Confirmed Brandon Easton and Tony Vargas - at helm of new M.A.S.K. Comic

There has been a lot of speculation on the new incarnation of the M.A.S.K. Comic from IDW Publishing.  A recent #MASKcrusade by Mike Quakenbush to reinvent M.A.S.K. was a great insight into how popular M.A.S.K. still is - some 31 years later.

Back on the 7th of April I noticed someone liking my M.A.S.K. Facebook Page who caught my eye - Brandon Easton.  It was due to his job as Freelance Writer for IDW, Marvel and various others.

This piqued my interest.  A writer for IDW Publishing liking a M.A.S.K  Comics Page not long after IDW is earmarked to remake M.A.S.K.?

I had tried, without much success, to contact Brandon to find out more.  My hope was that I'd get the inside scoop once he was able to speak about the project.  Brandon is on Twitter but doesn't have an option to Private Message him and I didn't want to discuss in an open forum on Twitter itself.  I had given him a few nudges in the hope that he would contact me.


Today, is a Bank Holiday and had the day off work.  I was in a shop and thought I check for updates on pages when I see this gem on my Page -

Brandon shared this direct to my page.  After almost a month of not knowing for 100% whether I was right about Brandon writing the next incarnation of M.A.S.K. - and there was the proof - straight from the "Horse's Mouth" as they say!

This is great news.  For too long M.A.S.K. fans have been looking for a return of their favourite characters and vehicles and now have something solid - something to not only look forward to - but to share and enjoy with our children.

To read the full article - please click here.

In short, Brandon is writing the new comic with Tony Vargas working as artist.  UPDATE - from what I've just discovered, Tommy Lee Edwards is working on the covers.  There seems to be some familiarity coming through but on the main, the story and vehicles will be new versions from what we have come to know and love.

From the image above, Thunderhawk and Condor look very much the same.  Hurricane appears to be black with her trademarked fire paint job instead of the original Blue.

If that is Gator to the left middle, she seems to have a roof - is she still a Jeep?

Looking at Matt's Spectrum Mask, the red section round his neck looks like cloth - almost like a scarf.  This would give fluidity and movement.

All-in-all this image is amazing and I can't wait to see more.

I am worried, though.  Will it live up to what M.A.S.K. used to be?  We know it's going to be different, but will this ruin or make it better?

I also worry that it may not be available in the UK except in specialist shops.  May make it hard to find.

Speaking of Specialist, one thing of note in the article is the section that reads "This is a M.A.S.K. for the 21st century with a diverse team of specialists who are chosen for a top-secret program with a painful learning curve".  Notice the word "Specialists"
.

We know that there was an incarnation of Matt Trakker as "Specialist Trakker" for the G.I. Joe toy line.  We also know that the original Trademarks for the M.A.S.K. Characters are all lost.  Are Hasbro getting round this by using the word "Specialist" in each of the characters names?  Just a thought.

And Brandon, if you are reading this, can you please that the Powers that Be know that I know how they can reacquire Trademarks for M.A.S.K.?  Thank you!  Feel free to E-mail me to discuss!

Anyway, I hope that Brandon will get back to me and that my next post will hopefully be a Q&A session so that we can find out more!

Please remember to like, follow, share and discuss as much as you can.  Let's show these folks at IDW that we are keen for this new M.A.S.K. comic to come out and wish it all the success and best of future!

#assembleMASK #MASKComics #IDW

#DIC #MASKcrusade

MASKart - Rob Addison

I was going through Facebook the other day when something caught my eye...

An ardent M.A.S.K. fan, Rob Addison, shared some of his drawings.  Not all were of M.A.S.K., some featured Transformers, He-Man and Scooby Doo to name but a small few.

The Picture above was the first one that I saw and I was impressed.  Many people may not remember Matt Trakker's "Jungle Challenge" Adventure Pack - it came with his Arrow Mask, crossbow, grappling hooks and various other accessories.

Although not featured in either the cartoons or the US DC Comics - this was released after their demise - this pack did feature in the UK Comics.  The figure was a repaint of Matt Trakker's Thunderhawk/Spectrum Flight Suit.

The Adventure Packs were amazing.  Rob has truly managed to capture the essence of this figure in the image above complimented by his great work on Matt Trakker wearing his Spectrum Fatigues and Buddie Hawks.

In Rob's next image - 

We realise that the first picture is part of something larger as we now see Brad Turner on Condor and Jaques La Fleur manning Volcano's cannon.

