Overview
In all versions the story initially revolves around a magical mask which gives any wearer limitless power and an altered appearance, characterized by a large set of teeth and a green head. The mask affects the personality of the wearer by removing all personal social inhibitions, causing the wearer to become insane. The book was inspired by a combination of earlier characters: The Joker and Steve Ditko's Creeper, as well as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the original comic stories, characters who wore the Mask would become dangerous and cruel antiheroes with ultraviolent tendencies, even if this was not the wearer's original intention. When adapted into a film, the violence was toned down to make the Mask only as dangerous as its wearer. In an animated television show, the main character Stanley Ipkiss was depicted as a mischievous superhero. The same is true of the 2005 sequel's main character Tim Avery, who 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.
Read more about this topic: The Mask