Body Type Superheroines

I wanted to do a lineup of DC heroines if they had a greater variety of body shapes.  I've been posting them individually on Tumblr, but this is a full lineup, lined up for height.

Wonder Woman: Hourglass.  Being what amounts to the default superheroine, and literally being blessed with beauty by the gods, I find it okay for her to be the hourglass figure of the group.  That doesn’t mean she’s not muscled, though.  Wonder Woman’s powers are magical in nature, so the amount of muscle doesn’t necesarily need to reflect the level of her strength, but she is from an extremely athletic culture, so she would therefore have an athletic body in terms of muscle tone and amount.  It’s also fairly consistant that she be pretty darn tall, so I have her right at 6 foot (the line right at 5’4” on the side represents the height of the average woman).  Something that isn’t consistantly illustrated is how Greek she ought to look; I drew her with a more olive skin tone, a flatter nose bridge, and curlier hair (pulled back for action).

For the pose here, I used a Terry Dodson picture as reference, because he basically draws the best Wonder Woman ever.

Other hourglass figures in the DC Universe (as I imagine they would be) include: Huntress (she’s basically a tall, lean, Italian beauty), Poison Ivy (designed to evoke a southern belle, specifically), and Black Canary (Dinah Drake, mother of Dinah Lance who we will see later in this project, is something of a pin up superheroine).

Power Girl: Apple/Plus size.  I hesitate on what to call her shape here.  I used Jada Sezer, who is referred to as a plus size model, for the reference, but fashion industry plus size isn’t really all that, well, plus.  I think Apple Shape is a bit more accurate, though her waist is definitely cinched more than, say, Amanda Waller (when the Wall is done properly).  In either case, Power Girl’s biggest (heh) physical attribute(s) obviously is her quite super bust size; problem is, you don’t typically get that in real life along with the tiny waist she typically is portrayed with.  So while she’s still got her curves, she really ought to have more ample everything.  And if you’ve seen pictures of Jada Sezer, you know this is by no means unnatractive.

This also brings up the issue of Kryptonian physiology.  Superman is portrayed as a barrel chested, muscled god, and this is assumed to be part of his super strength.  But his muscles really have no true bearing on his powers, as muscles alone cannot grant him the ability to, say, pick up a continent and throw it into the sun.  So I take his body shape to be more reflective of his earth upbringing, showing him off as a strapping young farmhand.  Power Girl (and Supergirl) were not raised on a farm.  For all intents and purposes, they grew up on Krypton as totally normal teenage girls, and by the time they ended up on Earth, their body shapes should reflect the variety of real life teenage girls growing up under normal circumstances (regardless of what planet they grew up on). 

Other apple shapes in the DC in the DC Universe include: Amanda Waller (proper), Etta Candy (she has a history with battling weight, but even when at a healthy size she’s a hefty gal), Stompa of the Female Furies, and Natasha Irons.  Really, this ought to be the standard body shape of powerhouse female characters.

Black Canary (Dinah Lance version): pear shape.  Canary’s costume (with the fishnet stockings on bare legs and the lack of cleavage) puts the focal point clearly on her legs, which I find to be an empowering design element because her legs are also her greastest weapons (sonic scream notwithstanding).  It therefore makes sense that she’d be a hip-ier character than most.  This is in direct contradiction with her mother, who I take to be an hourglass figure; her mother’s costume features cleavage, but also slightly more covered legs (the blue tights under the fishnets), and her mother also seems to be slightly more confident about her body.  The hair is also a point of difference; her mother wears her hair in a peekaboo style (sexier, but not battle practical), Dinah Lance, the more martial arts focused of the two, wears hers in a pulled back ponytail (well, she hasn’t recently, but I prefer it when she does.)

Other pear shapes in the DC Universe (by my reasoning) include: Lady Blackhawk (assuming she’s dressing to emphasize her body type, her short skirt would favor her derrière), Zatanna (she wears a stage magician’s outfit, her outfit is definitely meant to be flaterring), and Raven (that’s how the animated Teen Titans drew her).

