When I Was Asked to Pitch Another Series of "The Mask" (Patreon)

Back in the 90's I wrote a four-issue of The Mask for Dark Horse Comics. It didn't make much of a blip in the scheme of things, and wasn't received all that well by the fans expecting more John Arcudi/Doug Mahnke ultra-violence sprees. Maybe some readers thought it would be a Milk & Cheese romp with a Mask mask on, maybe there was too much plot in there that wasn't engaging, and , of course, maybe it wasn't all that good. I dunno, I liked writing it and enjoyed the father and daughter characters caught up in the story.

I didn't mention what the series was called. I should do that, like I'm a professional writer writing about writing stuff. It was called “The Hunt For Green October”, as it's a Halloween story of sorts. And a weak pop culture play on words. The main character was a special effects makeup professional who was forced to retire after an accident damaged his hands. He was enamored of all kinds of movies and TV shows, and later on his daughter puts the mask on, and between them both there's Mask-fueled references to Hong Kong martial arts films, Street Fighter, the Twilight Zone, Sailor Moon, etc. There's a flying guillotine in there somewhere, a small detail but I had fun throwing that stuff in there for artist Peter Gross to draw.

Anyway, three or four years ago at NYCC, Mike Richardson asked me to come up with a pitch for a potential Mask comic series. Apparently he was trying to reboot the comics. I wasn't keen on the prospect, because, basically, I think The Mask is a very narrow-focused concept that runs out of gas very quickly. I'm really not a fan. I think there are reasons we don't see too many Mask characters, despite the character being a pet project for Richardson.

First off, there's no main character to become involved with. The Mask is about well, a mask, and how different people are affected after finding it, much like the device seen in films featuring a passed-around coin or twenty dollar bill or a handgun. It's an anthology format with changing characters, which seems to be a tough sell on audiences. Anyway, an anthology isn't a great fit for the Direct Market and hasn't been for a long time. There's a reason the Predator: Hunters  series – which  brought together surviving humans from previous comics to form a supergroup of hunters -- seemed to click and continue (until Disney pulled the license, at least). Readers tend to like ongoing characters in their ongoing concepts. And as an afterthought, the series doesn't have an ongoing protagonist looking for the mask, some ancient goof or modern megalomaniac that serves as a de facto supervillain for the comics. That could at least be a sort of connection, but villain-centered series tend to flare out. At least they used to, but while I see Thanos and whoever getting their own titles they don't seem to be anything but fan-driven vehicles that run out of gas and get brought back again. And again. And again. Maybe I'm wrong, I admit I'm not plugged in to what's in Previews anymore.

The mask itself doesn't have a particularly fascinating backstory to explore. I guess you can go back in time and show it passed around by different people in different times, but there's still no connecting tissue to a single character or group to anchor the comics.  And you lose the “wacky” pop culture angle if you work it pre-mass media).  The Mask doesn't exist in a fantasy world to interact with, and with the Bugs Bunny-like powers it affords the wearer, it creates a power imbalance once the concept moves past gonzo bloodbaths and into stories with more plot threads. In the earlier stories Arcudi brought in a guy named Walter, who was a nearly impossible-to-kill-by-normal-means brute, a Jason or Michael Myers in a gangster suit who could give the impervious Mask an actual fight. Which breaks the “two miracles” rule (if it matters, clearly the fans didn't care), in that we have an impossible magic mask that delivers invulnerability and powers, and then, hey, there also happens to be a mob dude that's  superhuman.

This was an early indication that The Mask was not prepped for a lot of comics and stories. The fact that the mask ends up with new people is a springboard for stories, but the lack of context and the power imbalance makes future stories a bit of a mug's game. And you end up with the Mask traveling to other dimensions where you can have superfights with the DHC line of capes. Or you get slapstick social satire where The Mask clocks offending persons, like in a Milk & Cheese comic, only stretched to several pages, or longer. Or he's kind of heroic. I dunno, I haven't read most of the stuff in the omnibus editions. The comic just isn't compelling to me. The Mask is a bit of a white elephant, it's there, it's known, there's been movies and an animated series, but it's a chore to work with the – I was going to write “character”, but it's not really a character. It's a costume. A mask. A device, literally and figuratively (or not, but cut me some slack here, I never learned how to “write” write). Different people wear it and go nutty and there's violence. How many issues can you squeeze out of that? Too many?

Some comics can survive on stylized violence, Geof Darrow's comics are a case in point. “Stylized” is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. People will pay to watch a favorite wrestler or character do the same things in slightly different ways – if it's put over convincingly and entertainingly. After Arcudi and Mahnke moved on, the Mask just went into a tailspin with the readers. They imprinted on the concept, and that's the version of the concept best-remembered and most widely supported. You especially lose a lot without Mahnke, the visual appeal of the violent set pieces obviously sold a lot of copies. It's not easy to reproduce lightning in a bottle, sometimes not even with the same creative team. Sometimes a project is unique and works as a short-term gain. But “comics” does not think long-term.

Then you get the movie, y'know, that big deal movie. And I think the violence became an issue after that, because it had to be toned down for the comics to make the mask wearers less evil and homicidal in the wake of Jim Carrey's shtick. The movie coated the franchise with a camp aspect that still hasn't washed off completely. The comic book Mask that clicked with an audience was an invincible magic dude murdering hundreds of gangsters in loving murderous detail. Gore, violence and black humor (often about gore and violence) and, to be honest, not much of a story (not that that always matters). It's a vehicle built for short distance speed, not a long haul. All it sets up is diminishing terms as a new mask-wearer clobbers a new bunch of henchmen and bad people.

