Marvel Female Heroes:Why So Few Titles?

issues. Is that a record for a Marvel female lead?>>

Not by quite a margin.

Dazzler didn't make it that long.>>

SPIDER-WOMAN went to #50. SHE-HULK went to #25 the first time and #60 the second. MS. MARVEL lasted to #23. DAZZLER made it to #42.

But for Spider-Girl to make it to the 'longest-running Marvel female lead' spot, the gal to beat is PATSY WALKER, whose solo series ran to #124. She had other series, including PATSY & HEDY and PATSY AND HER PALS that more than double that score, but if you're looking for longevity in a single series, I believe she's it at Marvel.

And she didn't become a superhero until a decade after she was cancelled...

From the covers, Patsy Walker looks like a title that would have fit well into the Archie line of books. Did the content include short stories, 3 or 4 to a book?

into the Archie line of books. >>

At many points in its run, it would

Thanks for the information. Didn't DC have a successful title in that genre as well? I'll bet their character wasn't turned into a superhero though. 8^)

Speaking of humor genres, I'm wondering if a book like Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis, only with modern comedians like Jerry Seinfeld or Ray Ramono, wouldn't do well today. I always thought those title were kooky.

One final question, who published Katie Keen? Was that the DC title I'm thinking of?

All this talk has actually made me interested in pulling out some of my old Archie digests. I loved the Archie Mysteries stories as a kid.

Oh, and its good to see Spider-Girl last so long.

She-Hulk (1st series): 25 / (2nd series): 60 Dazzler: 42 Ms. Marvel only went to 23.

Spider-Woman (2nd series) 1-18 Hellcat 1-4 (Patsy Walker) Shanna: The She Devil ??? Red Sonja ??? (many X-title mini's featuring female characters)

I'm assuming Spider-Woman (1st series) and Spider-Woman (2nd series) were two entirely different characters.

None of these series approached the success of Spider-Girl or Patsy Walker as Kurt pointed out. I'd argue outside of Patsy Walker, She-Hulk is the most successful female character Marvel has, having appeared in her own series twice and had a success run in both Fantastic Four and Avengers.

genre as well?>>

DC had LEAVE IT TO BINKY and SWING WITH SCOOTER and assorted others. BINKY was the most successful, but it was never on the level of PATSY, much less ARCHIE.

Grant Morrison did write an ANIMAL MAN script that revealed that Scooter, post-stardom, became a drug trafficker, but I don't think it was ever drawn or published.

Lewis, only with modern comedians like Jerry Seinfeld or Ray Ramono, wouldn't do well today. I always thought those title were kooky.>>

I don't know. There was a MARRIED WITH CHILDREN comic, but I don't think they had the distribution to reach a mass audience. I realize that's not quite the kind of book you're talking about

DC had several, including DEBBI'S DATES and something called LEAVE IT TO BINKY. (Actually, I'm not sure how successful they were, but they were teen humor books.)

Someone told me recently that Ed Brubaker's DEADENDERS originally started life as a way to bring back SWING WITH SCOOTER. The scary part is, I can see that.

Humor has changed from punchlines and funny stories to observational stuff. It might be tough to pull off.

No, that was Archie again.

I'd imagine that Seinfeld could probably be talked into it by the right publisher, given his history on-air.

Well, there was this little title calle 'Millie the Model', which according to Overstreet ran from #1 (1945) to #190 (1973) and also spawned the titles 'A Date With Millie' (later 'Life With Millie' and 'Modeling With Millie', 54 issues), 'Mad About Millie' (17 issues) and another 'A Date With Millie' (7 issues). I'm not sure if it was always the same character though, in Overstreet it says '154

Whoops!

You are right, sir