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13 Comics That Smash The Patriarchy

For summer reading that breaks glass ceilings. posted on June 5, 2014, at 3:46 p.m.
Krutika Mallikarjuna BuzzFeed Staff posted
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1. Captain Marvel (Kelly Sue Deconnick, 2014)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: Carol Danvers, former fighter pilot, current part-alien superhero, and all around badass proves why she’s Earth’s Mightiest Avenger as she battles time travel hijinxes, dinosaurs in Central Park, and her own deteriorating mind.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of times you’ve wished you could rock Cap’s excellent fauxhawk.
Where To Start: Here, and the current 2014 run continues here.

2. Ms. Marvel (G. Willow Wilson, 2014)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: Kamala Khan is just an average Muslim teenager in Jersey City until an * incident * that leaves her with shapeshifting abilities, trippy visions of the Avengers, and the mantle of Ms. Marvel. Bonus points for including a very practical fanny pack in the homemade costume.
Number of Male Tears Shed: The number of times #MURICA scrolls across your Twitter feed.
Where To Start: Here.

3. Pretty Deadly (Kelly Sue Deconnick and Emma Rios, 2013)

Image Comics
What It’s About: Death’s daughter Ginny rides the through the land of living in search of retribution, not only for those women who call for her help, but also for herself. Death himself will fall, and Ginny will be there to watch it happen.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of times Clint Eastwood has squinted into the sunset.
Where To Start: Here.

4. Sex Criminals (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, 2013)

Image Comics / Via starlorrd.tumblr.com
What It’s About: Suzie and Jon are a sex-having, time-stopping couple who are using their powers to fund their Robin Hood-esque life of crime.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of vibrators sold in 2014.
Where To Start: Here.

5. Hawkeye (Matt Fraction, 2012)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: The story of Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) when they’re not busy avenging shit. Actually they avenge a lot of shit. There’s also a cute dog that loves pizza.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of times you’ve heard someone say “bro” today.
Where To Start: Here.

6. Young Avengers (Kieron Gillen and Jaime McKelvie, 2013, Volume 2)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: The Young Avengers have a big legacy, and even bigger problems to face. This unlikely team (including Hawkeye, America Chavez, Hulking, Wiccan, Loki, Prodigy, and Noh-Varr) dimension hops through the multiverse to fight an evil that the adults can’t even begin to see, let alone understand.
Number of Male Tears Shed: Enough to fill the multiverse.
Where To Start: Here.

7. She-Hulk (Charles Soule, 2014)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: Jennifer Walters juggles the pressures of being an attorney and being an Avenger, but the two sometimes blur together when She-Hulk does whatever’s necessary to defend her clients.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of suits on Wall St.
Where To Start: Here.

8. Rat Queens (Kurtis J Wiebe and Roc Upchurch, 2013)

Image Shadowline
What It’s About: A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire who are in the thrilling business of killing all god’s creatures for profit.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of orcs that Sauron bred.
Where To Start: Here.

9. Saga (Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples, 2012)

Image Comics
What It’s About: A little girl tells the story of her star-crossed, fugitive parents raising her as they run from bounty hunters with cats who sense lies, robot princes, scorned exes, and an intergalactic war with deep racial tensions.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of actual tears you’ll shed reading this amazing comic.
Where To Start: Here.

10. X-Men (Brian Wood, 2013)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: An all-female X-Men team led by Storm (featuring Rouge, Kitty Pryde, Jubliee, and Rachel Grey) battle ancient alien invaders while saving lives and educating the next generation of mutants.
Number of Male Tears Shed: The number of Storm side-eyes per issue.
Where To Start: Here.

11. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (Natasha Allegri, 2013)

BOOM! Studios
What It’s About: The popular Rule 63 (gender-swapped) version of all your favorite Adventure Time characters go on an epic quest around the land of Ooo. Lumpy Space Prince is exactly as lumpy as Lumpy Space Princess.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of sales executives that think girls only play with dolls.
Where To Start: Here.

