When we talk about female superheroes—how many of them there are, what jobs they're given to do, the way they dress—we're really talking about females, period. Over the last few years, the conversation about how well our girls in the sky are doing and what it means for us down on Earth has reached a fever pitch, thanks in large part to Marvel. They've rolled out a groundbreaking female Thor character, a hugely popular Spider-Gwen series, and a teenage Muslim Ms. Marvel—and today, they're unveiling the cover of the first book in their A-Force series, which revolves around an all-female superhero team, right here. Behold:

Squad goals, you know? New hero Singularity is the star of the series—she arrives in the Marvel Universe during the aftermath of the Secret Wars. She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Medusa, Dazzler, and Nico Minoru also show up in key roles. A-Force is the brainchild of writer G. Willow Wilson (who also writes Ms. Marvel) and Sana Amanat, Marvel's director of content and character development. I spoke with them about how female superhero status has changed over their careers—and what's next.

How did both of you get into the comic book business?

SANA AMANAT: My background is in magazine publishing. Then I worked at an indie comic book company and got my start as an editor there. Back in the day, I read Archie and Calvin & Hobbes, but in terms of the superhero genre, I was mostly a fan of the X-Men cartoon.

G. WILLOW WILSON: The first comic I ever read was an X-Men themed anti-smoking PSA they gave out in health class when I was about 10. I've wanted to write comics ever since I figured out it was a job.

So you were both early fans. What's changed the most about female characters in comics since you were young readers?

AMANAT: I think there's a more authentic depiction of the female form and female characters. It used to be all about their physical charms.

WILSON: Anytime you're writing stories about a group of people with whom you have limited experience, there's a lot of guesswork. Even as a kid, I could tell that they were written by guys and the guys were guessing at what it's like to be a woman. Not to say there weren't any great stories—X-Men has been revolutionary since day one. I mean, it's a team led by a guy in a wheelchair and a black woman.