“Bad Girl” Comics Timeline
I’m still plugging away at the Outlaw Comics history series. The “prehistory” section — which covers things like EC, underground comix…
I’m still plugging away at the Outlaw Comics history series. The “prehistory” section — which covers things like EC, underground comix, Warren magazines, the rise of the direct market and more — is taking quite a long time. I already jumped ahead once with the Avatar Press history. Below I’m sharing a timeline I assembled for the Bad Girls article.
This isn’t an outline for an article, nor does it reflect what will or won’t ultimately be covered in the final article. I like to put timelines like this together for my own reference to better understand when different things happened. Several entries here are for context, not things I think of as examples of Bad Girls or even as predecessors to Bad Girls.
I note only a few pre-comic book characters in the timeline. There are so many more that could be added. Jess Nevins alone has discovered several pirate queens and warrior women appearing in folk stories, novels, and pulps that might count as predecessors to many of the characters mentioned below. I note Inanna just to show how far back some of these ideas stretch, not to imply that she was “the first Bad Girl” or some such nonsense. I think ultimately I will need to focus primarily on comic books to avoid mission creep.
Themes I will likely cover in the article are:
- The way Bad Girls comics centered female characters (however problematically) at a time when few female characters had solo books, at least from Marvel or DC.
- The role women did and didn’t have in creating these titles.
- The role BIPOC creators played in establishing the genre.
I welcome any corrections on this timeline, or thoughts on things that I ought to have included (though no guarantees I’ll add them), or general insights into the “Bad Girls” trend. I’d be interested in reading more feminist analyses of the trend or individual titles and/or writings on the impact these titles had on the comic book market in the mid-to-late 90s. I’d also be interested in hearing from fans and collectors. Email me at klintfinley@gmail.com
One thing I’m interested in is the spread of the term. As you can see below, it looks like Zorro # 3 (with the first appearance of Lady Rawhide) might be the first use of the term “Bad Girl” in this context. It was soon after used in Wizard in reference to Shi, Lady Death, and Vampirella. As far as I can tell, Topps coined the term and Wizard popularized it, but if anyone can point me to earlier mentions or other vectors for its popularization I’d love to see them. Update: I just found an even earlier use, by Hero Illustrated in issue # 8, February 1994 in a review of Mark Beachum’s Syphons, John Danovich asks “Is this Bad Girl Art?”. Topps might still have been using the term in ads before that, however.
In general, I’m using cover dates rather than actual ship dates. When cover dates are unavailable I typically use solicitation dates. That means the actual ship date could be off by 1–3 months in either direction (or more for very late books).
4000 BC (at the latest?)
Inanna worshipped in ancient Sumer
Han Dynasty (386–535 AD)
Ballad of Mulan composed
1886
October: She begins serialization in The Graphic
1904
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (first appearance of Rima the Jungle Girl)
1917
1934
May: Weird Tales # 23 (first appearance of Bêlit)
1938
Wag # 46 (First appearance of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle)
1940
February: Jungle Comics # 2 (first appearance of Fletcher Hanks’s Fantomah)
Spring: Batman # 1 (first appearance of Catwoman as “The Cat”)
1941
August: Police Comics # 1 (First appearance of Phantom Lady)
October: All Star Comics #8 (First appearance of Wonder Woman)
1944
Torchy Toddy first appears in Fort Hamilton base newspaper.
1946
Spring: Doll Man # 8 (First appearance of Torchy Todd in comic books)
1947
June: Phantom Lady# 13 (Beginning of Matt Baker’s run on the character, first appearance of the new, even more revealing costume)
August: Flash Comics # 87 (First appearance of Black Canary)
1962
Spring: First Barbarella comic in V Magazine
1968
Barbarella film
1969
July: Vampirella #1
1972
February: Weekly Playboy runs first Lady Snowblood manga story
November: Claws of the Cat # 1
1973
February: Conan the Barbarian # 23 (First appearance Red Sonja)
December: Lady Snowblood film debuts in Japan
1974
August: Savage Sword of Conan # 1 (First appearance of Red Sonja’s “chainmail bikini” outfit)
1977
January: Red Sonja vol. 1 # 1 (Red Sonja gets first solo series)
April: Heavy Metal # 1
1980
February: Savage She-Hulk (vol) #1
June: X-Men # 134 (first appearance of Dark Phoenix)
1981
January: Daredevil # 161 (First appearance of Elektra)
August: Heavy Metal animated film (first appearance of Taarna)
1982
September: Love and Rockets # 1
1983
September: Uncanny X-Men # 173 (First appearance of Storm’s “punk” look)
1986
August: Elektra Assassin # 1
1987
May: Samuree # 1
1988
June: Scimidar vol 1 # 1
Brief return of Vampirella in Vampirella #113
December: Uncanny X-Men # 234 (Madelyne Pryor becomes Goblin Queen)
1989
May: Sensational She-Hulk vol. 2 # 1
December: Uncanny X-Men #256 (first appearance of the new ninja version of Psylocke)
December: Cry for Dawn # 1
1990
February: Sapphire # 1
October: Achilles Storm/Razmataz # 1
Fantagraphics establishes Eros Comix line
1991
April: Incredible Hulk # 380 (Crazy Eight story)
September: Vampirella: Morning in America # 1
November: Æon Flux debuts
November: Black Canary vol. 1 # 1
December: Razor # 0 (ashcan)
December: Evil Ernie # 1 (first appearance of Lady Death)
Fourth quarter?: Raw Media Mags # 1 (Singha Talons preview by David Quinn, Tim Vigil, and Mark Beachum featuring a female Faust, and first appearance of Nightvision, AKA Blythe, by Quinn and Hannibal King.)
