• Namorita is Namor's cousin, actually. She-Hulk is Hulk's cousin, true, but She-Hulk is a very different character - a lawyer who would rather be large and green than normal. Don't dismiss her, please. As for calling the Wasp a battered wife - in the main Marvel continuity, Ant Man hit her once while he was having a psychotic episode. He has never hit her again. There is no pattern of abuse in their relationship. I'm sick to death of people dismissing the Wasp as a battered wife - first of all, because women shouldn't be dismissed just because they've been battered, and second of all because the Wasp isn't a battered wife. She was the wife of a man who went crazy once (as superheroes often do.)

• Being a female and taking the precious time to leave the kitchen and read this I cannot help but feel a bitch fit threating to explode from within me and destroy everything in its wake. Marvel is not being "girl-friendly" by introducing dumb-downed, poor quality comics. I don't give two shits if a woman writes them or not, a shitty concept is a shitty concept regardless of sex. I want to read good comics and I have yet to find those when the title contains something purely-vagina oriented. Btw, I love Harley Quinn but Gotham Sirens sucked. Hell, Even Paul Dini's run on it couldn't slavage that botched toilet paper with catwoman printed on it. So Dc isn't so exempt from this

• No, it's the result of growing up on too much manga!

• Did they feel THAT threatened by Gotham City Sirens?

• Dude, you almost caused me a very serious medical problem! Have you ever tried to swallow 20 pounds of hysterical laughter at the office???

• Glad to see we're being fair and balanced here. Because every art form is the same always. Douche.

• <BLOCKQUOTE>The "same face" thing is the result of so many new artists growing up on manga instead of western art.</BLOCKQUOTE> No, it's the result of having a crappy artist.

• Namorita is dead. Wasp is dead. Why'd they pick two corpses for this?!?! - Apparently, this is not in the 616 universe. Must be a Marvel Age thing? Marvel Tales? - Maybe it's in the HERniverse. Or the SHEniverse.

• What? Nick Fury isn't major? War Machine isn't major? - Jeez. There's already a black Captain America... What do you want? Black Spider-Man?

• The "same face" thing is the result of so many new artists growing up on manga instead of western art. Manga is the anti-art. I don't know why anyone bothers to learn to draw in manga style, because you could just as easily buy a rubber stamp with a face, and then a bunch of other rubber stamps for hair, and you'd have the technique down. - But the suits all realized last year that young women like manga... So... Yeah.

• Please just buy girls Detective Comics and TPBs of Birds of Prey instead.

• This is marketed at 'tweens' plain and simple. Not women in general, but females between the ages of 11 and 16 who need role models that are stronger then the ones currently available to them (ie Miley Cyrus, Selina Gomez, etc.). The problem with the youth of America is they are weak willed and spoiled. Everything is handed to them and if things don't go the way they want it to they don't try and fix it they simply whine or ignore it till someone fixes it for them. They need viable heroes to look up to. I looked up to Batman, dues parents were gunned down in front of him and how did he handle it? He waited paitently till he was an adult all the while preparing himself and when the oppurtunity was right he made a difference. Miley Cyrus puts on a wig and pretends to be someone else and shows kids its ok to hide who you are. Just put on a wig and pretend to be someone else. What this book needs is strong charecters that tweens can look up to and emulate in their own life. And by the by when has disney ever cared about continuity in recent years? Look at their shows its constantly changing. (Steps off of soapbox) Good talk....

• ... ...i'd pay good money to read "Agents of V.A.G.I.N.A", tho...

• I think Marvel needs to step back and take a look at why their X-Men franchise is so popular. It's not just because of the complex plotting (well, that they used to have, anyways) and beefy men (that helps too!). The X-Men comics appeal to women because they see powerful, relatible yet flawed women in extraordinary situations. Growing up, I did read Marvel comics (ones that my brother left laying around...heh heh) and my favorite characters were Rogue, Phoenix (not Jean Grey. Phoenix.) and from Spiderman, Black Cat. Strong, albeitly fucked up women. And say what you will about the Anita Blake:Vampire Hunter series, but the Guilty Pleasures comic mini-series is what got me back into a comic shop after years of self-denial. More graphic novelizations of written works and their tie-ins would also pull female readers. I've picked up graphic novels of Pride and Prejudice (which could have been done TONS better! The character's hair color doesn't even stay the same from panel to panel! urgh!) and the Mercy Thompson series spin-offs. Not to forget the Buffy and Angel series, as well. They're doing pretty good, from what I've heard, and they've got a strong female readership. I understand that they're pandering to the lowest common denominator with this style of female comics, but it's just going to be ejaculation material for perverted old men getting off on rodgering the teenage versions of these her-oes, not an actual female audience. Still, sales are sales, I guess, and if this goes well, then they can claim it's a successful female franchise, even though we'll all know the truth.

