When we rounded up a list of our favorite comic book cliches, we mentioned that there are a whole lot of female versions of male characters out there in the world of comics. Whether they were started out as a means to secure a copyright (like Supergirl and She-Hulk), attempts at taking a legacy character in a new direction (Dr. Midnight, Dr. Light and Wildcat II), or just attempts at shutting Frederic Wertham up (Silver Age Batwoman, we're looking at you), there are a ton of gender-swapped versions of male characters out there, and some of them are just strange.

tweetmeme_url = 'http://comicsalliance.com/2009/11/17/female-versions-of-male-superheroes/'; tweetmeme_source = 'ComicsAlliance'; digg_url = 'http://digg.com/comics_animation/Gender_Swap_Meet_Strange_Female_Versions_of_Male_Characters';

That's why we've gotten ComicsAlliance contributor Chris Sims to take a look through the archives and round up the best and outright weirdest female versions of male comic book characters!

Lady Punisher Unlike the time that the Punisher was an angel, or that time the Punisher was black, or that time the Punisher was a Frankenstein's Monster, this one actually isn't one of Frank Castle's stranger transformations. Instead, Lady Pun here is actually Lynn Michaels, a cop who decided to moonlight as a vigilante to catch a serial rapist and was then caught up in the fast-paced world of black leather pants and skull-patterned bustiers. She was actually one of many ersatz Punishers running around towards the end of his '90s run (including Outlaw, the motorcycle-riding British Punisher who seriously needs a comeback), but just in case you forgot that she's the girl, she's the one that found Frank's diary (well, "War Journal," but let's be honest) and was very upset to see that she wasn't mentioned.

Galacta

Created by Adam Warren and Elsevilla for this year's Assistant Editor Spectacular, Galacta appears to be a young woman in a "Sexy Galactus" costume, much to the delight of hat fetishists everywhere. In reality though -- or at least as close to reality as the Marvel Universe gets -- she's Big G's daughter, who has given up on eating planets and instead subsists on "alien microfauna," mostly in the form of space-diseases that are out of place in Earth's ecosystem.

What's more, Galacta -- who even has her own sadly idle Twitter account -- won a reader vote to get a follow-up story, beating out "Nextwave's" Elsa Bloodstone, who is herself a female version of a male character, the Bronze Age monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone!