Halloween 2013 - The Magic Continues

Last year at this very time, Tiny Doom wrote a post that, when I look back at it, marked an historical moment for this little blog: it was the first time the Ladies had ever revealed our faces! Of course, there were only three of us - our mighty quartet only became complete in the new year. And some of the faces (okay, mostly mine) were rather obscured by the costumes we chose. But still, it was a milestone, and here we are a year later, still keeping this blog chugging along, bigger and better than ever! And yes, we still really love Halloween.

Our love, perhaps, has different depths and comes from different places, so I won't speak for all of the ladies in this post. (I'm pretty sure Tiny Doom loves Halloween WAY more than I do.) But however we got there, we've all embraced the holiday.

Every year the time comes to make the tough choice - what icon of comics or pop culture in general will we represent? A number of factors go into the decision, from the practical considerations of how easy/inexpensive it will be to create the right look to the more esoteric concerns - will people get the Wilma Deering costume? (Let's just say those who did were really excited about it, and those who didn't still thought it looked cool.)

Do you pick a costume that you can pull off as a couple?

Or do you go with the strongest choice, even if it means forging ahead solo?

This year, I decided to go with one of my all-time favorite superheroes, Starman.  Specifically, 1990's reboot of Starman, Jack Knight.  As I spoke a bit about in my "3 Series" post, this is the comic book that got me into reading superhero comics. Prior to checking it out, I had some rather snotty ideas about what constituted "good" comics. Superheroes seemed trite and silly to me. And then, on the recommendation of my local shop at the time, I decided to give Starman a try - and I quickly fell in love.

Jack's a good "gateway" hero for those inclined to discount the superhero genre. The whole idea of him is that rather than running around in spandex, confidently punching out bad guys because he just knows he's right, Jack is unsure and complex. He wears jeans and a leather jacket - street clothes, essentially, although he chooses the jacket for its star symbol, and adds a sheriff's badge in order to fully embrace the power of what the star represents. Goggles are added for their practical ability to reduce glare at night - and let's face it, because goggles are cool.

All of these choices come, however, after he tries to reject the idea of being a hero. The first Starman was Jack's dad, and since he doesn't have powers naturally, (he manipulates energy with a "cosmic rod," giving him flight and energy blasts. Think a low-level, less-intense Iron Man.) it's pretty easy to walk away at first. But when Jack's brother David is killed by the son of his father's nemesis, Jack realizes that he needs to step up and become a hero.

All of which is the exciting, compelling story I fell in love with, but when I say that Starman made me appreciate superheroes more, I don't just mean Jack himself, with his non-traditional costume and snarky ways. The series writer, James Robinson, has a fascination with and appreciation for the original, most traditional capes and tights sorts of heroes, those of the Golden Age. (So much so, in fact, that he wrote an Elseworlds story with that very name.) He works the old heroes into the story in a variety of ways, from the steady presence of Jack's father, Ted, to the appearance of the original Justice Society in his dreams. Robinson also works in other heroes from the DC universe, like Ralph Dibny, whom I'd never heard of before - and he made me want to know more. He opened my eyes to how fun and compelling superheroes can be.

So this Halloween I wanted to recognize my first and favorite hero. The costume had the added bonus of being incredibly comfortable to wear, unlike, say, slathering one's face in blue paint. It was not as easy to create - Mr. Menace put in some careful hours painting the jacket and creating a cosmic rod from PVC pipe.

Luckily, Mr. Menace is up to the challenge! I found the jacket at the Goodwill and he made it into a thing of beauty.

What costumes are you all wearing this year? Share pictures in the comments!

And speaking of sharing, you may have noticed a new little tab at the top of the page - the Ladies are taking submissions! If you've got a great idea for an article on comics, pop culture, games or ladies (or some combination thereof), we'd love to hear it!  Visit the page for all of the rules, regulations and details, and we look forward to hearing from you!