Wonder Woman Unbound (32 page)

When Superman told Lois to be a good girl and stay out of trouble while she covered the Olympic Games, she thought, “Be a
good girl
…
oooo!
Sometimes he is so
conceited.
” In another issue, Superman tried to help out Lois and her roommates, but Lois brushed him off, saying, “I’m tired of your
super-interfering!
We girls are hardier than you think! Leave us alone!” Superman and Lois remained friends, but any hint of male chauvinism from Superman brought a strong response from Lois. She loved Superman, but she knew that so long as he didn’t treat her, and other women, equally, they could never be together. It was a groundbreaking new direction for Lois, though short-lived; the book only lasted another seventeen issues before DC Comics rolled
Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane
and several other titles into one new book,
The Superman Family,
in 1974.
*

In
Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane
#93, published in July 1969, Lois had actually met the mod Diana Prince. Fearing that Diana was trying to steal Superman from her, Lois learned karate and judo so she could fight Diana and win back Superman. In a dream sequence where she defeated Diana, Lois said, “I-I’m sorry, Diana! But
Superman’s
my whole
life!
I-I had to beat you—so you would give him up!” This scenario represented the old Lois Lane in a nutshell: Superman was her world, and she would do anything, however ridiculous, not to lose him.

The new Lois didn’t need a man at all. While Diana’s entire life was dictated by her desire to avenge Steve and she flitted from man to man, Lois did what Diana couldn’t. She realized that wrapping up her self-worth and her life’s meaning in a man who didn’t treat her well just wasn’t worth it, no matter how much she loved him.

Batgirl

The name “Batgirl” suggests a very subordinate, sidekick role. Her symbol was borrowed from a male hero, and she was called “girl” while he was called “man.” You’d expect her to be a female Robin or, even worse, another poor Supergirl, but Batgirl was the most independent and self-reliant female character in DC Comics at the dawn of the Bronze Age. Batgirl first appeared in
Detective Comics
#359 in January 1967, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino.
*
There had been a Bat-Girl in the 1950s, Bette Kane, but this Batgirl was an entirely new character.

Her real name was Barbara Gordon, and she was the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon, Gotham City’s head of police. Even without her crime fighting, Barbara was an impressive character. She had a PhD from Gotham State University, where she graduated summa cum laude, had a brown belt in judo, and was the head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. With her old-fashioned reading glasses and her double bun hairdo, Barbara said, “Everybody thinks of me as a ‘Plain Jane’—a colorless female brain.” Well aware of the image she projected as a librarian, she used her demure appearance and position as cover for her adventures as a vigilante. Barbara also made the most of her library job by using its contents to research crime-fighting techniques and solve cases.

Although she was inspired by Batman and borrowed his name, Batgirl didn’t rely on Batman for anything. She made her own costume and got her own supplies, all without the benefit of Bruce Wayne’s vast fortune. Furthermore, she was no sidekick; she worked independent of the Dynamic Duo, crossing their paths only when their cases coincided. This independence might have been due to the fact that Batman and Robin didn’t exactly take a shine to Batgirl right away.

In her first appearance, both Batgirl and the Dynamic Duo separately attempted to track down the villain Killer Moth. Unbeknownst to Batgirl, Batman had set a trap for Killer Moth, which Batgirl inadvertently stumbled upon. As Batgirl fought Killer Moth and his goons, a hiding Robin declared, “Holy interference! She’s ruining all our plans!” To which Batman replied, “We can’t let
Batgirl
fight our battles now, can we?” Batman and Robin jumped out of hiding to join the fight, but in the chaos Killer Moth escaped. Batgirl chastised Batman for interfering with her work, but Batman angrily retorted, “No,
Batgirl! We
didn’t spoil anything …
you did!!
” When she asked to help them track down Killer Moth, Batman said, “No,
Batgirl!
This is a case for
Batman
and
Robin!
I’m sorry—but you must understand that we can’t worry ourselves about a girl.” Robin echoed Batman’s opinion on female crime fighters in a later issue; when Batgirl wasn’t at the scene of a robbery, Robin declared, “That suits me fine! Nabbing crooks is
man’s
work!”

Batgirl eventually won Batman and Robin over by proving herself to be a smart and capable crime fighter. After Batgirl nabbed Killer Moth when Batman couldn’t, the trio of vigilantes delivered him to police headquarters and Batman said of Batgirl, “I’ll welcome her aid, Commissioner Gordon—when and where the occasion arises! From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t have to take a backseat to anybody!” The commissioner was even more impressed and, not knowing his daughter was actually Batgirl, told Barbara that “
Batgirl
sure is tops in my book!”

Not only was Batgirl strong, independent, and well educated, she also addressed and flipped stereotypical female traits head-on. In a story entitled “Batman’s Marriage Trap,” the women of Gotham City decided Batman should get married and formed a protest group called the W.E.B., Women to End BATchelorhood. Batgirl quickly joined, carrying a sign that read “Batman Unfair to Gotham Girls” amidst similar signs of “Pair Power!” and “Down with Singles!” Although Batgirl looked like a Silver Age marriage junkie, she’d actually infiltrated the organization to root out the mob agent who was using the W.E.B. to try to take out Batman. Batgirl’s marriage enthusiasm was an elaborate ruse so she could save the day.

In another issue, Batgirl dealt with vanity and personal appearance. While chasing bank robbers, Batgirl noticed that her mask was crooked and stopped to adjust it, and this pause almost allowed the criminals to escape. Frustrated with herself, she said, “My vanity betrayed me!” and later clarified that “It wasn’t personal vanity that made me adjust my headgear—it was an instinctive female reaction!” Batgirl saw her femininity as a weakness but was determined to turn it into a strength. Later, she pretended to stop chasing criminals to fix a run in her stocking, showing off her leg to distract them. As the lawbreakers stared, whistled, and called out, “What a pair of gams!” Batgirl and the Dynamic Duo capitalized on their distraction and apprehended them. While the idea of vanity as an instinctive female trait wasn’t particularly enlightened, this clumsy beginning took an intriguing turn as it became a crime-fighting aid.

