Top 10 Bad Ass Super-heroines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that comics have become such a huge cultural fixation. Honestly they’ve always been, but with the introduction into the film world, they’ve found more followers than ever. Amidst ever-changing social acceptances and norms, comics are changing too. This means the comics that were once so white and male they’d have been lost in the snow and not have been able to see anyone to not ask directions from, are kind of getting a face lift. It’s about time.

These creations, though loved for years, were originally created in a culture that praised the racist, misogynistic, homophobic viewpoint. Thus they became white males by default. With the exception of a very few (that were created by Stan Lee who faced great opposition) minorities were pretty much shut out, though they enjoyed the comics just as much as their majority counterparts.

So now that comics have moved to film races are changing, genders are changing and that’s great because it’s a step towards fixing a tainted legacy and including all of those people who love and support this industry. Later I’ll do a list of the best comic book heroes who’s race or gender has been altered.

However today I’d like to salute those women that came before all of this, before Blade made it profitable to be a comic book hero on the big screen. This isn’t a ranking in order by the way, these women were selected because they are bad ass and in some cases, broke barriers. If they are “alternate dimension” versions or versions made primarily to capitalize off of a male hero’s popularity they aren’t on this list. So anything with “she” in their title ain’t on here.

This list was created in response to the lack of knowledge people have in regards to women super heroes and the desire to see a list about them that didn’t involve the words “hot”, “sexy”, or “boobs.”

#10 Wonder Woman

 

Has to be on here of course so I just went ahead and put her first. First appearing in December of 1941, Wonder woman came on the heels of a new exciting interest in comic books.

With Superman and batman leading the way, detective comics wanted to find a way to really capitalize on the comic book medium. Diana was created by the already very successful psychologist William Moulton Marston and his wife Elizabeth. He’d already invented the polygraph (lasso of truth inspiration) and had been hired as an educational consultant. Though her past after his death was a bit rocky, she was quite objectified for a while and dumbed down. Each issue had a different “pin-up” poster of her.

Eventually though they got it together and she regained her bad ass status as a warrior of the Amazons. In addition to succesful comic books, she had her own very successful television show.

“Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world”, Marston wrote. With her bad ass attitude, fighting prowess, magic lasso, sword, armor, flight, and super strength, if she says she’s ruling the world. You’ll be fighting her, not me.

Pictured, Batman agreeing with me.

#9 Storm

Another one that HAD to make this list. First appearing in 1975 in the book Giant X-men, storm was originally supposed to be a male named Typhoon. However as they didn’t want an all male team, they combined two of the characters into one Storm Ororo Munroe. Born in Harlem to an African princess and a photojournalist, she didn’t have the cushy life one would expect of such noble birth. After moving to Egypt, her parents die leaving her an orphan.

Eventually she discovers her ability to control the weather and fly. She wanders through Cairo and the Serengeti using her powers to bring water to drought ravaged areas which eventually leads to her being praised as a goddess.

If that isn’t bad ass enough she eventually defeats Cyclops to become leader of the X-men, marries the black panther which literally makes her a queen of the most advanced civilization on the planet, she’s a diplomat, trained wolverine and most of the x-men in hand to hand combat, and is one of the most respected and widely known heroes ever created.

#8 Rocket

That’s Rocket. Flying through an attacking alien spaceship. In this issue she takes on a Gauntlet of 6 of the strongest alien warriors in the galaxy, and whoops all of them. Rocket has a pretty unique character arch. After discovering Agustus Freeman’s unique abilities, she is able to convince him to start helping people under the moniker of Icon.

There’s a whole arch where she gets pregnant and her best friend takes over as Rocket until she gives birth. When she comes back she’s stronger than before and a lot more willing to protect the planet. She’s teamed up with Static, Star chamber AND Shadow Cabinet, Super Boy, Static, and many more.

You probably got used to her on television’s Young Justice. Determined, Strong willed, and infinitely creative Rocket is one to follow with this new relaunch of Milestone.

Oh yeah Rocket “Never back down, Never Surrender.”

#7 Black Canary

First appearing in 1941 she appeared to be a villain. Turns out she was infiltrating a criminal gang. She eventually became popular enough to take over the comic she originally was only a side character in! Dinah Lance is an extremely adept hand to hand combatant and in different incarnations can utilize an ultrasonic scream.

She helped found the birds of prey(if you get a chance check out the birds of prey episode of Batman Brave and the Bold). A time endearing hero, she’s been featured in almost all of the incarnations of the DC universe from Justice League cartoons to the Arrow live action television show.

Black canary is one powerful hero.

Just stay out of her way.

