You can’t say that DC Comics isn’t trying, folks.

They’re building a cinematic universe. They’re refreshing their comics. And now, after much demand, they’re building a girl-centric brand - but I’m wondering if it’s more problematic than positive.

Yesterday, DC Comics officially announced its DC Super Hero Girls initiative, coming this Fall. It will include books, toys, TV specials, direct-to-video animation - everything you’ve come to expect from a massive multi-media push.

[caption id=“attachment_20315” align=“aligncenter” width=“600”] The DC Super Hero Girls, in full.[/caption]

Lets first address the positive - they’re finally embracing female fans. After so much backlash (which really came up after Young Justice was cancelled, due to not selling enough “boys” toys and having a strong female fanbase), DC is heading to where the puck is - and will be - and is aiming to get female fans interested early. Hopefully with these fans growing up and picking up female-positive books like the current run of Batgirl and the forthcoming Black Canary.

That said - I have some concerns (which, by my own admission, as a boring white male, probably aren’t going to be as well phrased as those from an actual female). This feels like a pandering move in some ways.

You have your Burger King Kids Club-esq expansion to go deep and push diversity (Katana and Bumblebee have been in obscurity for ages - which hopefully changes here). You have a very Disney Princess-esq redesign of the characters, which subverts the strength of many of these characters (I do really like the Harley Quinn re-design though). Heck, even the name bugs me a bit.

In many ways, this feels like when Nerf made its female-centric line, or when LEGO created LEGO Friends. It’s nice to see them admit that there’s a proper female fanbase, but why do they have to say “Oh, the ‘normal’ thing? That’s for BOYS. Here’s your GIRL version.”

Like I said above, however - if this leads to a greater accessibility and interest for the world of comics, and DC is smart enough to keep producing books to interest their growing female fanbase, this can be a great thing. I’m just cynical of their goals, and wondering how much of this is a genuine outreach, and how much is pandering.  But hey, in this regard, they’re batting better than Marvel these days.