The Platinum Jubilee means… A Quorum of Comic Queens

This weekend in the United Kingdom of Great Britain of Northern Ireland we’re marking the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This got me thinking – who are the best comic book queens (no gags about Extrano, now).

But how to define ‘best’? Most competent? Strongest? Nicest? The heck with it, let’s just bring ‘em on.

Hippolyta

Or Hippolyte, if you’re post-Crisis. The mother of Wonder Woman has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride down the decades. Mostly she’s been the wise, supportive mother, ruling with a gentle hand on Paradise Island as she waits for her daughter to visit. Sometimes she’s the warrior queen, working with the Justice League or Society. Too often, though, she’s been the interfering mother, driven by love to mess with Diana’s life. Wipe her memories to ‘spare her pain’? Can do. Allow Artemis to take over the Wonder Woman role so she’s the one to get slain by a dragon? No bother. Hippolyta can be one twisted mother.

Queen Bee

The first female Justice League villainess I ever came across, Zazzala controlled a legion of Bee-Men drones she sent on raiding parties from her world of Korll. And soon she had the Justice League of America under her spell… she enchanted me the moment I saw her on the cover of JLA #23, just look at her evil majesty, her grim grace! In recent decades the Queen Bee has been replaced by a pretender, some boring biddy from Bialya. She’s best hived off.

Mera

What’s better than being a queen? Being a queen times two! Mera is not only queen of Atlantis via her marriage to Aquaman, she’s also been ruler of her home realm of Dimension Aqua, or Xebel. She has brains, looks and Green Lantern-style hard water powers. Life hasn’t been a breeze, though, with periods of mental instability and the loss of her baby son, Arthur Jr. Today she’s one of the strongest heroes of the DC Universe, both mentally and physically.

Maxima

The powerhouse queen of the planet Almerac, man-mad Maxima was originally an adversary of Superman due to her inability to accept that No means No. Maxima wanted a husband as powerful as herself to ensure the royal line, maybe invade a few local worlds… She grew as a person, though, stopped being a royal pain and became a valued member of the Justice League (admittedly, she did try to persuade Amazing Man and Captain Atom to be her royal stud). In recent years we’ve met a new, younger Maxima and, as with the two Queen Bees, the original is by far the best.

Queen Projectra

For most of her career as a superheroine, the heir to the throne of Orando was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes as Princess Projectra. With the ability to cast illusions so real they would convince your heart even if your mind knew Projectra’s power, she went up against the galaxy’s worst villains. One day, though, her father died, and she took the role she was born for. Retirement with husband and fellow Legionnaire Karate Kid was wrecked when the Legion of Super-Villains invaded Orando and… well, if you don’t know, read the Legion of Super-Heroes run that began in 1984 on the DC Infinite app or via the trades, you won’t be sorry. There have been two subsequent versions of Jeckie, but again, don’t bother (don’t mention the snake!).

And there are more. But I’d like to hear which other comic queens out there you reckon are worthy of not. Which queen rules?