Last week was the bait. I made mention of two characters (Wonder Woman and Thor) from the DC and Marvel comic book universes. Now for the switch. I decided not to look any further into those pantheons since I have already posted about some characters from the Disney Marvel cinematic universe. I have opted instead to enter the realm of Astro City by Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, and Brent Anderson. My thanks to tomk74 at Gabbing Geek for his post about this series. The first character I will visit is Winged Victory. SPOILER ALERT for those who have not read the graphic novel titled Victory. You might want to do that before reading this.
She is an interesting, feminist superhero with a good backstory. Her treatment by Busiek is mature and nuanced. It can be seen from the above picture that the artwork is wonderful. Prior to her transformation, “Vic” is a weakened, subservient woman whose boyfriend cheats on her and turns her out. After seeing the statue of Nike in the Louvre, she travels to Samothrace and is visited by the Council of Nike, a collective of high-achieving women whose communal psyche empowers her to become a champion for other women. She wears a pendant that is associated with her ability to transform herself from an ordinary woman into a goddess-like superhero.
Her power is derived from the feminist collective, and she must maintain their confidence in order to be connected to her source of power.
In the course of telling a pretty good story, this series examines some of the problems faced by women in a manner that is inherent to the plot and that in no way detracts from it. It also utilizes some good dialectic as the heroine’s perspective develops. I found this character to be subtle and compelling. Check her out.
PNEUMYTHOLOGY 