Batgirl: petite.  I have her right at 5 feet, with a small frame.  Now, not every version would agree with this.  The original design was awfully tall and lean, but “ideal” has been “default” for decades now and that’s part of the problem.  I thought this fit her personality  The character has always been fighting an uphill battle: she’s powerless, untrained, underage when she first got started, differently abled at the point she becomes Oracle, and never taken quite as seriously as was the shadow she’s lived under.  But she perserveres, and kind of stole everybody’s heart doing so.  Making her tiny just fits with the theme, not to mention the gymnist’s build that compliments her fighting style.  I also feel like she should be ginger.  There’s redheads aplenty throughout all of comic bookdom; almost none of them are illustrated as gingers.  So pale skin and freckled it is.

Now, petite is more of a build than it is a body shape, so there will be curvier and straighter petite characters all throughout.  Barbara Gordon I count as the curvier petite, for instance.  I think other petites would be Tarantula (curvy), Kimiyo Hoshi Doctor Light (slender), Terra (very slender), and Harley Quinn (kind of in between).

Oracle is also included.  Still ginger and petite, but her legs are leaner from non use, and her arms are bulkier from doing everything.

Vixen: super skinny.  Here’s the deal, Vixen is a super model.  That’s her career, that’s her day job; she should look the part.  The fashion industry gets a lot of (well deserved) flack for pushing this one body shape as the “ideal”, even when it qualifies as unhealthy for most women who might attempt to achieve it.  While it’s true that many models force themselves into the shape to work in the industry, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who fit the shape naturally.  So assuming that Vixen’s body shape makes her ideal for the industry, and that she’s a strong willed enough person to not force herself into a body shape that doesn’t suit her, she ought to fit the industry standard of being very tall (I have her here around 5’10”) and very skinny (in her case, naturally so).  

This isn’t quite rectangle shape, I’m qualifying this as just super skinny.  As such, it’s another body qualifyer more than its own shape, like petite.  Vixen is a very tall super skinny, but others could be short and super skinny, or even hippy or inverted triangle but still skinny.  Also, because the super skinny look allows little in the way of body fat or muscle mass, most superheroines with this body shape would likely have powers based magic or possibly scientifically enhanced abilities that don’t include muscle augmentation.  Urban vigilantes who have to work out to stay in shape basically can’t look like this.

Other super skinnies of the DC Universe include: Supergirl and Misfit (I classify them as rectangles, but both have powers that allow them to fit this shape; the other rectangles I list do not), Kimyo Hoshi Doctor Light (also classified as a slender petite), Bumblebee (her height and weight is difficult to pin down, considering her powers, but I don’t think of her shape as generally petite, I think of her as very slender or skinny, and very light for better flying meaning less in the way of muscle mass).

Fire: big booty.

Sorry for the butt pose here, but it had to be done to prove a point.  Okay, let me give some background here.  I work at a blue jean store that specializes in fitting a variety of body shapes (funny thing, I’ve been emphasizing variety in body shapes in my art long before I started working there, so I was a good fit).  And let me tell you, pear shapes and big booties are two completely different things (and completely different blue jean fits).

Fire feels like she ought to be a no brainer here.  Because she has a (self maintained) reputation for sexiness, the initial thought would be hourglass, but this felt more unique.  Furthermore, not to profile here, but the big booty shape is found predominantly in black women.  Fire is Brazilian, and while she’s always been illustrated with fairly light skin, Brazil is quite a melting pot, and you get people of all skin tones and ethnic backgrounds.  And body shapes.  So, imagining she’s of hispanic and African descent, she’s got a darker skin tone, a big booty, and a spicy personality.

