{"id":2737,"date":"2019-10-01T16:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T23:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2737"},"modified":"2024-01-09T16:23:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T00:23:58","slug":"maggies-world-075-dressing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-075-dressing-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie\u2019s World 075: Dressing Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World 075: Dressing Up<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In October, variety stores fill with a wide assortment of fantastic get-ups, both for kids and for adults. But throughout the year, comics events feature a vast array of costumes on display, worn by both kids and adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That year-round pop culture feature is relatively recent, mind you. Though science fiction conventions included costume competitions over the decades, \u201chall costumes\u201d were not the norm. Might it have been comics and similar pop culture conventions that introduced the tradition of cosplay throughout a show\u2019s duration? (The portmanteau word \u201ccosplay\u201d has become the accepted term for \u201ccostume play.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, as Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman outfits hang on store racks before Halloween, their presence sparks thoughts of comics character garb in general\u2014including whys and hows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extremes: Ibis and Taia made cosplay easy; he carried an Ibistick and wore a suit, tie, turban, and an occasional cape; she wore a red dress with yellow collar and belt.\u00a0Whiz Comics\u00a0<\/em>#138 (October 1951) \u00a9 2019 DC Comics The Jack of Hearts outfit was so complicated that Marvel provided Dave Cockrum\u2019s designs for front, back, and side so that artists could handle such pages as this.\u00a0Marvel Premiere<\/em>\u00a0#44 (October 1978) \u00a9 2019 MARVEL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Simple to Complex<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In the Golden Age, crime-fighting characters didn\u2019t have to get super-fancy. Even Denny Colt didn\u2019t need to wear a domino mask and live in a cemetery (though that certainly set him apart); he could have just worn a business suit and snap-brim fedora most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he was part of the whole \u201cidentity\u201d aspect of comics adventures\u2014a feature shared by good guys and bad\u2014that caught the eye. It was a tradition that had existed long before comics: the idea that ordinary folks could interact with fantastic characters who were often in disguise. Such pop-culture figures as the Count of Monte Cristo (1844, Alexandre Dumas), Scarlet Pimpernel (1903, Baroness Orczy), and Zorro (1919, Johnston McCulley) expanded on the tradition, some in costume, some not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the whole hanging-around-in-costume gambit to beat the baddies, solve the mysteries, help the helpless, and\/or save the endangered? In fact, today, we have many protectors whose clothing identifies such roles to the public: police, soldiers, and firefighters among them. What they wear lets us know the ways in which they help us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in some fiction (see Pimpernel and Zorro), there\u2019s an added aspect of hiding identity: High-schooler Peter Parker can fit in; crime-fighting Spider-Man stands (and swings) out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Doctor Solar wore sunglasses and a lab coat until his fifth adventure\u2014when he gained a costume and a reason to wear it.\u00a0Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom\u00a0<\/em>#5 (September 1963) \u00a9 2019 Random House, Inc. Sure, sure, costumes may not be a necessity, but super-villains sometimes need a tailor, too.\u00a0The Flash\u00a0<\/em>#141 (December 1963) \u00a9 2019 DC Comics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
But Also \u2026<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In addition to hiding identity, the costume can be an identity in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether in the Golden Age, the Silver Age, or these days, when a bunch of characters are shown together (whether chatting or fighting), readers can tell, for example, Hulk from Thing and Superman from Batman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a story is told in pictures, costumes clarify that sort of identification. The Lone Ranger was created in 1933 for audio storytelling; when artists began to picture him, he soon donned a domino mask, but exactly what he wore varied. In the 1938 Republic serial, his mask wasn\u2019t the simple domino known to later fans, but\u2014what with pulps, comic strips, and comic books\u2014his familiar mask and costume soon evolved. And then we knew who he was, whether or not he was calling his horse Silver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers can spot such characters in whatever comics panels they inhabit. Heck, readers can even identify the same <\/em>character as he or she exists in different eras. You know the heroes\u2019 time period from what they wear. I have a set of three \u201cUnemployed Philosophers Guild\u201d licensed cups from 2015 decorated with costume evolution through the years: one each for Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those cups reveal another aspect of costumes: Whatever the necessities of storytelling may be, costumes\u2014and changes thereof\u2014can also bring in licensing cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, look around stores in October. And look at the kids at your front door, as they celebrate Halloween by wearing what they\u2019ve bought in those stores. You validate the success of their choices when you identify their super-identities because they\u2019re wearing licensed outfits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n