Looking back at women in the pages and behind the comics of 2013. Here’s a salute to three breakout new heroines of the year:
Forever Carlyle
One of my favorite new characters and books of 2013. Forever Carlyle is a creation of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark in Lazarus from Image Comics. In a near future there’s no government but powerful families control everything. The poor masses are referred to as waste. Each family has a Lazarus born to serve them. Forever is the Lazarus of House Carlyle who begins to question her obedience after a betrayal by the family she’s devoted her life to serving.
Lazarus is dark, brutal and thought-provoking. While it’s set in a dystopian world – the creators are showing the real problem disparity between the super rich and the poor masses that’s growing in the here and how. I remember the woman who works in my comic shop saying to tell Greg thanks for showing a “girl like me” who looks real without a perfect figure. Forever is a product of the cold, cruel corporate family but the custom made obedience is breaking. It’s easy to compare her to the lead of The Hunger Games series but there’s something even more tragic about Forever that made her bond with her, root for her and want arc after arc from Rucka and Lark about her.
Dr. Lee Archer
I immediately fell in love with Dr. Lee Archer of The Wake. Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy’s monster hybrid of sci-fi and horror is like an episode of The X-Files underwater directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Secret underwater labs, crazed scientists, vampire mermen on the attack and a monster that will affect the entire planet are among the horrific story threads but it’s Lee that holds it all together. Lee is a smart, strong marine biologist caught up in the conspiracy and now fighting for her survival.
Mara
Mara Prince is a star athlete in world in which the masses are obsessed with media manipulated competitive sports and the celebrities who execute the orchestrated games. When the world discovers Mara’s super powers she becomes a pariah but eventually she becomes God-like. Writer Brian Wood, artist Ming Doyle and Jordie Bellaire created compelling heroine caught in a story about celebrity escapism and finding your own destiny. The 6 issue Image series was designed to be finite but I would love to see Mara’s story continue or revisit that world.
Here’s Part One of the Best of 2013, Women of the Year.
By Editor