Where to Read the Work of the Women Featured in Marvel’s 616: “Higher Further Faster”

Since the very beginning – since Marvel was known as Timely Comics – women comic creators played a major part of reaching Marvel’s female audience members. While Super Heroes and adventures were fun for everyone, it was no secret that young girls wanted to see more of themselves in the stories that Marvel was telling. In Marvel’s 616, streaming exclusively on Disney+, Gillian Jacobs directs the episode “Higher Further Faster,” which introduces viewers to many of the women who brought some of the most enduring and even monumental Marvel stories as writers, editors, and artists.

After watching the episode on Disney+, you might be wondering where you can read some of the work by these women – and we have a reading list all ready to send you soaring into the Marvel Universe!

Louise Simonson

Louise Simonson is a well-known name to any fan of Marvel’s mutants. A prolific writer on NEW MUTANTS and X-FACTOR, Simonson left an indelible mark on the X-Men franchise in the 1980s, helping launch X-titles toward unprecedented success. The co-creator of time travelling mutant Cable, Simonson is also the creator of the Power Pack, and wrote their long running solo series with artist June Brigman in 1984.

Simonson’s Marvel career began as an editor, where she oversaw titles like UNCANNY X-MEN and the Star Wars lineup. After a few years in Editorial, she made the leap to writer, offering us the iconic stories we love today.

Also check out: Women’s History Month: Louise Simonson

Ann Nocenti

One of Ann Nocenti’s most storied assignments was being tasked with killing Jessica Drew AKA Spider-Woman after Marvel decided to end the SPIDER-WOMAN series in the early 1980s. Having regretted taking the fatal direction, Nocenti helped to bring her back in AVENGERS #240-241. But since that complicated web, Nocenti worked on even more gritty stories for Daredevil, the X-Men, and more. She’s responsible for creating several characters that continue to impact Marvel storytelling to this day, such as Typhoid Mary, Longshot (created with Art Adams), and Mojo.

June Brigman 

The co-creator of the Power Pack, June Brigman drew the mutant super-kids’ solo series in 1984. A frequent collaborator of Louise Simonson, Brigman has also worked on key issues of X-FACTOR, ALPHA FLIGHT, and NEW MUTANTS.

Jo Duffy 

A visionary editor and writer, Jo Duffy brought her signature humor and sense of fun to every project she landed. After writing the series’ most successful run on POWER MAN AND IRON FIST, Duffy expanded her reach on titles like STAR WARS and WOLVERINE.

In Editorial, it was known that Duffy was a creator who could bring a “troubled” book back from the brink. She gave new life to quite a few Marvel titles in her decade-plus career, a dream come true for a comics fan who once wrote in letters to Stan.

Also check out: Women of Marvel Welcomes Trailblazing Writer Jo Duffy

Sana Amanat

Sana Amanat started her career in comics before coming to Marvel, and ever since she arrived in 2009, she has made some of the biggest waves in recent Marvel history! Hired specifically because of her fresh and different point of view, Amanat is the co-creator of Kamala Khan, Marvel’s first Muslim Super Hero who adopted the title of Ms. Marvel.

G. Willow Wilson

After the idea of Kamala Khan got the green light, someone needed to give her a voice. That woman was G. Willow Wilson, who became the first writer on MS. MARVEL (2014) and MS. MARVEL (2015). Drawing from her own experience as a Muslim woman, Wilson worked with Amanat as her editor to kickstart a groundbreaking new Super Hero in the Marvel Universe – and Kamala Khan has only “embiggened” her influence on the world beyond the page.

Marie Severin

An award-winning colorist, cartoonist, and penciller, Marie Severin was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2001 for her decades of contributions. Known as “Mirthful” Marie in the Marvel Bullpen, Severin was one of Marvel’s head colorists until 1972, followed by a full-time shift toward penciling and inking. In addition to her outlandish caricatures in satire series NOT BRAND ECHH, Marie is known for co-creating Spider-Woman and the Cat, and for drawing iconic characters like Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Daredevil, and more.

Kelly Sue DeConnick

When it came time for Carol Danvers to enter her next phase, Kelly Sue DeConnick was the writer for the job. Already one of the strongest Marvel Super Heroes, Carol Danvers was about to shed her title as Ms. Marvel and become Captain Marvel. With a fresh take on Carol’s story, the new direction propelled the Kree-powered pilot from the page to the big screen.

Nilah Magruder  

Magruder made waves as the creator of M.F.K., for which she won the prestigious Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics. Her success caught the eye of Marvel, who hired her to write for A YEAR OF MARVELS: SEPTEMBER INFINITE COMIC #1, making her the first Black woman to write for Marvel Comics. Since then, the trailblazing creator has worked on MARVEL RISING and so much more.

Trina Robbins 

A writer, cartoonist, and historian, Trina Robbins’ vast body of work in sci-fi and fiction earned her membership in the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. In the mid-1980s, Robbins wrote and drew the series MISTY for Marvel, a modernized revamp of MILLIE THE MODEL from the peak of the Golden Age.

An expert on women in comics from the page and behind the panel, Robbins’ professional interest includes the romance genres of the 40s and 50s that drew in droves of female readership. Listen to Robbins’ “herstory” of comics here!

Flo Steinberg

If you ever wrote a letter to Marvel Comics in the 1960s, there’s a good chance that Flo Steinberg took a read!

Responsible for Marvel’s earliest community of fandom, “Fabulous" Florence "Flo" Steinberg was one of the first two full-time employees at Marvel Comics. After being in charge of answering ever-increasing stacks of fan mail while running the Marvel Merry Marching Society, Flo moved on from the House of Ideas to blaze her own trail in independent comics, returning to Marvel in the 90s.

And, she’s a comic book Super Hero too! See “Fabulous Flo” in action as the Invisible Woman in this What If? tale that reimagines the Original Bullpen as the Fantastic Four!

Be mindful, True Believers – this is only a partial list of the women who made Marvel the powerful force that it is today! Watch “Higher Further Faster” – and the rest of Marvel’s 616 – exclusively on Disney+ today to meet more of the willful women who moved the Marvel Universe forward with every stroke of the pen!

Marvel's 616 is streaming now exclusively on Disney+! For more about Marvel's 616, visit the show page right here at Marvel.com!

Looking for Marvel movies and shows to stream? Check out everything on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ right here, and where to find all your favorite Super Heroes right here.

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. Disney+ is available as part of a bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+. Visit DisneyPlus.com to subscribe and/or learn more about the service.

Sign up for Disney+ and start streaming now! And be sure to follow Disney+ on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more.