In the comics medium, male super heroes have long dominated the spotlight, while the women have been plagued by short press runs and sidekick status. Cartoonist and comics historian Trina Robbins, author of A Century of Women Cartoonists and Women and the Comics, has lent her knowledge and love of the subject to The Great Women Super Heroes, a book celebrating the women of unnatural physical attributes who kick bad people's asses. Robbins covers most relevant figures from the early '40s to the present day, devoting more attention to Wonder Woman than might be necessary. "Relevant" is a key word here, as the book never sets out to cover every super heroine. Consequently, while Ms. Mystic or the Hellcat might not merit inclusion, Venus, Action Girl and Valkyrie are all worthy of mention. With pull quotes like, "They have rightly named you… Lady Satan… Aaaggghhh!" or "Himmel, vot iss!! Dot black cat!" appearing at the beginning of each chapter, it is readily apparent that Robbins is not only aware of the flaws and pitfalls of the very medium she is celebrating, but she also revels in them. Perhaps this is the reason she rarely brings up the fact that most heroines have abnormally small waists and large breasts which would make daily life, let alone crime-fighting, difficult. Then again, that's merely belaboring the obvious, and Robbins shows great restraint when it comes to the obvious. The Great Women Super Heroes does a nice job emphasizing the visibility of heroines through the ages, and will hopefully be a stepping stone for reprints of some of the heroes she cites.