The Mask | |
---|---|
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 |
|
The Mask is an American comic book series created 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. 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 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 very 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.
The Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | July – December 1991 |
No. of issues | 5 |
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Letterer(s) | Pat Brosseau David Jackson |
Colorist(s) | Doug Mahnke Matt Webb |
Editor(s) | Mike Richardson |
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 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.
The Mask Returns | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Bimonthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | October 1992 – March 1993 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Letterer(s) | Pat Brosseau |
Colorist(s) | Chris Chalenor |
Editor(s) | Mike Richardson |
The Mask Strikes Back | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | February – June 1995 |
No. of issues | 5 |
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Inker(s) | Keith Williams |
Letterer(s) | Lois Buhalis |
Colorist(s) | Gregory Wright |
Editor(s) | Michael Eury Greg Vest |
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.
The Mask: The Hunt for Green October | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | July – October 1995 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Evan Dorkin |
Artist(s) | Peter Gross |
Letterer(s) | Pat Brosseau |
Colorist(s) | Matt Webb |
Editor(s) | Greg Vest |
The Mask: Southern Discomfort | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | April – July 1996 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Rich Hedden |
Artist(s) | Goran Delic |
Letterer(s) | Pat Brosseau |
Colorist(s) | James Sinclair Pamela Rambo |
Editor(s) | Greg Vest |
In New Orleans, the mask ends up in the hands of Eric Martin who tries to find his sister, who has been kidnapped by voodoo gangsters, while Lieutenant Kellaway looks for the mask so that he can destroy it.
The Mask: Toys in the Attic | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | August – November 1998 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Bob Fingerman |
Artist(s) | Sibin |
Inker(s) | Bernard Kolle |
Letterer(s) | Annie Parkhouse |
Colorist(s) | Pamela Rambo |
Editor(s) | Scott Allie |
Toy designer named Aldo Krasker gets his hands on the mask which leads him to subconsciously embark on a murder spree against high school colleagues who had ridiculed his acting skills. Lieutenant Kellaway joins the investigation so he can find the mask.
Doug Mahnke returned to illustrate the covers for this series.
The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | October 2019 – January 2020 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Christopher Cantwell |
Artist(s) | Patric Reynolds |
Letterer(s) | Nate Pienko |
Colorist(s) | Lee Loughridge |
Editor(s) | Daniel Chabon |
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]
The Mask: Official Movie Adaptation | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Genre | |
Publication date | July – August 1994 |
No. of issues | 2 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Mike Richarson |
Artist(s) | Kilian Plunkett |
Inker(s) | Bruce Patterson |
Letterer(s) | Sean Konot |
Colorist(s) | Chris Chalenor |
Editor(s) | Bob Schreck |
The Mask: Official Movie Adaptation is a two-issue comic book adaptation of the 1994 film starring Jim Carrey. In addition to retelling its story, the comic book version also contains deleted scenes most often seen as extra features in video releases of the movie, such as the death of the supporting character Peggy Brandt, and completely unseen moments, such as Stanley Ipkiss' watch being stolen by the same group of thugs that he pays back with the balloon animal routine. Some dialogue is also changed.
The Mask: World Tour | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | December 1995 – March 1996 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Robert Loren Fleming |
Artist(s) | Gary Erskine |
Letterer(s) | Annie Parkhouse |
Colorist(s) | Bernie Mireault |
Editor(s) | Greg Vest |
Adventures of the Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Publication date | January – December 1996 |
No. of issues | 12 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Michael Eury |
Artist(s) | Neil Vokes Dev Madan Marc Campos |
Inker(s) | Jay Geldhof Ande Parks Barbara Kaalberg |
Letterer(s) | Clem Robins |
Colorist(s) | Matt Webb Perry McNamee |
Editor(s) | Greg Vest Scott Allie |
Following the success of The Mask film, which led to the release of The Mask: Animated Series , Dark Horse published this spinoff comic series, which followed the continuity of the television cartoon. Like the show, this title combined elements of both the original adult comics and the movie. Elements from the film included The Mask as he was portrayed in the film: goofy, good-hearted and heroic with his trademark yellow suit and hat. From the early comics were Walter, still Pretorius' Henchman, and a Lieutenant Kellaway more like his original counterpart than as he was depicted in film.
