Deck Log Entry # 237 The Silver-Age Challenge---the Cape and Cowl Contest

[Commander Benson]

When I was a lad, there were certain events you could count on happening every year, no matter what.  The annual showing of The Wizard of Oz on television.  The arrival of the Sears Wishbook in the fall.  Checking the new calendar in January to see which holidays that year fell on a workday (yay!) or on a week-end (shucks!) *

 

While not quite as memorable or anticipated as those yearly occasions, my summer trivia quizzes is one regular offering that, no matter what my workload, I just couldn’t brush off.  At least, I’m hoping you folks look forward to it, and it’s not just that my head has grown three sizes over it.  This one wasn’t that much of an imposition on my on-duty time, actually.  In the occasional free moment, a Silver-Age trivia question would pop into my head, and I’d jot it down before I forgot it.  Over the last three months or so, my desk and walls grew so scattered with Post-It notes that it looked like the 3M plant exploded.

 

Finally, these past couple of week-ends, I confirmed the answers to the questions and ran them through various search engines.  After scratching the ones that weren’t reasonably Google-proof, I selected the ten most interesting posers, those that had the highest quotient of the “Hey, I didn’t know that!” factor.

 

My quizzes don’t always have a theme, other than “the Silver Age”, that is.  Sometimes, it’s all I can do just to get ten questions, so I have to settle for potpourri.  (Thank you, Jeopardy!, for teaching me what that word meant, and thank you, Art Fleming, for teaching me how to say it.)  But, this year, I do have a theme.  You may have guessed it from the banner:  costumes!  If clothes make the man, then it’s the costume that makes the mystery-man.  Every question will relate in some way to a super-hero’s costume or its accoutrements.  This year, both DC and Marvel Comics characters are included in the mix, so you fellows will have to thumb through both sets of stacks.

 

As always, here are the rules.  You veterans can skip the next few paragraphs---it’s the usual blather.  They’re for the benefit of anyone who might have stumbled onto this page by accident and wants to try his hand.

 

All of the questions, and answers, are drawn from Silver-Age material.  That is, anything produced by DC from the publication of Showcase # 4 (Sep.-Oct., 1956) to December, 1968, which I demark as the end of the Silver Age.  If your answer comes from outside that period, then it is invalid.  For example, if I were to ask “What is the space sector patrolled by Tomar Re, the Green Lantern of Xudar?” and you answered “Space sector 2813,” you would be wrong.  During the Silver Age, Tomar Re’s space sector was “9”; “2813” was a Bronze Age revision.

                      

The Silver-Age limitation is a tricky thing to keep in mind.  Even the veteran quiz-takers here slip up sometimes.  Remember the “Per the Legion Constitution, who is the only person that the Legion Leader is answerable to?” fiasco?

 

I’m definitely not infallible, also something to which the long-time players will attest.  I might have missed something, somewhere, in twelve years of Silver Age publication.  If you come up with an answer that meets the criteria of the question and can cite the Silver-Age reference, then I will gladly award you credit.  “But I always thought . . . “ explanations won’t cut it, though.

 

I’ve got no problem with anybody using a search engine to look for answers.  I try to make my questions as immune to Google as possible.  The right answers are difficult to find with a search engine, though I cannot say impossible.  At least once, I tripped myself up when an article I had written for another site contained the answer to a question from that year’s quiz, and one of the players found it.

 

Lastly, there are no prizes.  You’re playing for bragging rights.

 

And as usual, just to get everybody warmed up, I’ll start off with a lob . . .

 

 

 

1.  The story “The Monarch of Menace” from Detective Comics # 350 (Apr., 1966) contained what glaring error in the Batman’s costume?

 

 

 

2.  What issue of what comic title introduced the first permanent changes to the X-Men’s uniforms?

 

 

3.  Why is Wally West’s hair red, but Kid Flash’s hair is brown?

 

 

 

4.  In a couple of early Supergirl stories, the skirt of her costume was red, rather than the usual blue.  While this was mostly likely due to a colourist’s error, what in-story reason did editor Mort Weisinger provide to account for the red skirt?

