Which Female Marvel Characters Could Carry a Series?

In light of the uproar recently over the lack of female creators in DC’s upcoming line-wide relaunch, I looked across town to see how their chief rival Marvel is doing. While the House of Ideas’ female creators outstrip DC’s two-to-one (and then some), when it comes to female characters in the comics it’s another matter entirely.

Last month, Marvel had just two ongoing solo titles starring a female character (Ghost Rider, X-23) and two team books featuring a female leader (Heroes For Hire, Generation Hope). Across town, DC fares much better when it comes to female-fronted series , especially in the upcoming “New 52”, despite the recent uproar over the lack of female creators. DC has five solo titles (Batgirl, Batwoman, Wonder Woman, Voodoo) and three female-fronted team books (Birds of Prey, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad).

That’s not to demonize Marvel, however; they’ve attempted female-led series from time-to-time, from a Rogue series that got in the double-digits to a Mystique series written by Brian K. Vaughn or the much-loved Spider-Girl series that became memorable for some just for the amount of times it was cancelled and brought back. But be that as it may, there are some hidden and not so hidden gems in terms of female characters if Marvel knows where to look. Here’s some ideas for Marvel free of charge of characters they could exploit, and how they could do it.

 

She-Hulk

Sure she’s had series before (featuring memorable runs by John Byrne as well as Dan Slott), but I think there’s room for another chance with the right creators and the right concept. Although it’d be incumbent on his ideas and his schedule, Brian Michael Bendis would bring considerable attention to the title on his name alone, but if you see how he revitalized Moon Knight you can only imagine what he could do for She-Hulk given his love of dialogue and banter. On the art side, I’d hot-shot the book with Amanda Conner to bring the goods like she always does.

 

 

Storm

She’s arguably Marvel’s most popular female character in terms of comic book fans and general public awareness, so it might surprise you to find out Ororo Munroe has never had her own solo series. She’s had a few miniseries from time to time and Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men run could be re-read as a defacto Storm series on some occasion, but the weather woman hasn’t been given a shot at the big-time. To do this, I’d enlist an A-list writer like Greg Rucka and partner him with David Yardin, who’s become the artist with the firmest grasp on Storm’s diversity in the past 10 years.

 

 

 

Rachel Grey

She has one of the most convoluted origins in mutantkind this side of Wolverine, and an ongoing series could explore that while also moving forward with her life. With X-Men: Legacy looking to rescue her from space purgatory in upcoming issues, now could be the time for Rachel Grey to strike out not unlike Tim Drake did in Red Robin a few years back to find herself – and find readers in the modern world. To do this, I’d pitch it to Warren Ellis who’s known for revitalizing concepts (like Thunderbolts) to bring some of his recognizable talent and carve out Rachel Grey as some sort of Jenny Sparks for the 21st century. For art, I’d get a revolving team of Moritat and long-time collaborator Jacen Burrows from Avatar.

 

Kitty Pryde

She became the 70s equivalent of the plucky sidekick in the pages of Uncanny X-Men and by the side of Wolverine, but in the intervening years she’s lost that aura for a bit before recapturing some of that with Joss Whedon’s decision to bring her back into the fold with Astonishing X-Men. With her days as the girl in the bubble hopefully coming to an end soon, I’d like to see her strike out on her own and I’d enlist the old Hellcat team of Kathryn Immonen and David LaFuente to bring her to the forefront.

 

 

Black Cat

Far more than just a Marvel version of Catwoman, Black Cat has been used so infrequently it’s hard to get past her sex kitten vibe and the fuzzy neckline. But I think the team of Paul Dini and Clay Mann could turn her into not-just-another jewel thief but a working criminal with a heart in the underbelly of Marvel’s super-hero populated NYC.

Comments

  1. Ghost Rider is a lady???? 

    (Kitty Pryde has always been my nominee for this. . .) 

  2. BTW, I think you can count X-Men Legacy as a female-led team book. It’s been ‘the Rogue book’ for several years.

  3. I would also add New Mutants to Marvel’s female led books.

  4. Kitty Pride.

  5. Black Cat is actually not based on Catwoman…

  6. I agree that Bendis could revamp she-hulk. I think he could do the same for Black-Cat, as well. He writes street level female characters very well.

