The “Best of 2007” lists begin with one that took very little preparation or research. Since I probably owe a chunk of my meagre readership to When Fangirls Attack, I thought I’d start with the Top Five Superheroines of 2007:
Kathryn Artemis, Black Summer
All right, so Artemis hasn’t made a whole lot of substantive contributions to the story of Black Summerjust yet. However, she has a few points working in her favour:
- She looks really cool. I mean, seriously – coolest looking superhero of the past few years.
- It’s possible she falls towards the “totally batshit insane” spectrum of the Seven Guns. You know, the same end as the guy who ripped the President and all his advisors to shreds.
- She’s capable of utterly massive carnage, wiping out a fairly large contingent of the US Army on her own.
- She’s central to one of my favourite covers of the year.
Phoebe, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse
Wormwood the corpse may be a clever, crafty, billionaire, but he does tend to get himself into trouble. And when he does, it usually falls to Phoebe to sort it all out, since his other bodyguard, Pendulum, is fairly slow and usually too busy complaining about his lack of genitals.
So Phoebe gets to shoot demons, rip aliens in half with her magical tattoos, and deadpans and rolls her eyes frequently at her employer’s many quirks and eccentricities.
Oh, and she gets peed on by leprechauns and doesn’t lose her cool. How classy is that?
Brenda, Blue Beetle
All right, technically she’s more of a sidekick-and-potential-love-interest than a superheroine. But still: she’s travelled across the universe in a boom tube, survived an attack by carnivorous ewoks, and helped destroy Devilance’s machinery. She launched a rocket and out-sassed most of the Teen Titans. She’s working on reforming her crimelord aunt. So frankly, I think she’s accomplished a lot. What the hell has Supergirl done lately, other than fly around in a belly shirt?
Honourable Mention: Blue Beetle’s Mom. You know she’s awesome.
Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8
How could we have a list without Buffy? Well, to be honest, I considered it; she was seldom my favourite character. But Willow didn’t get to do much in the Season 8 and Faith’s arc was kind of disappointing. Dawn was pretty cool, though.
But ultimately, it all comes back to Buffy. Wise-cracking and butt kicking? Check. Running an entire army of slayers? Yep. Putting a book published by someone other than Marvel or DC in the top ten? Right on.
It’s Buffy, you know?
Ramona Flowers, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
I think you all know that my love for Kim Pine knows no bounds. But Ramona’s just too awesome to ignore. She rollerblades. She gets your packages delivered on time. She has a multi-dimensional purse that stores a wide and useful array of weaponry. She has a dark and mysterious past that includes a sexy phase.
If she’s good enough for Scott, she’s good enough for me.