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Year 11 General English
FEMALE SUPERHEROES & VILLAINS
This page is to support the Year 11 General English unit of work on the
Representation of super heroines and villainesses through time.
It will help you to get started to locate a variety of sources of information and example comics about the female comic superhero or villain you have chosen and the historical contexts and social roles of women throughout the 20th Century that relate to your chosen character.
(Superheroines, n.d.)
Last updated August 2023
If you have any problems with these resources or need further help, please contact Ms Bright, your Teacher Librarian via lis@mlc.wa.edu.au
Suggested Characters
The following characters are listed as there are library resources available for these characters:
Superheroines
Batgirl
Jean Grey
Wonder Woman
Gamora
Villainesses
Black Widow
Catwoman
Harley Quinn
Books
The books below and more can be found on the Senior Fiction and Non-Fiction shelves in the WSRC.
SF PIC
Picoult, J. (2007). Wonder Woman: love and murder. DC Comics.
305.40904 GOU
Gourley, C. (2008). Gibson girls and suffragists : perceptions of women from 1900 to 1918. Twenty-First Century Books.
305.40904 GOU
Gourley, C. (2008). Rosie and Mrs. America : perceptions of women in the 1930s and 1940s. Twenty-First Century Books.
305.40904 GOU
Gourley, C. (2008). Gidgets and women warriors : perceptions of women in the 1950s and 1960s. Twenty-First Century Books.
Marston, W. M. (2016). Wonder Woman, a celebration of 75 years. DC Comics.
Book Extracts From:
The DC Comics encyclopedia: The definitive guide to the characters of the DC universe. (2004). London: Dorling Kindersley.
Marvel encyclopedia: The definitive guide to the characters of the Marvel universe. (2006). London: Dorling Kindersley.
1940s female comic book characters
Features: Wonder Woman, Cat Woman and others
1950s female comic book characters
Features: Supergirl and others
1960s female comic book character
Features: Poison Ivy, Wasp, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow.
1970s female comic book character
Features: Lady Shiva and Big Barda
1980s female comic book character
Features: She-Hulk
1990s female comic book character
Features: Harley Quinn and Batgirl
eBooks
For more than 75 years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains and damsels in distress. Sometimes a thief, sometimes a vigilante, sometimes neither and sometimes both, the mercurial Catwoman gleefully defies classification. Her relentless independence across comic books, television and film appearances set her apart from the rest of the superhero world.
Login to the Library Online Catalogue and then click HERE for a list of relevant ebooks to help you find contextual information about women’s role in society in different time periods.
Sign up for a free Open Library account and search for digitised books on this topic using your keywords. Some books you can borrow for an hour, others you can borrow for 14 days. Don’t forget to return them when you have finished with them.
Examples of books you will find:
You may even be able to find more comic books on your chosen character!
Websites
DC Comics. (2019). Characters. https://www.dccomics.com/characters
Lepore, J. (2014). The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/origin-story-wonder-woman-180952710/
Marvel. (2019). Marvel characters. https://www.marvel.com/characters
Use the search function from this comprehensive site focused on comic book culture as another resource for your research. Its articles reflect super-current topics in the comic book industry and is a useful site for doing any kind of research related to the culture of comics.
Videos
Smithsonian Channel. (2014, July 25). Wonder Woman Was Based on This Real-Life Lady [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/H98Q44vwxbk
Variant Comic. (2014, October 8). History of Wonder Woman! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/EpHaCjDxXsg
Variant Comic. (2019, May 2). History of Black Widow! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/4uLIErUay-Q
Variant Comic. (2018, June 28). History of Catwoman! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/4uLIErUay-Q
Variant Comic. (2014, July 9). History of all the Batgirls! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UFedjbOIigc
Variant Comic. (2015, January 7). History of all the Harley Quinn! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/e5tm6IRroYg
References
Superheroines [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://superherosubculture.com/2017/01/24/modern-superheroines-dc-and-marvels-approach-to-female-led-comics/