Walter: Campaign of Terror | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | February – May 1996 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Inker(s) | Keith Williams |
Letterer(s) | Joe Rosen |
Colorist(s) | Marcus David |
Editor(s) | Greg Vest |
"Night of the Return of the Living Ipkiss... Kinda" | |
---|---|
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Letterer(s) | Clem Robins |
Colorist(s) | Chris Chalenor |
Editor(s) | Randy Stradley |
Grifter and the Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Dark Horse Comics WildStorm |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | September – October 1996 |
No. of issues | 2 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Steven Seagle |
Artist(s) | Luciano Lima |
Inker(s) | Joe Pimentel |
Letterer(s) | Clem Robins |
Colorist(s) | Cary Porter |
Editor(s) | Dave Chipps Greg Vest |
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.
Lobo/Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Dark Horse Comics DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | February – March 1997 |
No. of issues | 2 |
Creative team | |
Written by | John Arcudi Alan Grant |
Artist(s) | Doug Mahnke |
Inker(s) | Keith Williams |
Letterer(s) | Ken Lopez |
Colorist(s) | Francesco Ponzi |
Editor(s) | Dan Raspler |
The alien bounty hunter Lobo is hired to find the "Ultimate Bastich", a being who has decimated numerous planets. Lobo's hunt leads him to Earth, where a petty thief has become Big Head. In a battle that decimates Manhattan, Big Head finally offers to "help" Lobo find the "previous wearer."
The duo head through space causing mass destruction. At a space truck stop, Lobo eventually wins the mask for himself, puts it on, and causes even more damage. A black hole sends him back in time by a month and it turns out that he is, in fact, the Ultimate Bastich. Waking up on Earth and realizing this, Lobo tosses the mask back to the same spot where the thief found it. Lobo breaks the time loop when he meets his past self and turns his past self in for the reward money.
The Mask: Virtual Surreality | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Format | One-shot |
Publication date | July 1997 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Michael Eury Sergio Aragonés Mark Evanier Aaron Lopresti Mike Mignola Dave Taylor Dave Cooper |
Artist(s) | Ivan Reis Edde Wagner Sergio Aragonés Aaron Lopresti Mike Mignola Dave Taylor Dave Cooper |
Letterer(s) | Clem Robins Stan Sakai Ken Bruzenak Pat Brosseau |
Colorist(s) | Dave Nestelle Chris Chalenor James Sinclair Pamela Rambo |
Editor(s) | Scott Allie |
The Mask: Virtual Surreality is a collection of stories by different authors. Stanley Ipkiss watches his favorite TV show The Dukes of Hazzard when a commercial broadcast of Dr. Buzz Hedgaymes offers a new gadget for home entertainment: the Virtual Surreality. Dr. Hedgaymes offers The Mask a chance to test his new machine. Stanley takes up the offer, puts on the mask to bring his alter-ego out, and The Mask spins to Dr. Hedgaymes' lab within moments. The Mask arrives just as Hedgaymes begins to explain the machine to him, while testing it on him, and various events, including barbarians, superheroes and weird cartoons to demons, suddenly play with The Mask in Stanley Ipkiss's childhood, then ends up meeting Stanley's mother while he ends up being turned into a boy which Stanley's mother is like Stanley being kind, polite, nice and motherly to him, but then starts to get aggressive to him when she tells him to take his face off but he refuses so she tries to take his face off, which is when he realises something's not right considering that Stanley's mother is never like that and Stanley never told his mother about him. So The Mask discovers that Pretorius was Hedgaymes all along. Pretorius challenges The Mask to play rock–paper–scissors. Pretorius foresees the outcome, decides not to play fair and, using giant scissors, tries to cut The Mask's head off. The Mask counters with a giant hand made out of stone. The Mask then shows he is a fan of the show that Stanley was watching early, since he opts to go for another round of The Dukes of Hazzard before sending Pretorius to the police.
The Mask/Marshal Law | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | February – March 1998 |
No. of issues | 2 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Pat Mills |
Artist(s) | Kevin O'Neill |
Letterer(s) | Ellie DeVille |
Colorist(s) | Dave Stewart |
Editor(s) | Scott Allie |
The Mask is applied to a superhuman serial killer as part of a secret government experiment which inevitably goes disastrously wrong. Marshal Law is called in to take down a nemesis who is not only immune to his usual ultra-violence, but can warp reality according to his psychotic whims.
"Angry Young Mask" | |
---|---|
Creative team | |
Written by | Rick Geary |
Artist(s) | Rick Geary |
Inker(s) | Rick Geary |
Letterer(s) | Rick Geary |
Editor(s) | Randy Stradley |
"Angry Young Mask" is a short comic book story focusing on an 11-year-old boy named Ned, who has a problem with his unfair parents. One day he finds the mask and wears it, causing a lot of mischief in the process. Later, Ned removes the Mask and throws it in his backyard, but when morning comes, Ned finds his two-year-old brother Josh wearing the mask.
