Back in the day, when I entertained my wild-eyed dreams of becoming a New York Times bestselling novelist, I used to take part in NaNoWriMo. Oh, but for the riches I would have reaped if I could only write more than 10K words in a month! I even went to a meet-up, where prospective writers would meet at a bar on the first day and talk about the stories they would like to write. Typically, most would be sci-fi, fantasy, or horror stories. If you’ve ever taken a glimpse of the typical NaNoWriMo story, this should be a surprise to absolutely no one. You have to wonder, why would we be rehashing the exact same themes?

There are many theories, but one guy at that meet put it best. He said he didn’t know what kind of story he wanted to write. However, he wanted there to be monsters. Not the allegorical human kind like serial killers and corrupt government officials, which, I am told, is the most frightening kind of all. Actual monsters with bumps and scales and may or may not breathe fire. The ones that are as big as a house. Maybe even bigger. They grab the imagination. They elicit awe and wonder.

I mean, you can see regular human beings every day. You can see the “human monsters” every night on CNN. But big dragons, weird space aliens, Cthulhu-inspired tentacle creatures and other assorted monsters that are larger than they should be? These are the sorts of creatures that can only be brought to life through the power of imagination.

It’s one of the things that catches the eye when you read through Ashley Cope’s Unsounded. She hits us with one big beastie after another. In chapter one, our heroes encounter a large, hulking beast made of earth, rocks, and plant matter. Later on, we see more docile beasties: big dogs that serve as beasts of burden. There are also giant half-frogs, half-robot things that can lift trees with one hand.

However, if the “humans are the greatest monsters of all” theme is more up to your speed, then you’re also probably the sort of person who likes to argue why Gormenghast is superior to Lord of the Rings. Surprisingly, Ms. Cope has you covered.

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Female action heroes have had a difficult road to travel in comics. Beyond societal gender politics of eras past, female comic heroes have fairly lascivious origins. Take Wonder Woman, for instance, one of the first female superheroes. She is a very heroic character, no doubt, but her reputation will always be tainted because her creator was Dr. William Marston, the feminist psychologist who was way into bondage and polyamorous relationships.

Superhero comics have traditionally been bought by pre-adolescent males, which means that female heroes often cater to the “boys rule/girls have cooties” and “girls are hot” extremes. Even when comic publishers try to update their female superheroes to modern times, they fall into the same problems. Sue Storm, for example, begun her career in the 1960′s with the weakest power (turns invisible) and was pretty much the damsel in distress. Then Marvel was all, “That sort of ignorant 60′s characterization doesn’t fly in the modern day!” So, to keep up with the changing audiences… marvel introduced a “sexy” Sue Storm with a boob window in the shape of the number 4.

Oh, the 90′s.

We’re still recovering from that, by the way, with DC recently passed an edict that, in their new rebooted universe, the superheroines gotta wear pants. OK, a good step in the right direction … but one that might be taken too far the wrong way, too, since all of the sudden we’re passing standards where the ladies have to cover up.

I see webcomics as something of a fresh start. A way to break away from all this madness. It’s a relative new medium unsaddled by the sometimes misogynistic origins of the past. So, to highlight the hard-hitting, high-flying, ass-kicking ladies of action in webcomics, I’m resurrecting the “Girl Power Week” concept.

First up is Otherworld, created by Toby Gard. This comic is rated 16+, borderline NSFW, for scenes of graphic disembowelments and naked boobs.

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