The Mask Omnibus Volume 1

Maska #1

by John Arcudi, Doug Mahnke (Illustrator)

The bestselling comic trilogy that inspired the blockbuster film The Mask is collected in this omnibus edition of gruesome hilarity!

A weird mask of unknown origin and power is discovered and imbues its wearer with limitless cartoon character invulnerability that takes the nerdy Stanley Ipkiss, the police, the mafia, and the monstrous mob muscleman Walter on a colliding violent path of homicidal mayhem, lunacy, and destruction!

Collects The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

376 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2004

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]

John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke hit the comic book world over the head with the zany and graphically violent adventures of Big Head. The Mask exaggerates and corrupts the personality of the wearer to the point where it's basically Bugs Bunny pulling out a cartoon hammer and bludgeoning people to a pulp while cracking jokes. Mahnke's art gets more refined with each volume. Fans of Deadpool will definitely enjoy this.

Received a review copy from Dark horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that's a comic. Like a mash up of Tarantino and Bugs Bunny.

I'm not saying they got it wrong in the movie, which I love, but they kinda did. In this pure bloody cartoon violence universe, The Mask isn't just Stanley Ipkiss--he's also Lieutenant Kellaway (who is not a putz but a badass), Stanley's ex-girlfriend Kathy, some teenagers obsessed with The Mask, a mobster wheelman, and anyone lucky enough to grab it. And while The Mask (aka Big-Head) has his own Rat Pack personality that eventually creeps out, the character is fluid to its wearer and changes every few pages: a football player, lounge singer, mobster, dame, rock star, superhero.

It's laugh-out-loud funny, unpredictable, and wacky as fuck. The Mask himself wreaks havoc on the town scene by scene, chapter by chapter, descending into deeply satisfying chaos. The only comic that comes close to this is Tank Girl. The Mask even has an arch-nemesis--Walter! Think Marvel's King Pin meets DC's Victor Zsasz--he's 500#, psychotic, masochistic, mute, and unkillable. And I can't wait to read volume 2!

Now Doug Mahnke's artwork...whew. Mind blowing. At first a bit subdued, as the book goes on and the antics ramp up, so does Doug's intricacy and bodily detail, hails of bullets and explosions, body parts shredding across the page, the costumes, and ultimately, The Mask in all his glory. Come for the story, stay for the artwork.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a product of its times--the extreme, over-the-top, ultra-violent 90s. It explores how the mask manifests itself through different people as eight different hosts appear in this omnibus. The first four hosts are really violent and the stories feature lots of blood and gore. However, the last four hosts are a bit more comical and zany, which will be more familiar to those who only know this character through the Jim Carey movie.

[Basma Elbialy · Rating 4 out of 5]

أكتر شيء عجبني في الكوميكس هي الرسومات وعشان اسلوب الرسم والتلوين قديم حسيت اني مسكت كوميكس من التسعينيات وده حقيقي لانها اتكتبت واترسمت في التسعينات.. المجلد متقسم ل ٣ أجزاء، في تغيير وتطور كل جزء عن اللي قبله لحد ما نوصل للجزء التالت وهو المفضل بالنسبة لي من حيث الرسم والألوان..
بالنسبة للقصة عشان قديمة وكانت كارتون شوفته في طفولتي، لما بدأت اقرأ مكنتش مستغربة أو حاسه ان في شيء جديد ولكن مع الاستمرار في القراءة بدأت أشوف القصة بشكل أنضج عن زمان.. القناع مكانش لشخص واحد لا هو بيقع في ايد ناس كتير وده محبيتهوش في البداية ولكن مع القراءة حسيت انه ادى معنى زيادة للقصة.. كل حد بيلبسه بيتحول وبتسيطر عليه القوة المطلقة وتحوله لشخصية واحدة في النهاية، كلهم في النهاية بيكونوا شبه بعض من حيث الشكل أو التصرفات الا لو قرروا يبعدوا عنه.. القناع كان آداة للكشف عن حقيقة معدن الأشخاص، مخاوفهم وطموحاتهم وغضبهم وعن أثر القوة المطلقة على الإنسان وسيطرتها عليه لدرجة انه معادش يشوف اصلاً ولا بيقدر يهرب منها غير بصعوبة..

[M. Tatari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filmi ya da çizgi dizisi kadar eğlenceli değil.

The Mask, filmdekine benzer bir şekilde ama bir sürü değişiklikle başlıyor. Stanley Ipkiss adlı bir muahsebeci kız arkadaşına bir hediye almak için bir antika dükkânına gidiyor ve buradan tuhaf bir maske satın alıyor. Ama maskeyi taktığında çok çılgın güçleri olan, yeşil suratlı ve ölümsüz birine dönüşüyor. Buraya kadar her şey tanıdık.

