Creating a character: Part 2

A) Research

One of the first things I did was research on wikipedia for a history of women in comics. The first superheroine was actually Fletcher Hank's Fantomah an ancient, ageless blonde Egyptian woman who turned into a skull-faced being with the power to fight evil.

Interesting, but I don't quite know what to do with it.

Next is "the Invisible Scarlet O'Neil." That one is pretty much self-explanatory. She is a plain-clothed, plain-named superhero with invisible powers. Not too exciting, but invisibility is one of those cool, simple powers that seventy years of comic books have made boring. I would like to try to reconnect people with the fantasy of being able to turn invisible.

Let's see, then there is the Black Widow. She was (apparently) commissioned by Satan to send evil-doers to Hell. I'm sensing a "woman as monster" theme already; the bitch expressed as metaphor. That's something I can work with and take in interesting directions. (Note: It may be a sexist idea in its origination, but that doesn't mean it has to be in my story... although it could.)

What else? Ah, Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Now this is adorable. She's a patriotic Canadian superhero who is half Inuit goddess. Those Canadians are so sensitive to others it makes me sick. Why can't they have good racial characters like Pieface Tom, Ebony White, Black Lightning, Black Vulcan, Black Panther, Black Fury, or Black Negro? In all seriousness, though, this character is pretty cool. Her name is dumb, but the idea has promise. In fact, since both she and Lady Liberty are goddesses (of a sort), I should probably revisit this.

Then came Wonder Woman. Now, I won't go into a big diatribe about the complexity of this character because I've already done that on another blog and it really warrants its own post. Suffice it to say, Wonder Woman is an American patriot and a sapphic Greek with a prediliction for bondage and lesbianism. Conventional comic book writing would have us remove all the dirty parts to keep her more marketable, but really they make the character so much more interesting. To ignore this character and, even more, the controversy around it would be unpardonable, in my mind.

What else? Well, we have the jungle girls which feature all of the fun of Tarzan with the joy of leopard print bikinis. Of the more traditional superhero sort, we have the Blonde Phantom, a girl Friday-type who moonlights as a superhero; Golden Girl, a patriotic sidekick; Miss America, an heiress who fights crime out of boredom (This is a common character-type who, like Princess Leia, follows the archetype of the princess hero. This is a fantasy were the reader can imagine the luxury of being rich and secure, yet the thrill of adventure. It is similar to the billionaire superhero, but distinctly different in that the woman is not in possession of her wealth. More often than not, her wealth is in possession of her.); Namora, amphibian queen of Atlantis (Atlantis features prominently in period comics and also in my story); Sun Girl, fire-wielding secretary to the Human Torch (meh); Phantom Lady, daughter of a senator who turns invisible; Black Canary, a motorcycle riding street fighter; Miss Fury, a wealthy socialite in a catsuit; and the Black Cat, actress and stunt woman who is also a motorcycle rider.

B) Archetypes

From this research, I've been able to come up with four primary trends.

Invisibility - Despite the fact that you haven't heard of them, the Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and the Phantom Lady were both extremely popular. Their power brings to mind the Fantastic Four's Invisible Girl (later, Invisible Woman), Sue Storm. Logically, I know this power was probably chosen for its passive nature, but it can serve as a metaphor for the "invisibility" of women in society as well as highlighting the voyeuristic pleasure of observing women. Perhaps I'll have an invisible character who is a model or an actress, someone who is used to being looked at.

Warrior Princess - As indicated above, there seems to be a natural fantasy of a woman escaping domestic comfort to fight crime. Call me cynical, but I'm reminded of the song Common People about a rich girl who wants to slum it, but as the song says, "you could call your dad; he could stop it all." It's all very obnoxious to me, but an understandable primal desire of, essentially, having perfect comfort and adventure. Unfortunately, the two are mutually exclusive, or at least, that's what I believe.

Bitch-monster - There is a fear amongst men that behind every beautiful woman is a monster who will destroy him. Sometimes I think we are just looking for the monster whose destruction will be most fun. Still, the archetype indicates that she isn't a villain, so what would compel a woman to go around destroying men? I have the rough outline in my head already. Young girl, desperately in love, experiences a tragedy that destroys her life and gives her terrible powers in the process. Damaged beyond repair, she spends her life seducing the worst men and destroy them utterly. I have the framework, I just need to fill in the details.

Biker Chick - There is something undeniably appealling about a tough chick on a bike. There is also something that compells me to use the world "chick." It certainly fits the Black Canary. Is the motorcycle the modern evolution of the horse and, therefore, carry over some of the romantic implications? Does the motorcycle convey a sense of individuality and rebellion? Perhaps that too.

So now I have a tragic bitch-monster seductress, a clever model who can turn invisible, and stuck-up adventurer wannabe. So far so good.

Next, cathexis or how to start adding dimension to an otherwise two dimensional character.