The Mask (comics)

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The Mask
Textless cover of The Mask Strikes Back #1 (February 1995). Art by Doug Mahnke and Keith Williams.
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
First appearance	As Masque: Dark Horse Presents #10 (September 1987) As Big Head: Mayhem #1 (May 1989)
Created by	Masque: Mike Richardson Mark Badger Big Head: John Arcudi Chris Warner Doug Mahnke
In-story information
Alter ego	Various
Notable aliases	Masque Big Head Loki
Abilities	Reality warping Cartoon physics

The Mask is an American comedy horror comic book series created by Mike Richardson, developed by Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi, and published by Dark Horse Comics. Its artists include Mark Badger, Chris Warner and Keith Williams. The series tells the story of a supernatural mask that grants its wearers nearly limitless power, often at the cost of their sanity. The original trilogy of The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back was published as a limited series, from 1991 to 1995, and has since expanded into various spin-offs and other media, including Itty Bitty Mask and the 2019 main series revival I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask!. The series is known for its dark tone and graphic violence.

The stories of The Mask revolve around a magical mask which bestows on its wearer reality-bending powers and an altered appearance, characterized by a large set of teeth and a green head.^[1] The mask affects the wearer's personality by removing all social and moral inhibitions, causing the wearer to become insane. The character was inspired by a combination of villains from DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and horror movies such as the Joker, the Green Goblin, Freddy Krueger, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Steve Ditko's the Creeper.^[2] In the original comics, Stanley Ipkiss wears the mask and becomes a villain. Other characters who wore the Mask became, regardless of their intentions in donning it, cruel antiheroes or murderous, vengeful villains with ultra-violent tendencies. In the 1994 film and the animated series, the Mask had much less predictable effects on its wearer; the main character Stanley Ipkiss is depicted as polite, meek and nebbish, but becomes a brash, confident, thieving, charismatic, dashing and still polite supervillain who later on becomes a superhero while wearing the mask, whereas Dorian Tyrell, the main villain, shows no change in personality whatsoever while wearing the mask. The same is true in the 2005 sequel Son of the Mask, whose main character Tim Avery is named after Tex Avery.

The title of the comic book originally referred to the mask itself and not the character it unleashed. In early stories, the character was referred to as Big Head; it was not until the films and television series that the character became known as The Mask.

• The Mask/Big Head – The titular mask is a semi-living entity possessing anyone wearing it and becoming Big Head, be they male or female. As such, it is both the protagonist and antagonist of the series depending on the motivations of its wearer.
• Walter – Big Head's arch-enemy - a mute, brutish man who worked for the Mob.
• Mitch Kellaway – One of the Mask's archenemies and a police officer who was one of the wearers of the mask.
• Stanley Ipkiss – The first person to encounter the Mask.
• Kathy Matthews – Also known as Katherine/Kathleen. Stanley's ex-girlfriend and a friend of Mitch, as well as one of the wearers of the mask.
• Nunzio – A long-suffering cab driver for the mob who ends up becoming one of the wearers of the Mask who used its powers to seize control of all crime in the city for a time.
• Lionel Ray – A police detective and friend of Mitch who encounters the Mask.
• Abner Mead – A political candidate who seeks to use the Mask to become the President of the United States.
• Ray Turtle – A young homeless man who used the Mask to kill his abusive former foster parents.
• Mask Hunters – A group of Neo-Nazis trying to use the Mask for their plans.

The base concept of The Mask was created by Mike Richardson on 5 February 1982.^[2] It first saw life as a single sketch he drew in 1985 for APA-5, an amateur press publication created by writer Mark Verheiden.^[2] After starting Dark Horse Comics, Richardson pitched his concept to Marvel Comics comic book writer/artist Mark Badger. The outcome was the Masque strip that ran in the early issues of Dark Horse Presents.^[2] Badger's strips became increasingly political, and Richardson ended the strip to bring the character back to his original concept.

Artist Chris Warner was hired to revamp the character based on Richardson's original APA-5 drawing and created the definitive look for the character. This new look was launched in 1989 in the pages of Dark Horse's Mayhem anthology. Aspiring writer John Arcudi and artist Doug Mahnke were hired to create the new adventures, which became the first popular use of the character, "a combination of Tex Avery and The Terminator".^[2] The Mask stories from Mayhem #1–4 were later collected as the 1991 issue The Mask #0 and also in a trade paperback collection.