 

#6 Amanda Waller

I want you to look at that cover. I mean REALLY look at it. Joker doesn’t even talk to Batman like that. You know who does? Amanda “The Wall” Waller Ph.D. First appearing November 1986 shes been a “good guy” sometimes and a “bad guy other times.” But her motives are never selfish. What she does she does because of her un-matchable ability to see the big picture. Always calm and collected she’s got a plan for everything. No super powers but hangs with the biggest and baddest of the DC universe from Brainiac to Darkseid. She started the suicide squad and has been a government agent for years. She’s basically the Nick Fury of the DC universe. She’s been played by Pam Grier, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and now Viola Davis.

Don’t mess with the U.S or anybody under Waller’s protection.

 

#5 Iron ButterFly

That’s Iron Butterfly liberating a refugee camp from the evil soldiers that had taken over. She’s a Palestinian Muslim and has ferrokinetic control of any and all metallic substances. As a young girl she had to flee from persecution in her home town. Eventually her family ends up in a refugee camp that begins testing gas chemicals on them. As she watched her family die in front of her, she was gifted with her powers. At least that’s the story she tells people. A founding member of the Shadow Cabinet, she’s saved the world more times than we’ll probably ever know. Completely militaristic in her dedication to her task, she is no-nonsense and fights with great intelligence and perfect utilization of her powers.

She never backs down from a fight and has the strength, tenacity, and strategic skills to walk away a winner.

#4 Donner & Blitzen

Yes I know it’s a “two-fer” but these two are truly a pair. Donner is the super strong, bullet resistant, stoic one and Blitzen is the super fast, super smart, wise cracking one. After becoming unsatisfied with the Shadow Cabinet, they start their own faction called Heroes including Iota, Payback, Starlight, and the one and only Static Shock. They move to New York and immediately stop an alien invasion. Oh and they are lesbians, openly, which is kind of a big deal in comics, especially 90s comics.

 

 

Always ready to go fight at the drop of a dime, these two teammates work together splendidly.

#3 Invisible Woman Susan Richards

Susan Richards had somewhat of a rocky start. When she first appeared in 1961 she was completely utilized as the damsel in distress. Being captured, running away to hide, or waiting for her husband to come save her was her M.O. But with the advent of her Force field projection powers she’s become widely recognized as the strongest member of the team. This is witnessed several times in the Civil War arch. She is strong and no longer defined by her husband.

Especially in Civil War she actually leaves him due to differences in opinion on the registration act and how things were being handled. From the comics, to the television shows old and new, to the films, this character’s growth has turned her into the heart and soul of one of the greatest superhero teams ever created.

#2 Vixen

Vixen was supposed to be the first African woman super hero for DC. Unfortunately they canceled her series before it was made. But that hasn’t stopped her from becoming one of the most recognizable woman superheroes of all time.

In ancient Africa, the warrior Tantu asked Anansi the Spider to create a totem that would give the wearer all of the powers of the animal kingdom, only if they would use the power to protect the innocent. Tantu used the totem to become Africa’s first legendary hero. The totem was later passed down to Tantu’s descendants until it reached the McCabes.

Growing up in a small African village in the fictional nation of Zambesi, M’Changa province, Mari Jiwe McCabe heard the legend of the “Tantu Totem” from her mother. Sometime later, Mari’s mother was killed by poachers and she was raised by her father Reverend Richard Jiwe, the village priest. Reverend Jiwe himself was killed by his half-brother (Mari’s uncle) General Maksai. Maksai wanted the Tantu Totem, which Jiwe had possessed. Mari ultimately moved to America, where she established an identity as Mari McCabe and got a job as a model in New York City. She used her newfound wealth to travel the world. On a trip back to Africa, she came across her uncle and took back the Tantu Totem, using its power to become the costumed superhero Vixen.

Vixen subsequently has had her own limited series and has been featured in a wide variety of DC properties from television to video games.

 

#1 Lady Death Wish

If you haven’t noticed this list has a lot of Milestone characters. Well trust they deserve to be on here, see that’s what happens when you make characters actually like people and not some stereotypical nonsense that fulfills your fantasy of what you want them to be. Take Deathwish for instance.

Now the original Deathwish has a terrifying backstory but Lady Deathwish (I know I said I wouldn’t have people like that but hear me out on one this one) has a pretty interesting tale and the entire series is told from his/her point of view.

Let me explain.

Deathwish starts off as male cop LT. Martin Rahm, but even then he knew deep down, this wasn’t who he really was (he still identified as male though). On a case he meets the original Death wish who shoves a gun in his face before realizing that Rahm was a cop searching the murder scene alone.

They fast forward four years and Martin Rahm is now Marisa, spoiler alert sex changes don’t make people any less bad ass. Marisa goes on a hunt for a sicko and ends up taking up the Moniker of DeathWish. Unfortunately only a limited series but there was plenty in there to solidify her standing as one of the biggest bad ass women in comic book history.

