I really liked the article about comics without capes/superheroes. I am 15 years old, and I don't like superheroes either, but I love fantasy books, and love fantasy movies. Are there good ones in the world of comics with female lead characters? If so, can you tell me some good ones?"
Thank you for the message. I am rather certain that what I've read in fantasy comics with female leads is not nearly wide or deep in terms of knowledge and availability. Comics can be found in single issue form, and some of those shared here are that, but most are collections of such, and they are referred to as TPBs whereas single stories in one large form are called original graphic novels.
Mark Smylie's work ARTESIA is an amazing work, that touches upon military, government, magic, and sexual power. It is in fact beautiful to look at, to read is a greatly rewarding experience, and the complex relationships and depth of stories makes this one work worth the money, no matter what you paid. It isn't completed, but I hope it will be.
CrossGen Comics had a number of non superhero comics that were to feature female leads, and focus upon fantasy and adventure in fantasy worlds. SOJOURN follows an archer who is on a quest to avenge the murder of her family by an evil overlord and various fantasy sorts of villains. The art is beautiful, perhaps more static and posed than fluid and sequential, but it works. The epic quest is worth joining, and it is sad there were not more of these.
ELFQUEST is a work that celebrates a sort of Elf that has more in common with faeries of legend than JRR Tolkien or even any of the fine TSR novels. It is a great comic for readers who are from any gender, and it is somewhat mature, but perfectly readable for many reasons. The characters, male and female are strong, and equally interesting, and tied by relationships, it is sexy, beautiful to look at, and the stories are compelling, making the case for how all members of a tribe have something to contribute, from lesser to greater.
LADY DEATH was originally a comic for fanboys who loved large breasts. Whatever the quality of story, they were limited by perceptions, and focus. When the publisher who published Lady Death folded, the creator took his creation to CrossGen, and reimagined a different kind of character, in more than one series. The focus being more serious, and still dark, the stories were now about an Elf warrior who was forced into heroic response by the circumstances and racism of others to save herself and perhaps even her people. I don't recommend LADY DEATH as it would likely bore most mature readers, and offend others. But MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH was quite nice. It should have been collected in tpb form.
MERIDIAN is the story of a young woman who is marked with a special sigil that grants her powers, of healing, of flight and more. She lives in a world that is absolutely fantastical, with islands that float in the sky, and magical places throughout. Of the titles offered here in this article this was the least rewarding to me, but those comics offered here are of a rather high quality. To say this series was a B or B+ should not dissuade potential readers, it was good. It just wasn't, for the most part, memorably GREAT.
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