Ama çizgi romandaki Maske silah kullanan, önüne çıkanı kanlı bir şekilde öldürmekten kaçınmayan, vahşi bir psikopat. Çizgi film karakterlerini andıran, tuhaf güçleri onu çok ilginç bir karakter kılsa da bir yerden sonra sıkmaya başlıyor. Çünkü tek yaptığı öldürmek, öldürmek ve öldürmek...

Hayatı boyunca başkaları tarafından ezilen Stanley Ipkiss, Maske'nin güçlerini onu küçük gören insanlardan intikam almak için kullanıyor. Kendisini dolandıran tamirciler, ilkokulda ona zayıf not veren öğretmeni, eski patronu... Hepsini tuhaf şekillerde öldürüyor. Sayfalar boyunca bir sürü patlama, silahlı çatışma ve kanlı ölümler gerçekleşiyor.

Maske yine Maskeliğini yapıyor, yapmıyor değil. Olmadık anda bir matadora dönüşüyor, cebinden bir bazuka çıkarıyor, insanların tepesine gökyüzünden çelik kasa düşürüyor, kılık değiştiriyor ve daha bir sürü şey... Ama en nihayetinde yaptığı tek şey karşısına çıkan herkesi öldürmek.

Sonunda Maske bir şekilde Dedektif Kellaway'in eline geçiyor. O da Maske'nin güçlerini suçluları durdurmak için kullanmaya karar veriyor. Mafya babalarını vuruyor, çeteleri dağıtıyor ve suçluları öldürüyor. Ancak bir yerden sonra o da Stanley gibi kontrolünü kaybediyor ve adalet duygusunu yitirip herkesi katlederken buluyor kendini.

Çizgi roman boyunca Maske bu şekilde el değiştirip duruyor. Stanley'nin kız arkadaşı, kekeme bir mafya şoförü ve birbirinden farklı karakterlere sahip dört gencin eline geçiyor sırayla. Hepsi de onu kendi amaçlarına kullanma niyetiyle kafasına geçirip en sonunda kontrollerini kaybediyorlar.

Seri boyunca Walter adında, Frankenstein'ın canavarını andıran, çok güçlü ve devasa bir mafya tetikçisi takip ediyor bir de Maske'yi. Walter ve Maske arasındaki amansız çatışma son sayfalara kadar sürüyor.

Okuması ilginç olsa da ortalara doğru çabucak tekdüzeleşen bir çizgi roman serisi oldu benim için Maske. İlk iki fasikülünü okuyup bıraksanız hiçbir şey kaybetmezsiniz.

[Ill D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Its weird! Its bizarre! It’s The Mask!

Made famous by the Jim Carey featured 1994 movie reduplication, the source material is of a far more intense nature.

While I can’t compare the movie (having never watched it) the comic itself inherits the slapstick befitting of the Three Stooges but brutalizes and amplifies their M.O. to 11. Incredibly violent and disdainfully incoherent, the mainstream re-do must’ve diluted the insanity unto something approaching normie palatability. With a thoroughly drugged out feel that favors the white powder and the dissolving tab (combined frighteningly enough), everything moves at a breakneck speed with anything resembling coherence nor legibility run over before it would have ever had a chance to take its first breath.

Better stuffed back into the womb, this literary abortion should never have been conceived.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a comic for the kids. Unlike the Jim Carrey movie, this comic is dark, violent, and incredibly bloody. This comic follows a mask that transforms people into a homicidal prankster nicknamed "Big Head." This volume, interestingly enough, is tame compared to the second and final volume of the Mask. If you appreciate dark humor and don't mind animated violence (seriously, gunshot wounds, limbs and heads being cut off) then this is for you. If you want to find a Mask comic for the kids look for The Adventures of The Mask Omnibus. That collection follows the film.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mask feels dated, and for those who met it through its movies, the actual comic is far darker and far more violent than its most famous incarnation. "Big Head" does take on some of the personality and concerns of its host, but its cartoonish violence has a very real body count in the universe of the book. "Big Head" is the invincible id of whoever wears it, and this id is interested in sex and violence in very incarnation. There are some moral limitations stemming for the host as to where that violence is channeled, but it is ultimately to dark ends. Doug Mahnke's artwork is strong although not outstanding, and very much feels of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The relationships in the books do not feel very fleshed out in the beginning, and as they do develop, the mob cliches start to hamper the book a bit. The inking to hard and heavy, and the grit is superficial, but this was a ground-breaking comic in many ways. It does not, however, get more nuanced with age.

