlings, in Obernewtyn, so that’s only a rec if ‘sort of’ spoilers are okay.
Btw discommend The Gathering. Carmody is totally an evil genius for getting adults to fund the purchase of works wherein they are depicted as authoritarian fascist nightmare clowns, however fashionable dystopian was at the time, lol, but the animal cruelty is over the top.
@Zyva, I was so excited to read an Obernewtyn rec on here! I love the first couple of books but I’m still about halfway through The Keeping Place because wow, long books. But the relationships are good and you gotta love Maruman (telepathic cat).
Speaking of cats… I’d also recommend the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix for superpowered heroines. A kingdom of magic is divided from the non-magic, early-20th-century-esque world by a wall. Starts with Sabriel in the first book, who quickly discovers she has some awesome powers. It’s YA fantasy with amazing worldbuilding. Not as much romance, but there are hints. My favorite in the series is the second book, Lirael, where her first job is an assistant librarian in an incredibly dangerous library. SO GOOD.
@Leanne H. No kidding lengthy! Plus I had to reread The Keeping Place because I was so worried for the heroine’s partner I remembered next to nothing from the first go.
I’m a cat person, snap!. Reminds me, I should have given an unusual bodyshaming trigger warning. The villain of Obernewtyn book one is described as a “yellow-eyed bitch” and featured on the early cover. It hit home because I have catlike yellow-gold highlights in my own mostly dark eyes.
I hope 20th cent means Red Vienna style, not the siege of Warsaw etc, otherwise sounds interesting.
Speaking of Vienna…I received a fantasy rec for Eva Ibbotson. Mainly read her realist/romances to date.