Strong Female Protagonist


Strong Female Protagonist is an ongoing superhero webcomic written by Brennan Lee Mulligan and drawn by Molly Ostertag, published online since 2012. It has been on hiatus since September 11, 2018.
Strong Female Protagonist describes itself as covering "the adventures of a young middle-class American with super-strength, invincibility and a crippling sense of social injustice". It follows Alison Green, the titular protagonist, as she has retired from her superhero role of "Mega Girl" at the age of 19 in order to focus on her college education, but finds out that this is easier said than done.
Io9, which selected Strong Female Protagonist as one of the best new and short webcomics of 2012, approved of the comic posing "intriguing questions about the relationship between superheroes and real-world problems". As Comics Alliance wrote, "the idea of someone with superpowers questioning whether they're making a real difference or just making things worse by throwing bad guys through buildings" isn't new to the genre, but the reviewer considered Strong Female Protagonists approach to it refreshing by its lack of cynicism and the fully formed, likable characterization of Alison and the comic's supporting cast. Like io9, the reviewer also highlighted the improvement of Ostertag's drawings throughout the comic's first volume, and praised the storytelling's natural rhythm and successful combination of comedy, action and mystery elements.
The comic was collected in a book published by Top Shelf Productions in November 2014, after a Kickstarter campaign intended to raise $8,000 raised over $60,000 instead. In April 2017 another Kickstarter campaign was made for a second book, this time raising over $70,000.