"No Mask Is an Island" | |
---|---|
Creative team | |
Written by | Henry Gilroy |
Artist(s) | Lucas Marangon |
Inker(s) | Randy Emberlin |
Letterer(s) | Steve Dutro |
Editor(s) | Randy Stradley |
On hill roads at night, a professor of anthropology tells a young museum collector the history about the mask and its victims.
A depressed airplane pilot, smoking in a cargo area, finds the mask and goes insane. He flies and crashes an aircraft into a mountain killing the rest of his crew. He survives and, after removing the mask, becomes a resident of a mental institution.
Later at the crash site, a little girl living on a nearby farm, finds the mask and races home to show her abusive drunken father. That night the girl wears the mask and murders her father. She then calls the police to report a green-faced lunatic. Afterwards the girl is sent to a foster home with kindly foster parents. She goes to a church for confession and the priest takes the mask for safe keeping. A short time later he dons the mask and becomes a sex-crazed maniac with the nuns.
After the church's unsuccessful attempt at exorcism, the priest sadly removes the mask and claims that the mask forced him to do unspeakable things. The church hires a professor to trace the mask's origins and he discovers it is a thousand years old, made using African techniques, but decorated with Scandinavian motifs. After analyzing the mask, the professor can not give the church an explanation for it so they decide to destroy it. But the professor finds a museum which is willing to donate a small fortune to acquire the mask.
The young museum collector does not really believe the professor's story and puts the mask back in a box as they head for the city - presumably Gotham City.
Joker/Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Dark Horse Comics DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | May – August 2000 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Henry Gilroy Ronnie del Carmen |
Artist(s) | Ramon F. Bachs |
Inker(s) | Howard M. Shum |
Letterer(s) | Steve Dutro |
Colorist(s) | Dave McCaig |
Editor(s) | Dave Land |
The Joker inadvertently gets his hands on the magical mask after it is found in a Gotham City museum. With its power, the Joker begins to feel it is time to rejuvenate his career as a criminal, taking over Gotham TV and broadcasting his own shows. Lieutenant Kellaway finds his way to Gotham and helps Batman and Commissioner Gordon to defeat the newly super-powered Joker, Batman determining that the mask is not having its usual psychological effect on the wearer as the Joker always expressed his 'innermost desires', with the mask merely making him unstoppable. Batman is able to trick the Joker into removing the Mask by claiming that the villain is no longer funny, and is relying on tired schtick and the power of the Mask instead of using his own style, prompting the Joker's original head to emerge from his shoulder and actually converse with his Mask-head before he takes it off. Lieutenant Kellaway asks Batman to give him the Mask. Batman agrees and the Mask is last seen as Kellaway digs up Stanley Ipkiss's grave and buries the Mask there with his corpse.
Itty Bitty Mask | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | November 2014 – February 2015 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Art Baltazar Franco |
Artist(s) | Art Baltazar |
Editor(s) | Brendan Wright |
When mild-mannered zookeeper Herman Shazbert buys his wife a strange mask, his whole family wants to try it on.
The comics of the short-lived line Itty Bitty took a more silly and kid-friendly approach, similar to DC Comics' Tiny Titans , also illustrated by Art Baltazar. Dark Horse Comics also released Itty Bitty Hellboy , Itty Bitty Comics: Grimmiss Island, and Itty Bitty Hellboy: The Search for the Were-Jaguar.
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 .
The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman on April 25, 1940. Credit for the Joker's creation is disputed; Kane and Robinson claimed responsibility for the Joker's design while acknowledging Finger's writing contribution. Although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman.
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital/prison, appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in stories featuring the superhero Batman. It first appeared in Batman #258, written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Irv Novick. The asylum serves as a (forensic) psychiatric hospital for the Gotham City area, housing patients who are criminally insane, as well as select prisoners with unusual medical requirements that are beyond a conventional prison's ability to accommodate. Its high-profile patients are often members of Batman's rogues gallery.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 American animated romantic superhero film featuring the DC Comics character Batman. It was directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, and written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves. The film is based on Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1999) and is the first original theatrical film produced by Warner Bros. Animation before eventually establishing the additional Warner Bros. Feature Animation division for theatrical productions afterwards. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bob Hastings and Robert Costanzo reprise their voice roles from Batman: The Animated Series, joined by Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Stacy Keach Jr., Abe Vigoda, Dick Miller and John P. Ryan.
