Gender bent female superheroes are not a new thing in comic books. She-Hulk goes back to 1979. You may remember that Dr. Jane Foster became the new MCU Thor in 2022, however, she became Thor in the comics in 2014. The CW’s Batwoman made her debut in the comic books back in 1956. Gender bent female superheroes are not a decree of the Woke Council, and they do not exist to obsolete male characters. They exist to upend status quo tropes and inject freshness into stale storylines.
Gender Bent Female Superheroes Offer Story Variation
Comic book companies create variations of superheroes often. Whether by gender, race, alternate timelines, and so on, new versions of superheroes are made to tell new stories and maintain reader interest. Also, comic book characters have a status quo that usually does not change. There are only so many times you can tell the same story.
Gender bending, race-bending, or creating multiverse versions of familiar characters is a trope creators use to mix things up. These changes are usually temporary. Or, such new characters are differentiated from the original, like Peter Parker from Miles Morales or Spider-Gwen, for example. You won’t confuse Iron Man with War Machine, Iron Patriot, or Iron Heart either.
With that in mind, here are 10 of the most popular gender bent female superheroes.
1. Lois Lane (Eradicator)
Lois Lane is currently Superwoman in DC Comics, a boring carbon-copy variation of Superman. In 2019, Lois Lane was in a story, Tales from the DC Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman, that was much more interesting. It features Lois as a darker Superman analogue. After Superman dies in battle, Lois resents the world and the Justice League for not appreciating him when he was alive.
Lois later meets a Krytonian alien who gives her powers, and she becomes the Eradicator. Lois goes on a Punisher-like revenge spree and claims the Earth like a tyrant. Her mascara streaks from grief become like a tattoo on her face. Her Superman emblem looks like it is dripping blood against her black uniform.
This issue is like a dark, superhero-centric episode of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror.
Tales from the DC Dark Multiverse is a 428-page paperback that contains several What-If style stories featuring DC characters. Buy it for $21.58 at Amazon.
2. X-23 (Laura Kinney)
Most people know gender bent female superheroes like X-23 from recent films like 2017’s Logan and 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine. However, the character made her debut in the cartoon X-Men: Evolution in 2003. X-23 made her official comic book debut in NYX #3 in 2004.
X-23’s back story changes depending on the writer. She was originally a clone of Wolverine; in later stories she became Wolverine’s daughter and inherited his abilities. X-23 even took the name Wolverine a few years ago when Wolverine died in a recent comics event.
X-23 has the same powers as Wolverine. The biggest difference is that X-23 has two claws in her forearms and one in each foot.
Laura Kinney: Wolverine Vol. 1 – One-Mutant Army, a 120-page paperback, collects the first five issues of X-23’s latest series. Buy it now at Amazon for $17.99.
3. Harley Quinn
Dr. Harleen Quinzel is a psychologist who fell obsessively in love with the Joker at Arkham Asylum. She later became Harley Quinn, a female version of the Joker. Most people know Harley Quinn from Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the character. Still, Harley Quinn has a convoluted origin story.
The character made her debut in Batman: TAS in 1992. Harley then made her first non-canonical appearance in The Batman Adventures #12 in 1993. She only made her official DC Comics debut in Harley Quinn #1 in 1999. She has no superpowers and uses her psychology training in twisted ways when it benefits her. However, she hardly even does that anymore and is now more of a Deadpool-like joke character for DC.
Harleen is an even darker reimaging of Harley Quinn’s origin. I highly recommend it. Buy the 208-page hardcover at Amazon now for $16.59.
4. She-Hulk
Anti-woke social media warriors, people who have never read a comic book, point to She-Hulk as a paragon of wokeness. Nothing could be further from the truth. She-Hulk was created by Stan Lee in 1979 mainly as a copyright protection measure. She-Hulk is one of the most famous gender bent female superheroes but she is also misunderstood.
The Incredible Hulk was a TV sensation at that time. However, there was no legal protection for Marvel if a competitor made a female version of the Hulk; so, She-Hulk made her debut in The Savage She-Hulk #1 in November 1979. The character exists mainly as a form of IP protection.
For example, DC Comics cannot sue Marvel for creating Wonder Man even though they own the IP for Wonder Woman. Marvel created Spider-Woman for the same IP legal protection as well; if Marvel had not done that, DC Comics could have legally done so.
She-Hulk usually maintains her personality when in Hulk form and can control her transformations. Also, she was a meta and fourth-wall-breaking character in the 1980s, long before Deadpool made his debut.
She-Hulk Epic Collection: To Die And Live In L.A. is a 480-page paperback collecting issues of the character’s 1980s run of comics. Buy it now for $22.39 at Amazon.
5. Polaris
Dr. Lorna Dane, also known as Polaris, is one of the most popular gender bent female superheroes when it comes to cult status. Most casual readers and normies have never heard of Polaris. Polaris made her debut in The X-Men #49 back in 1968. She has the same powers as Magneto. Polaris did not officially become Magneto’s daughter in the comic books until 2003.