    I actually wrote a post about how Moon Knight is a “Comic You Should Be Reading”, mostly because of Bendis.

  7. @spikevalentine  who said she was?

  8. I’d read the hell out of a Maria Hill series

  9. Sharon Carter:Agent of Whatever it is these days.
    Daisy Johnson
    Runaways ( They were mostly female, and a robot…..and a raptor….)

  10. Other suggestions:
    Maria Hill
    Abigail Brand
    Sue Storm
    Molly Hayes
    Squirrel Girl 

  11. I feel like someone really needs to stand apart from the team they’re associated with to make it as a solo series. Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc., all these characters have a strong life outside of the teams they hang out with. Marvel just doesn’t have many females who manage that. Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk can almost pull it off.

    For a character to stand on their own, they need a really strong, independent identity, and most of them simply don’t have one that isn’t tied up in the Marvel men or their teams.

  12. @Ajacks7  The raptor was female too.

  13. Brian Michael Bendis greatly dislikes She-Hulk, so he would never write a series with her. (In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s why she’s not an Avenger since he took over, and he included her in the D-listers that Luke and Jessica interviewed for Danielle’s babysitter.)

    That said, I’d love another She-Hulk book with an author who can bring on the humor. 

  14. I would say Ms Marvel. Her last series was really fun. The first few issues had a feel similar to the Power Girl series.  Amanda Conner would be great on She-Hulk too

  15. I would really like a Black Cat series.  I wouldn’t mind another run at Ms. Marvel either, I enjoyed the last one for the most part.

  16. kitty pride

    and Shehulks (notice the s)

  17. Get a bunch of Super Ladies, put them on a team and slap an “Avengers” logo on it. That would move a few units. As long as its not cheesecake and they have a decent enough mission it could work.

    For Solo series’, i’d like a Black Cat—Do it kinda like Jonah Hex in that each issue stands on its own…a series built around her adventures as a Cat Burglar. High profile heists….could be fun.

    Black Widow–expand upon her miniseries stuff…give her some covert secret agent unfinished business with the Russians stuff.  

  18. Elektra has done it before
    Spider-Woman also
    Id read a Sue Richards mini
    Lady deadpool
    how about an agatha harkness series (she may be dead, but no deader than anyone else) its would be a supernatural series, think madame xanadu but with an old woman. give her a few friends and its charmed meets the golden girls. You know that was kind of a joke but its not a bad high concept pitch.

  19. I think it should be Sue Storm. She’s the most important woman in the Marvel universe. Give her her own title. She can still be in FF, (even though she’s mostly a figurehead in that series anyway). But give her her own book. Have Carol Danvers, Jessica Drew, Jennifer Walters, and Jessica Jones guest star in it from time to time, both as civilians and as super heroes. Have it be about stuff happening around the Marvel U that we never get to see. Title it: Invisible.

  20. I would read the crap out of Maria Hill: Agent of Shield, loved that character pity I couldnt see it going past 6 issues.

  21. I’d noticed this distinct difference between DC and Marvel over the past few months – with the cancellation of Spider-Girl. I thought it was odd that the company that did Girl Comics and the Women of Marvel had such a lack of female-led titles. (Which is not to say that there aren’t women shining in other team books but you know what I mean.)

    I’d love to see Monica Rambeau. I was a big fan of the recent Black Cat mini (if it was too much of a Grim Hunt Crossover.) and believe it or not, I really liked the Kevin Smith Black Cat mini even if it took 3 years to finish.  

  22. Your DC list is missing Supergirl and Catwoman…

  23. The uproar is just not about female leads but also female writers and artist.  So lets get more women involved in the comic writing and drawing,  and i vote is for a rogue, or storm book written by Liu or DeConnick, or even Immonen. As far as artist i love the work by, Sara Pichelli, Nicola Scott, just to name a few.

  24. I would love to go to Storm’s kick ass roots, more mo-hawk & leather vest, less haughtiness and capes. That’s my favorite period of Storm’s character. Kitty Pryde could be interesting. I’d also read the hell out of a well done Mockingbird book.

