Superhero comics are inherently dramatic. There’s conflict between the hero of the book and supervillains, tension between the hero and his or her supporting cast, and generally a lot of very serious action. The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks is a book that has all of that and more. The difference for Hicks, though, is the presentation. To Superhero Girl this drama is just another part of life, and she deals with it all with a healthy dose of humor. The result is a truly refreshing take on some familiar conventions.
Originally presented as a webcomic, The Adventures of Superhero Girl follow the titular character as she deals with standard superhero stuff – fighting villains, protecting her secret identity, etc. It also shows her tackling non-superhero-y things like doing laundry, going on job interviews, and avoiding comparisons to an older brother (also a superhero) who is more successful than she is.
Hicks displays a deep understanding of the tropes of superhero comics, which allows her to play with them as she sees fit. Superhero Girl has a defined costume, but she put it together from parts she found at a thrift store. She wears a mask, and occasionally forgets to take it off when she’s ‘off-duty.’ The best of the conventions that Superhero Girl defies, though, is her motivation. There is no great tragedy in her past that drove her to doing good. She does it because she wants to, and because she knows it’s the right thing to do. Marvel and DC seem to view the ‘tragedy’ angle as being imperative, even going so far as to retcon it onto heroes who never had it before. It’s nice to see Hicks rail against that a bit, and it helps keep the book’s tone light.
Superhero Girl shares her origin with The Spectacle. Art by Faith Erin Hicks.
The relationship between Superhero Girl and her brother, Kevin, also adds a nice piece of meta-commentary to the book. Kevin and his younger sister have similar sets of powers – strength, invulnerability, the basic Superman set – but Kevin is much more popular than Superhero Girl. One big difference between them is that Kevin is a corporate-sponsored hero. He is constantly wearing different company logos on his uniform, and he enjoys the perks of the lifestyle his employers afford him. Add to that the fact that Superhero Girl has to struggle for recognition while her male counterpart enjoys plenty of it, and the commentary works on several interesting levels.
When the series was presented on Hicks’s website, The Adventures of Superhero Girl were in black and white. For the collected edition, Cris Peter steps in to add glorious color to the book. She gets the tone that Hicks had already set, and her colors reflect it – they’re as bright and as cheerful as Superhero Girl herself. The entire series is still available to read online, but it’s definitely worth reading in color. Peter’s work is really eye-catching.
Laundry crisis! Art by Faith Erin Hicks, colors by Cris Peter.
Anyone lamenting the lack of high-quality comics that are suitable for young and old readers alike should do themselves a favor and check out The Adventures of Superhero Girl. It’s a fun book with relatable characters that don’t take themselves too seriously. While Hicks hasn’t updated the webcomic in a while as she works on other projects like Friends with Boys and Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, one can hope that she someday comes back to tell more stories with the characters in this book. Your bookshelf will definitely a brighter place for having Superhero Girl on it.
