Heroic Girls

Heroic Girls is an organization dedicated to empowering girls by advocating for strong role models in alternative media -- particularly comics.  

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A Russian nesting doll set without the Russian? #WheresNatasha gets surreal

Marvel Avengers Nesting Dolls

Just when you think the exclusion of Black Widow from all merchandise couldn’t get more absurd, Twitter users Renay and (presumable not Prime Minister) DavidCameron bring a gem like this to our attention.

It’s another piece of Avengers merchandising that excludes Black Widow — a set of Russian nesting dolls available at ThinkGeek and on Amazon. This one rubs salt in…

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Hungarian artist's gender-flipped Avengers look incredible

A Hungarian artist named Agnes gender-flipped the Avengers using A-List celebrities, some cosplay photos and PhotoShop, and the results were spectacular.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, Agnes says that she was keen to give the women the same awesome costumes as the men, not just stick them in some patterned bikinis. “I just wanted to make them realistic and not half naked.”

It’s comforting…

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First Look: DC's Legends of Tomorrow

While Marvel continues its dominance at the multiplexes, DC is quietly building a small screen empire of interconnected superhero shows. It started with Arrow, which gave us the Flash. And soon they will be joined by Supergirl on CBS and the intriguing Legends of Tomorrow on the CW.

Legends of Tomorrowhas time travelling Rip Hunter assemble a team of heroes and villains to battle the immortal…

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Interview: John Marcotte talks gender and toys on Kingkade and Breakenridge

Were you aware that on top of Tim Hortons, hockey and free health-care, Canada also has an abundant supply of thoughtful radio talk shows where people don’t yell at one another and accuse opponents of treason? Who knew such a thing was possible?

Heroic Girls founder John Marcotte was interviewed on Calgary’s News 770 AM, on the lack of Black Widow superhero merchandise in the toy aisle. We talked…

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How the Toy Aisle Erased Black Widow from Her Own Best Scene

In a movie stuffed with crowd-pleasing scenes, few moments elicited greater cheers from the audience than Black Widow dropping out of a moving jet on a custom-built Harley Davidson to rush to Captain America’s aid in the Avengers: Age of Ultron.

It just gets cooler and cooler the more you watch it.

I don’t think there was a person in the theater who didn’t think that was the coolest thing they…

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Barbara Gordon Confirmed as Batgirl for Batman: Arkham Knight

Batgirl – Arkham Knight

After a few days of speculation, it was revealed that Barbara Gordon will be Batgirl in the latest iteration of the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game franchise. Since she was announced earlier this week, fans were guessing that this Batgirl might be Cassandra Cain instead of Babs, because the promotional art lacked Barbara’s fiery red hair and Barbara has already been…

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Marvel CEO Calls Female Superhero Movies a "Disaster" in Leaked Sony Email

By the time Captain Marvel finally makes her debut as the first female superhero to helm her own movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on November 2, 2018, Marvel Studios will have already made 19 movies featuring male leads, including three apiece for Captain America, Iron Man and Thor.

So why did it take 20 tries before Marvel was willing to give us a movie with a female lead?

An email…

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Free Comic Book Day -- Green Screen Gallery

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, and Heroic Girls was there at our Local Comics Shop with a green screen photo booth that allowed attendees to put themselves on the cover of a comic book. Here’s a gallery of some of our favorites.

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#WheresNatasha? Age of Ultron Continues Trend of Excluding Female Heroes From the Toy Aisle

Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, is the world’s deadliest assassin and spy, and essential part of the Avengers movie franchise. But with Avengers: Age of Ultron hitting theaters the Friday, Marvel and Disney continue to treat Natasha as the “invisible woman” when it comes to toys, clothing and other merchandise.

Of the 60 products that Marvel and Disney released for Avengers: Age of Ultron, only…

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Warner Bros., DC and Mattel Launch 'DC Super Hero Girls'

DC Super Hero Girls

Warner Bros., DC and Mattel have teamed up to launch a new line of toys, movies, books and apparel aimed at girls under the new brand “DC Superhero Girls.” The first products will hit shelves in fall of 2015, just in time for Christmas. Under the partnership, Mattel will launch the company’s first ever line of action figures for girls, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg as…

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Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti becomes the world's greatest cosplayer with one selfie

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

European Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti who is currently aboard the International Space Station, tweeted a photo of herself in a Star Trek uniform last Friday.

“There’s coffee in that nebula’ … ehm, I mean… in that #Dragon,” she posted.

"There's coffee in that nebula"… ehm, I mean… in that #Dragon. pic.twitter.com/9MYrqIOXnI

— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha)

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WonderCon 2015 Cosplay Gallery - #PoseLikeASuperhero

The Heroic Girls hit WonderCon this year, and we brought back a gallery of our favorite cosplayers from the convention hall.

We also took the opportunity to help spread the word about #PoseLikeASuperhero, the hashtag campaign inspired by Harvard research cited in Heroic Girls’ founder John Marcotte’s TED Talk.

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Marel Bets Big on Diversity With The All-New, All-Different Avengers

The All-New, All-Different Avengers

After teasing a cover that revealed Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) and Thor (Female Edition), Marvel Comics unveiled the entire line-up of the new Avengers team that will launch after the events of Secret Wars.

The full roster is:

Thor — The new Thor will survive the Marvel Universe reboot and join the Avengers, arguably as their their most powerful member.

Iron Man—…

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Captain Marvel Rumored for Avengers: Age of Ultron

Per the Latino Review Marvel has secretly cast the role of Captain Marvel, and the character will make a cameo at the end of the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron – most likely in her civilian identity of Carol Danvers.

On the one hand, this makes perfect sense. Marvel needs to introduce the character somewhere, and her job as an Air Force pilot and military liaison would allow her to fit in at…

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TEDx: Girls Can Be Their Own Superheroes

TEDx: Girls Can Be Their Own Superheroes

John Marcotte, founder of Heroic Girls, challenges the audience to look beyond what is labeled as “girly” or “feminine” to explore how such labels limit the potential of future generations.

The talk includes a clip from an earlier Heroic Girls video, Anya and Stella vs. Action Figures.

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The Redemption of Batgirl

Batgirl 41 – Joker Variant

On March 13th, DC Comics released a preview of 25 Joker-themed variant covers for their June books to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the character. Included in those covers was a variant cover for Batgirl #41 by artist Rafael Albuquerque.

Within hours of the Batgirl cover being released, critics were rallying around the hashtag #ChangeTheCover. As the pressure to…

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Spider-Woman: A Second Chance at a Second Impression

Spider-Woman #5

When Marvel announced that Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman, would be getting her own title as a part of their ongoing program to launch more female-centric books, female fans were overjoyed. In recent years, Jessica had turned from a bit character created to secure a copyright to major supporting roles in the Avengers, Captain Marvel and Secret Avengers.

Her convoluted back…

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