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Where's my superhero?It's a bird. It's a plane. It's superhero stamps from the U.S. Postal Service. That's right, ladies: Run, don't walk, to the nearest post office and snatch up those brightly colored goodies depicting Elektra and Spider Woman. Wait, Spider Woman? Who the heck is Spider Woman? She's one of two female comic book characters depicted among the ten new superhero stamps just issued. The new release includes Marvel heroes such as Spider-Man, the Hulk and Captain America.
This is this second set of superhero stamps to be released by the USPS. The first came last July and included ten heroes from the stable of DC Comics. Again, the powers that be found two female heroes they deemed worthy of inclusion. Both Wonder Woman and Super Girl made the grade.
I'm no comic expert. In fact, my exposure to the intensely colored world is exceptionally limited. But I had heard rumors that the number of female superheroes was somewhat sparse. The fact that the USPS managed to find four worthy candidates from such a limited pool of applicants was something I found mildly impressive. That being said, I still don't have any idea who the heck Spider Woman is. One or two of the male representatives also escape my recollection, but I'll leave that discussion to the fine folk over at AfterElton.com. A quick trip to Marvel's website, and I learned that Spider Woman is two people. OK, that's not exactly accurate. It's more precise to say that there are two different characters who use the name Spider Woman, three if you count the evil one who steals the powers of one of the good ones. Confused? Me too; maybe that's why I avoided comics as a child. However, my curiosity was somewhat piqued. So I began to poke around over at the DC Comics site as well and found myself slightly less impressed with the USPS. I don't mean to say the choices they made were poor, just that I'm a bit disappointed by at least one name that was left off the list. Now, I can completely understand why they would not include the Invisible Woman. Who wants a blank stamp? But to leave Barbara Gordan off the list is like failing to see that Gotham is a symbolic representation of New York City.
Barbara Gordan, aka Batgirl, aka Oracle is definitely outside the typical superhero mold. As Batgirl, she was one of Batman's closest allies in the fight against Gotham's worst. That is, until Joker got the best of her with a single shot from a less-than-super handgun. The bullet left her paralyzed, effectively ending her crime-fighting, superhero career. But Barbara Gordan is no ordinary superhero. She re-invented herself as Oracle, using technology and intellect to regain super status. The whole story reminds me of Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous last words, or his last living words at any rate. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." Knowledge is power, baby, and Oracle proves it. So tell me, oh decision makers, why not include her? My only other question is, when will my favorite female heroes get their due? (As in 41-cent first class postage due.)
If I could carry these ladies to and from the mailbox every day, I might be persuaded to use email less. Of course, I would also have to remember how to actually address an envelope. Submitted by on July 27, 2007 - 3:46pm. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
I agree re: Barbara Gordon, but...
To play devil's advocate here, Barbara Gordon isn't a classic/crucial character in the Batman mythos. She stands in the same position as Jason Todd and Tim Drake, in the list of B-man sidekicks. The only one worthy of a stamp, in the historical sense, is Dick Grayson. He is the most widely known of the sidekicks, and Barbara, albeit important to us and a supporting character in the 70's campy rendition of "Batman," isn't a vital character. Also, the book that establishes her tragic encounter with the Joker in "The Killing Joke" isn't widely regarded as a turning event in the Batman series, albeit inspiring Tim Burton's "Batman" movie. (In fact, after reading it, I felt Alan Moore fell short after his incredible "Watchmen," and I thought it was too commercial, a la the disastrous "Infinite Crisis," and "52" series.)
On that note, it's Hal Jordan, not John Stewart/Kyle Rayner/Katman Tui on the stamp; Plastic Man vs. Elongated Man, etc.
Okay, this comment is definitely WAY longer than you probably had hoped for, but comics are my passion! :D
I, who never buy postages and instead rely on the generosity of my office will go out and buy all of the available stamps now. Thanks so much for the buzz!!!!!!!
True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written and writing what deserves to be read.
Speaking of Comic Books...
Gosh
Don't get excited
It's not at all interesting/cool. It was a f'ing gimmick.
True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written and writing what deserves to be read.
Also...
There's actually been four women to claim the name Spider-woman. The current one, the one on the above stamp, is actually the original returned after three failed NEW Spider-women. (There's also a Spider-girl and some chick called Arana who has spider powers.)
Just fyi. :)
http://sarasdarkness.blogspot.com
p.s. Barbara Gordan RAWKS!
p.s. Barbara Gordan RAWKS!
http://sarasdarkness.blogspot.com
comics!
Wanna hear another few they missed? (Granted, I'm more into marvel but DC is like a third home)
- Black Canary
- Hawk Girl
- Hawk Woman
- Huntress
But as I said, not my cup of tea.
Now, Marvel... I'm missing so many I doubt I'll be able to write down.
For starters:
- The entire female lineup of the Exiles but in particular Blink, Nocturne and Sunfire (who was a lesbian btw. and dated Spider-woman)
- The entire female lineup of the x-men (Storm, Rogue, Jean Grey (or phoenix for that matter))
- The entire female Runaways lineup (but just because I think they are adorable)
- Hawkeye (Kate Bishop, Young Avengers version)
- Wasp
- Scarlet Witch
- Jessica Jones
- She-hulk
Okay, so i know most of these aren't stand-alone and haven't aquires super status by themselves but I mean... the x-men! How can they not include anyone but wolverine?!
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Runaways <3
<3 Nico icon.
Polaris is quite kick ass.
Superheroines
Happy to see the Marvel set of stamps. I really liked the way that DC's turned out.
About superheroines...they're out there, but they're unfortunately not as Iconic as their male counterparts (except the few and the proud like Wonder Woman and Supergirl). I agree with the points that Nat made about Babs Gordon. She's always been one of my faves but I'm not surprised that she didn't make the cut. Though, to be fair, Hawkman or Plastic Man could've been been excised to make room for her...
I think these stamps were designed with more than just the rabid comic fan in mind. DC used all Justice Leaguers which most people who don't make weekly trips to their local comic shop could recognize. Even if you've never picked up their printed adventures, you've at least seen them in a cartoon or film. The same can't necessarily be said for characters like Zatanna, Powergirl, or Scarlet Witch.
For a long time, it seemed like the only heroines out there (barring Wonder Woman), were feminized versions of male characters, eg. Supergirl, Spider-Woman, She-Hulk, Mary Marvel, Batgirl, which kind of sucks as far as a character ever standing on her own goes...
Nowadays, mercifully the women in comics can actually have their own origin stories...not just that old 'i received my cousin's irradiated blood in an emergency transfusion' chestnut.
On an unrelated tangent...did you ever notice how few female Simpsons characters there are? It's something I realized when I was staring at my collection of Simpsons figures whilst posing them in their interactive environments...
And yes, I realize how desperately nerdy that last sentence reads. Excuse me while I go see which action hero I would be on the brainfall facebook test.