DC pioneered the concept of an all-female super team, with the Birds of Prey, although the group has incorporated male members at times.  But with the release of the all-female X-Men book, Marvel has trumped them by publishing two series starring all-female teams, alongside Fearless Defenders.

Back in the early 80s, DC was pitched a concept called the Power Squad, which would have featured Batgirl and Supergirl as well as Vixen and The Enchantress. This book was to be handled by writer Jack C. Harris and artist Trevor Von Eeden, but the publisher passed.

So what would happen if DC created a new all-female team… essentially a super group on par with the Justice League, minus the Y chromosomes?  Here are my picks!

 

The New 52 Supergirl has proven to be headstrong, hot-tempered and reckless.  It would be nice to see her reign in her impulsive nature by studying under the guidance of a more mature, centered mentor.  Some one such as…

Wonder Woman.  Yes, she’s in the Justice League and I wouldn’t want to see her leave, but Batman maintains like 12 different titles a month.  Surely Wonder Woman can handle appearing in a measly three!  It would be nice to see Diana in more straight-forward super heroics and to blossom out from under Superman’s shadow.  She is the queen of super heroes… it would be nice to reflect her influence on other female heroes in a monthly book.

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe, Batgirl and Supergirl were best friends.  (Batgirl gave Supergirl’s eulogy, when she was killed in action.)  Unlike Batman and Superman who were more like colleagues, Barbara and Kara actually hung out, minus the capes.  Now that Babs is back under the cowl, it would be nice to see a reference to their previous friendship in the New 52.  (Yeah, she’s in the Birds of Prey, but like Wonder Woman, she could do double duty.)

My wildcard choice is Mary, Queen of Blood from I, Vampire.  Yes, she wants to enslave humanity with her army of vampires, but when former love Andrew Bennett went rogue, Mary actually joined the side of the angels to oppose him.  I’m sure someone could come up with another excuse for her to abandon her blood-thirsty ways and act on the side of good again.

I’ve made no secret of my disappointment in the cancellation of Sword of Sorcery, featuring a revival of the Amethyst concept.  Its lead character, Princess Amaya, has popped up in Justice League Dark and hopefully will carry on there, but in my fantasy, she would serve as the mystical contribution to an all-girl DC super team.  (Also, regarding Sword of Sorcery, more one that later…)

If I’m making a list of DC’s top females, Vixen is going to be on it.  She’s probably DC’s most visible female minority character and she was part of the benched Justice League International.  She was included in the Power Squad pitch, and she deserves a place in the spotlight.  Plus her animal powers are unique and would factor into a team very well.

Pandora is clearly quite important, seeing as how she created this New 52 Universe and appeared in every first issue in the line.  She’s also part of the Trinity of Sin along with The Phantom Stranger and The Question.  The Phantom Stranger got a book before her.  She’s due to get her own book later this year.  She may not be the perfect fit for a team, but even the Phantom Stranger helped out the Justice League on occasion back in the day.  Interacting with other prominent characters could really help to flesh her out.

DC made an effort to integrate the Wildstorm universe into its DCU-proper.  They kinda failed.  Both Voodoo and Grifter were among the first New 52 books axed.  And Cailtin Fairchild’s team, The Ravagers, similarly enjoyed a short run.  But the Voodoo character has a lot of untapped potential.  Many readers were put off by the overt sexuality of the book, since the lead character was a stripper, but the creators quickly tried to move past that.  This shape-shifting alien assassin perhaps needs a chance at redemption… an all-female super team could just be the vehicle for that!

Before you say anything, I purposefully omitted characters that would make this too much of a “female Justice League.”  I left out Black Canary, Zatanna, Fire and Ice because they are so closely associated with that team.  I also didn’t include Jade, Jesse Quick, Mera, Miss Martian or any other characters– beyond Batgirl and Supergirl– that directly reflected a male Justice League member.  The one exception I will make is Star Sapphire, Carol Ferris, because she is pretty much strictly a Green Lantern supporting character, who I think has potential to be much more.  She just needs to step out on her own and cut loose!  There are four male Green Lanterns from Earth.  I think the lead Star Sapphire should get a chance to shine as well.

And finally, a character that has not yet appeared in the New 52, Dr. Light, Kimiyo Hoshi.  She has fantastic energy powers, but personality-wise, she is unique in that she is… well, kind of a bitch.  Mary would serve as a pot-stirrer, but I can imagine she wouldn’t fit into a team for very long.  Dr. Light could fill that role, as an abrasive “voice of reason” to oppose the cheery optimism of some of the other characters.

And who should handle the creative duties on this book?  Well, since Sword of Sorcery is going away…

Writer Christy Marx is a perfect choice!  In addition to writing the excellent, but under-appreciated Sword of Sorcery, she wrote the 80s fantasy comic Sisterhood of Steel and one of my favorite 80s cartoon series Jem.  Not to pigeon hold her as someone who can only write female characters, but she does it damn well!  She’s perfect!  And in addition…

Amethyst artist Aaron Lopresti has a clean beautiful style and he draws gorgeous women.  He was born to draw an all-female team book!

What do you think?  Would you buy and read this book?  Would you prefer any other DC women instead of my selections?  Please feel free to comment below!