Female superheroes: A look at women in comics

In honour of National Superhero Day, the region’s largest literary event is examining the history, and future, of women in comics.

Hope Nicholson is an author, editor and comic book shop owner.

The Winnipeg woman is in Moncton sharing her knowledge of female superheroes at the Frye Festival.

“I think a lot of the stereotype is that women don't read comics or that they just like to play dress up and don't know anything about the comics themselves, but most times that isn't the case,” says Nicholson.

While there has been a long history of women in the comic book industry, Nicholson says female characters haven't always been positive role models for girls.

“If you're a young girl who is really obsessed with comics and the only thing that's available for you to read are really sexist and misogynist portrayals of women, you might leave comics or you might not, but either way you're left with the idea that comics aren't supposed to be for you,” says Nicholson.

Nicholson says the rising popularity of heroines highlighted in recent films and television series such as Marvel’s Black Widow in Avengers, Jessica Jones and DC’s Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad brings hope for the future of the industry.

“Luckily, in the last few decades, we've seen the rise of the graphic novels and web comics where women have a really strong presence creating them and as a result you're seeing a lot more diverse and unique portrayals of women than you have ever before,” says Nicholson.

Nicholson's latest work, ‘The Secret Loves of Geek Girls,’ is a compilation of comics and stories about women's personal lives within the ‘geek’ industry.

“It kind of came out as a reaction to things like ‘Revenge of The Nerds’ and ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Comic Book Men,’ where you see a lot of guys in the geek community talking about their love interests or dating lives, and you never see the women talking about it,” says Nicholson.

And, it doesn't take Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth to realize the importance of having positive female role models in comics.

“I'm super happy that my 8-year-old daughter has more access to things that might speak to her more,” says Georgio Paulin, comic book fan.

“I want women writing Avengers, and I want women writing men's oriented comics and I think that way we can kind of get away from this is what women do, and this is what boys do in the comic industry,” says Nicholson.

The last chapter has yet to be written, but it's clear that women are superpowers in the comic book industry.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Allan April