a DIACHRONIC study of the IMAGE of the POWERFUL FEMALE in POPULAR (and maybe other) CULTURES
Monday, August 9, 2010
TOP 50 FEMALE/MALE FIGHTS IN COMICS: #3
This was the third encounter of Green Lantern with his amorous enemy Star Sapphire, who served as a good reflection of the hero's own attitude toward women. The Lantern didn't want to marry Carol Ferris unless she loved his alter ego more than his heroic super-identity-- basically a reworking of the Superman/Clark Kent/Lois Lane threesome. So thanks to some helpful space Amazons, Carol Ferris is transformed into Star Sapphire, who, in addition to being able to manipulate energies like Green Lantern, wanted him to quit being a hero and become her "consort" while she ruled over the space Amazons. So for once what the cover copy calls a "super-battle of the sexes" has both physical and psychological significance.
The battle itself isn't that long-- probably a little under two pages. But given the fact that the hero swears to become eternally whipped if he loses, the conflict has more resonance than those from the earlier two appearances of Star Sapphire, scripted by her co-creator John Broome. Here scripter Gardner Fox provides the script while SS's artistic co-creator Gil Kane furnishes one of his most striking covers of the period.
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