There are some really great books out right now that spotlight female lead characters, featuring girls and young woman in positions of power and strength — so very cool 🙂 There are several current popular female leads, including Marvel’s newly released Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel and the upcoming Thor. One that we’re currently loving is Princeless, by independent publisher Action Lab, which not only casts several strong ladies, but also characters of color:
Princeless features the 16-year-old Adrienne Ashe, a princess of color whose parents locked her away in a tower, where she was to await rescue by a handsome prince strong enough to slay the dragon guarding her. Adrienne has other ideas, and instead finds a sword, escapes the tower, and befriends the dragon. Together, the two set off to rescue her sisters who are similarly locked away, finding tons of adventure, many friends, and a few adversaries along the way.
“[T]here are no damsels in this story,” says Princeless creator Jeremy Whitley. “These girls all have (or are finding) agency.  They are all heroes and they are the ones doing the rescuing. Princeless is…unique in the fantasy and comics world [in that] Adrienne is a woman and princess of color.  Her sidekick, Bedelia, is a mixed [ethnicity] girl from two very different worlds whose overcome a lot to be where she is… [and] Raven is a character of Asian descent who fights alongside (and sometimes against) Adrienne to right a wrong and reclaim her birthright.” Princeless is “an action comic about fully dressed (often in armor), capable, self-determining, ambitious, sword fighting, dragon riding, rule breaking girls.” In the series, you’ll find “hugging, hair cutting, fairy tale reading, and occasionally even the color pink.  But first and foremost there are these amazing things that there just aren’t nearly enough of in comics – GIRLS!”
This book is not just great for kids and young women — all readers will appreciate the humor and satire in the writing, the colorful and vibrant art, the well developed characters, and energetic story. You can pick up issues #1-4 (#1 is only a buck!) of Princeless at the shop. We’ll have volumes one and two of the tradepaperbacks back in stock next week; please contact us at (610) 222-9200 or info@newwavecomics.net if you’d like to reserve a copy.
Written by Jeremy Whitley, art by Mia Goodwin and Ted Brandt. Nominated for the 2012 Glyph Comics Awards; Story of the Year, Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Female Character and Best Cover. Nominated at the 2012 Eisner Awards; Best Single Issue and Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12).
Sources:
Image credit
Princeless tumblr
Action Lab Comics Wikipedia