12. Lumberjanes (Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooke A. Allen, 2014)

BOOM! Studios
What It’s About: Five best friends are determined to have a great summer together despite all the supernatural creatures that try to ruin their questing.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of times you’ve reblogged gingerhaze (Noelle Stevenson).
Where To Start: Here.

13. Black Widow (Nathan Edmundson and Phil Noto, 2014)

Marvel Comics
What It’s About: Natasha Romanoff atones for her days as a KGB assassin.
Number Of Male Tears Shed: The number of times Scarlett Johannson’s been asked about her diet by a reporter.
Where To Start: Here.
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13 Comics That Smash The Patriarchy

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kmallikarjuna/comics-th... For summer reading that breaks glass ceilings.

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  • Matt Spencer · Top Commenter · Anglia Ruskin University
    How about we have an article about how awesome female comic book characters can be without references to "number of male tears shed"?
    Anyway, the current Captain Marvel run is awesome, Carol Danvers is one of the best Marvel characters. Haven't been reading Ms. Marvel, I missed the first issue and haven't been able to get hold of it yet.
    • Marcus Liddle · Top Commenter
      yeah I didn't really understand. why would I be crying about excellent comics?
      Reply · Like
      · 12 · June 6 at 6:17am
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    • Stephanie Silva · Top Commenter
      Marcus Liddle I think it means the male tears shed in the comics, not the male tears of guys reading the comics.
      Reply · Like
      · June 6 at 10:16pm
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    • Matt Spencer · Top Commenter · Anglia Ruskin University
      Stephanie Silva Nope, some of them are definitely directed at the reader.
      Reply · Like
      · 3 · June 7 at 4:02am
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  • Amel Zleetni · Top Commenter
    Yay! Ms Marvel is Muslim :D
    • Egie Asemota · Top Commenter · Works at ...
      and she is SO FUCKING AMAZING!!!!!!! Seriously she and Miles Morales are the best things ever to come out of Marvel comics.
      Reply · Like
      · 1 · June 15 at 8:18pm
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  • Alexis Kathryn Dalbey · Server at Roasted Pear Brooklyn Park
    Ah, yes. The patriarchy smashing X-Men by Brian Wood, who is known to have sexually harassed multiple women in work environments and at conventions. Really Buzzfeed? Come on.
    • Cameron Jeffery Phillip Fontaine · UW-Milwaukee
      Alex you need to separate the Artist from their personal life especially in comics. Some really shitty people have made really trans-formative work i.e. Art Spiegelman. Not a paragon of morality and he even portrays that in his comic. However that does absolutely nothing to change the fact that he wrote one of the most influential comics in the history of the medium. R. Crumb same deal incredible racist and all around awful person and still so incredibly influential. You can't diminish people's accomplishments based on their personal life. You ca think of them what you wish but it does not change their art.
      Reply · Like
      · 12 · June 5 at 11:39am
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    • Cameron Jeffery Phillip Fontaine · UW-Milwaukee
      Alexis Dalbey that's fine then say that. I'm not defending the comic I haven't read it. I'm saying that your reasoning is flawed. If there's something about the comic that you dislike say that. but your only reason according to this is that his creator'a a dick.
      Reply · Like
      · 5 · June 5 at 11:47am
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  • Charlie Wildy · Top Commenter · Pen holder at Artist
    where the fuck is Tank Girl?
    • Emily Walton · Top Commenter · Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
      It looks like it's all current comics (I was gonna mention Tank Girl. And Y: The Last Man. And maybe Runaways.)
      Reply · Like
      · 1 · June 5 at 4:48pm
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    • Zach Harrison · Top Commenter · Mamaroneck, New York
      Emily Walton - semi current, it seems. Young Avengers, for example, has ended.
      Reply · Like
      · June 5 at 8:25pm
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    • Charlie Wildy · Top Commenter · Pen holder at Artist
      Emily Walton tank girl has be revised with Jim Mahfood doing artwork, but good point also noted a few others that were missing like the love and rockets comics..they bring out one or two every few years i think
      Reply · Like
      · 1 · June 5 at 11:16pm
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  • James Wilson Cobb II · Top Commenter · Works at Kimberly-Clark Corporation (United States)
    No Wonder Woman? I know it's obvious, but that title is one of the few highlights at DC.
     
