212 FEMINISM
Selected Bibliography: Canemaker, John. Felix: Th e Twisted Tale of the World’s Most
Famous Cat. New York: Pantheon, 1991.
Denis Yarow
FEMINISM. Th ough often thought of as a thoroughly masculine realm, comic books
and graphic novels have, in fact, often provided venues for the expression of femi-
nist ideas. Probably the fi rst feminist character in comics was psychologist William
Moulton Marston’s 1941 creation, Wonder Woman , who made her debut at a time
when the word “feminist” was still used only to describe women who had advocated
for suff rage in the early 20th century. Wonder Woman’s message was that girls were
as good as boys, and that women were the equals of men. Marston created her, as he
wrote in Th e American Scholar in 1943, because “It seemed to me... that the comics
worst off ense was their blood-curdling masculinity... not even girls want to be girls so
long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength.... Women’s strong qualities have
become despised because of their weak ones.” It would take almost 30 more years before
feminism entered comics again.
Towards the end of the 1960s and through the 1970s, the mainstream comics indus-
try attempted to keep up with changing trends in the country, and among their potential
readers, by modernizing their stories. Comics artists introduced African American pro-
tagonists, wrote stories about drug addiction, and tried to deal with the new Women’s
Liberation movement. Unfortunately, as the majority of comics writers were straight white
men, the results were often embarrassing.
None of the mainstream editors and publishers seemed to have a grasp on what
feminism was actually about, or even what it was called. At Marvel comics, Stan Lee ,
who has the writing credits on the 1970 romance story, “No Man is My Master,” calls
the movement “female freedom.” His protagonist, Bev, breaks up with her boorish boy-
friend because he insists on making choices for her (“My chick’s gotta like what I like”)
and drags her to a boxing match against her will. She dates a series of wimps who cannot
make up their minds about anything, until a “Female Freedom” meeting makes her real-
ize, “I misunderstood the whole thing! Female Freedom isn’t about dates — or romance! It’s
for job equality — and things like that ” (emphasis in this and the following quotes is in
the original). She then goes back to her original boorish boyfriend.
Meanwhile, over at DC comics, in “Miss Peeping Tom,” from Young Romance, 1973,
Tina tries to join her high school camera club, only to be told by the room full of boys:
“Photography is a man’s fi eld!” “All girls are good for is knittin’ an’ neckin’ !” Tina and her
friend Beverly take their cause to the principal’s offi ce, where Beverly says, “If Tina won’t
be allowed to join the camera club only because she’s a girl— women’s lib might picket
the school!” A promising beginning, but, in order to qualify for the club, Tina must take
candid shots of Steve Anderson, captain of the weight-lifting team. She falls for him, he
eventually falls for her, and the original message of the story is forgotten.
In 1975, with a cover depicting a kissing couple in front of a background of Women’s
Liberation symbols, Charlton Comics presented “Call Me Ms.” In the story, Kay, who
