In Fiction: Batgirl, Batwoman Become Priorities
Source: IGN.
I haven’t spent much time looking at heroic women in fiction (outside of Eve herself, of course) since we launched Eve Is My Hero, so perhaps this is a fitting introduction.
In the world of comics (to say nothing of movies, television, etc) men have always dominated heroic roles while women stayed largely on the sidelines. There’ve been exceptions, of course, and more than once there have been characters such as Batgirl, Supergirl and so on, but they’ve rarely been priority characters, nor particularly breakout kinds of characters. As a rule, they tend to play second-fiddle to their male counterparts.
Things are apparently about to change. This coming fall, DC Comics will revamp their entire comics lineup, taking all their character books back to Issue #1 status, effectively “resetting” the world. As the new world begins, some of the major changes taking effect include the new prioritization of female characters, beginning with Batgirl and the all new Batwoman, who packs a surprise or two of her own.
From an interview at IGN, Mike Marts of DC Comics noted of Batwoman in particular, ”It’s very important in several different ways. Not only do we have fan-favorite and critically acclaimed writer J.H. Williams III taking charge, this is also the first time that we have a superhero title from a major publisher that features a lesbian protagonist.”
Independent labels have, of course, lead the charge on gay characters of all sorts for years, but to have a major character in a major series by a major publisher (that’s a lot of majors!) be both female and gay is a sort of sea-change in the traditional comic book world that could have positive ramifications for a long time to come.
The increased focus and valuation on female characters–gay or straight–is a welcome change that reveals some optimistic new perspectives that seems to reflect the gradually increasing acceptance of women as not just equals to men, but as being heroic and worthy of examination, celebration and veneration in their own right. Mike Marts continued (via IGN, again): “We feel that the female members of the Batman group are just as important as the male. That’s why we’re offering several different titles from Batgirl to Batwoman to Catwoman to Birds of Prey. A lot of times those characters have proven to be more popular than their male counterparts.”
The times, they are a-changing indeed!