(Note: I was surprised to see nothing like this in the first few pages of the JLA forum, so I just went with a blog. I did find this thread for an all-female JLA, but the last post was over a year old.)

I've been thinking of my preferred all-female cast of the JL. I wanted to base a seven man team around the "magnificent seven samurai" archetypes, which was used in the Kurosawa flick Seven Samurai and then in the Western remake, Magnificent Seven. Not that I'm looking for a samurai or cowboy themed Justice League roster--although that could still be cool--

--but rather I'm interested in the seven character archetypes used in the formula. For reference, these are:

1. The Hero - Responsible for the team and focused on the team's core goal
2. The Lancer - A foil for the hero, defined most as "what the hero is not" (often the loner, but not always)
3. The Big One - Strongest on the team ("strength" can be abstract)
4. The Smart One - General intelligence, arcane knowledge, or just unique insight
5. The Old One - In age or experience or both, the grizzled veteran
6. The Young One - Either an actual youth or just someone with something to prove
7. The Funny One - Silly, sarcastic, clever, clumsy, or any other form of comedic relief

This was more challenging in DC than I thought it would be. They do have a plethora of female characters who could fit multiple categories. Take, for example, the new52 Barbara Gordon.

1. She's led the Birds of Prey in various incarnations.
2. Before taking the lead, she was Black Canary's 2nd, and she's often the voice of dissent in the Bat Family.
3. She's non-powered, but her she's had a fairly monstrous win record. Which is not to say she couldn't become a physical powerhouse.
4. Although the new52 incarnation has never donned the Oracle cap yet, she's been shown to retain her mental prowess.
5. Despite her youth, she's seen hardship and overcome it. In fact, until her recent reinvention as the "batgirl of burnside", her book has centered around her past traumas.
6. And yet, she is very young, and her new Burnside persona seems to be about expressing and reveling in youth culture while she can, and because she's missed out on so much of it.
7. Although Babs is never just the comedic relief she's been written with strong snark.

There are a lot of female DC characters like that, but for certain categories I got stuck for characters who really champion that archetype. The "funny" one, for example. It was a very limited list for female dedicated comedic relief characters, and most of the ones I came up with were pretty small-time. I guess DC doesn't let girls be the Plastic Man. It was also difficult to find a female hero who was actually old, but I blame that on the new 52's decision to move the JSA to Earth-2 and de-age them all.

Taking the above into account, I came up with the following.

1. Vixen (Mari Jiwe McCabe)
2. Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
3. Wonder Woman (Diana Prince)
4. Question (Renee Montoya)
5. Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol)
6. Rocket (Raquel Ervin)
7. Element Woman (Emily Sung)

Gallery

I like the idea of giving Vixen the all-female team. She's getting a push at the moment, or at least, she is about to considering CW is giving her her own show, and I always liked her character from previous JL incarnations and her features in the animated universe. Putting her in the hero slot also allows her to grow as a hero where with "bigger" characters like Wonder Woman, it would never really be questioned. I would want a character in that slot who has to "earn" it, and that doesn't work if they have nothing to prove. Plus, if the "big three" of this team also includes Wonder Woman and Batgirl, I'm less concerned about the lead as a less prominent character. The other two pick up the slack.

Batgirl is capable, but can also be stubborn. I like her as someone who would challenge Vixen's leadership without going full-on Wolverine or Hawkeye on her. It's a role Batman always played in the JL, so I kind of like the symmetry.

It doesn't really get "bigger" than the God of War. In addition to providing the big gun for the team, Wonder Woman can also be the emotional core of the team--the steady hand from both her personality and her experience. She also legitimizes the team as a "Justice League" somewhat as a founder on the first JL.

Montoya may not fit the "super IQ" concept of intelligence, but Batgirl kind of already has that covered. I like instead the idea that she'll have a unique perspective on any situation they find themselves in, and it would be entertaining to see her bounce off the other characters on the team. I realize Renee as the Question isn't new52, but with her upcoming appearance as such in Convergence, I feel a little more able to include her.

My favorite Hawkwoman, Shayera Hol, was the one featured in the Justice League cartoon and has a strong fanbase from that show, where she played kind of "the wolverine" to the team. I like the new 52 version (a military space cop as in the cartoon, but has only appeared in passing in the Hawkman title) in the "old one" role. Who doesn't love a hardbitten, jaded cop character? Especially one from space, with wings, and a giant mace made of magical metal? I think she'd get along great with Montoya.

Rocket is extremely underused by DC. I don't think she's appeared in the new52 yet, but she was great on Young Justice and if they've already featured Static and Hardware, I'm sure they could work in Raquel as well. She was the emotional heart in the old Icontitle and is the perfect combination of bright, capable, inexperienced, and eager. She's also an aspiring writer, which is a good convention to use her as a point of view character. I could have gone with Stargirl, but she's kind of already being used for this in JLU. Plus we need more milestone characters in the DC proper.

This was the hardest character for me, and I went with Element Woman--the one from Flashpoint, not the super depressing one from Sandman. She hasn't really been featured much, which is strange considering how much attention she got in that story. We have a lot of snarkers and sarcasm in the rest of the squad, so I wanted a bright-funny character like a Wally West Flash or a Plastic Man, but options were limited. The cartoon Starfire from Teen Titans (Go!) would be perfect except she's incredibly not like that in the comics. So, when my choices were Miss Martian, Element Woman, or Copper for the the spacey cartoon-esque comic relief, I figured it should be time that DC delivers on the promise of the "crazy" metamorphae, Emily Sung. I think she makes a good wild card for the team.

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And that's it! My all-female, "magnificent seven" Justice League! Let me know what you think!

dopeeee

~MiB

What about Black Canary and Zatanna?

Thanks!

Both good picks, but I felt like Canary and Question and Batgirl would all overlap too much. That's why I left off Katana as well. With Zatanna, I just have a hard time thinking of her as anything but "Justice League Dark" in the new 52. I was more fond of her animated portrayal. She'd definitely work in "the smart one" slot instead of Montoya though.

Nice choices, not too familiar with either Rocket or Element Woman the rest of the team sounds amazing and Vixen in a leadership role would be something new and read worthy. I imagine the group would bounce of each quite well.

Thanks! There's not much on that Element Woman (just Flashpoint afaik), but I can't recommend the original run of Icon enough. That, Static Shock, and Xombi are the best of the old Milestone stuff. Hardware was pretty decent as well. But Rocket was a fun character that they took the time to really develop both in and out of the mask. Reminded me in some ways of why the old Tim Drake Robin stuff was great. It was a good rounded look at a young character.

@fodigg: Thank you for the recommendations, always on the look out for more stuff to check out. I just remembered that there is an all female team book in the upcoming Convergence event. Justice League: Convergence. It does not feature your exact team but Vixen is in it, and hey an all female big 7 peaked my interest

Wonder Woman

Power Girl (Superman)

Black Canary (Batman)

Jessse Quick (Flash)

Jade (Green Lantern)

Vixen (Martian Manhunter)

Mera (Aquaman)

I would so read the hell out of this book...lol