1992
March: Razor # 0 (full-sized comic)
April: Blood Reign # 5 (Blood Reign “gender swapped”)
June: Silversable and the Wildpack # 1
August: Wild CATS # 1
September: Widow: Flesh and Blood # 1
November: Vampirella # 1 (Dracula War mini-series)
December: Bad Girls Go to Hell (Aircel)
1993
March: Spawn # 9 (first Angela)
May: Animal Mystic # 1
April: Deathblow/Cybernary flipbook # 1
April: Barb Wire # 1
July: Razor Annual #1 (first appearance of Shi)
July: Mantra # 1
August: Catwoman # 1 (Jo Duffy and Jim Balent series)
December: Black Canary vol. 2 # 12 (Final issue of 1993 series)
1994
January: Lady Death mini-series # 1
January: Perg # 4 (first appearance of Hellina)
February: Gen 13 # 1 (mini-series)
February: Sensational She-Hulk vol. 2 # 60 (Final issue)
February: Hero Illustrated in issue # 8, February 1994. In a review of Mark Beachum’s Syphons, John Danovich asks “Is this Bad Girl Art?”
March: Shi: The Way of the Warrior #1
March: Zorro (Topps series) # 3 (First appearance of Lady Raw Hide… cover uses term “badgirl”)
April: Vengeance of Vampirella # 1 (ongoing series)
May: Penthouse Comix # 1
July: Wizard # 35 (Copy for the Top 10 hottest back issues of the month declares “We appear to be witnessing ‘The dawn of the HotLooking Bad Girl Comics.’”)
August: Vamperotica # 1
August: Vamps # 1 (Even Vertigo got in on the Bad Girls action, sort of)
October: Wizard # 38 (“Bad Girls” feature)
December: Angela # 1 (mini-series)
December: Warrior Nun Areala #1
???: Gunfighters in Hell # 4 (first Sinbuck)
1995
January: Cyberforce Origins: Cyblade # 1
January: Cyblade/Shi (first appearance of Witchblade)
January: Lady Death: Between Heaven and Hell # 1
January: The Fury of Hellina # 1
January: Double Impact # 1
March: Glory # 1
April: Silversable and the Wild Pack # 35 (final issue)
May: Avengelyne # 1
May: Babylon Crush # 1
June: Dawn # 1
November: Witchblade # 1
1996
March: 22 Brides # 1 (First appearance of Pain Killer Jane)
June: Darkchylde # 1
July: Poizon: Lost Child # 0 (Cited by Wizard # 79 as first nude variant cover)
October: Original Tomb Raider video game released
November: The Crow: Dead Time (first Crow series with female Crow)
November: Aphrodite IX #0
November: Femme Fatales magazine reports that Ministry of Film bought a 50% of London Night Studios in a deal “valued at over $25 million.”
December: Avatar launches with Pandora, Lookers, Donna Mia, and Silent Rapture
1998
March: Wizard # 79 reports that both Lightening and London Night were ending nude covers due to poor sales (I’m not sure London Night actually stopped)
July: Final issue of Penthouse Comix
August: Aspen # 1
1999
July: Pandora/Razor cross-over from Avatar
August: Razor/Warrior Nun (Final London Night comics published?)
2000
March: EVE Protomecha
March: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #1
2002
October: Dogwitch # 1
2003
March: Brian Pulido’s Lady Death: A Medieval Tale # 1 (Lady Death at Crossgen after Chaos! bankruptcy)
October: Kill Bill vol. 1
2004
April: Hack/Slash # 1
July: Aspen # 1
2005
April: Red Sonja # 0 (launch of new series from Dynamite)
July: Avatar publishes several Lady Death books after Crossgen bankruptcy
June: Zenoscope Entertainment launches with Grimm Fairy Tales # 1
2010
November: Vampirella # 1 from Dynamite Entertainment
Avatar launches Boundless Comics imprint for Lady Death and other bad girl comics
2013
May: Razor: Scars Kickstarter campaign launches
2015
February: Lady Death: Chaos Rules Kickstarter launches following Brian Pullido’s exit from Avatar.
2019
November: Shi: Return of the Warrior Indie GoGo campaign launches.
More in the Outlaw Comics series:
An Introduction to Outlaw Comics
Remembering Glen Hammonds, Outlaw Comics Patron
The Secret Origins of Avatar Press, The Last Outlaw Publisher