  25. If Black Cat could have a film presence in any of the films then I think she would have a long ongoing comic ala Catwoman.

    But to be honest I really can’t see any females at Marvel that could hold an ongoing…..I guess that makes me sexist but it’s true. These characters mentioned on the article are better at being with the group instead of having a solo to themselves.

    Except for She-Hulk, who always seems to have a decent run whenever they decide to do an ongoing for her. 

  26. @TheNextChampion  I think many of these would make it. A lot of people pick up certain comics because they like the creative team and are curious/like the character. If the team does well than you will end up loving the character. It is a matter of a creative team, mostly a writer, who would be committed to the character. and who says they would not team up with others?

    I loved Hellcat, and the Kitty Pride solo sounds awesome.

  27. an in a @spikevalentine  eh… she kind of is dude. a sexy woman in a leathery outfit that steals shit. wait, why am i even arguing this? CATwoman/backCAT.
    forest for the trees
    my friend.

  28. @NOK  I think your accurate on that it all depends on the creators. If let’s say: Peter David and Ryan Stegman did a Black Cat book, I might give it a shot.

  29. disregard last post, PC is freaking out and chopping text in differnt places at will, sorry

  30. It’s already been said but I would definitely consider X-Men: Lagacy and New Mutants female led books. Rogue is kind of the senior character in XML and Moonstar is the team leader of NM.

  31. I think just about any character can support a book if it has the right audience.  The problem is that it often can’t find it in this market.  But I would really love to see more female led books.  

    *nothing more to add* 

  32. I love me some she-hulk.

  33. I dont know, I WAY too many similarties to Catwoman to even consider that Black Cat is not just a blatant rip off of the character.

  34. I’d pay cash money for a solo Kitty Pryde series by Terry Moore.  Cash money.

  35. @RahUniQue  I totally agree.  Storm needs to get back to her kick-ass roots.  This is the lady who defeated Cyclops when she didn’t have any powers!  If the Black Panther book (which I admittedly don’t read anymore) and the X-Men books aren’t going to use her, give her her own book.  

  36. You get the right creative team and a Kitty Pryde book would be unbelievable. Cute, smart, ninja girl with her own dragon who wouldn’t like that. After all that time in space and a bubble helmet, it could be set around her trying to get a life for herself off of Mutant Rock.

  37. Please make a She-Hulk ongoing. Her last series was a personal favorite of mine, and then they cancelled it, and FaceCrunch was sad. Admitedly, there arent many female characters that i would read a solo series about, only She-Hulk and maybe Ms. Marvel. SHE-HULK ONGOING SERIES, MARVEL. FACECRUNCH HAS SPOKEN. (please!) 

  38. an updated dazzler book, mary jane, invisible woman, firestar, lila cheney, illyana, and untold stories with jean grey.

  39. did anyone read the Storm mini series from a few years back, that chronicled her history with T’challa in Africa? that series was FANTASTIC.

    Plus, Storm is my wife’s favorite X-Man. When i asked her why, she said “Cuz you don’t fuck with the weather.”

    I love that. 

  40. I want a Sue Storm series. She has the history and now is the perfect time since she’s dealing with the death of her brother.

  41. @snakeeyesy211  
    I would buy a Dazler book just like Ron would buy Darkhawk.

  42. I love the Jennifer Walters character, but I’ve always felt that ‘She-Hulk’ was a rather unfortunate code-name.

  43. My first thought was a Maria Hill series, I’m glad to see a few people also had that idea.  Perhaps a mini showing her early days in espionage.

  44. Always excited when a new She-Hulk series is announced and always upset when they cancel it. Especially the last time. Only three issues? They didn’t even give it a chance! Just teased us with it!

  45. Is this a question like the sound of one hand clapping? no female could support their own title.

    Let alone themselves without the firm controlling hand of a male partner… in real life, i mean

  46. I would love if they relaunched Dazzler. Ms. Marvel was good fun for most of its run too.

  47. if one of the “architects” teamed up with one of Marvel’s top exclusive artists and they both went all in with the effort, any female lead character book they’d come up with would be killer and would prob do good sales (at least through the first arc or two). It seems like if someone really felt passionate about this, they could make any one of the characters named in this list into a major lead character…they just need the desire and passion to do it. 

