DC Super Hero Girls

BY CHRISTINA RIVERO

DC Comics over the years has had characters and storylines either come across as problematic or ultimate fan favorites. Lately DC’s ignorance has been looming over the comic book community and has only recently been able to cover a sum of the issues with new film announcements along with some diversity within their comics. However, something DC had never seem to understand is how to treat their female characters as well as their female audience. This is a constant struggle within major comic companies. However, DC only recently branched from the idea that “female heroes do not sell”. I believe they were the first to actually conceive this idea on such a grand scale (Marvel later had to think fast due to competition and add more female heroes to their roster of comics). Lately, I believe DC has taken the gold on this new concept they came out with called: DC Super Hero Girls.

I am not too sure as to why they decided to separate the word “superhero”, but that is the least  of what you should be paying attention to. DC has decided to give girls of the elementary school age and beyond a new short series based on, you guessed it, their female superheroes. I remember hearing of this event about a month or two ago and fell in love with the idea instantly. I had started learning about comics at the age of 9 with little to no support for my endeavor. It was a difficult process, especially since the majority of comics at the time were all catered to the male fans. The thought of having a show to give women of any age (more importantly young ages) a sense of identification within the hero world was a joke. Now, I can finally say: “It’s about time!”

The show includes the most well known heroes such as Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl, as well as some villains like Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. All of these heroes (and the occasional villains) attend Super Hero High and  experience different “heroic” events within their school life. Think Sky High only with the college aspect of living on campus and the main focus is multiple girl heroes and villains…only they are all about friendship and teaching girls life lessons to use in their everyday lives.

When the website had gone live many individuals gravitated to it. Once you take a peek you get to meet all the featured characters within the show. Each of the girl’s descriptions are empowering and not saturated with the heavy cloud of sexism that they had looming over them for years. The best example was possibly Batgirl’s profile and how they stated: “She’s so smart that she got into Super Hero High, based on her brain power alone, not her superpowers (she wasn’t born with any).” They even went on to say: “She’s just your everyday teenager, except she’s not.” This idea further assures young girls that you do not always need out-of-the-ordinary abilities in order to be super. It lets girls know that if they work hard and use their brain power they can get far.

Other things included within the site are products soon to come out  (such as Barbie-action-figure-hybrids, clothing, and more) as well as some videos other than the show, including a lyric video for the theme song, which is something to truly admire. The theme song’s lyrics speak about girl empowerment throughout. The song says: “Sometimes we’re stuck and told to be ordinary.” This part of the song automatically brings the topic of oppression women automatically receive for simply being female. The song continues to use statements such as “I never knew if I reached inside I would find that’s where the power lies.” This is the running theme in the song and every verse gives girls a positive self-esteem boost. I am willing to buy the song on every platform just because of how its multiple messages.
DC has taken an excellent leap forward in providing for their female fans of young and old. We can only hope that the show continues to prosper, DC does not somehow mess it up, and, maybe soon, Marvel will throw away their sexist ideals and get to work on their next big thing for women. We can dream.