Superheroines and Hitchhiker’s Guide – Geekout 8

It seems I got fairly lucky in the beginning of this, because I’ll again be defeated. I can, however, get two of the three on today’s page! This page-a-day geekout calendar is an interesting challenge, and it really is a challenge sometimes. For today’s challenge, I’ll need to list Six Female Comic Book Superheroes, Two Characters from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Four Heroes from Masters of the Universe.

And of the comics, sci-fi, and fantasy prompts on this page, only the fantasy one eludes my area of expertise.

Six Female Comic Book Superheroes

Glad they went big on this one, because there are a lot of great female superheroes that don’t get enough attention. My wife and I went to an interesting symposium on Wonder Woman where there was quite a bit of discussion about female superheroes. One of the speakers discussed the idea that there could (and should) be a difference between a “superheroine” and a “female superhero”. In it, he pointed out that the latter is the female version of the male counterpart, and the former has a different approach to things.

Wonder Woman

I’m obviously starting here, since I already mentioned a symposium on the character. She’s an extremely powerful character, sure. The significance of the character, however, is in how she uses her power. She shows much more empathy and understanding than many of the beat-the-villain-to-a-bloody-pulp heroes. She has a lasso that restrains rather than kills. Does this mean that all interpretations of the character follow these rules? No, certainly some have made her a beat-em-up hero who seems to be around as eye-candy.

Supergirl

This is one strong Kryptonian who’s currently featured in her own TV series. The show is on my list of shows I want to watch, but timing is often a challenge. I’ve heard reasonably good things about it, so I’m on board. I’m sure most people know that she’s the cousin of Superman. I was going to include Power Girl in the list as well, since my wife and I find her outfit a bit ridiculous. She was complaining that it would be cheating to include her. For the record, the alternate reality version of me is not me.

Kamala Khan – Ms. Marvel

Starting only a few years ago, this new Ms. Marvel is awesome. I’ve only read one book about her (my wife left it sitting around), but she seems like a great person to hold this mantle. Who wouldn’t love a story about a teenage Muslim-American living in New Jersey? In addition to being a superheroine, she’s also able to reflect on some situations many readers won’t have experienced. Looking forward to great things from her!

Sakura – Cardcaptor Sakura

I am going to consider the magic of magical girls to be a super power, so she’s totally going to count for this. There are plenty of other magical girls to choose from, but this one is covering the bookshelves to my right at this moment. This is shōjo manga from Clamp, which is the way of saying Japanese comics for teenage girls. Sakura is a very young girl who uses magical cards to cast spells. The cards have powers, and I like to joke that she uses “Windy” for everything. I’m told that’s just because it’s her first card, but it seems to apply in nearly every situation!

Hawkgirl

I don’t know my Hawkgirls well enough to pick one of them. My knowledge of the character mostly comes from cartoons and the new Marvel TV shows. And since those are different Hawkgirls, I’m not going to choose one. Flight has always been a popular power. Some characters’ flight powers are never explained, but wings are fairly obvious. She’s a very skilled fighter and wields melee weapons, which is totally awesome. Being one of those reincarnating-types, she’s also got lifetimes worth of knowledge and training, making her a very worth superheroine!

Carol Danvers – Captain Marvel

While she was once Ms. Marvel, and has been successfully replaced by Kamala Khan,  she took on the mantle of Captain Marvel. Carol has had a whole host of powers longer than I want to name. Let’s just say that she’s by far one of the more powerful supers out there, and she’s been involved in plenty of great team-ups and crossovers over her many years.

Two Characters from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Now here’s a ridiculous book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which I received as a gift when I was in college. Surprisingly, I hadn’t read it before that! My wife gave me a copy of this book!

Arthur Dent

Our protagonist for this book, this guy is lucky (or unlucky) enough to escape Earth with the character I’ll name next! He’s kind of clueless when it comes to traveling the galaxy. And with the story being a bit ridiculous, he’s in for quite the challenge!

Ford Prefect

An alien friend of Arthur Dent’s, Ford rescues Arthur during Earth’s destruction at the novel’s start. Not a spoiler, considering how early that happens! He’s a galactic hitchhiker, and you can start guessing where things go from there. Even better though, read the book!

Four Heroes from Masters of the Universe

Didn’t watch the show, so this will end quickly (and with fewer answers than I should have).

He-Man

Not even sure if this one counts, since it’s “He-Man and”. And if you want to argue that, give me a break, because I’m missing the other 3 anyway. And yes, I did turn on that ridiculous “Heyeayea” video while I was writing this.

Wrap Up

So I’ve bombed three questions now. I’m worried what will appear for tomorrow. Crossing my fingers!