  48. I love female lead books.  And I’m always disappointed when they don’t last long.  That being said, I would read the hell out of these books:

    Magik: Sorceress Supreme
    Squirrel Girl Team-Up
    Rescue
    Jubilee: My Life as a Vampire Mutant

  49. I think female books run into a basic problem.  They are either cheesecake sexy and are hard to take seriously, or they try to find a female voice that the vast majority of comic readers (ie. males) have a hard time identifying with.  On the other side of the problem, there really isn’t any point in having a female character without a female voice; androgyny doesn’t solve the issue.  I think any female book that was honestly trying to connect with female readers would have to change format or venues, something drastic to get the attention of the large majority of women that don’t walk into comic shops very often (if at all). 

  50. Honest to god, I think that any of these characters could support their own series with the right creative team. Every one of these ladies is an interesting character, and the right writer would create a life and supporting cast that would make them interesting. While I hate to sound like a broken record, I wonder if that unwillingness/inability to put in that kinda work on female characters has something to do with the fact that most of these writers are dudes. It’s not that crazy, is it?

    All that said, I’d love to see these characters in a solo book:
    Rescue
    YA Hawkeye (boarding school adventures!)
    Maria Hill
    The future adventures of Danielle Cage

    Or, god forbid… a NEW female character!

  51. Yeah, I don’t think Marvel is going to go back to the She-Hulk well for a good long time.

    Dazzler has stronger potential for crossover appeal. Music, fashion, celebrity. Put Gillen and McKelvie on it and publish it through ICON so it doesn’t have to daudle in continuity.

  52. Greg Rucka writing Maria Hill and/ or Black Widow.  

  53. I know I’m going to almost certainly be by myself here but I would love to see a Songbird book.  I haven’t picked up Thunderbolts in a long time, largely because I didn’t like how she was pretty much taken out of it, but for most of that book’s run she was by far the most interesting character IMO, though Zemo did come close on occasion.

  54. @WacoKid  You’re wish has kind of been answered as she’s back in Thunderbolts. You might want to pick up the .1 issue in Sepetember because I think it is supposed to kind of focus on her

  55. I want either a new RUNAWAYS book or a solo Nico Minoru book.  Now.  Also, a sandwich.  And the new Fountains Of Wayne album.

    Seriously, is anyone writing this down?

  56. Natalia Romanova
    Jessica Drew
    Jessica Jones
    Carol Danvers
    Barbara Morse
    Maria Hill
    Maya Lopez
    Carmilla Black
    Wanda Maximoff
    Susan Storm
    Julia Carpenter
    Elizabeth Braddock
    Patricia Walker
    Katherine Anne Pryde
    Tania Belinskaya
    Monica Rambeau
    Elsa Bloodstone
    Elizabeth Ross

    Yelena Belova
    Merriem Drew
    Karla Sofen
    Monica Rappaccini

    Sif
    Shalla-Bal
    Phyla-Vell
    Ravonna Lexus Renslayer
    Lyra

    Janet Van Dyne

  57. @player1  Are you just lisiting all of the female characters in the Marvel U or do you think they could all carry a series? Because at least two of them have had a series in the last few years and they did not work out.

  58. @conor: These are all characters who could potentially be featured in a mini-series, or a group book. Sorry for not clarifying, that was enough text for one post, which I was in the process of explaining in a follow-up post. The text on the site appears mighty small on my laptop,  the reply box is quite small and the lack of an edit feature makes long posts tiresome to edit by continual scrolling.

    Ms. Marvel lasted 50 issues, I’m not sure that it “didn’t work out”; four years is a pretty good run for any character.

    Black Widow probably would’ve lasted longer had either 1) Marjorie Liu been able to stay with the title, or B) the title not been folded into the Hawkeye/Mockingbird re-relaunches.

    I’d much rather see a strong mini-series, like say, the Taskmaster mini, or a group book, a la Gail Simone’s work on DC’s Birds of Prey than a weak ongoing.

