Some say manners maketh man… Others know, it’s all about the accessories! Welcome to Ten Things: Ten Trademark Accessories!

Whooshman-Bicarbonate Films, in conjunction with An Amateur Comics Historian and Jack’s Joke Shop in South Attleboro, Massachusetts: “If it ain’t funny, it ain’t worth Jack!”, Presents:

TEN THINGS: TEN TRADEMARK ACCESSORIES!

10) THE MAGIC LASSO

Diana of Themiscyra actually has a number of weapons and accoutrements, ranging from her Bracelets of Submission to her Invisible Plane to a sword and shield. She even wielded a Star Sapphire Power Ring for a time, but none of her accessories is as iconic as her lasso, The Golden Perfect. Capable of creating a telepathic link, capturing the souls of her prey and even locating those she holds dear, it’s most-used property is that of forcing anyone within it to tell the absolute truth.

She’s also really good at tying people up with it.

9) THE QUANTUM BANDS

Created by the ancient cosmic being known as Eon, the Quantum Bands are used by Quasar to manipulate light and photons and something something constructs like a Green Lantern ring. They were actually brought to Earth by a mad Eternal called Thelius, posing as Robert “Marvel Boy” Grayson, who then annihilated himself with their power. How he got the band (or indeed, how the elephant got in his pajamas), we may never know.

8) A SILVER SURFBOARD

When Franklin Richards created Counter-Earth to save his parents and The Avengers from the threat of Onslaught, he replaced a number of being entirely. One of those was Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer, who was killed while wielding the a version of the Ultimate Nullifier against his master, Galactus. A fraction of his cosmic power, including his signature board, possessed a young unnamed man near Vegas, turning him into a tiny replica of the lost hero.

He was… less impressive.

7) THE WEB-SHOOTERS

On Earth-51778, the power of the Spider-Totem (skip it, it’s complicated) went not to Peter Parker, but Takuya Yamashiro, who received his powers from an alien. Many things are different, including his giant robot, but one thing that makes most Spider-Men into Spider-Men are their webshooters. Takuya’s are part and parcel of his transformation device, the Spider Bracelet, but it still shoots Spider Strings of Spider Fluid that can enwrap and entrap his enemies. It even one-ups Parker by never running out of fluid.

6) THE NOVA HELMET

The primary tool of the Xandarian Nova Corps, the helmets not only allow them to channel the Nova Corps power, but contain their uniforms, allow them to travel in space and identify their rank within the Corps. Rich Rider’s six-pointed star indicates the rank of Centurion, which also implies that they have Latin on Xandar, opening an entirely different can of linguistic worms. Even Sam Alexander, whose helmet is a hand-me-down from his father, the last surviving member of the Black Ops Supernova Corps, gets his powers from his helmet.

5) THE COSMIC STAFF

Created by Ted “Starman” Knight (with an assist from Albert Einstein, unless that’s been retconned away again), the Cosmic Staff was first used by his son, Jack, as a new Starman. It’s currently in the possession of Stargirl (seen here in her ‘Smallville’ incarnation) and allows the user to fly, attract or repel objects, manipulate energy, gravity and light, as well as create force fields and constructs of golden energy. Whether or not it has sentience and the intellect of a puppy tends to depend on the portrayal.

Lookin’ at you, CW TV.

4) THE SONIC SCREWDRIVER

Created by The Doctor from advanced Gallefreyan technology, the Sonic Screwdriver first appeared in the hands of the Second Doctor, becoming more and more useful as it continued. By the time of his Ninth incarnation, it was an all-purpose computerized marvel, and the Tenth, Eleventh and War Doctors actually managed to do centuries of computation in just a few minutes by using their three screwdrivers in concert. Modern Doctor Who stories just don’t feel right without it, to the point that when the Twelfth Doctor rebuilt his into a pair of sunglasses, fans declared the show RUINED FOREVER.

Again…

3) THE ASTRO-HARNESS

Allowing Orion of the New Gods to fly through space at ludicrous speed, the Astro-Harness is also self-repairing, and in this particular iteration is built into his ceremonial armor. There’s also a more commonly used external model, but regardless of the design, Orion just isn’t Orion without the Harness and its built-in Mother Box.

2) RUBY QUARTZ VISOR

Featuring eye-shields of ruby quartz, the only substance that can hold back his powerful eye beams, Scott Summers’ visor is a marvel of technology. Originally triggered only by a switch on the side of the temple, later versions have electronic micro-switches built into his gloves, triggering the shields to move aside and unleashing his powerful blasts of extradimensional energy. It makes him look like he has one big eye (especially when drawn by Frank Quitely) and is literally the reason that he has his name, rather than something like I-Beam or Supervision.

1) THE BATARANG

The most iconic piece of Batman’s arsenal (save, arguably, for the Batmobile itself), the Batarang reinforces Batman’s commitment to non-lethal solutions to crime. Created by a boomerang master for Batman’s personal use, Bruce Wayne quickly began creating variants, including smoke versions, explosive Batarangs and a giant hovering version used for surveillance purposes. Modern iterations have become much more like throwing stars, in keeping with Batman’s slow transformation into a ninja, and even his proteges use them. Robin calls his Birdarangs, and Nightwing has been known to dub his “Wingdings.”

This week’s topic, Ten Iconic Accessories, is all me, but feel free to follow along @MightyKingCobra to suggest your own! You can also find more Ten Things madness on Twitter or check out the full Twitter archive here! As with any set of like items, these aren’t meant to be hard and fast or absolutely complete, if only because somebody is going to be mad about Blue Beetle’s Bug. Either way, the comments section is below for just such an emergency, but, as always: Please, no wagering!

---

Dear Spoilerite,

At Major Spoilers, we strive to create original content that you find interesting and entertaining. Producing, writing, recording, editing, and researching requires significant resources. We pay writers, podcast hosts, and other staff members who work tirelessly to provide you with insights into the comic book, gaming, and pop culture industries. Help us keep MajorSpoilers.com strong. Become a Patron (and our superhero) today.