 

 

 

5.  Speaking of Supergirl, where does she conceal her costume on those occasions when she cannot wear it under her civilian clothes, such as at the beach?

 

 

 

6.  What change to Iron Man’s armour resulted from Tony Stark having to go into super-hero action while out on a date?

 

 

 

7.  Most people don’t even know it happened, but after Bizarro № 1 populated Htrae with other Bizarro-Supermen, what change was made to their costumes?

 

 

 

8.  The Black Panther’s infamous face-exposing half-cowl was first seen in what issue of what comic title?

 

 

 

9.  The wings on Hawkman’s helmet represent an award for his exceptional performance in capturing a super-criminal on Thanagar, but what do Hawkgirl’s earrings signify?

 

 

 

10.  Speaking of the Winged Wonder, how does he conceal his costume in case he has to go into action while he’s out and about in his Earth identity of Carter Hall?

 

 

Good luck, all!

______________________________________

 

 * That was because, back in the olden days, Federal holidays didn’t mean guaranteed three-day week-ends..  Prior to 1971, Federal holidays were observed on the day which their actual dates fell.  If it fell on a week-day, it meant a day off from work or school; but if it fell on Saturday or Sunday, well, tough luck.  The practise of observing Federal holidays on Mondays, so everyone could have a long week-end, was instituted in 1971, as a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968. 

 

Incidentally, despite what everybody thinks, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act did not create, combine, re-name, or, in any way, result in a Federal holiday called “Presidents’ Day”.  There is no Federal holiday called Presidents’ Day.   --- Ye Olde Commander

[Dave Palmer]

Welcome, Irma.

I think you’ll find many interesting threads to read and participate in.

[Irma Kruhl]

Thanks for the welcomes, Fraser and Dave 

[Irma Kruhl]

An addendum to  X-Men #27:

Another thing (in addition to the red belts and the change in the shirts (the middle yellow panel is now usually v-shaped ) ) is that it's in #27 that Jean starts to wear a pointy mask on a consistent basis.  In FF #28 and for a few X-Men issues after that she was drawn wearing a pointy mask/domino mask, but then she went right back to the head covering mask...until X-Men  #27, after she'd consistently wear a pointy mask and not something covering most of her head. 

[Fraser Sherman]

It's the X-Men answer I'm most curious about. Your picks make sense but usually the Commander has a more interesting option than "the belts were red" — as he's said in the past, he wants the answers to be engaging, not just technical.

Irma Kruhl said:

Newbie here, so not sure how to do this but here goes: 

1) Batman: When Bruce tells Dick about his previous encounters with the Monarch of Menace, he says that these “happened a long time ago, before you joined me in crimefighting.”  Yet in the flashbacks Batman’s chest symbol is in its yellow circle. Batman’s costume didn’t have that yellow circle in earlier years, and certainly not in the years before Robin joined him.

4) Supergirl: According to what's stated in the lettercol in Action #264, Supergirl's wearing a reversible skirt, so it's blue on one side and red on the other. What is it with DC back then and reversible skirts? in Batgirl's first appearance in Detective #359 Barbara Gordon's skirt reverses to  -- her cape! 

5) Supergirl: Also in an Action lettercol, this time Action #317: "Superman gave his cousin a lipstick with a secret lipstick in which she could hide all or part of her costume after super-compressing it." 

3) Kid Flash:  Wally uses a hair dye to color his red hair brown. His new KF costume exposes his hair and since his natural red hair might tip off his secret identity, when he goes into action as KF he colors his hair a different color.  The very precise, non-drip haircolor spray is squirted from his all-purpose super-duper ring. This is told in KF's solo story in Flash #138. 

 

8) Black Panther:   Fantastic Four #60. 

That always stuck out like sore thumb to me. 

