Top 10 Comic Book Girls I’ve Crushed On

Growing up as a teenage boy reading 90′s comics had it’s ups and downs; I witnessed Kingdom Come and Marvels, Jim Lee on X-Men, long haired superheroes, and far too many company crossovers, but some of my favorite memories are crushing on the poofy haired, bright colored, hard knocked women who controlled the hearts of my favorite heroes. So in honor of them here are the Top 10 Comic Book Girls I’ve Crushed On.

#10. Rogue

WHY: My first real introduction to Rogue was in the X-Men Cartoon, and being the geeky kid who’s mom fixed my hair for picture day and bought some of my clothes, Rogue was that dreamy older woman who would let me wear ripped jeans, ride on her motorcycle (I assumed she had one), fall in love with me, and of course, always wear tight yellow and green spandex.

#9. Rosayn (Calvin and Hobbes)

WHY: I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes and although I admittedly didn’t have a real “thing” for Rosayn I always enjoyed reading her stories with Calvin; I wonder if somewhere deep down inside Calvin was starting to crush on his babysitter (and honestly, which one of us haven’t?) We know he is destined for Susie Derkins but all the times he hid Rosayn’s homework, locked her out of the house, or crank called her boyfriend…sounds like a crush to me.

#8. Vicki Vale

WHY: Despite never playing a major role in the Batman mythos and being an obvious Louis Lane rip-off I’ve always had an obligated crush on the Ms. Vale. I mean, if she’s good enough for Bruce Wayne, she’s good enough for me. Also, in 1989 Kim Basinger was a-mazing.

#7. Amazon

WHY: When I was 12 years old Marvel vs. DC Comics was the most mind blowing, out of this world, crazy event ever. It was heaven for me; and other than Dark Claw no one intrigued me as much as Amazon. The coming together of Wonder Woman and Storm was just too much for my head to contain. It was love at first site and for as much flak as 90′s comics get, this was one of it’s shining moments for me (sad…I know).

#6. Barbara Gordon

WHY: As a devout Batman fan how was I NOT supposed to crush on Barbara Gordon? Her level of depth in the Batman mythos was deeper than any other female character and despite her lake of kick-butt action or wanting-to-bust-out-of-the-spandex-body (both of which she sports once in awhile) she was still able to catch the affection of some of DC’s finest like Dick Grayson; whether it was her leadership, smarts, or those glasses, Barbara Gordon was always a little different…and that made her all the more desirable.

#5. April O’Neil

WHY: Any redhead woman (although originally she had dark brown/black hair) who wears a yellow jumpsuit, loves pizza, and hangs out with the ninja turtles more than qualifies as a crush. Given the size of my obsession as a kid though I imagine our date would consist of me asking question about what it’s like to hang out with “the guys” and her repeatedly checking the time.

#4. Emma Frost

WHY: I’ve never read a ton of X-Men and sadly I know very little about Emma as a character…but if ever there was a centerfold model to the Marvel universe it is Emma Frost. And with artists like Greg Horn it didn’t take much for me to memorize Emma Frost’s name.

#3. Jubilee

WHY: Young, cute, rebellious, gymnast, sidekick to Wolverine, and again with the yellow jacket…everything my teenager comic book reading needed to develop a crush. Come on, she was perfect. The only thing that spoiled it for me was the thought of Wolverine sniffing out that we sneaked out to the movies. Bummer.

#2. Huntress

WHY: Huntress is the ultimate for me; she’s a Batman character, a real woman (no powers), kicking body, kicking action, could hang with the best, proved herself time and time again, and had the BEST costume of any woman in the DC Universe (matter of opinion). I don’t know if it was a specific story that sparked it or if we were just ‘meant to be’ but Huntress has always been my favorite woman of the DC Universe. Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Starfire, they’re all nice but put Huntress in a story and BOOM, I’m hooked. And if my 15 year old self was here he’d suggest Jennifer Love Hewitt as the perfect casting. Looking back, I wish I could tell you I’m laughing at that…but I had it pretty bad for Jennifer Love too.

#1. Caitlin Fairchild

WHY: Only one girl could battle my crush for Huntress and although I only bought issues of Gen 13 here and there anyone familiar with Jim Lee and J. Scott Campbell’s art on the project, along with her natural wittiness and intellectual skills, can understand why Caitlin Fairchild was the perfect girl for me. She was a looked-up-to naturally born leader who could kick ass and star in a photo shoot all in the same day. Sure it’s cliche, the do everything unrealistic looking female comic book character, but I was a teenager, what was I supposed to do? She’s the rich man’s Lara Croft, my Jonathan Taylor Thomas to all those girls who watched hours of Home Improvement.

Well there you have it, my teen years of comic book girl crushes exposed; from the company crossover creation to the mafia born hottie. There were always characters like Catwoman and Black Widow who were a blast to read also but no one was as awesome to me as these 10. Being older now I look back and laugh, but back then there was nothing funny about April O’Neal or the fireworks between me and Jubilee (get it? eh? eeeh?)