We all know that pop culture likes its superheroines svelte and scantily clad. But did you know that one of the earliest ever female superheroes didn't fit that bill at all? She was Red Tornado, and she was dumpy, doughy and dynamic.

Red Tornado first appeared in All-American Comics in 1940. Though she isn't considered the first superheroine, she is among the pioneers. What's most interesting, though, is that Red Tornado was a mom.

When she wasn't donning her red long-johns, kitchen-pot-helmet and drapery-cape, she was Abigail "Ma" Hunkel, mother of two (Her son and daughter, Scribbly & Sisty, would become her official sidekicks, The Cyclone Kids.) and owner of Schultz's Grocery Store. Mainly, she fought neighborhood criminals who, because of her stout frame and covered head, mistook her for a brawny middle-aged man.

Creator Sheldon Mayer continued Red Tornado's arc in the back pages of All-American Comics until issue #59 in 1944 under a series titled, "Scribbly & the Red Tornado"). Four years later, her Scribbly would resurface in his own title, leaving his mom behind permanently.

Even though her run was relatively shortlived, Red Tornado held up a banner for superheroines at the onset of their movement--and she didn't have to be a size 2 to do it. So we fondly remember her during Women's History Month, because we're really just not sure when another like her--short, rotund and ferocious--will come along.

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