[ميرنا المهدي · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody, quirky, funny, freaky and sociopathic. I LOOOOOOVED IT 😍

[David Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good excuse for Mahnke and Arcudi to kill as many people as possible. Love that era of comics.

[Eddie B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

قصة عشوائية جدا، وبالطبع قد يكون هذا مقصودًا بدرجةٍ ما. بعض الأجزاء كانت جيدة (ما يخص شخصية والتر، مثلا) وهناك شيء من التطور في الرسوم. بخصوص الطبعة العربية، كانت هناك مشكلات في طباعة العديد من صفحات الجزء الأخير.

[cloverina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is without a doubt the most unique comic I've ever read. Honestly, it's sort of everything Palmiotti's Harley Quinn run tried to be, except done right... And probably unlike anything you've ever read before.

I've read a good amount of reviews for The Mask, and plenty describe it as laugh-out-loud. Normally, I'd ignore this. It's very rare for me to laugh out loud at a book. This time, though, they were ABSOLUTLEY right. The Mask is largely comedy, and for the most part, it does it VERY well. A lot of cheesy, ridiculous humor that's right up my alley. I mean, how could I NOT laugh at "Hey, wait, they said fire at will, not at me!"?

One thing people love to point out in the differences between the comic and the movie is that there's gore aplenty in the comic. I don't particularly care about gore, to be honest. It can make for some impressive panels but usually it's nothing I enjoy (Despite my love for Saw. The creativity of the traps makes for actually impressive gore.). The interesting thing is that the gore here isn't gross or scary. I honestly think the best way to describe it is FUN.

A big part of what makes this comic so great is the art. In any other plain comic, I'd have mixed opinions on the art. In the beginning, the art mainly consists of plain, honestly somewhat ugly people. After Big-head enters, though, things get GOOD. There are no limits. It's filled with madness that reaches off the panels, creative colors, full page spreads, and so many more impressive feats. As the story progresses it just gets better and better. The noir-ish art even gets better as the story progresses with some panels of Walter being reminiscent of Sin City, which will always be my favorite Miller art.

Which brings me to the thing I was surprised more people don't talk about. There's actually some REALLY entertaining noir elements here that weren't present in the movie! The whole story very closely involves the police force and the mafia. You can't really call it noir, but I'd definitely consider them elements of noir and I'm a sucker for them.

I think the first half is better than the second half. Although the art is much better in the second half, I prefer the writing and jokes of the first. It's slight, though, and both are great.

Overall I'm so happy this was on my list. It's everything people say about it, trust me. Highly recommended as a fun, unique, comedic experience that I'm sure most fans of comic books would love.

[Yara! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the silly little bits in here bro 😭
Like never finding out Lieutenant Kellaway’s first name
Or never finding out where Big Head gets all his weapons from
Or Walter’s immortality
And I’m IN LOVEEE with the dramatic art style
I do wish that Stan stayed on for longer though! His evil was so fun to read!!

[Andrew Shaffer]

How this became the movie is he of the great mysteries of the ‘90s.

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few issues were great. It's totally different from the movie, tonally. The mask kind of turns people into an ultraviolent cartoon character in our world. It's super entertaining and weird.

Then it turns into a comic book. Which I don't normally mean as an insult, but in this case I'll make an exception. It becomes this story that I don't really understand, just a bunch of people running around with the mask at different times, which I guess is supposed to have its own personality, but then sort of reflects the personality of the wearer, too? Not clear. Then we get a villain, which is sort of dumb. It felt like the writer wanted to give the mask someone challenging to fight with, but that never seemed what this book was about to me. I think having this one weird thing in the real world was fun, but the more the world seemed to lean into what the mask was doing, the less interested I was.

[Tomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot that comics can be just mindless fun. This book is exactly that. A lot of people will die and the origin of mask is not known because it just appears and people who wear it have no idea what is going on when they put on the mask so the reader also does not know. I will definitely read some more Mask after that. It is brutal and funny

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you came here expecting a book version of the movie, you’ve come to the wrong place (at least until you get to the third book in this omnibus) Both the Mask and The Mask Returns were fantastic reads. However the final book, the one most like the movie was boring, and unfunny. It tried too hard to be like the film and completely ignored its much darker vigilante, almost horror roots

[Rudi]

"The Mask", the 1994-movie, made a great impression on me in my childhood. I never owned it, but I saw it enough time within the rental period to know big chunks of the movie by heart. In my teens I started exploring the IMDB trivia-section of movies I had seen, and learned that the movie was infact based on a (much more violent) comic book. Having finally read it - or the 3 albums gathered in this omnibus volume - I do not really have much more to add. The premise of the comic book is the magic mask that allows its wearer to manipulate reality - but also brings forwards the worst traits of the wearers personality. It's hyper violent at times, and some of the stories seem to rely on mostly that.

