The Mask (comics)



The Mask is a comic book series best known as the inspiration for that film where Jim Carrey was even more of a live-action cartoon character than usual. Unlike the movie, the comic book is not harmless slapstick, fitting much better in the comedy horror genre.

The story of the comics begins when Stanley Ipkiss, a seemingly nice guy with repressed violent thoughts buys a green mask (really a semi-living artifact stolen from a tribe in Africa) for his girlfriend, Kathy. Putting the mask on that night and suddenly changing into a green-headed being with near-infinite powers, Stanley spends the next several months killing anyone he dislikes and becoming increasingly militant and deranged, until a final showdown with police and his girlfriend leaves him dead. The mask ends up in the hands of police Lt. Kellaway, who becomes the next "Big Head", carrying out similar murders against anyone he dislikes, until he finally realized what was happening. The stories over the years followed the mask itself as it went from owner to owner, usually pursued by Kellaway as he was one of very few who knew the truth.

The comics had the following tropes:

 * Amusing Injuries: Subverted. Big Head's shtick includes re-creating cartoony injuries like Squashed Flat, Torso With a View, etc. -- but with realistic amounts of blood and pain.
 * Adaptation Distillation: While it's hard to think this could apply to the original Mask comics... they were actually the product of John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke fleshing out and adapting Mike Richardson's original "Masque" concept. Most of the original ideas remained intact, however.
 * Art Evolution: The artist Doug Mahnke's pencilling style evolves quite a bit throughout the first album.
 * Artifact of Doom: The mask.
 * Asshole Victim: Played with - the victim may have ticked off the mask wearer somehow, but the "asshole" part was in the wearer's mind and likely enhanced a hundred times by the mask's influence.
 * Axe Crazy: People who wear the mask don't start out like this, but it does happen eventually.
 * Body Horror:
 * Mask wearers are referred to as "Big Head" for a good reason. Their head becomes a giant mutated lump with large eyes, a huge mouth, no ears and a tiny nose.
 * The two jerkass auto mechanics that Big Head kills early on. One is wrapped up and impaled by chains and hooks. The other one... well... his skull was removed and replaced with a muffler, complete with a visual of skin stretched out over the muffler. It wasn't pretty.
 * Book Ends: The first person to wear the mask, Stanley, is the last one to have it at the end of the comic's run. (Sure, it's a dead body, but it counts.)
 * Black Comedy: Big Head might be a killer who does things to people that may lead to a Moral Event Horizon, but he is funny while doing it.
 * Call Back: In the original 4-part series, a 2-page spread of a laughing Big Head shows Kellaway's vigilante spree in action. A near identical spread shows up again in Lobo VS Mask' when Lobo is wearing it.
 * Crossover:
 * Lobo VS The Mask
 * Grifter VS The Mask
 * Also Joker/Mask, though it seemed to be in its own hybrid canon that combined the comics and cartoon into one
 * Curb Stomp Battle: At the end of the first two series, this is what happens to the cops when they try to stop Big Head.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Big Head is this, but it varies between wearers.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
 * Walter blasts Kathy/Big Head with both barrels of an elephant gun. For a being enhanced with the powers to bend reality and shrug off injuries, Kathy stayed down for the count long enough to make us think she was dead.
 * This also happens the first time we see Walter as he gives Kellaway/Big Head quite a harsh beating that actually stuns him. We ARE talking about a being that gives entire police precincts the runaround here!
 * Evil Mask
 * Faux Action Girl: Kathy. While she's brutally unstoppable while wearing the mask, without it on she tends to play it safe. Though at heart, she's not an action girl OR a killer, she's just an unlucky woman who got mixed up in this mess.
 * Gorn: Big Head's bloody trail of victims was depicted without censorship, as were Walter's self mutilation habits.
 * Hammerspace: Even characters often wonder where Big Head gets all of his weapons. That's assuming the mask isn't literally creating matter from nothing, anyway.
 * The Juggernaut: Walter.
 * Lost Tribe: The mask itself originally belonged to an unnamed African tribe, which used it in their rituals.
 * Mythology Gag: In The Mask Strikes Back, a reference is made to Big Head wearing a yellow zoot suit, which is part of the film version's iconic outfit but which the comic book version is never seen wearing (except in some of the crossovers).
 * No Man Should Have This Power: Kathy gives the mask to Lt Kellaway for safe keeping. When he finds he can't trust himself with it, he buries in concrete (which of course only keeps it down until the beginning of the next story arc).
 * No Name Given: Lt. Kellaway's first name is never revealed. He even refused to tell people when asked.
 * Only a Flesh Wound: Big Head suffers injuries and bleeds profusely, but ignores almost all of it. Though being a magical artifact that can bend reality, Big Head can instantly re-grow and regenerate anyway. In some cases, Big Head's been known to turn severed pieces into clones.
 * Police Brutality: When Lt. Kellaway put on the mask he went on a massive killing spree to off drug dealers, mobsters and anyone else he felt the system let slip through.
 * Power Makes Your Voice Deep: While it's hard to depict, Big Head's angular voice bubbles and scratched out lettering indicates a monster-like tone of voice that characters often comment on. The CD of the first two series shows that Big Head can also make his voice very high.
 * Puppeteer Parasite: The mask itself is a semi-living entity that can speak. Anyone who wears it is initially in control, or so it seems, as they seem to be fully aware of what they're doing with their new powers. However, they're quickly driven to murder and violence and after only a short time find their own minds being subdued as the mask takes control.
 * Secret Identity: Subverted as the mask changed hands quite often, though as far as most of the police and media knew, it was the same killer each time.
 * Self Mutilation Demonstration: Walter would do this just to screw with people.
 * Squashed Flat: After Stanley first puts on the mask, he's run over by a car and flattened, complete with hideous amounts of blood. But he's just fine.
 * Stable Time Loop: Lobo VS Mask. The loop was broken at the end of the issue, however.
 * Stern Teacher: Stanley's old teacher was one, even to the point of doing the same to students now as she did to Stanley as a boy... right before Big Head entered the classroom and killed her in front of the children.
 * Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome:
 * Symbol Swearing: Despite heavy bloodshed and gore, actual cursing was censored in the books.
 * The Voiceless: Walter never speaks.
 * Un Installment: A story arc showing what happened to Kathy between Stanley's death and her handing over the mask to Lt Kellaway (including what would have been the first appearance of Walter) was planned but never published.
 * Unwitting Pawn: People who wear the mask are just tools used by the mask itself.
 * Villain Protagonist: While Stanley just wanted revenge for all those who did him wrong, Kellaway really wanted to use the mask for good. Let's just say Big Head had other plans.
 * Voice Changeling: Big Head can mimic anyone's voice to impersonate anyone.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Walter is nigh-invincible...but his head is too big for the mask to fit.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Oh sure, at first being the mask is fun, but by the end of it you become so Axe Crazy it's not even funny.