Stanley Ipkiss - The Mask (comic Books)

The Mask (comic Books)

The base concept of The Mask was created by Mike Richardson in 1982. It first saw life as a single sketch he made in 1985 for APA-5, an amateur press publication created by writer Mark Verheiden. After starting Dark Horse Comics, Richardson pitched his concept to Marvel comic book writer/artist Mark Badger, which resulted in the Masque strip that ran in the early issues of Dark Horse Presents. Badger's strips became increasingly political, and Richardson ended the strip in order 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. The character was given a new launch 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 very popular use of the character, "a combination of Tex Avery and The Terminator". The Mask stories from Mayhem #1-4 were later collected as the 1991 issue The Mask #0 and in a trade paperback collection as well.

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 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. The first major storylines and the Joker/Mask crossover have all been collected in trade-paperback and in a limited edition hardcover box set.

Original ongoing series

1. Mayhem (#1-4, Monthly, May 1989-September 1989, re-printed in The Mask #0)
2. The Mask (#1-4, Monthly, July 1991-October 1991)
3. The Mask (#0, December 1991)
4. The Mask Returns (#1-4, Bimonthly, October 1992-March 1993)
5. The Mask Strikes Back (#1-5, Monthly, February 1995-May 1995)
6. The Mask: The Hunt for Green October (#1-4, Monthly, June 1995-October 1995)
7. The Mask: World Tour (#1-4, Monthly, December 1995-March 1996)
8. The Mask: Southern Discomfort (#1-4, Monthly, April 1996-July 1996)
9. The Mask: Toys in the Attic (#1-4, Monthly, August 1998-November 1998)
10. Joker/Mask (#1-4, Monthly, May 2000-August 2000)

The Mask (#0-4)

In an antiques shop, a weak, neurotic man named Stanley Ipkiss shops for a gift to give to his girlfriend, Kathy. 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, superpowered 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 personal grudges, 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 Stanley had bought it as a gift for her.

Later Stan breaks into her apartment to steal it back just as the police respond to their earlier domestic violence call. Deciding his only way out is as Big Head, Stan places the mask back on and kills 11 cops in his escape. He returns home as Big Head and takes off the mask only to be shot in the back and killed by Kathy, who has put two and two together and figured out the identity of Big Head, before putting the mask on herself.

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

The city, not knowing of the magical mask, assumes Big Head is still the same killer but has moved his target list to high profile crime lords. Despite Kellaway's good intentions, the mask turns his methods increasingly more violent. Big Head encounters Walter, a behemoth-sized mob muscle-man who never speaks and has taken 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, Lt. 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 away in his basement with cement, and vows never to let it be worn again.

The first half of the story following Stan as Big Head was originally published in the four-issue anthology series Mayhem and was then collected as the first part of The Mask trade paperback.

The Mask Returns (#1-4)

The crime lords send men to Lt. Kellaway's home and attempt to kill him. Kellaway makes his way to the basement in an attempt to retrieve the mask but is wounded before he can put it on and is put into a coma. After the shooting, the men escape, taking the mask with them. One of them puts it on the wimpy driver, Nunzio, as a joke, but he then becomes Big Head. Big Head kills the thugs and kills all of the crime lords, and becomes the city's preeminent crime boss. Kathy, realizing the return of Big Head means Kellaway failed to hide the mask well enough, knows that it's up to her to stop him. She dresses as a hooker, and Big Head falls head over heels. She tricks him into taking off the mask, and she pulls out a gun, then Nunzio dives for the mask but is shot and killed. Kathy uses the mask to escape and decides to go after the real crime boss (who Big Head stole the office from while he was in Miami) Don Mozzo. When Don comes back from Miami, he knows Big Head is after him and so he goes for help from the one man who can help him, Walter.

The Mask Strikes Back (#1-5)

Four friends, named Rick, Ben, Hugo, and Archie, all fascinated by the Big Head murders, find that all their lives are at a dead end, until one of them 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 only end up making things worse for themselves. By the end, Walter finds the mask in his hands and is unable to use it and, in frustration, throws it into the distance with tremendous force.

This was the last series in the original Mask storyline by Arcudi and Mahnke. It was also the first to be made after the success of The Mask film and as such the violence of the earlier stories was toned down and the Tex Avery aspects were more prominent than before.

The Mask: The Hunt for Green October (#1-4)

The Mask continues to find its way into the hands of unwitting wearers. Ray Tuttle, a loser film-buff and his daughter Emily discover its power, but Lt. Kellaway is looking to take it from them. The title parodies the title of the novel The Hunt for Red October.

The Mask: World Tour (#1-4)

A new wearer of the magical mask finds his way traveling through the Dark Horse Comics universe.

The Mask: Southern Discomfort (#1-4)

In New Orleans, the mask ends up in the hands of Eric Martin who tries to find his sister, all while Lt. Kellaway looks to destroy it.

The Mask: Toys in the Attic (#1-4)

A character named Aldo Krasker gets his hands on the mask which leads him to subconsciously embark on a murder spree. Doug Mahnke returned to illustrate the covers for this series.