10 Most Sexist Comic Superheroines Still Being Published Today

9. Black Canary

Vampirella
DC

The Black Canary is supposed to be one of the top fighters in the DC Universe. She's a master of martial arts, and in one comic - Birds of Prey #125 - the character Oracle says that Black Canary can even outfight Batman.

It's great to see a superheroine who doesn't seem as useless as Marvel's Invisible Woman or Wasp. But why, then, do artists so often draw Black Canary wearing fishnets? Fishnets don't seem like the proper crime-fighting attire of a master martial artist. Can you picture Bruce Lee donning a pair?

And the fishnets are far from new. Way back when the Back Canary was first introduced in 1947's Flash Comics, she was sporting the fishnets paired with a far more modest costume. It just seems like an odd choice for a crime fighter.

 
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Dan Rafter has worked as a freelance journalist for more than 20 years. He has written for everyone from the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to Mental Floss, BusinessWeek Online and Consumers Digest. You can find more by him at his comic's Web site, CareersinComics.