A Thought and a Query:

As I've said before, I tend to think that a lot of the gender disparity in comics has to do with the fact that there are still far more male heroes than there are female. There should be more female (or gay/bi) heroes whose lovers can thus be victimized and murdered and held hostage.

So that got me thinking...(dangerous sign)...

If you guys could make a new female hero what would she be like?

I know, me personally, I'd like to see a heroine that's a little older. Most of the female heroes I tend to see are relatively young. The oldest I can remember is Hippolyta, who's immortal anyway, and thus doesn't count. (I'd like to see more heroes that are a little older, personally. I still think it'd be hilarious if the Blue Beetle scarab had fallen into the hands of Gabriel Vasquez).

We have a few male heroes in their late thirties/forties, but very few women. And those that are older either are immortal like Hippolyta or Diana, or somehow un-aged a little like Dinah Lance. So I'd like to see a female in her late thirties or early forties.

I'd like to see a heroine that's sexually mature. I don't mean that I want scenes of her in bed with some guy, with condom wrappers on the floor. But I'm a little tired of how many heroines end up crossing that Madonna/Whore dichotomy. There's nothing wrong with a healthy sex life and an appreciation for attractive men.

She should be single and free to date. That means for some romantic hijinx in a comic, I'd imagine. Occasionally she'll have serious love interests who die tragically. She should mourn of course, but not be over-the-top with her angst. It should just drive her to push on further. Perhaps she could even be a widow or divorced with a child. I can't think of very many heroes with actual dependents. I imagine it to be a son, probably around 13 or 14 (old enough to stay home alone occasionally when mom has to do heroing stuff, and it won't seem all that weird that he stays that age for more than a decade real time.)

He should however *not* be her sidekick, though I can't imagine he doesn't know what she does. She would probably not allow him to put himself in danger. (If he still wants to be a hero at 18, *then* he can put on spandex). She probably wants him to have as much of a normal life as possible.

I'd like her to have family that's alive and that she's reasonably close to. I also would prefer that she has a relatively trauma-free past. It seems like many of the sexually active female characters (Hippolyta, Kory, Grace, Barbara, Jade) have some sort of implied or actual rape/sexual trauma in their histories. And that annoys me a little. No physical or psychological abuse from her family either, thank you. A normal upbringing is okay with me. She's a hero because she wants to be and has the power to make a difference, not as a reaction to childhood trauma.

As for powers, I'm not sure what I'd like. There are a lot of female characters already with physical-based powers, but I don't imagine her to be much of a mage. Maybe something with an ancient theme...though not greek or egyptian. Those are overdone. Maybe something based in Asian, African or South American folklore. She could be descended from whichever society as well, which would be fun. Would require some research to do well, of course, but it'd probably be a blast to do.

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Hmm, I guess that's all I can think of for now for my "ideal new female hero". What about you guys? What kind of female hero would you like to see?