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  • Kat Verhoeven · Toronto, Ontario
    Kinda tacky including a Brian Wood comic on this list, considering his known history with sexual harassment at conventions, but otherwise this is a solid list.
       
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    • Re Stormageddon Hs · Top Commenter · F.i.t
      All female groups are as blame and hurtful as all male groups. And Hawkeye brings back the patriarchy by selling its self with a "hot girl" hold a very phallic firearm between her legs. So no. Try again
      • Zach Harrison · Top Commenter · Mamaroneck, New York
        Perhaps that one cover left a bad taste in your mouth, but as a regular reader of Hawkeye, I can assure you it's both good and pro-women. The issues that star female Hawkeye are even better than the ones that star male Hawkeye.
        Reply · Like
        · 5 · June 5 at 8:24pm
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      • Media Watch: Challenge Media
        When smashing patriarchy is done non-violently then that is a comic of interest. Acting like dumb brutal males is hardly transformative. Zach says it is pro-woman. What does that mean to you??
        Reply · Like
        · June 11 at 1:14pm
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    • Marc Watkins · Top Commenter · Houston, Texas
      Number of Male tears shed? What kind of men are you around? The writer cant even give credit to strong women characters, without it being at the expense of men. You do know that guys can enjoy these series too right? There are zero male tears being shed here, so why make it about that. Not only do I read majority of the series on here, I also feel the need to also mention the Wheel of Time Series, which is basically a mix between Avatar & Game of Thrones, where women hold all positions of power. Also Wonder Woman has had the most consistently good series in DC, since they relaunched the New 52. How about we all enjoy these series, no matter what sex we are.
      • Pamela AdriKat Burke · Top Commenter
        There's a WoT series?? I love the books! And yes, the New 52 Wonder Woman is excellent
        Reply · Like
        · June 10 at 6:17am
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      • Marc Watkins · Top Commenter · Houston, Texas
        Pamela AdriKat Burke Yes they did a comic for The Eye of The World, which actually got me reading the book series. The art is so beautiful, that its how I picture all the characters now.
        Reply · Like
        · 1 · June 10 at 11:30am
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      • Maricruz Villalobos Zamora · Top Commenter · UCR
        No, no, Male Tears (TM) are not about men crying. Male Tears (TM) are only shed by by men who think women have too much power
        Reply · Like
        · 2 · June 12 at 8:35pm
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    • Masai Atg · Top Commenter · SUNY Albany
      "Number of male tears shed".... Feminism.. You're doing it wrong. Way to help enforce the patriarchy. I don't rate the success of my race themed blog by the number of White tears shed with each post. Someday we'll figure this out.
       
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    • Jade Anthony · Top Commenter · Brazoria, Texas
      Can someone tell what "Number Of Male Tears Shed" means?

      Also, I should totally read Captain Marvel, and would, if I didn't have a year's worth of Spider-Man to catch up on.
      • Kris Carson · Top Commenter
        Buzzfeed is portraying a level of how good the comic is by relating it to the pain of men, which is apparently also good.
        Reply · Like
        · 1 · June 5 at 9:22pm
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      • Kya Brook · University of Minnesota
        Well you're going to be running into Cap in your Spider-Man books pretty soon if you haven't already, they have lots of crossover over the past year! You should jump over to Captain Marvel from Spidey!
        Reply · Like
        · June 6 at 12:54am
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      • Marc Watkins · Top Commenter · Houston, Texas
        Apparently you cant give credit to female characters, without it being at the expense of men. Guys like these series too. Matter of fact, alot of these series are written and created by men. There are zero male tears being shed over here.
        Reply · Like
        · 3 · June 6 at 12:53pm
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