Wonder Woman, Mary Marvel, and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle ruled the
pages of comic books in the 1940s, but many other heroines of the WWII
era have been forgotten. Divas, Dames & Daredevils
reintroduces their ingenious abilities to mete out justice to Nazis,
aliens, and evildoers of all kinds. His book reveals a universe populated by extraordinary
women—superheroes, reporters, galactic warriors, daring detectives, and
ace fighter pilots—who protected America and the world with wit and
guile. The book introduces us to heroines with striking similarities to
more modern superheroes, including The Spider Queen, who deployed web
shooters20 years before Spider Man, and Marga the Panther Woman, whose
feral instincts and sharp claws tore up the bad guys long before
Wolverine. These women may have been overlooked in the annals of
history, but their influence on popular culture, and the heroes we’re
passionate about today, is unmistakable.Mike Madrid is the author of Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics and The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines, an NPR “Best Book To Share With Your Friends” and American Library Association Amelia Bloomer Project Notable Book. Madrid, a San Francisco native and lifelong fan of comic books and popular culture, also appears in the documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines.
