''Marvel Divas'' is a

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. On April 9, Marvel Editor-in-Chief

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...

revealed in his weekly blog with MySpace Comic Books that the series follows four female heroes, who, up until now, had nothing in common. The group featured Firestar (Angelica Jones), Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), Hellcat (Patsy Walker) and Photon (Monica Rambeau), four single women who bond over their inabilities to find a solid romance. The creative team is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic.

Background

Originally, Aguirre-Sacasa had envisioned it as a solo book featuring the

Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...

. Further brainstorming had prompted him to pitch the miniseries as a ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' homage for the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

. He chose the four most unlikely characters and made them bond over their inabilities to find romance and the fact they were heroes. Aguirre-Sacasa describes the series as "a lot of hot fun". Most of the series would be viewed through the perspective of Hellcat.

Plot

The series' four main story lines connect to a larger story. Hellcat deals with her ex-husband,

Daimon Hellstrom Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daimon made his live-action debut in the Hulu television series '' Helstrom'', played by Tom ...

's attempts to reenter her life. Photon, also dealing with an ex, helps

Brother Voodoo Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #169 (September 1973). The character was created by publisher Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, L ...

retrieve a powerful artifact. The Black Cat considers a return to the life of crime. Firestar, a graduate student studying art history, deals with her radiation powers giving her breast cancer.

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

appeared in the third issue of the miniseries.

Criticism

The cover of the first issue and the likening of the plot to ''

'' has had Marvel and Aguirre-Sacasa accused of

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

. Aguirre-Sacasa's response was "In terms of those specific accusations, it's something I'm pretty sensitive to, and I think my record holds that I've never written a misogynistic story, including 'Divas'". His response to the cover was "It's sexy, it's fun, it catches the eye, it gets people talking. ..To me, the book stands and falls on its content, which is either your cup of tea or not, but I promise you it's not misogynistic."

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

: *''Marvel Divas'' (104 pages, Marvel Comics, January 2010, )

Notes

References

* * {{Refend