There are dozens of Wonder Woman costumes of varying accuracy available all over the internets these days, but I thought it would be fun to go back in time for some classic, Golden Age Halloween fun. This cover of Comic Cavalcade #12, drawn by Everett E. Hibbard, shows Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern having fun with a jack o’ lantern and some tribal masks.
Why tribal masks, I have NO idea. There’s nothing in the comic itself about tribal masks of any kind. It seems like a really random choice. Maybe they thought tribal masks were spooky? To be fair, there’s nothing in the comics about Halloween either. Comic Cavalcade always had fun, seasonal covers that had nothing to do what was going on inside the book. But still, the cover is a good time.
Off the top of my head, I can’t remember Wonder Woman celebrating Halloween in the Golden Age, but she did go to a costume ball in Sensation Comics #33, which is in the same ballpark. However, Diana’s costume wasn’t all that exciting. She just went as Wonder Woman!! That wasn’t terribly bright. Etta Candy got herself a nice cowgirl outfit though. Here they are, ready to head to the party:
And here they are dancing with some of the guests:
It looks like superhero costumes were all the rage for this soiree. Wonder Woman is dancing with Superman, Etta’s dancing with the Spectre, and we can see the Flash and Batman in the background. That gal dancing with Batman really phoned it in though. A dress with a domino mask? Come on.
Things get out of hand at the party, of course. Diana got confused with another lady who was dressed as Wonder Woman and who was the target of a kidnapping plot. They both were nabbed, Wonder Woman got chained up, then tied up, then packed in a box and shot at, and finally she escaped and saved the other girl and everything turned out okay. It was quite a night.
Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone, and try not to get accidentally kidnapped!! Unless you have superpowers. Then you don’t have all that much to worry about.
Tags: Comic Cavalcade, Etta Candy, Everett E. Hibbard, Halloween, Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman
November 4, 2012 at 7:27 pm |
Tim…..
They showed the heroes holding tribal masks because each tribal mask REPRESENTS SOMETHING about the wearer! (Provided, the wearer picked the right corresponding mask).
November 4, 2012 at 11:56 pm |
You think? Apart from Wonder Woman picking the lady mask, I’m not seeing much connection between mask and wearer, but maybe I’m missing something. What representations are you seeing?