• ... simply even titling a publication as 'Girl Comics' or 'Her-Oes' is totally dumb-ass condescending - the implication being "this one's for you ladies as you won't enjoy anything the boys are reading" Really? Won't I? Is that BOTHERING you old man Marvel? ....hey last time I checked I enjoyed the same comics guys do - you know, well written, great illustration work etc etc ... really I do Marvel.

• The trick is that Marvel doesn't have to do anything special to sell comics to women who already read their comics. They're after the narrow niche of teen girls who don't typically read comics, which will be a difficult sell, as they'd probably already be reading comics if there were interested in comics in the first place. But hell Marvel gave Anita Blake a series didn't they? There's the bishie vampire angle.

• whoa, let's not go crazy, Kris specified major characters

• Tamora Pierce, a YA fiction writer, coined the term "sheroes" which, while sort of clumsy, is still leagues better than her-oes. Jesus. The more I look at her-oes, the pervier/stupider it gets.

• I'm pretty sure the association with idiotic, fake-boobed bimbos is worse than the association with--ZOMG!--nerds. Sadly, "Her-Oes" (really? REALLY?), etc. doesn't look like much of a deviation from the establishment.

• *Whew* Thank God.

• Every female character is drawn with the exact same face? Who did they hire as a character designer? Masamune Shirow?

• I'm sure Hulk's cousin, Namor's wife, Antman's battered wife, Thor's...SOMETHING and MS Marvel can be empowering, depending on the context. But I don't know WHAT you put in the cover to sell that. Certainly not the image above. Now, I'm not saying you can't do it. Everything's possible, nothing is impossible. But perhaps more characters that stand on their own could help?

• If I were a girl, this would come off as really condescending. I'm not though. Instead it just looks really crappy.

• How the hell is She-Hulk running down stairs at full speed like that without falling on her big green face?

• They need to just invent new female superheroes instead of digging up the same tired second-stringers. How about Super Maxi? She can fly (she has wings) and she can absorb.. umm.. liquid. Yeah.

• Psylocke Ultimate Nick Fury Forge War Machine Mirage Sunspot Warpath / Thunderbird

• Adam, today, you are my role model. Thank you!

• Sure they are the character's proper costumes. But look at the intensity of the colors. They could have made the background and the overall look brighter, more intense, active, and eye-catching. Instead, it's lavender, pink, pastel.Compare it to any other superhero comic book cover, it looks muted and soft. Even the gals with black on the costumes don't stand out all that much . . .

• The 'by women for women' is a poor selling point. If it's good I'll read it and if it's bad I won't. I'm not going to make an allowance or exception to that rule just because someone of my gender wrote or illustrated it (though I know a few people would, I doubt it's enough to support sales.) And judging by what's on offer here I'll be staying far, far away.

• I believe those are Wasp, She-Hulk, Namorita, Ms. Marvel and Valkyrie.

• Is that Dazzler in the back? Oh crap, now I'm actually interested in this.

• Is it just me or do they all look a bit baked, especially Wasp and She-Hulk? Also, I'm not up on current continuity (then again, who is?) but other than Namorita, I don't think any of these characters had their powers in high school. So, I suppose the "Girlverse" will be yet another continuity...

• Blade?

• Wait wasn't she-hulk a normal person when she was a teenager? I don't care if its written by a woman for women if its stupid.

• Quesada replies back to Jeff Z, "I am the C.L.I.T. Commander!"

• I'll admit, I was into reading Mary Jane. I hate Mary Jane in every other incarnation, but in her own comic I really loved reading about her.

• Misty Knight? Bishop?

• Not so hard, that hurts biddy.

• If they really wanted to appeal to girls, wouldn't it be better to make a comic about really, really effete male vampires? Maybe redesign Morbius to look like a hipster douchebag and pit himi against an equally revamped Morlun? Toss in a few homoerotic overtones and you'll drag in the older female market as well.

• Yeah, I think they actually were going for HOs, but had to hide it a bit. And Rob, don't worry about insulting women by talking bad about this garbage. The very fact that they exist is an insult to women. Also, we can probably expect to find them in a future FFF. Who agrees with me?

