Original Female Superheroes

Not every woman is created from the rib of a man. It is unfortunate that the vast majority of female superheroes are simply derivatives of male characters. It makes sense from a marketing standpoint, but it isn't the best message for the young women who grow up as comic fans. Marvel realized how bad the problem actually was when they made their commemorative stamps. They had a hard time finding women superheroes to include in the design that weren't just lady versions of other characters already on the stamps. However, there are several ladies who stand on their own as original female superheroes. This list isn't meant to be exhaustive or to represent the very best, but rather to include some original female superheroes that are worth learning about.

Black Canary

With her father a cop and her mother a crime fighter (the OG Black Canary), Dinah Drake was always destined to follow in her family’s footsteps. To honor her fathers wishes, she created an identity named “Black Canary” to fight crime herself. Black Canary often teamed up with Johnny Thunder in Flash Comics, but ultimately took his place in regular back-up roles when his powers were no longer reliable in their partnership. She became his replacement on The Justice Society of America. After a comeback during what is considered the “Golden Age,” or “Earth-Two,” she regained her status in the Justice Society of America. During this time, she had also discovered her sonic power known as the “Canary Cry.” Eventually joining the Justice League of America, she became the only Golden Age and Silver Age hero to join the JSA and JLA.

Spoiler

Stephanie Brown, also known as “Spoiler,” nicknamed for her motivation to “spoil” her father’s criminal plans, was an alliance to Batman and Robin. Her father, Cluemaster, one of Batman and Robin’s less infamous villains, spent most of Spoiler’s childhood in prison. After being released from prison, Cluemaster was up to his old habits. When he would strike, Spoiler made it her mission to stop him, leaving clues for Batman and Robin to catch him. Spoiler continued to work with Robin during the night, and the two would eventually fall in love. While she took a hiatus from her Spoiler identity during her pregnancy and eventually gave up her baby for adoption, she would later reclaim the identity to help Robin avenge the death of a classmate. After Robin is forced to quit fighting crime, Stephanie asks Batman to let her take Robin’s place, and he accepts, later taking the reigns as “Batgirl.” Spoiler had no special equipment or powers—just gymnastics skills and a motivation that stemmed from early childhood.

Sabra

Born in Jerusalem, Ruth Bat-Seraph was recruited to join Isreal’s Super-Soldier Program and graduated into the Super Agents Squad. With her powers now honed, she adopted the codename “Sabra.” She hung up the codename and led a more domestic life as a law enforcement officer in Israel during the life of her son, who would later be killed in a terrorist bombing at six-years-old. She resumed her Sabra title upon the arrival of The Hulk. Later on, she assisted in worldwide cases alongside the X-Men, such as Operation Zero Tolerance after M-Day. Sabra was Israel’s first Super Soldier, with a genetic mutation that put her at superhuman Class 50 strength. Her demise would come in the Ultimate Universe, where Doctor Faustus killed her and displayed her head as a trophy.

Sensor Girl

Willimena Morgana Daergina Annaxandra Projectra Velorya Vauxhall, also known as "Projectra" or “Jeckie,” had the power to create multi-sensory illusions using only her mind. This super-power would later earn her a spot as a Legionaire on the Legion of Super-Heroes, along with fellow recruits Ferro Lad and Karate Kid. She became the seventh female member of the league—twenty-first overall. With her knowledge of politics and galactic society, along with her super-power of illusions, she was a valuable asset to the Legion of Super-Heroes. She fell in love with fellow Legionnaire, Val Armorr (Karate Kid), and he would eventually help her, along with the legion, to gain the thrown as ruler of Orando, the planet she was raised on. The name “Sensor Girl” would appear in the Retroboot of the JSA/JLA collaboration. That name would follow for the rest of her career. She was later wiped out by the Zero Hour event, along with the Legion itself.

