In a 2012 interview with ComicsAlliance.com, Kelly Sue Deconnick encapsulated a mental “litmus” test that a writer should do concerning their female characters…

“If you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft. They have to be protagonists, not devices.”

I can’t think of a better way to have put it.

DeConnick’s career in the US comic industry was launched with a story that appeared in 2004’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigations – Dominos (#5) for IDW Publishing. Before that, she had, for seven years, translated Japanese manga. Since her first published work, she has written for both DC and Marvel (her runs on Aquaman and Captain Marvel received considerable praise), and assisted in the organization Creators for Creators – to support creator-owned comics.

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