WonderCon Anaheim 2018

This panel presents four approaches to considering the representations of women in comics. Resisting the subsuming of female heroes under masculine identities, Megan Vinson (Indiana University Bloomington) examines what happens in Greek drama, comics, and contemporary superhero films when the mother-figure is embraced, rather than rejected, in constructing heroic forms. Olivia Hicks (University of Dundee) looks at how British superheroine Valda from the anthology Mandy showcases the fascinating and complex process of repurposing characters within a gendered context, and asks how Mandy adapts and reconstructs genre and gender in the British superhero sports story. Sean O'Brien (Wayne State University) studies Geek Feminism as a subculture with critical components in the production of comics, the consumption of comics, and as subject matter. Monica Geraffo (Fashion Institute of Technology) unpacks Storm’s makeover in The Uncanny X-Men #173 from cape to punk streetwear, a fan-favorite depiction that would become both synonymous with her character and a visual representation of a society in transition.