1. Col Wilma Deering Top space pilot and defender of Earth, Col Deering appeared in the first Buck Rogers cartoon strips in the 1930s. She was light years ahead of her time but eventually immortalize as a feminist icon when Erin Gray slid into a body suit in 1970s TV show Buck Rogers in The 25th Century. "I influenced many young girls," says Gray. "Women still come up to me and say, you're the reason I became a police offer or joined the air force..."

2. Wonder Woman The world's most famous superheroine debuted in 1941. And just like Princess Diana, the Amazonian royal captured men's hearts, although she used a golden lasso and bulletproof bracelets instead of fluttering her eyelashes. "Wonder Woman is propaganda for the new type of woman who should rule the world," said William Martson, her creator. He was only half successful: Lynda Carter kicked butt in the 1970s TV show but a big-screen bow is long overdue.

3. Black Canary With her black fishnets, pirate boots and 'Canary Cry' scream that can stop bad guys in their tracks, Black Canary ain't no tame budgerigar. This "blonde bombshell" set the template for sexing up comics through slinky bondage outfits and lashings of steamy foreplay with lover Green Arrow. Despite a part in Smallville, the Canary remains a bird of prey caged in comics.

4. Lois Lane Superman's main squeeze is a wonder woman in her own right. Creator Jerry Siegel based her on newshound Torchy Blaine, the daring heroine of a series of 1930s B-movie starring actress Lola Lane. She quickly became an icon for career-focused woman ("I think every little girl loves Lois Lane," says Superman Returns star Kate Bosworth) and her refusal to be a wallflower inspired supporting characters from Mary Jane in Spider-Man to Pepper Potts in Iron Man.

5. She-Hulk Like so many super-heroines, She-Hulk looks like a chromosome clone of her male counterpart. But comic book writer Peter David disagrees: "It would be a mistake to play her as The Hulk with breasts. The Hulk's higher brain functions shut down when he's The Hulk. That never happens with She-Hulk." Brainy or not, a late 1980s movie version died swiftly after Brigitte Nielson posed in a bile-colored fake tan and dodgy Bacofoil costume. It ain't easy being green.

6. Modesty Blaise "In love, a blaze of passion: in action, a blaze of fury..." British secret agent Modesty Blaise was spawned in a cartoon strip on the pages of the Evening Standard in 1963, a female riposte to James Bond. Monica Vitti snagged the role in the 1966 movie, fighting villains against an international backdrop and modeling 1960s mini skirts to perfection. Modest? Hardly. Her ballsy, self-confident heroine was an early forerunner of Lara Croft, Aeon Flux and Eva Kant in Danger Diabolik.

7. Barbarella Years before Star Trek's James T. Kirk went on an intergalactic shagathon, French comic book heroine Barbarella took sex to the stars. Wide-eyed and scantily-clad in the movie version, Jane Fonda became a 1960s sex kitten after surviving death by orgasm in the movie's climax. The camp style never took root but later made a comeback in Austin Powers. Robert Rodriguez's planned remake with Rose McGowan (Planet Terror) has been lingering in development hell for a while - the actress recently confirmed the project is still a 'go', but is delayed because of the impending actors strike.

8. Lorelei Ambrosia Better known as "The Woman Who Shagged Superman", Lorelei (Pamela Stephenson) put lead into the Man of Steel's pencil with some bogus Kryptonite and naughty foreplay. She doesn't wear spandex but in her polka dot dress, she's got a figure that'd make any superhero go faster than a speeding bullet> "When she walks by," said the screenwriters, "it's like watching the proverbial puppies playing in a sack." Quite.

9. Princess Aura "Father, I want him. Give him to me!" purr Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) on seeing buff Flash Gordon. Daughter of Ming, she's a princess of the perverse, slinking around in diamond-studded bikini gowns and leading a dwarf on a leash (the outré costumes paved the way for Princess Leia's slave girl chic). Anyone who looks this good can't be all bad, though. "In the end, Aura redeems herself," claims Muti. "She admits her errors, a very "human" woman."

10. Supergirl Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Supergirl, comics' most underrated heroine. Despite following in the flight path of her cousin, the "Maid of Steel" was considered too much of a sexless girl-next-door to win fans. Then came Smallville. "She's making lots of mistakes and enemies," says actress Laura Vandervoort of the rebooted character. Girl power!