His depiction of Volcano is amazing - on par with many of the images in the UK Comics.  Once I saw these images, I wanted to see more....

I'm guessing that this picture is also part of something larger as we see various vehicles in action mode with a couple of Masks thrown in for good measure.

I would like to say there is a particular part of this image that I like the best - but the whole thing is great.  I would love to see Rob Addison do a storyboard for my script - what do you think, Rob?

And the last image that I'm going to share....

There are no prizes - but I'm going to throw it out there, can you guess all of the characters/vehicles/movies/etc.???

Rob Addison, you are a LegEnd!!!

#assembleMASK #DIC #MASKComics

#MASKday #MASKcrusade

✰ M.A.S.K - L E G A C Y ✰

✰ INSIDE BUZZ : Latest news on the  semi-live action and animated fan-film teaser project by indy director David Guivant . The title for this new adventure is called ✰ M▫Ѧ▫S▫K Legacy ✰

✰ CAST : Comic artist Joe Del Beato makes a cameo appearance as Admiral Dash Davis and actress Jasmine Wright (The Librarians Tv series) will be playing lieutenant Skye Masters from the P.N.A crew.

✰ LATEST RUMORS : The lovely Cardiology Cosplay  from the UK will be Gloria Baker and French redhead Illustrator Delphine Delente  will be portraying our favorite femme fatale : Vanessa Warfield.
 

✰ CONTRIBUTORS : Remember this is all done with the heart by devoted fans and no-financial profit is being made from it. Thanks to God, a few selected M▫A▫S▫K agents from around the world are also helping out and now ✧Malaysia✧ also joined forces with David on this fun project, acting as consultants making sure that his new designs, concept arts and technological enhancements in this sequel, remain true to the spirit of the classic cartoon and DC comic book that we all love and treasure.

✰ MASK COMICS feels very lucky to part of the few hand picked agents to get an exclusive look at David's work as he updates us on a shot by shot basis. So stay tuned, in few months time we will reveal the ✧Thunderhawk ✧ and ✧Matt Trakker✧ behind his M▫Ѧ▫S▫K.

---(✪✪✪

The Return of M.A.S.K. Comics - IDW - Mike Quackenbush

A week past Friday was an interesting day for me.  I was on my way into work and had new ideas for my script.  I was excited.

As you know, I recently posted my Script on my Blog for everyone to read; this was the first draft and with no real hope in sight of if being made, I wanted others to enjoy it.  Although there is little chance of it being made into a movie, it doesn't stop me thinking about it.

By the time I reached work, my mind was full of ideas for improving the script and taking it in a different direction.  A similar thing happened with the first script I wrote - based around Students on their first day arriving at university, I rewrote it a couple of years after the first draft and made it so much better.

That Friday then got more interesting.  Far MORE interesting.

I logged onto Agents of M.A.S.K. - I'd made a comment on their blog a few days earlier, and was looking to see if they had replied.  Surprisingly, they had a new MASKast - so quickly after their last. 

Very Unexpected.

I'd already heard the rumours that IDW Comics had the rights to make a M.A.S.K. Comic - good news for me and my blog!

Jason and Wyatt were speaking with former Pro Wrestler, Mike Quackenbush.  Mike, like many of us, is a lifelong M.A.S.K. fan.  So much so, that he called one of his Wrestling Tournaments "Chikara - High Noon" - a reference to the M.A.S.K.  2nd season episode - High Noon.

Mike was explaining that he'd started a #MASKcrusade to catch the attention of IDW Publishing to pitch his idea for a M.A.S.K. comic. He has a story for a three issue comic - set 30 years after the last of the M.A.S.K. stories that we have come to know and love.

A continuation of where the cartoons and comics left off.  I'm not sure if he is referring only to the US comics or is including the UK comics in - as they already continued LONG after the cartoons and US Comics had ended.

As someone already in the public eye, Mike Quackenbush already has an established following of people to help support him in his endeavours.  With respect of my script, and Wyatt and Jason's, we've had to build our support up from the ground up.

Part of his process has involved getting one of his friends to create images to support his quest in getting his comic noticed.  He recently sent some of these images to Agents of M.A.S.K. who have been sharing these great images.

Firstly we have a sketch in blue pen -

Three people - we assume at this point are M.A.S.K. Agents - are caught in Switchblade's downdraft with guns pointing right at them.

