Debuting in
Exciting Comics #51,
Miss Masque was another of the line of rich socialites-turned-masked crimefighters in the Golden Age which included
The Shadow,
The Batman, and
The Green Hornet!
Diana Adams had
no superpowers or abilities, just her keen deductive mind and a pair of .45 automatics.
And, unlike her male contemporaries, she didn't have a sidekick or aides!
Clad in bright red cape, mini-dress, gloves, and slouch hat, she pursued criminals and saboteurs thru several issues of
Exciting Comics, appearing on the cover only
once (#53) during her run, before transferring over to
America's Best Comics, where she teamed up (on the covers) with other heroes, most notably
The Black Terror, even though they didn't appear together
inside the comic! (They all had separate strips!)
Also, she seemed to lose parts of her wardrobe when she changed homes, as her fedora disappeared along with the midriff of her costume (see below), making her predate the trailer-trash look of Britney Spears by decades!
(Maybe it was her summer ensemble!)
When superheroes faded away after the end of World War II, so did
Miss Masque.
Since the 1990s, she's been revived by several publishers, most notably, by writer Alan Moore of
Watchmen fame in DC Comics'
America's Best Comics imprint (ironic, eh?), and artist Alex Ross in Dynamite Entertainment's
Project SuperPowers series as well as a mini-series under her new code-name of
Masquerade, and as a member of
The Scarlet Sisters super-team along with red-clad characters
Lady Satan and
The Woman in Red cover-featured together on the upcoming
Project SuperPowers V2 #4!
We at
Atomic Kommie Comics™ have also "revived"
Miss Masque / Masquerade by digitally-restoring and remastering several of her
best Golden Age cover appearances (including her first) on a line of t-shirts, mugs, and even calendars as part of our
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line of kool kollectibles!
She was a woman ahead of her time...but her time has finally come!
PS: Pick up the
Project SuperPowers and
Masquerade comics!
They're the
best Golden Age revival books out there!
I walked into a Dollar Store today and noticed that they had a Halloween display up!
