The Mask Returns

The Mask

by John Arcudi, Doug Mahnke (illustrator)

It doesn't matter who you are. Once you put on The Mask, you're a homicidal lunatic with a bad taste for bad jokes and seriously deranged violence. And nothing -- but nothing -- can kill you!

When her boyfriend Stanley died, Kathy thought the weird mask had been lost forever. Now gangsters are dying like flies, victims of everything from comic-book bombs to crossbow shafts, and she knows that somehow it's back. Only Kathy can stop the rampage, but first she has to get around the gangwar erupting around her, the new Mask -- whoever he is -- and the worst bad-guy of all, Walter!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime, Fiction

117 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 1994

About the author

John Arcudi has made a name for himself by scripting comics that manage to combine long-running subplots with impeccable characterization and action sequences, making for some of the most exciting and consistently good comics out today.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Head returns when a low level mobster gets a hold of it and takes over the mob. Arcudi has found his footing here. The storytelling is far better and doesn't feel dated at all. Mahnke art has already evolved into the detailed superstar form he's known for now (minus the clenching neck muscles). the coloring is far better as well. This was a quick, fun, violent romp through the Mask's world.

[Bryham Fabian]

Excelente la continuidad que tiene con las anteriores historias ( empezando por el volumen 0 The Mask). Seguimos el rastro de destrucción de la mascara, pasando por hasta cuatro portadores diferentes y con ello podemos ver las habilidades y comportamiento del usuario según sus intereses y motivaciones ( aka "Big Head" para la policía) en diferentes escenarios. Ora siendo un jefe de la mafia libidinoso cuando cae en un chofer de algún gánster, ora un vigilante antihéroe nocturno cuando cae en manos de un teniente. Me encanta la brutalidad y el toque místico de la máscara. Ojalá algún día alguien se anime a hacer una serie live action o una película que explore este tipo de tramas de los primeros comics, mezclando lo gore con el thriller, y tintes de horror. Quizás sea comercialmente menos atractiva que la versión light y cómica de Jim Carrey, pero vaya que la vería con gusto. ¡Seguiré leyendo todo lo que caiga a mis manos de este personaje!

[Katie Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this one is mostly a failure, but it's a way more fun failure than most. Mahnke's art remains great but I REALLY hate the coloring here, it's close to book-ruining even ignoring whatever story issues i have, it's so flat and creatively limited and at times really sloppily done in the sense of just not filling detail work in properly at all. Story-wise, giving the mask to a low-level mobster desperate to rise up the ranks is a whole lot of fun, but this guy is by design such a non-character outside of the mask persona that Arcudi hangs on to Kathy and Lieutenant Kellaway in order to have anyone worth following, and they're so removed from the Mask goings-on that the book starts to feel bifurcated. That is, until Kathy kills the mobster and gets a hold of the mask herself- unfortunately Arcudi really does not allow himself to have much if any fun with that at all, as the only take he really comes up with for it is that Kathy herself is better at resisting the mask than others? I don't necessarily need Bighead to act totally different when she's a woman but she kind of does anyway so if you're gonna do that do the fun version of it, and in any case having someone just be generically good at not giving in to the mask is a pretty boring take on a Bighead, especially when you only give yourself. I also think Walter is extremely boring and the backstory they come up with for the mask itself really sucks and barely even makes any sense. TLDR, pretty good "Bighead runs the mob" antics and everything else fails to support that or follow through on anything interesting.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and owned this one long before I got hold of book one and, with a few exceptions, stands very well on its own. The violence is slightly less than in book one, but does have a couple of moments. The surviving characters from book 1 are back and doing their best to stop the carnage. Although there's nothing from the Jim Carey film to relate to, this is still full of great one-liners and visuals and beautifully and vibrantly illustrated.

[Etain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really know how I feel about this one like, the art and writing is good and there's lots of fun action but it feels way more shallow than the first miniseries and having two cliffhanger endings in a row is just lazy, especially when this one is even less satisfying

[Chans · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[BMK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the original, but still good fun.

[Brett Plaxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

More madcap, zany violence

[HF · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absurdist and comedic (in a good way) exaggeration and violence.

Like the concept of taking something to its illogical extreme and readers not questioning it.

[S. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel to the original Mask mini-series takes place nearly a month later, when a revenge hit on Kellaway by the Mozzo crime family puts a series of events into motion that puts the Mask back into circulation and forces Kathy and Walter to search for the Mask, albeit for different reasons. The Mask Returns is a very capable continuation that still manages to retain some of the freshness and vitality of the original series, and the recurring characters are brought back into the fold in a way that doesn't feel forced. Having different entities actually searching out the Mask adds a new conflict to the story, and some background to the Mask's origins is even explored, although it does set up a subplot that never actually materialized (unless it does so in a later volume I have yet to read). It's safe to say that if you enjoyed the original Mask series, you'll be just as satisfied with this one.

[Leo Horovitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second collection of Mask comics. The madness and comedy from the first one continues. What's so great about this series is that it never gets old and repetitive. This is because the Mask constantly falls into new hands, which changes the events according to the new wearer's agenda. In the first collection, the Mask was first worn by Stanley Ipkiss, who used it for vengeance against personal "enemies", then it was briefly worn by his ex-girlfriend Kathy, who never really used it, and finally, it fell into the hands of the policeman Kellaway, whose motives was vigilantism. In this new collection, the Mask finds it's way into the hands of one among the very criminal elements Kellaway waged a war against. This gangster of course uses it for entirely different reasons than his predecessors, he takes over his mob "family" and starts eliminating the competition.

The drawings are at least as good as in the previous stories, and the comical madness goes on in the same style. One can only hope that the following stories (Wikipedia tells me there are a number of sequels) manages to continue to put the Mask into the hands of new kinds of people so that the stories continue to feel new and unpredictable.

[Emily Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the previous volume, John Arcudi’s Mask Returns relies on silliness and violence. The combination is absurdity: blood and gore on the level of hilarity.

When Lieutenant Kellaway unsuccessful tried to defend himself against revenge seeking mobsters but trying to retrieve the mask from beneath the concrete in his basement floor, the green horror again ends up in the hands of an evil coward, Little Nunzio. Like Stanley, Little Nunzio uses the power to create terror and gain power in organized crime. When Kathy learns that there is a new Big-Head, she vows to regain control of the mask, only to find that she has no more control over it than its previous personas.

While being a bit short on plot and character, the mask concept has great potential. Kathy, Lieutenant Kellaway, and even the returning character of pugilist Walter could create fascinating stories, given more of a plot than a simple mob war.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequels just don't have the same demented punch of the original, as the accountant's girlfriend gets a hold of the Mask and deals with the Mob as they try to take it from her. I particularly didn't like the behemoth bad guy who just can't be stopped, Walter. Some good comic violence, but, ultimately, you are better off with the first series.

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same as the previous really, but Mahnke's art has improved and really shines with the soft, clear palette of Chris Chalenor on colours. There's just the slightest hint at the origins of the mysterious mask itself, but a story that demands more attention than is given to it here.
If you liked the first, you'll like the second.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

These comics are super easy to read. There is some gore, there are some jokes. I can whizz through them in half an hour. A nice way to break up an afternoon!
What I specifically enjoy is how quick the characters are to die. You never know if the Mask at the start will have the same wearer by the end of the book...

[Omri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet, but notthing more.

[Jackie Stargrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid follow-up to the original series with a lot more focus on Walter, the magnificently creepy and unstoppable mob enforcer who becomes Big-Head's enemy purely by default.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before the cartoon and the movie of the same name. Please pick this up. if you don't mind gore that is ;p