Think comic books can t feature strong female protagonists? Think again! In The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen you ll meet the most fascinating exemplars of the powerful, compelling, entertaining, and heroic female characters who ve populated comic books from the very beginning. This spectacular sisterhood includes costumed crimebusters like Miss Fury, super-spies like Tiffany Sinn, sci-fi pioneers like Gale Allen, and even kid troublemakers like Little Lulu. With vintage art, publication details, a decade-by-decade survey of industry trends and women s roles in comics, and spotlights on iconic favorites like Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel, The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen proves that not only do strong female protagonists belong in comics, they ve always been there."
Flo's Review
I admit, I'm not the hugest comic book fan. Thanks to my fiance and Geek Girl Brunch, I'm getting more into it. I've been to New York Comic Con and I'm actually heading to San Diego Comic Con for the first time ever this year. I'm SUPER stoked! I think I was planning a trip to Florida Supercon Retro when the opportunity to review this book came up. I agreed to do it, thinking this would be a good book to skim.
The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen pleasantly surprised me! I took it on my flight expecting to read only the chapter introductions and then skim the entries. But I found myself pretty much reading it cover to cover. I learned a lot about the comic book industry in the past, and lots of random fun facts. (For example, did you know that Nurse Comics were a big thing? Yep. Who knew?? I mean, maybe you did, but I didn't.)
I also enjoyed reading the entries about the superwomen. It was nice to see some old favorites like Supergirl and Wonder Woman for a touch of familiarity, but it was almost more interesting to see the myriad of ideas for these women: who they were, what they could do, what they did. Hope Nicholson was honest and acknowledged the flaws she saw in them: which was understandable for the older titles, as the idea of being a woman, and even more so of being a superwoman, changes literally all the time.
This book will satisfy a wide range of readers: history buffs, feminists, comic lovers, and more. It definitely makes a great coffee table book: just don't be surprised if you get sucked in!
Thank you to Quirk Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.
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