DC Comics Covergirls

Ah, those lovely ladies of the DC Comics universe: powerful, attractive, seductive, and often wearing skin-tight outfits. But what is their history? What variety is present among the women of these comics? DC Comics Covergirls is a coffee table book that provides the reader with images, histories, and details on these characters.

Comic book author Louise Simonson is the guide through the women that have graced the covers of DC Comics from the 1940 through the present. After a quick history lesson of female characters in the primarily male comic book universe, DC Comics Covergirls focuses on different characters (Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Supergirl) and groups of women (Gotham Girls includes Batgirl, Catwoman, Harly Quinn, and Poison Ivy, while Vertigo and New Generation sections include women on the covers of an amazingly diverse series of comic books).

The artwork collected is amazing. Fans hoping for cheesecake-style pictures won't be disappointed, but there is also tremendous variety in the artwork. Different artists have radical visions of their heroines, or borrow from pop culture, or create truly visionary, dazzling images. Simonson is an excellent tour guide through this universe, filling us in on the backgrounds to these characters and how the art reflects changes in the characters. Every image also includes the cover artist, year of publication, and a sectence or two from Simonson about the picture. And Adam Hughes, who made a substantial amount of the art here, offers up the One Undeniable Truth in his introduction. What more could you want?

DC Comics Covergirls is a beautiful, informative, and indispensible tome featuring many of the most iconic and up-and-coming women of the DC Comics universe. This is a wonderful book that deserves a place in the library of any comic book fan or lover of art.

Overall Grade: A

Reviewed by James Lynch