Which can work, but it's not easy to pull off. And the Mask just kind of limps along, rudderless. I believe there was a recent gritty as fuck, edgy comeback series, which really pushed a return to the  ultra-violence angle. I remember it getting a lot of attention when announced, and then, like most everything else, kind of sank into the Direct Market quicksand when it actually came out. They love the announcements, and they don't buy the comics. But that's a topic for another time. Or maybe not, my hands hurt enough already, and that's a month's worth of ranting and typing.

As usual I'm writing a lot more than intended, but folks seem to like when I do that, so cheers, I'm doing that thing people seem to like.

With all that said and done, I did end up pitching a plot to Mike. I needed work and the e-mails weren't coming in. So I gave it a whack, after a straight horror-themed approach was rejected. I think Sarah and I kicked a few plot germs around (and I know we had a conversation about how limited the concept was). I ended up with a Mars Attacks/War of the Worlds/Invasion of the Bodysnatchers kind of thing, allowing for endless slaughter and providing something a little different to slaughter. And there'd be a heavy dose of video game visuals for the mask-wearer's "moveset". The underlying theme was addiction to the Mask, as well as celebrity, the empty feeling one might have when your shining moment is over. I can't say I went deep on this, it was a piece of work that had to get done fairly fast. I can't say the concept was something I was aching to work on, but if it went forward, I had some ideas for a few set pieces and I would have tried to make it fun.

I'm not sure if I ever heard back from Mike about the pitch. Maybe we discussed it in passing while talking about something else. But obviously there was no interest in my idea. And no other Mask comics came out for a while after that. There's interest in the earlier material, the collections get reprinted. Green October gets tossed in with some other stuff so they can have another book. I like what we did with the series, it's not fantastic but it's filled with some good bits. I like the father-daughter relationship and a few pages work really well. It's decent comics. But the concept is kind of exhausting to work with for 80 or so pages.

Anyway, here's the pitch. I make no claims for it.

P.S. Just remembered – I did write another Mask thing a while back, but it was just a two-page gag thing I did with artist Hilary Barta. It made fun of Quentin Tarantino, it grew out of a comment during a phone conversation with (the now rightfully shunned) editor Scott Allie, he said something that we laughed at and somehow that turned into me getting a job to write a page, which became two pages because I wrote a lot of jokes. I don't know if the comic was ever collected in an actual Mask collection, though. It was done for the short-lived MySpace/DHC online project and ran in the print collection.

PLEASE NOTE:  The title in the pitch was not intended to be the actual series title. 

ALSO PLEASE NOTE:  I laughed when I read it, so now I like it for the title. Doesn't matter! 

THE MASK FIGHTS FOR EARTH AND STUFF

Open with the Mask owner scene, shakes, sweats.

Agents break in to get the Mask, shoot him dead in course of action?

Don't see the Mask yet.

Characters from the comic's past brought in for interrogation. No one told what's happening, why the Mask is needed. Big, grim secret.

Government conducting tests on the Mask. Security  ridiculous, guards on guards on scientists, etc.

Conducting psychological and physical tests on perfect candidate to wear the Mask into battle against alien invaders. Or perhaps it's an overall weapons program, use it against foreign enemies or terrorists, and they discover the alien plot.

There are rumors or clues, artifacts or transmissions, regarding alien activity and possible infiltration.

They test the Mask on their number one candidate, strapped down, Mask is placed on his face. Reaction unexpected – reveals him to be an alien infiltrator. The discovery ratchets up everything – need to defend, need for Aliens to attack, etc.

Twist - the Mask doesn't end up on any of the actual candidates, have to work it out, but it ends up on our less-likely protagonist, a video game-addicted goofball, clever, but nerdy and awkward.

His Mask persona revolves heavily around video games, game tactics, scenarios, characters and what not. Wish fulfillment angle. This gives us the pop culture element for him to draw on, but is different than the usual movie/TV/comic stuff (although it overlaps, so we can dip in there if necessary).

Aliens allow us an antagonist that can be smashed without making our hero a criminal. Someone we can root for. Also provides an x-factor, we don't know their power/technology, that and numbers provides obstacles that could challenge the Mask's seemingly-limitless powers. Not the usual shoot-em up. Mecha, monsters, gas attacks, sometimes he could defend and protect rather than just attack, attack,, attack.

Will likely need a more central protagonist, some big bruiser brick the aliens send after him as a personal obstacle/villain to pinpoint on. Something really freaky. Genetic mutant war machine not easily damaged. Go wild.

Aliens uptight, super-strict, play the Mask's antics off them. Mask drives government up the wall, as well, not their monkey. They can't control him. Some personnel act as his harried handlers, more characters to work with, humanize things. Some sympathetic, some hardasses. Maybe a love interest who likes him.

Keep it funny. Over the top action and violence, nothing too gory.

Close with the hero sitting in his room, much like the character in the opening, craving for the Mask. Tributes, medals, honors adorn the room. He's been feted, celebrated, decorated, given a parade. Will never have the Mask again. This was his High School, he was always a loser, but he's famous and taken care of but unfulfilled and hooked on getting the Mask back. Gollum for future stories, a very sad case. Will ultimately redeem himself after doing bad things. Provides a darker ending and calms things down for another arc. Possibly a mystic/horror angle next time, dealing with voodoo and the spiritual aspects of the Mask. Go from SF action comedy to horror action comedy?