But then Kirby remembers and in subsequent appearances T'Challa's back to the full-face mask in FF Annual 5, Tales of Suspense, etc....until he joins the Avengers (Buscema art) and adopts the teddy bear look. ;)

(I assume unused Kirby covers don't figure in here.)

9) Hawkgirl: As related in Brave and Bold #42, per Thanagarian culture/custom: the earrings signify she's a married woman. 

10) Hawkman: As shown in Hawkman #5, his costume is compressed and in his medallion.  And as per Thanagarian culture/custom, the medallion signifies he's a married man. Just kidding.  

2) X-Men   The X-Men's belts were now red, starting with X-Men #27. 

Another change: When Werner Roth took over as the regular penciler in #13 he started drawing the shirts differently than they'd been drawn before; he usually dispensed with the side panels and the "V" look.  He made the shirts look like yellow sleeveless sweater pullovers, worn over a blue long-sleeve top. But the side panels returned  in #27 -- just as the red belts appeared.

[Irma Kruhl]

^^^

LOL, sorry if you find my responses too "technical" and not engaging enough.  

But about the X-Men question, I agree. There's something about the way the question was phrased "In what issue of what series..."  that leads me to think there's a twist or a loophole there.   X #39, and even perhaps #27, are probably too obvious. 

[Fraser Sherman]

Oh, that wasn't a criticism. The fine details of the Silver Age are normal conversation here. But I also think there's something we're missing. The Commander doesn't do trick questions but he's come up with some cleverly tricky questions in years past.

Irma Kruhl said:

^^^

LOL, sorry if you find my responses too "technical" and not engaging enough.  

But about the X-Men question, I agree. There's something about the way the question was phrased "In what issue of what series..."  that leads me to think there's a twist or a loophole there.   X #39, and even perhaps #27, are probably too obvious. 

[Eric L. Sofer]

Hello Commander! It's fun time again - so let's have some fun!

1) It was missing the yellow oval around the bat symbol,

2) X-Men 39.

 

3) He spray dyed it whenever he donned his Kid Flash identity.

 

4) Same as Clark Kent’s suits; it was dyed in indelible red.

 

5) Super compressed in her compact.

 

6) It was transformed into flexible mesh that could be statically charged into hardness once he put it on from his briefcase.

 

7) Their “S” symbols were all reversed.

 

8) Avengers 52. (That’s wrong, I know – but I can’t find the issue of Captain America that I think it is.,)

 

9) They signify that she is a married woman,

 

10) His bird friends brought it to him.

Can't wait to see if I got any of them right!

[Commander Benson]

Fogey!  Always a pleasure to hear from you, my friend!

As far as your answers go, I can state that you didn't come up Maggie's drawers.  You'll see soon enough which ones you got right, as I intend to post the "Answers" entry this week-end.  Your commentary on the answers is always a high point.

[Richard Willis]

I had to look this up, never having missed a target completely:

Slang for the red flag waved across the target by a marker on the target range when a shot has completely missed the target.

[Fraser Sherman]

The only time I've ever heard that term before the Commander's comment was when Travis Morgan tossed it at a Soviet plane dogfighting with him in this first story. So thanks for explaining it Richard.

Richard Willis said:

I had to look this up, never having missed a target completely:

Slang for the red flag waved across the target by a marker on the target range when a shot has completely missed the target.

[Richard Willis]

Irma, in case you haven't seen it, Commander Benson has posted the answers in a new Deck Log:

Deck Log Entry # 238 The Silver-Age Challenge---the Cape and Cowl C...

Irma Kruhl said:

^^^

LOL, sorry if you find my responses too "technical" and not engaging enough.  

But about the X-Men question, I agree. There's something about the way the question was phrased "In what issue of what series..."  that leads me to think there's a twist or a loophole there.   X #39, and even perhaps #27, are probably too obvious. 

[Irma Kruhl]

Thank you, Richard   :)

Richard Willis said:

Irma, in case you haven't seen it, Commander Benson has posted the answers in a new Deck Log:

Deck Log Entry # 238 The Silver-Age Challenge---the Cape and Cowl C...