Polaris

With her uncontrollable mutant powers ultimately causing the death of her parents and Magneto discovering her in a plane crash, Lorna had difficulty manifesting her powers. She was known for having latent powers. This led her to be an easy target for manipulation; she went to San Francisco under Mesmero’s command, using his psyche-generator abilities, which all latent mutants found impossible to resist. She was saved by the X-Men and joined forces with them. The first time Lorna was able to use her powers to her fullest potential was when she shifted the Earth’s magnetic force. This act launched Krakow into space, who had kidnapped the X-Men. She dawned the name “Polaris” from Shakari, who had her under mind control at the time. Lorna had endured great battles, finding her other mutant power—to be able to grow in size using the negative emotions of the people around her. Lorna would eventually lose these powers after M-Day, but re-powered by Apocalypse.

Zealot

With the looks of a human but the genetic makeup of an alien and an immortal lifespan, Zealot was a part of Coda, Khera’s most prominent group. The Coda is a group of Kherubim women who are responsible for the wars that take place on Khera, the planet she originates from. Zealot became stranded on Earth and began to create a new Earth-based Coda, where she trained Earth women like Cherubim women. She used the Coda to assist the Greeks in the Trojan war. She would later be exiled from the group and forced to work a life of tapestry for 100 years. She joined the Wild C.A.T.s to fight the Daemonites. Zealot was also a part of Wildcore, a group used to help defeat an alien group known as D’rahn. She is known for her mastery of weapon usage and fighting. She also learned skills in dark magic, but later rejected those abilities due to their dark nature.

Silver Sable

To avenge her Mother’s death from a terrorist attack, Silver Sable dedicated her life to one day taking over the Wild Pack, a group formed by her father to take down Nazi war criminals. As leader of the pack, and with Nazi’s becoming more scarce in the world, she took the Wild Pack mission to other avenues, leading the them to become the Silver Sable International company. The main purpose of this company was to apprehend felons and recover stolen property. She went on to work with Spider-Man, Paladin, and Shroud. She was a Hero for Hire, employed by Misty Knight, and was part of a team to stop Daredevil in Shadowland. She sacrificed herself after saving Spider-Man and Black Widow during the Ends Of The Earth.

Zatanna

Zatanna inherited the ability of magic manipulation from her mother and her father's heroism. She is a member of the group known as “Hidden Ones,” a tribe of sorcerers. She traveled the world with her father to perfect her powers, but was put under a curse by Allura, an evil witch. During this experience, she was prevented from seeing her father. She later used the help of the Justice League of America to reunite with her father. She joined the Justice League of America and fought many battles and villains, but the tragic death of her father caused her to desire a more domestic life and to ultimately leave the Justice League of America. She now resides in San Francisco while serving as a Sentinel of Magic. Her purpose is to balance the light and dark forces within Earth’s mystical world.

Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff, Daughter of Magneto, was born with mutant powers from her father along with magical abilities, due to the mystical energies of her birthplace. She was originally on the side of evil, joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, she later joined the good side with the Avengers in 1965. Constantly conflicted with whether she was truly good or evil, she often performed hexes on her enemies, but also caused the deaths of former friends by lashing out. After being saved by Magneto, she agreed to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants again and became known as the Scarlet Witch. Trapped by Magneto when the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants disbanded, she went back to America to join the Avengers once again to redeem herself. She spent her career oscillating between the two and was later killed by a malfunctioning robot.

Squirrel Girl

With her liking to squirrels, she defeated Doctor Doom in hopes of becoming Iron Man’s crime-fighting partner. After his declination, she moved to New York City to become a crime fighter. She quickly made a reputation for herself as a prime defender of Central Park. She was eventually recruited by the Great Lakes Avengers to help defeat Maelstrom and Baltroc’s Brigade. After discovering her mutant powers, the Great Lakes Avengers changed their name to the Great Lakes X-Men. With her charm and smile, she became a regular ally of the S.H.I.E.L.D., but decided not to join them as an official agent. She developed a crush for Speedball, who gave her a kiss after defeating his enemy.