The Supergirls: History of Comic Book Heroines

“The Supergirls is a long overdue tribute to the fabulous fighting females whose beauty and bravery brighten the pages of your favorite comics.”—Stan Lee

“Mike Madrid's fast-moving, encyclopedic, and often funny Supergirls shows the author's lifelong affection for these heroines on every page. He has a great feel for the genre and its history, with evident sensitivity to issues of female power and powerlessness. The section on the She-Hulk is not to be missed!”—Larry Gonick, Cartoon History of the Universe

“Entertaining and informative, Supergirls is a breezy and thoroughly accessible history of the comic book heroine. A great resource!”—Marc Andreyko, Manhunter and Torso 

“The Supergirls, Mike Madrid's book about the evolution of female comic-book characters, is sharp and lively — and just obsessive enough about women who wear capes and boots to be cool but not creepy. The guy clearly loves this stuff. And he's enough of a historian to be able to trace the ways in which the portrayal of sirens and supergirls has echoed society's ever-changing feelings about women and sex. The book has some illustrations, but no comic-book art. That's a bit of a drag, but presumably a function of how much the rights to the artwork would have cost. In any case, all the lovely crime fighters that Madrid champions are as close as a comic-book store.”—Entertainment Weekly

“...Even as it delivers its clear-eyed critique of the way mainstream superhero comics have alternately eroticized or deified female characters, The Supergirls gleefully celebrates the medium itself, in all its goofy, glorious excess.”—NPR

A much-needed alternative history of American comic book superheroines—from Wonder Woman to Supergirl and beyond—where they fit in popular culture and why, and what these crime-fighting females say about the role of women in American society from their creation to now, and into the future. The Supergirls is an entertaining and informative look at these modern-day icons, exploring how superheroines fare in American comics, and what it means for the culture when they do everything the superhero does, but in thongs and high heels.

Has Wonder Woman hit the comic book glass ceiling? Is that the one opposition that even her Amazonian strength can’t defeat?

Mike Madrid, a San Francisco–based refugee from the world of advertising, is a lifelong fan of comic books and popular culture. His goal is to inform and entertain readers with a new look at modern-day icons. He’s popular culture editor for Exterminating Angel Press and the creator of www.heaven4heroes.com, where comic book fantasies come to life.