Ma Hunkel

Ma Hunkel is a stout, working-class woman who became one of comics' earliest female superheroes by donning a makeshift costume — including a pot on her head — to fight crime in her neighborhood as the original Red Tornado.

Few characters can claim a Golden Age debut and still be turning up in comics over eight decades later, but Ma Hunkel is exactly that kind of enduring figure. Born from the imagination of Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen in All-American Comics #40 in 1942, she arrived at the very dawn of the superhero age and has never quite left it. Her catalog footprint spans All-American Comics, Detective Comics, and Justice League of America, meaning she's kept remarkably distinguished company over the years — sharing pages with the likes of Green Lantern, The Flash, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and even Superman himself. With two collector-recognized key issues to her name and appearances still being logged into 2025, Ma Hunkel is a genuine piece of living comics history — the kind of character that reminds you how deep and surprising DC's Golden Age roots really run.