Hallowaves

Bob Marley, Tigger and Spider-Man test the Huntington break in holiday competition.Displaying the characteristics he’s known for -- strength, speed, grip and spidey-sense -- Spider-Man showed a steady command of the surf at Goldenwest Street beach Sunday.

Successfully riding a procession of waves, Spider-Man -- aka 6-year-old Bradley Monroe of Huntington Beach -- was one of the standouts at the first HB Wave Massacre.

The grassroots event, the brainchild of Surf City residents Micah and Genevieve Tompkins, was geared toward Halloween weekend fun for local youth.

“We kind of winged it,” Micah Tompkins said. “I’m not a promoter and have never thrown a surf contest before, but we ended up having a lot of fun with it.

“We hope to make this an annual event in Huntington Beach, and make it bigger and better each year.”

The contest was set up just six days before it took place, and the Tompkins’ son, Dagger, passed around fliers at school in an effort to get students interested.

“I just went around school, handing them out,” said Dagger, 12, a student at Sowers Middle School. “I thought the Halloween theme was a really neat idea, and it’s been fun to get together with friends, dress up and surf.”

The one criteria required of any surfer entering the contest was that he or she needed to be in a Halloween costume.

Twelve local youth came out early Sunday to compete in the first-time event, each decked out in costume.

A Bob Marley look-alike could be seen surfing alongside Darth Vader and a ninja.

There was a Tigger too.

Dagger Tompkins dressed as the gloved one, Michael Jackson, complete with eyeliner, a shiny silver glove on his left hand and a heavy black jacket.

He surfed in the jacket, but halfway through his heat it became too cumbersome, and he shed it at the shore break.

Contestants were judged by a panel on several criteria, including how they surfed, costume creativity and how well the costume held up in the water.

Bradley said he could just see fine out of the slanted eye openings in his full-body Spider-Man costume.

“I could see all around me out there,” he said of the view from inside his costume. “It was fun to dress up and surf.”

Bradley, a student at Golden View, said he planned on dressing up as the lead character from the film “Napoleon Dynamite” on Halloween itself.

The 6-year-old claimed a bodyboard for winning the most waves category.

The 12 contestants were split into three 20-minute heats, each consisting of four surfers.

Clay Crandal, 12, a student at Sowers, surfed the last heat and ended up winning the contest.

Clay, who created his own costume -- which consisted of orange-striped tights and a blue helmet -- called himself Stripo. He won the top prize in the best barrel category.

Best wipe-out honors went to Dagger Tompkins, and best costume went to Tiernan Backer, who called his costume a “buffed” version of Spider-Man.

Micah Tompkins was able to gather up a handful of sponsors to donate prizes for the contest, which included T-shirts and stickers, skateboard decks, two pairs of tickets for a whale-watching venture and two tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

“A lot of sponsors stepped up at the last minute to offer some nice prizes for this contest,” Tompkins said. “We’re already working on getting more sponsors for next year’s event. The city of Huntington Beach was great too. They gave us the go-ahead and gave us the spot at Goldenwest Street.

“We want to do this every year. We’d keep it an open contest, but I really like the local feel, of offering something like this to residents. I’d eventually like to get all ages out here in costume, group surfers by age groups like they do in contests. It’d be great to see everyone dressed up, going out there in costume and surfing. Having fun and being creative is what this contest is all about.”20051103ipb520knPHOTOS BY DOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / INDEPENDENT(LA)Dagger Tompkins, appearing as a one-gloved Michael Jackson -- after shedding his water-logged black jacket -- catches a wave during the first running of the HB Wave Massacre, a surf contest for kids in which all contestants dressed in Halloween costumes. The event’s organizers hope to make it an annual event. Bradley Monroe, 6, of HB, dressed up as Spiderman, loses balace on his board while under the close supervision of his godfather Scott Pantel. Monroe was the youngest participant to take part in the first running of the HB Wave Massacr.