Caped crusaders
Girl Wonder is a feminist project dedicated to ending misogyny in comics. One of several projects at Girl Wonder is a selection of regular columns by various folks, including “Inside Out,” by Rachel Edidin, who works for Dark Horse. This particular week, Edidin had a guest column by Noah Brand about the Wonder Woman sidekick character Etta Candy. Etta was a short, fat college student who led a gang of female college students who ran around getting involved in adventures for fun. As Brand points out, very few sidekick characters before or since have been cool enough to merit their very own band of sidekicks.
Girl Wonder is a great project, not only for those interested in finding more femme-friendly books to pick up, but for anyone interested in the politics of representation in pop culture. The Etta Candy column is currently piquing my interest, but the site is loaded up with goodies, including everything from academic papers to a couple of fantastic web comics. Planet Karen particularly appeals to me.