• DC couldn't even get girls to read comics with their Minx line and that wasn't anywhere near this patronizing.

• Subtle. Also, does Her-Oes sound like a breakfast cereal to anyone else?

• That's Namorita.

• When I was reading "Her-Oes", I coudnt stop thinking "Her-Hoes". My kind of Marvel.

• As an avid female comic reader I can say this is totally retarded. You know, there comes a time where we look past Quesada saving the company years back and say enough is enough.

• unless the winged one turns out to be tinkerbell i don't have any clue who or what they are.

• Oh fachrissakes Quesada, you can do better than this. This is a sad joke. How long you think until Disney completely replaces Marvel management? Not that it wouldn't happen anyway within 5 years, but do you think this will accelerate it?

• All of those costumes with the exception of Wasp are based on the designs and colors of their adult costumes (as far as Wasp goes, her costume here may be based on one of the literally hundreds of costumes she went through).

• All of this. A thousand times this. Also, fire Greg Land.

• I would read the fuck out of Agents of V.A.G.I.N.A. And by 'read' I mean wrap my penis in it and pretend i'm not a hideous choad.

• It sounds lame. I'm all for female superheros, I love female superheros! Having girls kick arse is sexy! But that is just poor. It shouldn't be this big deal, they should just make female superheros just the same as they make the blokes. And they shouldn't come up with such retarded names!

• Hulk and She-Hulk are green.

• Also (I just can't let this one go! Arg!): Have you taken a good look at the colors? Awesome heroes like Deadpool get a strong, aggressive red and black, which makes him stand out and draws our eyes right to the hero (or psychotic anti-hero)in every panel. The pastel colors of these "Her-Oes" just makes them blend together with each other and the background until they are indistinguishable. You know, like most adolescent girls tend to do. Soft, stylish, and unthreatening. Girl power, indeed.

• Typical Marvel cluelessness. DC wants to attract female readers - they hire professional, established female comic book creators and put them on monthly titles involving strong, independent women or make it clear to their male artists that Supergirl panty-shots are forbidden. Marvel wants to attract female readers - they put out books with cheesecake covers and hire gay men to write books about "sudsy fun". And then when it is pointed out to them that "Hey, maybe you should have some, y'know - actual women working for your company..." they go out and hire some of the professional, established female comic book creators.. to do a mini-series. Disney needs to start firing people and get some of the people behind Disney Princesses in there... STAT.

• Now, I'd buy Agents of V.A.G.I. N. A. variant issues, polybagged and all the trading cards...

• I wonder if the barefoot one is also in the early stages of pregnancy, and knows how to whip up a mean omelette for her man?

• Of course all the chicks have the same face on the picture shown. This is what happens when companies allow too much anime influence! It looks like bad manga to me.

• Probably to avoid it sounding like a multi-pack of narcotics if some kid asked their parent to pick one up while shopping.

• Gah. Either write a bunch of stories with women in mind - maybe even by talented female writers, or just accept that the fairer sex just aren't as angry at the world/dad/teacher/girls for spurning them, and therefore don't have as much interest in comic books that are about superheroes. Lemme guess...the first issue will be about....douchebag bullies...clothes....<female_cliche_#536-file_not_found>....hair...or are we about due for another bout of (sigh)"Girl Power"? To be fair, I don't know who Grace Randolph is - she may in fact be more than capable of proving me wrong. But "Her-Oes"? To quote the above comment by BoredLizzie, "Her-Oes" does indeed sound like some kind of estrogen-laden cereal.

• I wouldn't be so harsh to marvel. I'm pretty sure good stories and writing aren't the reason Hannah Montana, Barbie and whatever else Disney shits out are so popular. There's lots of money to be made in pandering to low common denominators. I'm not agreeing, i'm just saying they may in fact know what they are doing.

• Urm... Uh... You assert that these are NOT being marketed to teenage boys WHY???

• Are you kidding? This is Mephisto's work!

• Last I heard, women read the same comics that men read. Good stories and well-developed characters appeal to readers of both genders. Good ol' gender-specific marketing. Why don't they sell these in pink plastic sleeves and give away free lipstick with each comic? Don't give us different packaging, silly Marvel, give us some good female writers and strong, complex female characters to relate to. I used to scan my comics for names of female writers, only to find out that the writers with feminine names were actually male. As for the whole "Divas" thing? If I wanted Sex in the City, I'd watch that hideous show. I do NOT want a version of that with tights. Good Christ, no. And "Her-Oes" sounds like some kind of estrogen-laden cereal.

