With Women’s History month coming to a conclusion, we decided to put a spotlight on some of our favorite powerful female comic book characters, and the equally powerful women who bring them to life.
Pop Break’s senior comic book writers Rachel Freeman, Alisha Weinberger, and Sheena Fisher break down their favorites.
Alisha Weinberger
Vanesa R. Del Rey
Witchcraft and Del Rey seemingly go hand-in-hand. Having lent her talents to Marvel on Scarlet Witch (2016), the Miami-based illustrator moved on to a new coven of witches, along with co-creator and equally talented Jordie Bellaire, in the recently released Redlands.
The Image occult series, exemplary of Del Rey’s erotic and Goya-like stylings, follows a group witches who take vengeance upon a corrupt sheriff in a small, deep Southern parish. Her mastery of dreamy and smoky linework brings a taste of the sublime and romanticism to the horror comics game, it’s no wonder she was picked for this year’s Anthony Bourdain horror anthology, Hungry Ghosts.
Fiona Staples
What would Brian K. Vaughan’s heartfelt, sincerely family-focused space opera Saga be without the gorgeously simplistic yet imaginative illustrations of Fiona Staples? Anime-like in their design, Staples’ ever growing cast of Saga trades in heavy inks and detailed line work for colorful, fashionable, and memorable characters that have captured the hearts, minds, and many, many tears of readers.
The simplicity of Staples’ illustration work doesn’t just stop at character design, but to panel composition and facial expressions that beckon genuine and touching emotions from any characters she works on, whether it be Archie comics or an intergalactic, epic about star-crossed alien parents and their half-horned, half-winged daughter.
Sheena Fisher
Amy Chu
Amy is amazing at taking a classic character, and adding so much more to them than you could ever have imagined.
She is a favorite writer of mine because she adds dimension and depth to any character she writes about. Time after time she has taken a scantly-clad woman that served as not much but eye candy in the past, and transformed them into the bad ass we all knew they were all along.
Some notable characters she’s done this to are Dejah Thoris, Red Sonja, and of course Poison Ivy.
Poison Ivy
Amy Chu’s interpretation of Pamela Isley in Poison Ivy: The Cycle of Life and Death is by far one of my favorites. Amy gave Ivy a lot of depth, and developed her character in the best way. Typically Poison Ivy is portrayed as the seductress with her potions. Something that irks me with some portrayals of Poison Ivy is that she’s just this barely covered woman that manipulates men to get what she wants. Which, yes, Poison Ivy does indeed do that. But, trust me there is always a reason for it. These men are usually far more evil than imaginable, and want to destroy the planet. Sometimes Ivy is portrayed as a nutty eco-terrorist as a result.
Let’s go back to that thing where sometimes Poison Ivy is nearly nude. Amy Chu did a great job of dressing Pamela Isley throughout this tale. But, she didn’t lose the sex factor. What she did was she empowered Poison Ivy with a professional wardrobe, and she threw back to classic Ivy by giving her an updated wardrobe with current fashion trends. Poison Ivy looks killer in a deep plunge dress guys.
Something else about Poison Ivy that is typically neglected is her attachment to The Green. You know, the same thing Swamp Thing is attached to. The Green is something that Swamp Thing she and Swamp thing have control over. No one else does, some characters have temporarily gained control over the years, but are never permanent fixtures. It’s kind of a big deal when she’s manipulating plants into elephants and storming evil corporations to fully understand how she’s able to do that. It kills me that some writers overlook her connection to The Green. Amy Chu is not guilty of any of these things. In fact, if you want to learn more about The Green and Swamp Thing you absolutely need to read Cycle of Life and Death.
Rachel Freeman
Addison Brody from Tomboy (published by Action Lab)
Addison Brody is a high school student who does normal things like hang out with her friends, deny her relationship with her childhood best friend, Nick, and play field hockey. That all changes though when Nick’s body is found on her birthday, he and his father had been murdered. That’s all it takes to send Addison down her own murderous road, killing criminals as she hunts down the people responsible for Nick’s death. There are other forces at work though and something inside Addison is awakening, something dark.
Addison is my chosen female character because she is one of the best original characters I’ve ever read. Yes, yes, we’ve all seen the girl who gets chosen to save the world or is special in some way that turns her into a hero – but Addison isn’t a hero. She isn’t trying to be either. She kills criminals, brutally. She removes their eyes (for reasons that make sense later).
And she’s only after the people who are connected to Nick’s death. She isn’t out running around the city saving innocent lives from bad guys, she’s cleaning up the streets for her own crazy, selfish reasons. She isn’t afraid either. She doesn’t quite understand what she is, but she knows she will successfully kill her targets. I also love the fact that she wears her field hockey outfit for her murdering escapades. A field hockey outfit, a red hooded coat, and an adorably creepy cat mask. I’m a little sad the hockey stick didn’t stay with her the whole time, but crazy demon vines are cool too.
Mia Goodwin creator of Tomboy
 I really want to spotlight Mia Goodwin as my chosen female comic creator. Originally, she wrote the story AND did the art for Tomboy, however, due to health concerns she had to step back and Michelle Wong (she’s also awesome) took over the art from issue #6 onward, though Mia Goodwin continued to do covers.
Anyone who writes and illustrates their stuff are amazing to me. It’s a LOT of work to do both. I know people who write and I know people who draw, it takes a lot of time and energy to do either one, let alone doing them both fast enough to keep up with monthly publishing demands.
Mia Goodwin created this amazing 12-issue story that flew off shelves. Seriously. I worked at a comic store while Tomboy was coming out and it never stayed stocked. She gave us a character that didn’t fit the mold that most female characters do, especially young ones and on top of that this story was full of twists and depths that you never see coming. It’s no wonder the book took off the way it did. And this was her first creator-owned, published comic series!
That’s an amazing accomplishment. She isn’t a well-known writer or artist who had their name all over the place from working at DC or Marvel, she’s a talented woman who created a story that became popular because of how good it was, not because of her name or the company she published through. Not that well-known creators don’t make good stories, but let’s be real, there are certain people who wrote/drew your favorite super hero and so you’ll at least buy the first issue of their new series just because their name is on it. Which is a club Mia Goodwin has now joined for me.