 

Well that’s my list, hope you guys enjoyed it. Are there other’s you’d like to see? Agree or Disagree? Go ahead and leave a comment I’d love to hear your ideas!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Wiseguy Industries.

Live Action Static Shock!

It’s been ten years since the last episode of Static Shock aired, and unfortunately because of massive incompetence handling such a prime comic book character, he’s been flying somewhat under the radar ever since. After the new 52 line of comics crashed, Static was going to be on the phenomenal show Young Justice, but Cartoon Network pulled the plug on the whole show. So for ten years the character that’s tied for first place with Batman in terms of favorite comic book heroes, has not been highly celebrated. This is extremely unfair especially since at least in the animated universe he goes on to become the most powerful hero in the DC universe. I mean he took down the entire Justice League single-handed at the age of 14(granted they were under mind control but they still had their powers).

But apparently this strange Static banishment is changing! Yesterday Warner Brothers announced a new digital production unit called Blue Ribbon, that has immediately announced three series.

“Blue Ribbon has already given series orders to three shows, including an untitled Mortal Kombat series produced in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment that is tied to the upcoming Mortal Kombat X video game release in April 2015,” they write. “The action series include Static Shock, an adaptation of the Static comic from writer-producer-director Reginald Hudlin (Django Unchained). Also in development are Ouroboros from Akiva Goldsman (Paranormal Activity) and Damon Santostefano, which follows two police officers over one night in a remote part of Wisconsin.”

Static has so many rich story lines they can pull from, I really can’t wait to see what they are going to go with for the first major story arch. I’m sure Francis the hot head will come to play soon enough, but right after him I’d love to see Holocaust and the blood syndicate. I mean how much more evil can you get than calling yourself Holocaust?

All in all this is pretty cool and hopefully this is just the beginning. I would love to see Static have his own show on the CW like Arrow and Flash.

Thanks for reading! Any comments leave below!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell

What are you iron man?

the SPOILER FREE REVIEW PRESENTS: Justice League Flashpoint

I’m back! In the time that I’ve been gone a lot has happened, I shot a part of my webseries pilot, I finished a feature-length post apocalyptic screenplay, I watched Flashpoint, and last but not least…I got my computer fixed! (duh)

All of that other stuff you will see in time but today let me tell you about the DCAU adaptation of “FLASHPOINT”

PLOT

So it all starts off with Flash as a kid talking with his mother. Later he comes home to find his mother dead. “Flash Forward” (see what I did there?) Flash is fighting basically the main characters in his rogue gallery. These guys…they’re pretty weak… I never really liked his rogue gallery but I digress. Flash barely wins after anti-flash shows up, and then only with the help of the Justice League.  Afterwards he’s so upset he just starts running, right into a lot of craziness. The next thing we know the DC Universe has been turned upside down, there is no FLASH, villains are heroes, heroes are villains, Superman is nowhere to be found and Cyborg takes his place as the boy scout.

Flash has basically stumbled into a “what if” universe for DC. Things have changed and it is very interesting to say the least. The world is in the middle of a war that threatens to destroy life as we know it. The only one who knows what is really going on, is Flash but at the moment he has no powers.  So we get to watch Flash figure this whole thing out.

RATING

Get ready!

3 stars. Bear with me because I know this movie has been talked about for forever. It stayed very close to the source material that’s not my gripe. There were certain aspects that weren’t developed enough. It was too short for one. All of those different elements converging deserved more time to have the story told. The batman storyline for one, the superman storyline was woefully underwritten to the point of ludicrousness. I wish I had more quality time with the Joker and all of the villains. The story was nice I just needed more. So for that it gets 3 out of 5. I would watch it again but only if i didn’t have anything to do. Its interesting but it leaves me wanting to find out more about the characters that  could have been shown easily (especially since they resorted to flashbacks anyway).

Thanks for reading! I’ll be making a video for the Spoiler FILLED review! Stay tuned!

Sincerely

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Cornerstone Creative Studios

Cornerstone Creative Studios is back after a brief  hiatus to bring you the best in creative artwork, writing, design, logo creation and more!

This studio has many talented artists, writers (including yours truly), inkers, pencilers, letterers, and is helmed by the amazing Jesse Hansen!

Mission Statement

Cornerstone Studios is to be an Avenue for promoting talent which is dedicated to quality and excellence in the multiple realms of art with a professional mindset.

To allow an avenue of artistic license and create a form of self-support through revenue venues and creative processes.

We are here to help talented individuals get the exposure they need to become forces of their own and make an impact in the art world.

If you love cool comics, or need a logo, or even if you want to create your own comic book hero, then I can not stress enough that you need to contact Cornerstone!

Contact me at BrianBell@cornerstonecreativestudios.com or message the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cornerstone-Creative-Studios/599297366754612.

Thanks for reading you guys!