Mayhem was canceled after four issues, but, in 1991, Arcudi and Mahnke continued with The Mask four issue limited series, which introduced one of the Mask's antagonists, a mute brutish hulk named Walter. This run was among Dark Horse's best sellers; following it, the company continued a succession of miniseries around the Mask, with various antagonists and protagonists wearing the mask. These series concluded in 2000 with the DC Comics crossover Joker/Mask, in which the magical Mask finds its way into the hands of Batman's arch-enemy The Joker.^[3] The first major storylines and the Joker/Mask crossover have all been collected in trade-paperback format and in a limited-edition hardcover box set. It was later revived as two spin-off series: Itty Bitty Mask and I Pledge Allegiance To The Mask!.

In an antiques shop, a weak, neurotic man named Stanley Ipkiss shops for a gift to give to his girlfriend, Kathy Matthews. At the store he purchases an old jade mask which begins to speak to him. When Stanley wears it, he is transformed into a wacky super-powered being with an abnormally large, bald, green-skinned head and a mouthful of large teeth. After exploring his new abilities, Ipkiss goes on a rampage, taking revenge on those with whom he has a grudge, and earns the nickname Big Head.

After taking the mask off, Stan begins to realize what has been happening. His acts as Big Head begin to take an emotional toll on him. He becomes verbally abusive toward Kathy. She kicks him out, but keeps the mask since it was a gift from Stanley.

Later, Stan breaks into Kathy's apartment to steal it back just as the police arrive in response to an earlier housebreaking call. Deciding his only way out is as Big Head, Stan puts the mask back on and kills multiple cops during his escape in addition to causing a great deal of property damage. He returns home as Big Head and removes the mask, preparing to leave the city; only to be shot in the back and killed by Kathy now wearing the mask, who figured out the identity of Big Head and donned the mask while Stan's back was turned after he took it off.

Kathy takes the mask to Lieutenant Kellaway for safe-keeping. Kellaway, who had been struggling with both the recent Big Head murders, and organized crime lords on the loose in his city, disregards Kathy's warnings, believing she is stressed and not thinking clearly, and tries on the mask. Becoming Big Head, Kellaway sets out to take down the crime lords who have plagued his police career.

City dwellers, not knowing of the magical mask, assumes Big Head is still the same killer whose targets are now high-profile crime lords. Despite Kellaway's good intentions, the mask causes his methods to become increasingly more violent. Big Head encounters Walter, a behemoth-sized mob muscle-man who never speaks, who has undertaken a vendetta against Big Head for killing his employers. Walter never shows pain and is the only one who can injure Big Head to any real degree.

While fighting off Walter's attacks, Lieutenant Kellaway, as Big Head, becomes the target of a police manhunt. Big Head fights off the police and tracks down the remaining mobsters. When Kellaway's partner attempts to stop Big Head, the mask-altered policeman nearly kills his friend and colleague. Kellaway, realizing what he has been doing, flees. He removes the mask, buries it in his basement in cement, and vows never to let it be worn again.

Four friends, named Rick (a disgruntled anarchist), Ben (a failed musician), Hugo (a recovering drug addict) and Archie (a teenage savant), feel that their lives are at a dead end, until Rick, fascinated by the Big Head murders, finds the magical mask by the city pier and brings it home. Realizing this was the source of their hero's power, each of the four take turns trying it on. They attempt to use its power to fix their lives but end up making things worse for themselves. By the end, Walter, having recovered since being plowed into by Kellaway, finds the mask in his hands and is unable to use it and, in frustration, throws it off into the distance with tremendous force.

Acknowledging how the main series was dormant for twenty years, the mask had been buried in concrete for two decades, during which Kellaway retired in California and Kathy became mayor of Edge City. Struggling politician Abner Mead finds it, and as Big Head uses his uninhibited and at times violent outbursts to make himself endearing to the populace and run for President of the United States.^[4]

Grifter, of the WildC.A.T.s., is sent to Las Vegas to break up a weapons smuggling ring at a gun show. Trouble ensues when one of the tourists ends up with the mask, and Big Head causes a riot at the gun show by pulling a knife. Grifter initially mistakes the Mask for a target, but when the tourist's girlfriend is threatened, Grifter and the Mask team up to stop the smuggling ring.

Dark Horse Comics has published two omnibus editions featuring The Mask stories in chronological order. However, this collection didn't reprint bonus materials previously released in the individual trade paperbacks for the individual series, such as deleted pages, author forwards, and retrospectives.