From here we have a black ink image with more detail - 

We can now easily make out Matt Trakker and Brad Turner.  We're also guessing that the other agent is Hondo MacLean.  This is an extremely striking image.

The third and final image gets the full colour treatment.

The finished Image is truly inspiring.  Over the years I've seen a lot of M.A.S.K. Art on the internet in one form or another.  To know that someone is pitching this as part of a comic - makes it all the more special.

There are a few discussion points, though.  Switchblade is shown with a Gatling Gun on its nose that she's never had before.  Hondo's Jacket is in Buddie's Colour.  I would loved to have seen Miles Mayhem through the cockpit glass to make even more special.

I far prefer this art to anything I've seen in the US DC Comics version of M.A.S.K. from the 80's.  This feels more "real" than comic like.

The images have created such a hype on the internet that we even have a photo of toys mimicking this image.

Even if Mike doesn't succeed in his venture, he has at least brought more M.A.S.K. fans closer together.

During his conversation with Wyatt and Jason, he mentioned that he is friends with Stan Bush - many of whom will know from the soundtrack from the 1986 "The Transformers: The Movie".  "Dare" and "The Touch" were by far the best tracks from that movie - no disrespect to all of the other great tracks and artists.

A few years later, I'd pick up a cassette (yes, a cassette.  Do yo remember those bad boys?) of a soundtrack to a movie called "The Wraith".

I think it was the image on the cover more than anything that struck me first about it.

Did the image perhaps remind me in some way of M.A.S.K.?  The blacked out figure with a cool helmet?

When I read the track listing and saw "Stan Bush - Heart Vs Head" i knew that I had to buy it.  Another great song by Stan Bush - and a brilliant Soundtrack in General.

A few years later I'd buy the DVD of the movie - a good movie featuring a great looking car - a Dodge MS4 Turbo Concept Pace Car for the Indy Series.

I found out that Stan Bush had released an album entitled "Stan Bush & Barrage" but it wasn't released in the UK.

This meant I'd have to get it as an import.  It would be a good few years before I happened upon a copy of this Album in HMV in Glasgow.

It was double the price of a normal CD of that that time - but it had to be paid.

It is the most expensive CD I've purchased to-date - well worth every penny.

These days with EBay, it is so much simpler to find and purchase normally hard to find CD's and I've managed to purchase a few more of Stan's CD's.

As mentioned before, Mike Quakenbush called one of his Wrestling Tournaments "Chikara - High Noon" in honour of M.A.S.K.

I wrote a piece on my blog about two years ago entitled "Chikara High Noon" in which I discussed a piece of music I'd heard by Stan Bush.  When I heard Mike mention his relationship with Stan Bush, it all clicked together and made so much sense how this all came about.

Stan Bush's "Chikara High Noon" plays homage to M.A.S.K. - his friend's favourite cartoon, comic and toy line - I wish I had friends like Stan Bush!!!  What a Legend!!! 

Anyway, M.A.S.K. Comics Blog and M.A.S.K. Comics Facebook Page are supporting Mike's hopes to bring back M.A.S.K. Comics.  And if either Mike Quakenbush or Stan Bush are up for an interview???.....

#assembleMASK #Hasbro #MASKComics

#DIC #MASKcrusade

M.A.S.K. Toys Catalogue - Real or Dream?

So, this morning was surreal.  I woke up in the middle of the morning and couldn't get back to sleep.  This is a common occurrence these days!

So, as I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, I decided to look through some Catalogues.  To my surprise, there, in full colour, were images of M.A.S.K. toys.  They were in the coming soon section and available for pre-order.

Many of them were toys that I'd never seen before - not only were M.A.S.K. Toys coming back out - but there was a whole new range.  I was all set to write my blog post, thinking that I'd manage the scoop of a lifetime (at least in M.A.S.K. terms).

Then it happened....  I woke up...  It had all been a dream.

I can't explain to you just how disappointed I was.

#assembleMASK #Hasbro #MASKComics

#DIC #MASKcrusade

Hasbro/Paramount Multi-Universe - M.A.S.K., G.I. Joe, Rom, Micronauts and Visionaries

There has been  a lot of Rumour and Speculation on the internet since it was announced that Hasbro's Allspark Productions are working with Paramount on a Multi-Universe (Multiverse) to incorporate M.A.S.K., G.I. Joe, Rom, Micronauts and Visionaries.

All the sites have been reporting on it - from The Hollywood Reporter through to the Self-Proclaimed "A-Team of M.A.S.K. knowledge".  Giving their own insight and hopes for what may come.