The thing about the big booty is that it applies to a variety of other body shapes as well.  It’s going to lean toward wide hips, but is not exacly limited to them, so unless you have a waif like body, you could also have a big booty.  I think other big booties in the DC Universe include: Lady Blackhawk (a rarer, white big booty, but I think she’s got it.  I already listed her as a pear shape), Thunder (daughter of Black Lightning, sister of Lightning; Thunder is depicted as the shorter of the two, Lightning being taller and leaner), Renee Montoya (Harvey Bullock has said as much).   

Ice: inverted triangle shape.  2 years ago, this shape was all I drew.  Not on purpose, I just didn't know how hips worked.  Inverted triangle shapes are somewhat overlooked; most people tend to leave the body classifications at hourglass, pear, apple, and banana, but forget that the opposite of the pear is sometimes the case.  Generally, the shoulders are the wider and the hips narrower, but there’s effects kind of down the whole body (more blue jean related experience, there was a self professed inverted triangle shaped girl who said she had the hardest time finding pants that fit; she did fit into one of ours, but all logic went out the window when finding the right measurements).  

Ice’s costume has some gentle, triangular shapes that I thought would look flattering on this body type; the broad shoulders also made me think of a strong woman from an icy region, while the more delicate, tapering body below the shoulders still felt like Tora.  I still distinctly have her as fairly short, almost as short as my petite Batgirl.

The inverted triangle shape is most associated with a dancer’s, or ballerina’s body type; alternately, broad shoulders are often associated with strength.  By that logic, other inverted triangle shapes in the DCU would be: Scandal Savage (portrayed as mucled yet slender, very characteristic of a ballerina), Lightning (sister of Thunder, it would make sense for her body to somewhat be shaped like a lightning bolt), Mary Marvel (her super powered, adult form).  

Supergirl: rectangle/banana shape.  As you can see, I went pretty much the opposite direction with Supergirl’s body shape from Power Girl's.  While there’s a variety of interpretations to Supergirl’s frame (she has recently been portrayed as super skinny, but Super Best Friends Forever had her as hefty and curvy, based on circles), I favor the idea of her design reflecting her as something of an awkward teenage girl, and for that the rectangle/banana shape works well.  I also like the idea of her being pretty much the opposite of Power Girl; they may be essentially the same character, but being from alternate universes should have some bearing on that, especially if they’re going to spend most of their time inhabiting the same one.  Lastly, once more the Kryptonian physiology (and super strength) doesn’t really have any bearing on body shape, being photosynthetic in nature and not truly muscle based.  Kara’s life pre earth is basically just hanging out at Astro City High School, nothing that would need to be reflected with a particularly muscular frame.  

The rectangle/banana shape ought to be more common among teenage superheroines.  I say Wonder Girl (Cassie version), Misfit, and definitely Cassandra Cain Batgirl.  I prefer the Teen Titans cartoon design of Starfire to the comics version, so I say her too.  There are exceptions to the teenage waif, such as Stephanie Brown (quite curvy, commonly portrayed as an early bloomer), Black Alice (seems to be an hourglass or at least a bit curvier; she was very popular in high school after all).  Mary Marvel doesn’t even count as she has an adult body in super form (I do think she should have freckles, regardless).

Adult rectangles would probably include Manhunter (while muscular, I tend to think of her as pretty slender), Artemis of the Bana-Mighdal Amazons, and Dove (Dawn Granger version).

Last but not least, Big Barda: tall.  Again, this is more a body qualifyer than body shape, but Barda is basically really, really tall.  Barda’s unique physiology of being just huge is already canon (one of the many ways Jack Kirby was ahead of his time, he did in fact have variety of body shapes), so there’s no real need for explanation here.  Just in general, very tall people, like 6 feet and up, can still cover just about all of the body shapes.  For Barda, she’s supposed to be very strong and also athletic and muscular.  I’ve seen Barda illustrated as thin and limber, but this goes against Jack Kirby’s original designs (which were, while curvy, distinctly stout).

Other really tall (6 foot and up) characters in the DCU include:  Wonder Woman (I already have her as a 6 foot hourglass) and probably many of the Amazons, and Giganta (I think of her as still tall at normal height, and probably a curvy apple shape).