Just in Time for Christmas -- DC Comics Super Heroines: 100 Greatest Moments

Following up on his chronicling of the Justice League's 100 Greatest Moments, comics historian and science fiction veteran Robert Greenberger manages to top himself with DC Comics Super Heroines: 100 Greatest Moments. And while I wasn't particularly fond of the artwork selected for the packaging, finding it not particularly attractive, there's an adage about "books and covers" that comes into play.

This beautiful hardcover book isn't one that you rush through. You linger over each page and, if you're like me, you find yourself in one of two places: you're either recalling happily the first time you saw this event happen, perhaps when it was new to everyone, or you find yourself discovering something you've never known happened and now have something to seek out and add to your collection.

As with Greenberger's first book, definitions are allowed to be a bit fluid. For instance, the book is titularly dedicated to "Super Heroines," but there's some spongey gray area that allows for Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman to be considered "heroines" and Lois Lane and Amanda Waller to be considered "super." But that's completely forgiveable, as the characters are such high-profile to the distaff ranks of the DC Comics pantheon. And while I question the inclusion of such short-lived characters as Gotham Girl, I forget about things like that when I pore over some of the other sections of the book.

Moments I encountered that made me fondly recall my reading experiences and collectible finds included some obvious ones like the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and her growth as a character interacting with Robin, and the wonderful mystery tale from NEW TEEN TITANS, "Who is Donna Troy."  And after seeing some fantastic Dick Giordano story and art for a Deadman Christmas story featuring a post-Crisis Supergirl, I now have to seek out that book and make it my own. (Several incarnations later, there's still no one to live up to the original Kara Zor-El.)

But of all the characters included in the compendium, the one that really put this book over the top for me, and demonstrated that Greenberger is one who really gets what makes characters special, was his attention to one DC female in particular -- the only one to make me smile and cry in the real world: Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, and murder victim at the center of the iconic IDENTITY CRISIS story. Thank you so much, Bob. I needed that.

This volume surpasses Greenberger's prior work with the Justice League moments, and will be treasured by every fan of DC history.