A fresh breed of leading female comic-book characters

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: You’ve come a long way, baby—from a Nazi-fighting Amazon princess to a secret agent for the Department of Metahuman Affairs.

The evolution of Wonder Woman and countless other comic book heroines is explored in “DC Comics Covergirls”, a lavishly illustrated book by Louise Simonson that follows female crime-fighters from the Golden Age of comics through the edgy, girl-power-driven titles of today.

“Comics, they’re like the mammals among the dinosaurs of publishing,” Simonson said from her home in Suffern, NY. “They respond very quickly to societal pressures. So that when society shifts, the comics shift pretty quickly to follow what direction society is going in.”

Simonson is a renowned female comic-book writer working in a male-dominated industry. Her work for Marvel and DC Comics includes “Superman: Man of Steel”, “X-Factor”, “Power Pack” and “New Mutants”.

“DC Comics Covergirls” features 250 full colour cover illustrations by acclaimed artists including Jim Lee, Alex Ross, Adam Hughes, Jill Thompson and dozens more. “Honestly, the pictures are the stars of this book,” Simonson said.

Comic books respond quickly to market and societal forces because they’re done fast, with little lag time between when a comic is produced and when it’s on the news stands.

Unlike a novel with just one creator, comic books are produced by a variety of writers and artists from year to year.

“These characters are passed from creator to creator to creator to creator for 60 years,” Simonson said. “All of these forces throughout time just alter the characters.”

Through the ages

Comic-book cover girls have been enticing readers since the late 1930s, when the superhero genre emerged from pulp adventure magazines.

“Superman’s” Lois Lane, the original female comic book character, has adapted to the times. In the 1940s, Lois was a feisty newspaper reporter who would do anything to beat rival Clark Kent out of a story, even though it usually led to Superman having to save her.

The character’s focus shifted to romance in the 1950s, when women returned to the home and the new Comics Code Authority banned blood, excessive violence and sexually suggestive images from comic book pages.

“At least two of the covers have her sitting there dreaming about how she’s going to get Superman to marry her, which was one of the main focusses of Lois at that time,” Simonson said.