ABSTRACT
There is a notable change in Indian superhero comics produced from the late 1980s to those of the early twenty-first century. Principally, stories have become more global, graphics more adventurous, and bodies more muscular and/or eroticised. This chapter considers the distinct place held by female characters in Raj Comics superhero tales. For many in the pantheon of superheroes in the Raj Comics publishing world, morality is deeply driven through their appearance, characterisation and conduct. The chapter moves on to attributes of masculinity or, more to the point, hypermasculinity, as they manifest themselves in the superhero comics, before focusing on their symbiotic relations with women in their more mundane and superheroic or villainous forms. It then proceeds to a discussion on what we have termed the 'super-sidekick' or 'last-minute' superheroine and an enquiry into gender and villainy. The chapter ends with an elaboration of the birth of Shakti in 1998 on the blazing trails left by pioneers such as Chandika.