    I personally don’t think it’s important to have a character necessarily have a continuing ongoing. I think it’s much more worthwhile to have a passionate creative team crafting well-written stories that reveal facets of a character’s personal development to a receptive audience over a limited run of consistently high quality.

    I also think that comparing Marvel’s characters to DC’s characters is a bit like comparing peaches to grapes. Both are great, but one good peach can be as satisfying as a whole bowl of grapes.

    Wonder Woman and Batgirl, particularly, have longer histories and more widespread media exposure than almost any Marvel female character you can name, especially as solo heroes. I doubt that Supergirl has ever sold huge numbers. Batwoman has had a well-acclaimed run recently, but it remains to be seen whether that can be sustained. Voodoo is an untested and unproven solo heroine. Catwoman could potentially do quite well, but the character has plenty of media exposure and some great runs to back up the launch.

    I’m actually getting only DC titles with female solo heroines for the relaunch – the six titles I just listed. 

    And no, I’m not just listing all of the female characters in the Marvel U, but particularly  the ones I would personally be interested in learning more about in a well-done series created by top-flight talent. Listing all of them would fill up several posts.

    The first group are those who could be considered heroines, the second group are those villains who would make interesting “heroes of their own story”, the third group are those cosmic heroines or consorts I think would make an interesting GotG-type team, and JVD is someone I miss, and whose tale I would like to see continue, be reprised or be recounted.

    I rarely feel constrained to answer the question at hand in a limited way if I have something more to add to the discussion.

    Cheers. 

  59. @player1  I wasn’t refering to Ms. Marvel; I was refering to Black Widow and Spider Woman.

  60. I always liked Jocasta.  I think you could take that character in many interesting directions. 

  61. @conor: Since you didn’t specify, one can only guess what you meant by “at least two”. Perhaps next time you should be more specific and less vague.

    Just because a series has open-ended numbering – as opposed to x of y mini-series numbering – does not mean that the series was entirely intended to continue indefinitely, nor as I said, would it be preferable for it to do so, were quality to suffer as a result. Better that Bendis and Maleev do a great series of limited duration than the character suffer at the hands of mediocre creators.

    As to Spider-Woman, I thought her series ended well, and I was under no illusion while I was buying it that it would continue indefinitely. Many of these series begun at Marvel are trial balloons. If the creators have the time available, if new editorial mandates do not preclude the series’ continuation, and if the sales numbers are there, the series may continue. If not, one can only hope that the series will be wrapped up nicely, and that the character will get another chance at the spotlight in the future.

    There are many male characters at Marvel who’ve suffered the same fate, giving Moon Knight as just one example of a character who’s been rebooted several times in recent years. Yet Bendis was able to convince editorial that he had a new take on the character that would be compelling, that a solo book featuring the character was again worth publishing, and that he had a pitch worth considering.

    Thanks for addressing the many other points in my above post.

    Cheers. 

  62. @player1  Out of the 28 characters you listed it’s somewhat perplexing that you should go right to assuming I was talking about Ms. Marvel, the ONE female Mavel character on your list who has had a successful solo series in recent years. I gave you enough credit to know who has and who hasn’t had a successful series.

    It’s all well and good that you are more concerned about the quality of the series–in fact that is a far more healthy attitude in general–but that’s not what this article is about.

  63. KITTY PRYDE by Kathryn Immonen and Becky Cloonan. I would pay 3.99 for that!

  64. @conor: I wasn’t assuming anything. You said “at least two”. I chose two examples. I gave you enough credit to know that being vague leads to misunderstandings.

    Glad you can see that there are a variety of definitions of what constitutes success. 

  65. well at least this thread isn’t just filling up with nonsense.

  66. Which female Marvel characters could carry a series…

    For 12 issues? All of them
    For 100 issues? None of them.

    First: yell at me if you think I’m sexist. Second: yell at me if I’m wrong. Third: you won’t get this far. Just the way it is.

    (And for the record… there are very, very, very few solo characters who AREN’T Spider-Man at Marvel who could carry a new series to 100.)