There is somewhat of an ongoing story line, where the mask changes hand from person to person, and you can see how each "big head" (as he is called) is different. Some of the ways the mask expresses himself is enjoyable (as in the movie), but I wish that the stories had a bit more ambition. Maybe more happens later on in the series?

(Another book read in the kindle-app on my phone, as a replacement for games.)

[Bonnie G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why didn’t I give this book one star? Or two? I don’t know if I can recommend it. But when I read it, I felt like an important part of slapstick comedy from the 1980s bleeding into the 90s was making itself aware, rising into my consciousness and I felt I got how the 90s irony happened. There was this odd period of earnestness and making fun of earnestness, of art finding its groove again in comics and movies and humor and so forth.

Superficially, it’s not quite that interesting or enticing. But as I delved deeper, the Loony Tunes and 30s silent movie quality started to appeal to me, it’s zany approach to horror it’s own commentary...

[Benjamin Pritchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mask Omnibus Volume 1 by John Arcudi is an absolute blast, chaotic, violent, darkly funny, and wildly entertaining from start to finish. This collection delivers an unpredictable and fast-paced narrative packed with outrageous slapstick violence, gory visuals, and a rotating cast of compelling and eccentric characters.

One of the standouts is the vibrant and incredible artwork throughout this novel. every page was packed and it's one of my favourites to look through.

One of the most surprising elements is how different the comic is from the well-known film adaptation. Stanley Ipkiss plays a much smaller role here, and surprisingly, his absence isn’t a drawback. The story moves with such manic energy and efficiency that the spotlight continually shifts without losing momentum or interest.

Overall, this is a thrilling and darkly comic read that stands entirely on its own. Fans of graphic novels that blend over-the-top action with black comedy will find it a must-read.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is different. For one thing, the movie made the Mask seem like a character for children, but really he's anything but. The humor is mixed in with some really graphic violence but it is presented in a slightly cartoony way so things don't go quite as dark as they could. I'm not really sure if this is supposed to be a disturbing drama or a comedy so I get a little confused about the direction at times. Still interesting though, in a Lobo meets Deadpool sort of way.

[Moria · Rating 3 out of 5]

في البداية أزعجتني الألوان الصريحة الكتيرة في الصفحات...لكن أعتقد على نهاية الكتاب كنت بدأت ألمح ذكاء أكثر في استخدام الألوان... مثلاً...في أن تصير الألوان فجة قوية عندما يرتدي شخص القناع... كأننا بنشوف من خلال القناع عالم الهلوسات اللي بيخلقه...
في معظم الأحيان حسيت اني بفقد الخيط الرابط بين القصص... شخصية والتر كانت أقرب شخصية مقنعة بالنسبالي...تنتمي تماما لعوالم DC

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I liked:

-concept
-style
-humor
-pace (dizzying)
-pretty fun

Things I didn't like:

-extremely violent (gets tamer toward the end)
-story (plot is fairly aimless)
-characters (when not wearing the mask) are pretty flat

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to do with this one. I actually enjoyed reading it...I think? There's little characterization, motivation, etc. The concept is interesting, but I wanted some sort of idea behind it -- some sort of personal struggles or commentary on revenge or whatever. As the first section wore on, it was clear that none of that would be forthcoming and there's no point asking questions (like why is Walter like he is???). Even so, there's something oddly compelling in it.

I left it feeling sort of empty, though. Too much of the book was just violence-for-violence (later turned more to slapstick-for-slapstick), and the main enjoyment, I suspect, would be watching the creativity in the presentation of that violence. I feel a little like I'm missing something, and a little like I just wish there was something I'm missing.

[Andy Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. The Mask basically twists the personality of its wearer causing them to go on ultra violent Bugs Bunny style mayhem. I didn’t realize the source material for the film was quite so dark.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a sweet spot of about 40 pages in this book where Doug Mahnke's art approaches Geof Darrow and Moebius levels of perfection.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing how much better The Mask would have been if they had stuck closer to the source material and went for a hard R rating.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdly entertaining, albeit a starkly different creature than the filmed version.

[Matheus Gonçalves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doug Mahnke desenha muito

[Cameron K]

Paperback
Gift from Paul Secor