Maybe a bit of a surprise, here, in that a lot of readers might not know of Chance Falconer, but I’m straight up a sucker for a plucky teenage adventure girl, and Chance Falconer was one of the best. So, if you DON’T know Chance Falconer, hit those back issue bins and those trade collections and give her a shot!
I'm Chance Falconer. I'm the 14 years old daughter of a famous paranormal researcher, and I'm # 24 on the list, because Paul Tobin thinks I'm one of the best. Really. He does. He said so just up above.
The “Leave it to Chance” series came out from the early days of Image Comics, and it was written by James Robinson and largely illustrated by Paul Smith. Chance was funny, and the tension levels were high, and the stories were some of Robinson’s best and most inventive. Having written a lot of teenage girl characters myself, I can vouch for how difficult it can be to have the character be smart AND still be a fourteen year old kid. Too often writers make their plucky teenagers wise WAAAAY beyond their years, and I think that can take something out of a character, but Robinson hit just the right chords.
No superhero costumes. No crossover events. Just some damn good adventure stories with chunks of the supernatural to keep things hopping. Oh, and you might notice that Chance has a dragon. I will always favor a teenage girl who wants a dragon over one who wants a unicorn.
A couple of covers showcasing the calm and quiet life of Chance Falconer.
Original art for an image where Chance realizes that she's more suited for clothes that allow one to wade through supernatural muck than she is for clothes that get her into prep school.
Because I write / read / watch a lot of supernatural stories, I know that one should never come within seven hundred yards of a graveyard, and you can double that for a foggy night.
One last look at Chance Falconer, this time in an image by the late, great Mike Wieringo. This image pretty much sums up the whole character for me. The clothes. The danger. The supernatural element. The modern updating of the pulp novel feel. I salute you, Chance Falconer. May you ride again one day.
——- DOWN BELOW IS JUST A REHASH OF WHY I’M DOING THIS LIST ———
I’ve been thinking about women, lately. Women characters in comics. Women creators in comics. Female characters in literature. And pretty girls riding around on bicycles or walking along the sidewalk, etc, etc. Because of this, I’ve decided to make An Entirely Useless List. Why is it entirely useless? Because it’s my top 25 female characters from comics and literature, and such lists change at whim and at a breakneck pace. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to quantify favorites… the term favorite is far too malleable. A list of my best friends from high school, for instance, would not include anyone with whom I’m currently in contact. Times change. Still… I’m making the list. Why? I suppose I just like thinking about women.