• Why isn't it called Heroines? Calling it Her-Oes only serves the patriarchy by depriving women of an independent term for their own gender. It's like calling female thespians actors instead of actresses. Plus, the hyphenation looks retarded.

• Probably doing something unmentionable with Bono, right about now.

• So, they're trying to attract MORE female readers by...publishing new comics filled with pretty girls? Logically, wouldn't you want to make new comics filled with beefcake (possibly <i>pretty</i> beefcake) sharing each other's personal space a little too closely? Hey, you want "artistic and classy" or you want "sales"?

• "doesn't like comics because of it's association with...dare I say it...nerds?" And here is your Chance to change that...Maybe not for yourself but probably for your Children if you ever find a counterpart of the opposite gender. Damned who am i kiding, we're nerds and doomed to go instinkt. But hope dies at last, try and vote Barbie till she wears Glasses & Turtleneck. http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/01/barbie_is_thinking_about_her_computer_engineering.php

• I don't know why they have to make it so obvious. It'd be like marketing to African Americans by calling it "Johnny Black Guy Funnybooks," or aiming at the hearing-impaired demographic with "Deaf Kid Saves the Day Comix." It seems like using the minority status as the selling point would be kind of insulting. It's like making such a big deal out of it sort of makes it worse rather than better.

• Wasn't Marvel the one that had that stupid Diva thing going on too w/ all the like Sex and the City style super heroines? F that noise. Really how hard is it to create strong deep female characters that also happen to be super? I'm not sure how half these girls move w/ their design flaws and costumes they're going to fall out of at any moment. And more importantly, who gives two shits about superhero high?!

• Dear Marvel: Just because you put girls in comics doesn't mean girls will read them. Moreover, placing words like "GIRL" and "HER" and "MODELS" in prominent positions is more likely to draw the attention of heterosexual males than anyone else. The secret to reaching a female audience, in 3 easy steps: 1. Good female writers and artists. Gail Simone and Amanda Conner are always on my pull list. Women are far more interested in real-world female role models than in fictional female characters. 2. Don't put women in refrigerators. That's the easy way to say that your female characters shouldn't be little more than plot devices. They also shouldn't be slaves to their hormones. Good example? Greg Rucka's current run on Detective Comics, featuring Batwoman. She's a very well written, complex character -- and while it did take a while to showcase her since she first appeared in 52, it was worth the wait. 3. Write good stories. I don't care if my comics are about a bunch of men, if the stories are good. Now, that's fairly subjective - but speaking personally, I don't need ultra-violence, melodramatic villains, and sprawling epic events to enjoy a book. Read Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman, or any of Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern (the GL title in particular - not speaking of Blackest Night, which is honestly getting a little tiring). In both cases, fantastic storytelling and 3-dimensional characters, and hey look, both books are predominantly male populated. ...now, don't presume I'm saying that DC is superior to Marvel in this regard - after all, the phrase "Women in Refrigerators" did begin with a DC story. I read DC because they're the characters I grew up with - Chris Reeve's Superman and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman in particular. I have nothing against Marvel. I don't have the comics budget to handle EVERYTHING I'd like to read, so I stick to the basics - and my basics are DC.

• They're not all the same...She hulk's face is green and Wasp's face is small....and uh, who the hell am I kidding. This is retarded.

• Honestly? They're really going to try to market comics to a segment of the population that doesn't like comics because of it's association with...dare I say it...nerds? If they want to market to females, try giving characters like Dust and X-23 a bigger role. Best Marvel females to date!

• Yep. The best way of appealing to the female market has always been a cover that screams 'BOOBIES!'

• You'd think eventually Marvel would just figure out that the way to win female readers is to simply make strong female characters in the main comics. And by strong, I don't mean bitchy and dressed in a string bikini. While they're at it, having major characters who aren't white besides Luke Cage and Storm would be nice too.

• UGH! Where is Mephisto when you REALLY need him?

• Let's break down Her-Oes a little further. It almost sounds like a cool way of referring to multiple female orgasms. Also, look at the 2 letters capitalized and what it spells-HO!. This was definitely developed by 40 yr old perverts.

• Her-Oes? So, its basically called HOs? Way to grab that tween girl market Marvel, just destroy their self-worth and they're yours for life.

• They realy got all the same expression, like a fat cat smirking after dinner. Who responsibel this?

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