The Riddler is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in Detective Comics #140 in October 1948. He has become one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Michael Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer best known for creating Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson, and various spin-offs. He has also created other supernatural and paranormal themed titles for Dark Horse including Baltimore, Joe Golem, and The Amazing Screw-On Head.
The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film directed by Chuck Russell and produced by Bob Engelman from a screenplay by Mike Werb and a story by Michael Fallon and Mark Verheiden. It is the first installment in the Mask franchise, based on the comics published by Dark Horse Comics. It stars Jim Carrey in the title role along with Peter Riegert, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Jeni, and Cameron Diaz in her film debut. Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, an ordinary man who finds a magical wooden mask that transforms him into the titular green-faced troublemaker that has the ability to cartoonishly alter himself and his surroundings at will. Filming began on August 30, 1993, and concluded in October 1993.
Black Mask is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, the character debuted in Batman #386. He is commonly depicted as a brutal and ruthless crime lord in Gotham City who has a fixation with masks and derives sadistic pleasure from the act of torture. Black Mask is one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
"Batman: No Man's Land" is an American comic book crossover storyline that ran for almost all of 1999 through the Batman comic book titles published by DC Comics. The story architecture for "No Man's Land" and the outline of all the Batman continuity titles for 1999 were written by cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel.
Douglas Mahnke is an American comic book artist, known for his work and penciling books including The Mask, JLA, Batman, Final Crisis, and Green Lantern.
The Red Hood is an alias used by multiple characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The identity was first used in the 1951 story line "The Man Behind the Red Hood!", which provides the earliest origin story for the Joker. The storyline depicts an unnamed criminal wearing a red dome-shaped hood who, after a chance encounter with Batman, is disfigured by chemicals and becomes insane, giving birth to his future Joker persona.
John Arcudi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on The Mask and B.P.R.D. and his series Major Bummer.
Andrea Beaumont, also known as the Phantasm, is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and antiheroine created by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, and designed by Bruce Timm. Beaumont first appeared as the main antagonist in the 1993 DC Animated Universe (DCAU) film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, where she was established as the fiancée of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Dana Delany provided the voice work for Andrea and Stacy Keach provided the electronically modified voice of her "Phantasm" alter ego; Keach also provided the voice of Andrea's father, Carl.
The Mask: Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the 1994 film of the same title. The series ran for a total of three seasons and fifty-four episodes from August 12, 1995, to August 30, 1997. It spawned its own short-run comic book series, Adventures of The Mask. John Arcudi, former writer of the original comics, wrote two episodes of the series.
Mark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely recognized work is the creator-owned comic book series Xenozoic Tales, which describes a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans. In 1993, Xenozoic Tales was adapted into an animated series titled Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and a video game of the same name. Schultz's other notable works include various Aliens comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse and a four-year run on the DC Comics series Superman: The Man of Steel. In 2004, Schultz took over the scripting duties of the Prince Valiant comic strip.
Lee Bermejo is an American comic book writer and artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Brian Azzarello including Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, the Joker graphic novel, and Before Watchmen: Rorschach.
"Batman: Under the Hood" is a comic book story arc published by DC Comics, written by Judd Winick and primarily illustrated by Doug Mahnke. Featuring Batman in the monthly title of the same name, it ran from February to August 2005, before going on a short hiatus and returning from November 2005 to April 2006. The story arc is also a part of the crossover Infinite Crisis.
The Scarecrow, a supervillain in DC Comics and an adversary of the superhero Batman, has been adapted in various forms of media, including films, television series, and video games. The character has been portrayed in film by Cillian Murphy in The Dark Knight Trilogy, and in television by Charlie Tahan and David W. Thompson in the Fox series Gotham, and Vincent Kartheiser in the HBO Max streaming series Titans. Henry Polic II, Jeffrey Combs, Dino Andrade, John Noble, Robert Englund, and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games.
The Mask is an American media franchise based on the comic book series of the same name by Dark Horse Comics. It revolves around a mask that gives individuals cartoonish superpowers and the obstacles they must overcome while wearing it.
Jeremiah Arkham is a fictional supervillain and the head of the Arkham Asylum in DC Comics, created by Alan Grant. Arkham was created in 1992, and slowly "lost his mind" during his time in the Arkham Asylum, subsequently becoming the second Black Mask. Though described as a sadist, Arkham seems to believe his intentions are for the benefit of his patients.
I think going with a much darker vision, darker even than the comics, would be fun to see. Horror mixed with comedy is much more common today than it was back in 1994.