Batgirl starred in her own semiregular backup feature in
Detective Comics,
which became permanent in June 1970; she appeared in every issue of the series for the next two years. Having a separate feature further established Batgirl as her own hero. Although the Dynamic Duo occasionally appeared, Batgirl was the undisputed star of the stories, developing her own cast of characters while investigating her own cases. She was popular elsewhere in the DC Comics universe as well, guest-starring in series such as
Adventure Comics, Justice League of America, Superman,
and
World’s Finest.

Her backup feature only ran regularly for two years but it ended on a high note, with Barbara Gordon’s election to the US House of Representatives. Commissioner Gordon was asked to run for Congress but didn’t really want the job, while Batgirl was increasingly frustrated with the limits of vigilantism. She revealed her secret identity to her father and asked to run in his stead, asserting, “It’s the
only
way
I
can really fight crime—
prevent
it—through
prison reform! Legislation—law
that creates
order
… not
disorder!
”

Barbara took her campaign to the streets of Gotham, holding rallies and calling for change in Washington. In one impassioned speech, she asked, “Will
they
clean up the slums? Create new jobs … ? Stop dope-traffic … ?
I
say they
won’t! I
say—
boot the rascals out—elect me!
” She became known as “Babs the Boot” and ultimately won the election by inspiring massive turnout from young voters. Her vigilante adventures in
Detective Comics
ended, but Congresswoman Barbara Gordon soon starred in
The Batman Family,
where she was glad to set aside her legislative duties and dig out her Batgirl costume if the need arose.
*

Before she even became Batgirl, Barbara Gordon was more impressive than Diana Prince. She earned her doctorate with highest honors, ran the library system of one of the biggest cities in America, and was a judo expert on the side. Diana Prince beat people up and very occasionally ran a small clothing boutique. Once Barbara became Batgirl, she quickly became the equal of her peers, while Diana was regularly shown to be inferior. Batgirl flipped traditional stereotypes, while Diana embodied them.

Much like Diana, Barbara was also the victim of betrayal. She sponsored the rehabilitation and parole of a criminal she’d locked up as Batgirl, only to have him turn around and steal valuable books from the library. Barbara was livid, but instead of trying to cripple him and get vengeance, this betrayal made her decide to run for Congress and attempt to reform the prison system. Betrayal brought out the worst in Diana and only added to her quest for personal revenge, but for Barbara it created a desire to work for the betterment of society as a whole. Barbara was a modern, empowered woman, capable of achieving anything she set her mind to. She was exactly what a superpowerless Wonder Woman should have been.

Emerald Empress

The Legion of Super-Heroes was a club of teenage superheroes from the thirtieth century. Created in 1958, the Legion was made up of teens from a variety of planets with a wide range of superpowers, including a time-traveling Superboy.
*
The Legion first encountered the group that would become their chief villains, the Fatal Five, in
Adventure Comics
#352 in January 1967. This group of nefarious criminals included Mano, who used his antimatter touch to destroy his home planet; the Persuader, whose atomic axe could cut through almost anything; Tharok, a powerful cyborg; Validus, a dull-witted giant easily controlled by his teammates; and the fiendish Emerald Empress.

Her real name was Sarya, and she came from the planet Venegar, the former home of the ancient Ekron civilization. Sarya found the Emerald Eye of Ekron, an ancient object of near limitless power, and took over her home planet in a matter of hours, becoming the Emerald Empress of Venegar. When her people revolted, she left her home world to raise an army to someday return and again subjugate the planet. The Legion’s database called Emerald Empress “the most wanted female criminal in the history of the universe! She is guilty of every crime from murder to space-piracy!”

Facing the threat of a Sun-Eater and lacking the firepower to stop it, the Legion assembled the Fatal Five to help them save the galaxy and offered them pardons in exchange for their help. They did stop the Sun-Eater, but afterward the Fatal Five decided to join forces and try to conquer the galaxy. The Emerald Empress was a key part of this team of supervillains and was often the most capable member of the group.

Tharok’s cyborg brain gave him superintelligence, and so he led the team and controlled the mighty Validus, but the Empress was clearly second in command. She was also vitally important to the team because the Emerald Eye teleported the Fatal Five wherever they needed to go, allowing them to get the jump on the Legion or escape them. While her teammates regularly clashed, the Empress was the most reasonable member of the team and did her best to keep her hot-headed associates focused on fighting the Legion instead of each other.

Quarreling with the Emerald Empress rarely went well for her teammates. When Mano suggested that he and the Empress join together and ditch the rest of the Fatal Five, she rejected his offer. An angry Mano tried to attack her with his antimatter touch, but the Empress used the Emerald Eye to bind him in energy handcuffs. Mano scoffed at the restraints, declaring that he would burn through them in seconds, but before he could do so the Empress blasted him out of the room, ending their discussion. Similarly, when the Persuader and Mano were arguing over who was more powerful, the Empress separated the two with large energy bonds and incapacitated them so their fighting wouldn’t destroy the ship.

When battling the Legion, the Emerald Empress was as capable a warrior as her teammates, if not more so. One blow from the Persuader’s atomic axe, one touch from Mano’s antimatter hand, or one punch from Validus would mean certain death, making those three (and, by extension, Validus’s controller Tharok) generally useless in combat. The crafty Legionnaires deftly avoided each villain’s sole dangerous move, leaving them ineffective, while the Empress had a whole array of possible attacks with her Emerald Eye.