The comic verse has hundreds upon hundreds of female super heroines and supervillains. How many can you name? Really, if you’re not a super comic geek, really take a moment to think. As you begin running through the list, you may find that it is shorter than you might think. Catwoman, Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Super Girl, Wonder Woman, Black Widow.

The problem is that the majority of women get the bulk of their DC and Marvel knowledge from television and film. And unfortunately, comics adapted into a film medium tend to focus on the same male heroes over and over again. (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Batman, sheesh!)

It begs the question. What do you do when you need to find the right superhero costume for a party? You have two options.

Option one is to go with what you know. While this method is certainly valid, it does tend to result in the party being full of women dressed as Catwoman. Good if you want to get away with cat burglary. Not too cool if you want to flaunt a badass costume.

For those of you hoping to dress in a unique costume, go with option two: the lesser known heroines and villainesses. Here are a few badass comic women to kick start your imagination.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy is a criminal in the batman universe. She’s an eco-terrorist who isn’t afraid to get her hands a little dirty in her quest to save the environment. Her primary weapons are toxins she derives from the plants she loves, often administered via kiss.

Due to her appearance in the original Batman movies, she is one lesser known supervillain who has premade costumes available. For those peeps who want to skip the pre-made costume, you can transform yourself into Poison Ivy with:

• a red wig
• a green dress
• green tights
• leaf appliques.

 

Batwoman

Batwoman has been a part of the super hero universe since the 1950’s. Her back story was fairly pedantic.  A wealthy heiress who used to be a circus performer decided that fighting crime was the thing to do with her never ending supply of money. In 2006, the DC universe revamped the Batwoman character. The newest version Kate Kane is an ex-military officer turned vigilante.

Regardless of her origins story, it can’t be denied, her crime fighting get-up is bad ass. As a very obscure superhero, you will have a very hard time locating a pre-made costume. You’ll have to create this costume from scratch. To become Batwoman you need:

• a red wig
• black leather pants
• a black long sleeve shirt with the red bat sewn onto the chest
• red boots
• red elbow length gloves
• a red and black cape
• a black mask

 

Huntress

In some iterations, Huntress is the child of Batman and Catwoman. In others, she is their contemporary, mob princess Helena Bertinelli. In 2002 Huntress appeared in the 2002 television series “Birds of Prey,” par for the course dressed head-to-toe in black leather. (Unfortunately the show did not make it past the first season.)

With Huntress, you have two different costume options: the comic or television crime fighting get-up. In the comics, Huntress wears a traditional Bat costume. In the television series, Huntress attempts to deny all connection to batman, so the costume is more unique. The comic costume consists of:

• a black shirt and pants
• a purple belt
• purple boots
• a purple cape
• a purple mask.

The television costume consists of:

• a black trench coat
• black boots
• leather pants
• a leather shirt

 

Poison Ivy, Batwoman, and Huntress are only three more villains in the pantheon of DC super heroes and villains. Still that’s four more costumes that may prevent you from becoming a super hero doppelganger. If none of the heroines seem to be your style, don’t fear- there a hundreds more to choose from.