Miss Masque first appeared in the September 1946 issue of Exciting Comics #51 by Pines Publishing and Lin Streeter. Miss Masque was a popular debutante who unwittingly buys a mardi gras costume possessed by the "Spirit of Justice" and becomes the scourge of the criminal underworld. Her design always struck me as a little amusing because it looks like a cross between Carmen San Diego and Ronald McDonald. But it's just the bright colors that make those connotations. In many ways, Miss Masque reminds me of the most quintessential 1940's heroines because she looks like so many of silver screen actresses of the age. The hat and trenchcoat-style dress (not represented on this toy, but she almost always wore it) has instant ties to classic characters like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. She's had several modern reboots in 2003's Miss Masque, 2009's Masquerade, and 2022's Scarlet Sisters. It's very cool that she's still around nearly 80 years later. Let's check out Miss Masque below!
In 2021, BigBadToyStore and Fresh Monkey Fiction unveiled this exclusive Amazing Heroes Retroverse Series 7 featuring ten female characters. These were the first females figures in this retro "Secret Wars" aesthetic and included some of the oldest female comic characters ever. In fact, for this series I had to create a new tag of "Era - Thirties." Previously my oldest figures were two Fleischer Lois Lane figures based in the 1940s era, so I love the history being represented here. Series 7 was a crowdfunding-type endeavor with a minimum number of BBTS pre-orders required before going into production. Luckily the collector community got on board.
Miss Masque comes with a gun accessory.
Here are some solicit images of the customizable Blank Slate character. I did not purchase this, but I like including the images so you can see the construction and pieces developed for this exclusive wave.
I love an excuse to make an infographic. I just wanted to stress the time period at play here. Most of these Retroverse characters pre-date Wonder Woman and are clustered around that magical year, 1941. I don't know what societal factors were in play that year, but the sheer amount of new characters was impressive.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are my eight Series 7 figures. From Left to Right: Phantom Lady, Black Cat, Lady Satan, Fantomah, Miss Fury, Bullet Girl, Miss Masque, and Queen of the Jungle. (I did not buy the modern Cassie figure from Hack/Slash nor the customizable Blank Slate).
Cheers!
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