Sincerely,

Brian bell-Wiseguy Industries

Man of Steel Spoiler Free Review!

So today I got up early and went uptown to see the new superman movie “Man of Steel.” Now a little history has to be said first when it comes to this review. I am not the biggest superman fan, I feel he’s overpowered to the point of ridiculousness and I know how hard it is to make a movie with a character like that. That being said DC has done a  great job humanizing him through his character and his relationship with the most human of all the superheroes, Batman.

That being said with all the hype surrounding this movie and the fact that Snyder and Nolan helmed it made me pretty excited to see where they would go with it. I wondered how much they’d pull from the dark knight trilogy. The answer obviously was quite a bit. From the official name “Man of Steel” to the darker tone of the entire movie, we are treated to a superman tale that was never before told.

The movie begins on Krypton that is falling apart. (That’s not a spoiler you can see that from the trailers!) Russel Crowe plays Jor-El father of Kal-El (superman) and he plays him quite well. The Krypton they show is not the one you grew up with with golden cities and bright skies. This Krypton is dangerous, the type of place that would have people with a tougher physique such as Superman. They introduced the social climate and political structure of Krypton more than I had ever seen before and the action sequences right from the beginning are intense and quite on point.

They went sci-fi with this movie. In fact the entire movie, not just on Krypton but on Earth as well, I felt was a sci-fi flick. Aliens invading searching for another alien, sometimes I felt I wasn’t even watching Superman which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. On one hand superman fans love their boy scout on the other where we come in at in this movie he’s not quite there yet.

The fight scenes in this movie are a little over the top, which kinda works the first time  you see it until you think about what’s actually going on. Without giving too much away I’ll just say think of the animated series fights and you’ll get the idea.

The only gripe I had was with the cutting back and forth between ages, it was done a little choppily and left me feeling out of sorts in some places.

Overall this was a fun movie and the best they could have done with a Superman movie. There were great glimpses of Krypton, great performances, huge shocks, and great direction. The fight scenes were huge and over the top and the villain was well written. The rumor is that they’ll be putting out another movie in 2014 which is shockingly fast. Jasmyne suggested a Lex Luthor/Brainiac crossover which I completely agree with.

 

This gets 4.5 out of 5 stars great movie only thing holding it back was the telling of the story in the beginning. Its a summer blockbuster, sci fi, action movie to the core and It’s a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend going to see it.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Play nice guys!

This has to be one of the if not THE, coolest picture in the universe.

 

Where are the black superheroes?

Wow, that’s all I can say at this point. Its 2013 and its really showing now, this is where it all comes to a head. See back in the heyday of the comic industry nobody wanted to make black superheroes. Now in this new age we are slapped in the face with it everyday. Oh go check out “The avengers!” go check out “The dark knight”! Go check out “Captain America”! Go check out “Green Lantern”. What do all these movies have in common? They are comic book adaptations of superheroes that are all caucasian. Now I’m not talking about the quality of these movies, I’m one of the world’s biggest batman fans, but the fact remains that African Americans do not have many superheroes and the ones that are made are made just because they need a black hero. Giving us original names such as “Black lightning”, “Black panther”, “Bronze tiger”, we get it they’re black…but unfortunately until recently not much else.

The crazy part is THERE ARE GREAT BLACK SUPERHEROES. Unfortunately most of them have only a small following because they have never been promoted. Icon and Static are two of my very favorite heroes, yet no movie of either of them yet. Icon can easily go head to head with superman and in fact did one time punching him through the Justice league watch tower. Static eventually becomes the most powerful hero in the DC universe. Both heroes are great role models. So why haven’t they been given the exposure they deserve? Why am I still hearing “black people can’t be superheroes”?

Now they want us to get excited about “Falcon” being in the new Captain america movie. Yippie…a sidekick who talks to birds, right that’s a real hero…So now that my little rant is over lets get into the facts. The facts are that Dwayne McDuffie is responsible for some of the best (and only original) Black superheroes. Milestone comics did more for African Americans in the comic book industry than any other group ever did. But if you notice after Mr. Mcduffie’s untimely death, all that he did has been slowly reversed, they no longer use John Stewart for the green lantern, many of the black superheroes that were featured prominently in The justice league are gone. Perhaps most disturbing, in the television show batman the brave and the bold which featured team ups with almost every single hero in the dc universe, he didn’t team up with any milestone characters even one time.

Marvel you’re next! Teasing the populace year after year with a black panther movie is a little much don’t you think? I thank you for the first two blade movies an awesome job but most people forget that those movies helped kick off the comics-movie wave. This lack of black superheroes has resulted in there being almost zero black action stars. it translates now to the movie industry.

Wiseguy Industries is working on this. Cain the Conqueror will be the first of many heroes for all races and its not about their race. They will be superheroes of all colors but their colors will not make them. Thank you for your time.