The Mask Omnibus Volume 1

Collects The Mask #0–4, The Mask Returns #1–4 and The Mask Strikes Back #1–5. Published August 13, 2008.^[5] Second Edition published March 27, 2019.^[6]

The Mask Omnibus Volume 2

Collects The Mask: The Hunt for Green October #1–4, The Mask: World Tour #1–4, The Mask: Southern Discomfort #1–4, "Night of the Return of the Living Ipkiss... Kinda" and The Mask: Toys in the Attic #1–4. Published March 11, 2009.^[7] Second Edition published September 11, 2019.^[8]

Adventures of the Mask Omnibus

Collects The Mask: Official Movie Adaptation #1–2, Adventures of the Mask #1–12, The Mask: Virtual Surreality, "Angry Young Mask" and "No Mask Is an Island". Published July 15, 2009.^[9]

A film version of The Mask was released in the United States on July 29, 1994, starring Jim Carrey in the title role. Directed by Chuck Russell, the film co-starred Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrell, Peter Riegert as Lt. Mitch Kellaway, Orestes Matacena as Niko, Richard Jeni as Charlie Schumacher, Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt, and Cameron Diaz, in her screen debut, as Tina Carlyle. Ben Stein has a cameo role as Dr. Arthur Neuman.

While there were early efforts to take the film in the direction of horror (some at New Line Cinema saw it as a replacement for their fading A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise),^[10] it was never completely intended as a "dark horror" picture.^[11] New Line had problems coming up with a script that could show violence that was comical, but had more success with a story that was primarily a comedy and had violence. Mike Richardson and Chuck Russell always pushed in the direction of the second option, which was eventually adopted. Executive producer Michael De Luca's suggestion of Jim Carrey for the lead, together with the "Cuban Pete" production number in the screenplay, set the final tone for the film.

The plot of the film was loosely based on the first half of the Arcudi/Mahnke comic book miniseries.

The film also inspired a spin-off video game adaptation, released for the Super NES in 1995.^[12]

The film version of the character subsequently appeared in an animated TV series entitled The Mask: Animated Series (with Rob Paulsen as Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask).^[13] John Arcudi wrote season one's "How Much is That Dog in the Tin Can" and season three's "The Goofalotatots" (a parody of Warner Bros. Animation's Animaniacs, which Paulsen starred in). The series took many elements from the source film but made numerous changes. Tina was absent, and reporter Peggy Brandt had become the main female character, but not a love interest. Also, unlike in the film, Ipkiss appeared to be able to use the mask in daytime as well as at night, while gaining the mischievous and heroic personality of The Mask along with having superpowers. The series also had a crossover with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, another animated series based on a Jim Carrey film.

Four VHS volumes of the series were released (an extra two in Australia), all of which are now out of print. Upon the initial DVD release of Son of the Mask, Wal-Mart stores sold an exclusive two-pack of the film with the pilot episode of the animated series ("The Mask Is Always Greener on the Other Side" Parts 1 and 2).

Son of the Mask is the stand-alone sequel to the 1994 film, directed by Lawrence Guterman.^[14] The film had an $84 million budget and a $17 million domestic box office gross,^[15] along with a $40 million foreign box office gross.

Director Chuck Russell, who helmed the original film, expressed his interest in a sequel in his 1996 LaserDisc commentary. He was hoping Carrey would return, along with Amy Yasbeck. Russell had decided to cut the scenes when Peggy dies and leave the character open for the sequel, which became this film. The concept was completely changed when Carrey decided not to return. Though it does exist in the same universe as the 1994 film, the plot instead focuses on another man (played by Jamie Kennedy) who finds the mask and unintentionally conceives a child while wearing it. The result is a son who possesses the powers of the mask without needing to wear it. At the same time, Loki (played by Alan Cumming), the Norse God and original creator of the mask, searches the human world attempting to find it.

Ben Stein reprises his role of Dr. Arthur Neuman from the first film. He is involved in the film to reestablish the relationship between the mask and its creator Loki. He is the only actor to appear in both films as well as the animated series.

The Stanley Ipkiss version of the Mask appears in Space Jam: A New Legacy. He is among the Warner Bros. Serververse inhabitants that watch the basketball match between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad. The Mask can be seen with two versions of the Penguin from the Batman franchise, one from the 1966 Batman Television series and one from the 1992 film Batman Returns.

• Mask at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016.
• Mask's Profile on International Hero