Brave and Bold! Female DC Super Heroes Take On The Universe by Sam Maggs and numerous artists who are credited in the back pages. This book highlights the various DC female superheroes based on four categorizations: compassionate, bold, curious, and persistent. The book highlights female superheroes of various backgrounds that exhibit those traits. The foreword for the book is written Gail Simone who is famous for her stories in the Batgirl franchise and for being one of the most prominent female comic book writers at DC Comics.
The author includes commonly known heroes such as Batgirl,
Supergirl, Wonder Woman among others as well as other heroes like Fire, Ice,
Bumble Bee, Spoiler, Lady Blackhawk and more. Of course, even in a book this
detailed, there are several female heroes left out. Those not included are
mostly female superheroes who operate in countries outside of the USA, appear
in the Legion in the DC future, as well as Platinum of the Metal Men. Also,
Dreamer, Alex Danvers, and Sara Lance of the television shows in the CW DC
Universe are not included and they are not part of the DC comic book universe.
The table of contents is split in the aforementioned categories
with each female superhero appearing in only one category regardless of how
strong she is in the other categories. The author did not choose to have the
order appearance in each category mean anything in terms of how strong the
female character is in the category nor did the author make the appearance
alphabetical. Each character is given a short bio along with an iconic quote.
The small box labeled “Data File” consists of a few cool facts about the hero
who is also depicted in artwork. With
over 40 female superheroes discussed in the book there should be at least one
hero that appeals to the young reader.
This is a fun book for kids that showcases the large amount
of female heroes that exist in the DC universe. I would recommend this book for
middle schoolers or mature elementary readers because the origins of some characters
might be uncomfortable to explain to a child. For example, Mera was raised as
assassin and was sent by her father to kill Aquaman. Instead, she fell in love
with him and became his wife. Then there is Katana whose family was murdered by
a gang. She seeks vengeance for that crime with a sword that consumes people’s
souls. Inside said sword is her deceased husband who she talks to while he is
stuck in a limbo between life and death. Both of these situations and several
others could be awkward trying to explain that to a child. However, in other
cases, they have done a good job simplifying the origins of several heroes to
make the characters less complicated and lessen the traumatic origins several
of the characters have.
With the aforementioned concerns, this is a good book for
young readers who would like to learn more about the various female superheroes.
At the end of the book there is a small glossary of terms and an artists
acknowledgement page which includes over thirty artists. As these artists have
other published projects, this page also serves as a great resource to look for
artists whose work inspires the reader. Brave and Bold! Female DC Super Heroes
Take On The Universe should be a fun read for many young girls who are
looking for more female superheroes in their stories.
Brave and Bold! Female DC Super Heroes Take On The Universe
Sam Maggs
DK Books
https://www.dk.com/us/book/9781465486110-dc-brave-and-bold/
December 2019
ISBN# 978-1-4654-8611-0
Hardback (eBook format available)
130 Pages
My reading copy came from the Central or Downtown Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2020
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