Polaris was a pivotal member of X-Factor, a government-sanctioned team of mutants, in the 1980s and 1990s. Most comic book readers know her as the co-leader of this team and occasional lover of Havok. Polaris also suffers from bipolar disease and depression, which was groundbreaking in the 20th century but is common now in comic books. She is usually drawn with green hair.
X-Factor By Peter David Omnibus Vol. 1 is an 848-page omnibus that collects the late 1980s run of writer Peter David’s X-Factor series. Buy it now for $100 at Amazon.
6. Supergirl
Suoergirl is the cousin of Superman and has the exact same powers. She is one of the easiest gender bent female superheroes to recognize. What most people don’t know, including casual readers, is that Supergirl has a very anti-human culture mindset in some storylines in DC Comics.
She does not hate humans. She just does not relate to human beings, pines for her lost Krypton, and wants to explore the universe. Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl, does not have a soft spot in her heart for human culture like Superman does in the comics.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a 208-page paperback. Supergirl feels has no purpose in life in this story; she aids a young girl and accompanies her on a journey of revenge. Buy it for $16.75 at Amazon now.
7. Batwoman
Most of you may know Batwoman as one of the gender bent female superheroes that anti-woke warriors love to hate. Many people think Batwoman made her CW series debut in 2019, but the character is actually 70 years old. Kathy Kane made her debut as Batwoman in Detective Comics #233 in 1956; DC Comics and government censors thought Bruce Wayne living with a preteen, even sometimes sleeping in the same bed, made Wayne look like a homosexual.
There was a lot of religious and moral panic back then. So, Kathy Kane’s Batwoman was a ploy to make Batman look more like a ladies’ man in 1956. The character was discontinued in the 1970s. DC made a new Kate Kane character in 2006 in 52 #11. The new Batwoman is Jewish, a lesbian, and fights crime with a brutal mindset.
Batwoman: Elegy is a 192-page hardcover. Batwoman battles Alice, a supervillain who styles herself after Alice in Wonderland. Buy it now at Amazon for $11.98.
8. Ironheart
Ironheart is a very controversial character when it comes to the current “woke” culture wars. While the same critics of Ironheart desperately want to see Winter Soldier become Captain America, they resent her for replacing Iron Man.
Riri Williams is a 15-year-old engineering genius who creates her own Iron Man-style suit out of scraps at an MIT lab. Tony Stark mentors her and sponsors her transformation into Ironheart. Ironheart is now a vital hero in Marvel Comics, but her rise in the MCU seems to be stalling; her upcoming Disney+ show was made in 2023 but is only now premiering, not a good sign.
Ironheart: The Saga of Riri Williams is a 328-page paperback that details Riri’s rise as a superhero. Get it now for $32.25 at Amazon.
9. Jane Foster
Jane Foster became a controversial poster child for gender bent female superheroes in 2022. She became Thor in that year’s polarizing film Thor: Love and Thunder. However, Jane Foster made her comic book debut in 1962. Foster first became the new Thor in the comics in 2014. Foster is also sometimes known as Valkyrie.
Jane Foster made her debut in Journey into Mystery #84 in 1962. She was a love interest for Dr. Donald Blake, Thor’s secret identity, back then. Marvel didn’t switch up Foster’s narrative as a love interest and make her a hero until the mid-2010s.
Jane Foster: The Saga Of The Mighty Thor is a 472-page paperback. Thor loses his right to Mjolnir, and Dr. Jane Foster, now suffering from a medical ailment, becomes the Mighty Thor. Get it for $21.82 now at Amazon.
10. Spider-Girl
Unless you have some deep comic book knowledge, you may have never heard of Spider-Girl. Spider-Girl made her debut in What-If #105 in 1998. In an alternate universe, the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane, Mayday Parker, grew up to become Spider-Girl.
Spider-Girl has the same powers as Spider-Man. Unlike Peter, Mayday can sense the weak points and vulnerabilities in her enemies.
From 1998 to 2011, Spider-Girl would appear in over 100 issues of her own series. Many comic book fans have never heard of her because her comics came out under a smaller Marvel Comics imprint known as MC2 Comics.
Spider-Girl Modern Era Epic Collection: Legacy is a 456-page paperback that collects the first 15 issues of Spider-Girl and other tie-in comics. Buy it now for $28.67 at Amazon.
Gender Bent Female Superheroes
There are modern demographics that only want to see white comic book characters. Or, they only want to read the 20th-century versions of their favorite characters. That is fine, but admit that it is your intent. The world is diverse, and people want to see themselves represented in comic books, too.
Black Panther and Iron Fist became Daredevil to help out Matt Murdock in the comics. Nightcrawler from the X-Men once became Spider-Man. Characters sub in for one another often, and gender bent female superheroes are no different. Publishers often use this strategy to inject freshness into stale status quo tropes and storylines. My advice is to give it a chance. You might love these stories, and the original characters are not going anywhere.
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