Most memorable female vs. male battles in comic books

[Gothos]

I posted this earlier on the Simone board, so now let me try it with a touch of Classics:



It's long been my contention that long before the 90s era of the "Tough Chick" Heroine in the filmworld, comic books, despite their reputation for misogyny, were actually much stronger than the medium of cinema as far as showing women kicking the butts of male opponents.

(And yes, this is a generalization: let's not get into the fine points of Mrs. Peel and Nyoka and whatnot)

So I'm thinking about blogging about the 50 best or most memorable comics-fights where a woman wins the battle (from any time period), so I thought I'd ask around here to see what you-all came up with.

If possible give me an actual story, if not an issue number, that the fight occured in.

And no comic strips, though there's probably not much there outside of Modesty Blaise.
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[nepenthes]

maybe not so widely memorable or classic but I really, really like the Azzarello scripted short in the Jordi Benet Solo issue, Solo 6, Batman VS Poison Ivy. It's 11 pages on the ways men and women need each other to define themselves, and manipulate and use each to that purpose. it's weird, hilarious and suitably vague, leaving you to reflect what it's supposed to mean by yourself. it took a few goes but eventually I got it and as a bit of an Ivy fan I love it, it's one of her best . she doesn't win physically, but she proves her point that Batman is essentially a desperate bully who needs her to be subjugated..."because without me, he's no man".
.

[Jolly Mon]

Thundra pretty thoroughly kicked the Thing's butt when she first appeared in FF # 133 (1973).

[Sir Tim Drake]

Adventure Comics #368 is an interesting case.

This story, which was written by Jim Shooter, features a female villain who comes from a matriarchal society and hates men. She uses some sort of device to vastly increase the girl Legionnaires' powers, while also driving them nuts. So Shrinking Violet gains the ability to grow large as well as small, Duo Damsel becomes able to create an unlimited number of duplicates, and so on. The girl Legionnaires then fight the boy Legionnaires and kick their butts.

Unfortunately, by the end of the story, the girl Legionnaires lose their increased powers and go back to being subordinate to the boys, and the villain's homeworld has overthrown its matriarchal society.

Based on that ending, it seems like the story is horribly sexist. On the other hand, it does show the girls beating the boys in a fight, and it implies that the girl Legionnaires could potentially be extremely powerful.

[Gothos]

Adventure Comics #368 is an interesting case.

This story, which was written by Jim Shooter, features a female villain who comes from a matriarchal society and hates men. She uses some sort of device to vastly increase the girl Legionnaires' powers, while also driving them nuts. So Shrinking Violet gains the ability to grow large as well as small, Duo Damsel becomes able to create an unlimited number of duplicates, and so on. The girl Legionnaires then fight the boy Legionnaires and kick their butts.

Unfortunately, by the end of the story, the girl Legionnaires lose their increased powers and go back to being subordinate to the boys, and the villain's homeworld has overthrown its matriarchal society.

Based on that ending, it seems like the story is horribly sexist. On the other hand, it does show the girls beating the boys in a fight, and it implies that the girl Legionnaires could potentially be extremely powerful.

Well, fwiw the story does start out with Invisible Kid telling the matriarchal amazon that Earth-culure has a "patriarchal background" but that currently the culture believes in equality of the sexes, so arguably the girls aren't technically subordinate to the boys. Remember Saturn Girl-- first superheroine to lead a co-ed superhero group!

But I'm glad you mentioned that story, because I did consider it. I don't know whether it would qualify since the two short fight-scenes aren't really pitched battles: the hyped-up lady Legionnaires just steamroller over the guys both times. Still, it makes interesting "gender political" reading when set next to an early-60s Jerry Siegel story on a related theme. The two stories would make for a great comparison but it's unfortunate that no fan-magazine today would bother with such a literary analysis of old funnybooks. I'm tempted to do something on my blog but who knows??