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Wondrous women: Comic book heroines girls will love

Buying comics for boys is easy, but finding four-colour female role models can be a little trickier. This collection of books features bad-ass ladies who take no guff.

Michelle Starr
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Michelle Starr
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1 of 12 Image Comics

Rocket Girl

In the future, law enforcement is carried out by teens, who retire and take on real careers when they reach maturity. Dayoung Johansson, one of these teen cops, discovers that megacorporation Quintum Mechanics has committed multiple crimes against time and that her own timeline shouldn't even exist.

The only solution is to screw her courage in place and take her trusty standard-issue rocket pack back in time to 1986, where it all started, and try to set things right.

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2 of 12 BOOM! Studios

Lumberjanes

Why are hipster yetis so odd?

Because they can't even!

I stole that joke from "Lumberjanes." Which is one of just many reasons to love it. (Another reason is co-writer Noelle Stevenson, creator of webcomic Nimona and former "Adventure Time" comics writer.) It follows the tale of five girls, Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley, as they settle into summer camp at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. Our rowdy crew of Lumberjane Scouts is not in for a tranquil time: three-eyed foxes, giant eagles, yetis and creepy boy scouts hint at something untoward happening in the woods...

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3 of 12 Archaia

Spera

Princess Lono spends her days in her father's court, reading novels and dreaming of a bigger, more adventurous world. Her life is turned upside down when her friend, Princess Pira of a neighbouring kingdom, brings word of war between the two realms.

The two princesses make an escape together, accompanied by a magical fire-dog. Although at first, Lono requires the protection of the more fiery Pira, the complementary strengths of each help them survive a world riddled with peril.

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4 of 12 DC Comics

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

Amethyst is a little old-school, dating back to the early 1980s, but it still holds up. And it really does have it all.

A young Earth girl finds out she's secretly a grown-up princess in another land -- with magical powers and a flying unicorn. Amethyst must save her kingdom from her evil, usurping uncle using her wits, her powers and the help of her loyal friends.

Amethyst recently had a reboot in "Sword of Sorcery," but the classic really is impossible to beat.

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5 of 12 Oni Press

Princess Ugg

From a very young age, little girls are taught that princesses are pretty and dainty and feminine. "Princess Ugg" teaches us that they can be other things -- such as muscled berserker warriors. When Princess Ülga of Grimmeria's dying mother lays a quest upon her to find a better way into the future for their warlike people, Ülga takes herself off to the city's finest school for princesses to face the hardest battle of her life: learning the fine art of diplomacy.

It's only fair to warn you that you will encounter some blood and guts, but it's a comic book about berserker princesses, after all.

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6 of 12 Archaia

Mouse Guard

In medieval times, life was rough for almost everyone -- including the tiny mousefolk. Set in the 12th century, Eisner-winning "Mouse Guard" follows the adventures of the brave bucks and does of the eponymous Mouse Guard, a group sworn to protect their civilian brothers and sisters.

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7 of 12 Monkeybrain Comics

Bandette

Masked, caped, with a rapier wit and a rapier in hand, Paul Tobin and Coleen Coover's Bandette is the sneaking scourge of Paris -- both the criminal underground and the long arm of the law alike.

She was inspired by Fantômette, French literature's first female superhero. The tales of her cat-burgling antics, egged on and supported by the citizens of the City of Light, are a playful, never-a-dull-moment delight.

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8 of 12 Archaia

Cursed Pirate Girl

Think Pippi Longstocking, and Alice in Wonderland, all mixed up with Treasure Island, and you might be approaching "Cursed Pirate Girl." Our heroine swashes and buckles across the mythical Omerta seas, searching for her long-lost father, finding lands of wonder and fighting unimaginable perils.

And if the finely detailed ink-drawn art doesn't make your little heart go pitter-pat, well, there's just no hope for you in this world.

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9 of 12 IDW

Jem and the Holograms

Hyperactive hypercolour 1980s cartoon "Jem and the Holograms" -- about an all-girl rock band that uses holographic technology for their stage shows -- is about to see a film reboot and an all-new comic to go along with it.

Issue 2 of the new series is starting the story of Jem and her pals from the beginning: how they discover the holographic technology and get their band off the ground. Bonus: their amazing, amazing hair.

Outrageous.

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10 of 12 DC Comics

Gotham Girls

It can be hard to find jumping-on points for superhero comics, but this mini-series starring the gals of Batman's Gotham City is a good place for a young lady to get acquainted with the Bat-verse.

Based on the cartoon series of the same name (and featuring the same cartoony art style), "Gotham Girls" pits Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy against each other, fighting over a vial of chemical formula -- and all three against the law: Batgirl and detective Renee Montoya.

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11 of 12 Top Shelf

Korgi

Korgi, beautifully drawn by former Disney animator Christian Slade, is something of a rarity: a completely "silent" comic (that is, a comic with no words at all), which makes it suitable for younger readers too. It follows the adventures of Ivy and her corgi puppy Sprout in the magical Korgi Hollow, where corgis and people live and work together in harmony.

Ivy and Sprout are a little more adventurous than most… and those adventures and subsequent troubles lead them to learn a few things about themselves along the way.

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12 of 12 Marvel

Ms Marvel

Some superhero names are titles rather than specific identities. One of these is Ms Marvel, originally introduced in 1968 as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Last year, the fourth heroine to take the Ms Marvel mantle arrived: Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teen, and the first Muslim superhero to headline her own book. Gifted with shapeshifting powers, Kamala's complicated life -- high school, crushes, struggling with her faith and her traditional parents -- is eminently relatable.

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