Despite the growing importance of heroines across literary cultureampampmdashand sales figures that demonstrate both young adult and adult females are reading about heroines in droves particularly in graphic novels comic books and YA literatureampampmdashfew scholarly collections have examined the complex relationships between the representations of heroines and the changing societal roles for both women and men.In Heroines of Comic Books and Literature Portrayals in Popular Culture editors Maja BajacCarter Norma Jones and Bob Batchelor have selected essays by awardwinning contributors that offer a variety of perspectives on the representations of heroines in todayampamprsquos society. Focused on printed media this collection looks at heroic women depicted in literature graphic novels manga and comic books. Addressing heroines from such sources as the Marvel and DC comic universes manga and the Twilight novels contributors go beyond the account of women as mothers wives warriors goddesses and damsels in distress.These engaging and important essays situate heroines within culture revealing them as tough and selfsufficient females who often break the bounds of gender expectations in places readers may not expect.