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ENTITY explains why women in comic books are superheroes in their own right.Screenshot from IGN

The comic book world is often thought of as a traditionally male space. Women readers have been marked as the “other.” But despite this exclusion, there are still some passionate and talented women who are changing the genre by creating comics directed towards all audiences, regardless of gender. Here are three comic book writers who changed the game.

1 Kelly Sue DeConnick

Kelly Sue DeConnick began writing comics in 2006 for Image Comics’ series “24Seven.” Since then, she has become one of the most prolific modern writers of comics. One of her first bigger works was writing the first eight issues of the 2012-2014 run of “Avengers Assemble.”

However, she is best known for her work on the reinvention of Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) into Captain Marvel in the ongoing standalone series “Captain Marvel.” According to Meagan Damore, “One of DeConnick’s strengths has always been her ability to create fully formed, lovable characters within the space of a few pages and, I’m glad to say, Captain Marvel #1 is no exception.”

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READ MORE: 11 Comic Book Heroes of Color You Should Know About

DeConnick, however, has stepped down after writing the first three issues of the series “Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps.” But this doesn’t mean she hasn’t been working. Her fantasy gothic series “Pretty Deadly” earned her a nomination for the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 2014.

Her other series, “Bitch Planet,” a feminist science fiction series, has also been positively received. DeConnick herself is always in contact with her fans and has started a company with her husband and fellow comic writer, Matt Fraction, called “Milkfed Criminal Masterminds.” Overall, DeConnick has been incredibly successful and accepted by longtime comic fans, new readers and critics.

2 Babs Tarr

Another writer, Babs Tarr, is known for her feminine manga-esque illustrations and has made a name for herself as a fresh, new voice in the comic world.

After working as a free-lance illustrator for many years, Babs burst onto the comic scene with the 2014 revamp of the “Batgirl” series which she worked on with artist Cameron Stewart. Their collaboration on Batgirl’s new, more hip and practical outfits caused waves within the comic community. She has also made many beautiful variant covers for series such as “Gotham Academy” and “Convergence – Superboy.”

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READ MORE: All-Female Spinoff of ‘Suicide Squad’: Why It Matters

When asked about women in the industry, Tarr told DC comics, “I think it’s nice to have more women in comics because I feel like they’re going to create more books with a greater level of diversity, which means there will be more things for readers like me to immerse ourselves in and enjoy. So I think in that one aspect we’ve turned a corner.”

3 Gail Simone

Perhaps one of the most active female voices in the comics book world is Gail Simone. She is best known for writing of the series, “Birds of Prey,” which teams up heroes including Huntress, Oracle and Black Canary. Although she broke into mainstream culture with Marvel’s “Deadpool,” she has mainly written for DC Comics. One of her biggest accomplishments was being one of Wonder Woman’s longest-running female writers. She wrote from issue #13 in 2007 through issue #600 in 2010. In 2011, Simone started writing the New 52’s version of “Batgirl.”

However, what makes Simone so iconic is her work on the “Women in Refrigerators” website, which launched in 1999. The unusual name coming from a “Green Lantern” issue in which Green Latern comes home to find his girlfriend murdered and stuffed in a fridge, the list features female characters that were maimed or killed to benefit a male character’s storyline rather than becoming fully developed characters. Simone stated that “you demolish most of the characters girls like, then girls won’t read comics. That’s it!”

READ MORE: ‘Batgirl’ Writer Gail Simone Pushes for Diversity in Comic Books

Overall, it’s important to note these creators in the spectrum of the comic world. Despite common cultural expectations, comics are not just a medium for the male voice. They provide an area for female expression, as these three writers so clearly show.

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