Valkyries; hold the Cruise

Lady Liberators, Line Up!

Valkyrie illustration by Grant Gould, who also shows you how he made it. One of these days he's going to do a whole set of these and I'm gonna buy 'em.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has a nice summary of the Lady Liberators' background as well as reviews of various comics featuring those characters.

There's also a list of the "Top 25 Liberating Ladies," though the title is used loosely. The list includes not only women who were never on one of the Lady Liberators teams, but also DC and other superheroines.

Here's the Top Five:

1. Invisible Woman
2. Wonder Woman
3. Catwoman
4. Storm
5. Sonya Blade (from Mortal Kombat)

Not sure what the list's criteria were and I'm really not sure that I agree with the rankings, but it's still a cool checklist of Action Girls.

All the Windwracked Stars

Elizabeth Bear's new book is a science fantasy featuring human-animal hybrids, giant steam-powered warhorses, and a huge helping of Norse mythology including a Valkyrie as the main character. Sounds promising, eh?

Publishers Weekly gives it an encouraging if not glowing review: "Readers will be captivated by Bear's incredibly complex, broken characters; multilayered themes of redemption; and haunting, world-breaking decisions. While stilted prose slows the beginning of the tale, its finale is both rewarding and compelling."