Quote of the Day | ‘I didn’t like the gender garbage bins …’

Matt Murdock and Typhoid Mary, from the cover of "Daredevil" #255

“When I wrote Typhoid Mary, there were some strong female protagonists in comics, but I didn’t like the gender garbage bins that female extras went into: wife, bimbo, good girl, slut, witch etc. But men were often disposable in the same way: lunkheads, etc. Now I see plenty of strong females in comics. But both men and women in comics still get used as ‘cannon fodder’ (I am guilty of this myself) where a one-dimensional male or female is needed to play a stereotype and disposed of. But the female leads in their own books, the ones I’ve read, like Batgirl and Wonder Woman and Batwoman are very strong characters.”

– Katana writer Ann Nocenti, on how far female protagonists have moved beyond stereotypes in the 30 years since she began working in the comics industry