Much of this, is just to promote their sites to increase page views with rumours based on limited information.  I'm going to try and and give you my thoughts using facts to give you my understanding of what may happen.

There is a lot to cover, so I'll start with the movies first.  If all of the Movies are going to be linked, then the assumption is that the first two G.I. Joe movies will already hold the foundations for what is to come.

In the first Joe movie - after their Mini "The Man in the Iron Mask" rip-off, we are told that the movie is set in the "near future".  If that is the case, then all of the movies, if they are tied together, must also be set in the future.

This might be were Rom comes in -

In the UK, Rom was sold by Palitoy, rather than sister company Parker Brothers and included as part of their Action Man Range.

Action Man was, of course, our version of G.I. Joe and Rom was slotted into the Space Ranger series of toys.  Therefore, if G.I. Joe were to follow Action Man's Adventures into space, then there is a good chance that they may cross paths with him.

However, Rom wasn't originally a Hasbro product.  This is where things get messy and complicated.  The toy, itself, was apparently pretty rubbish - I've never owned one but it didn't last very long.  Instead, Rom's popularity comes from the Marvel comics that outlasted the toy.

When Hasbro acquired Tonka and it's subsidiary, Kenner Parker, this is when they would've taken ownership of Rom.  As Marvel's Universe of movie's has grown and expanded, there will be many fans of Marvel who would want to see Rom in their Universe of Movies.

In fact, James Gunn, the man behind Guardians of the Galaxy, is a fan of Rom and wants Rom: Spaceknights in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.  However, if Hasbro are taking Rom into their own fold and creating a movie with Paramount, this will be problematic - for both Hasbro and Marvel.

Rom will appear in Hasbro's Movies and the rest of the Spaceknights, and Rom's back story, will appear in Marvel's Universe movies.  Seems like one big messy divorce - why can't companies just work together for the best interest of the continuum of the story and for the fans.

If I'm honest I don't know much about Rom, but I certainly think he would be best placed in the Marvel Universe rather than G.I. Joe or even worse mucking up M.A.S.K.!!!

There is one other option, if you refer back to my post "Is M.A.S.K. making a comeback?" - Action Man.  Rom has previously been part of the Action Man world of toys - could we see Action Man and Rom appear in a movie?

Again, if set in the "future", perhaps there is room for the Visionaries - Knights of the Magical Light.  The premise of Visionaries was a good one and made for an interesting cartoon series and toys.

However, the cartoon only lasted 13 episodes - so clearly wasn't popular.  So, should Hasbro make the effort to bring it back?  Especially into the same Universe as M.A.S.K.?

Especially when you consider how different it is to G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K.  Hasbro and Paramount may see the similarities between M.A.S.K. and Visionaries, however.  In M.A.S.K., each character has a Mask with a special power and Visionaries have their staffs and chest totems.

That's about the only similarity - and that's quite a stretch of anyone's imagination to make that fit to combine them into one universe.

Micronauts is a strange one for me.  At first I thought I'd never heard of them - doing some research online, I came across this image - 

And a sudden realisation of familiarity.  Then I saw this image, and my mind went back to my childhood, and I'm positive that I owned some of these toys as a kid.

I'd probably have to check through all the stuff in the loft to confirm if I do have any of these or not - and that's not likely to happen any time soon!!  I can't really say much more about Micronauts, however, on the movie front....

... It is reported that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are working on a screenplay in conjunction with Paramount and Bad Robot.  A reported quote from Wernick is -

 “We've written a couple of drafts of Micronauts and it's in the Paramount system now. We developed it with Bad Robot, and it’s probably not what you might imagine a Micronauts movie to be. It departs from the comic wildly, so if you hope it's loyal to the comic you’ll be disappointed in that particular sense. However, it's very, very different and very, very cool.”

Based on the above statement, it sounds like Micronauts has evolved, been adapted - perhaps to fit into the joint Multiverse going forward?

Who knows - until the movie/s hit the big screen, I'm not sure that we will know.

Then we have our beloved M.A.S.K.  Many of us have been wanting M.A.SK. to hit the big screens for years, and we couldn't understand why it hasn't already.  As reported on my blog and on other many other sites, there have been some underlying issues with 
Trademarks - whether or not Hasbro have sorted these out, is another question.  I don't think they have.

We know that Hasbro have been "toying" with us over the last few years, with a bit of name dropping in comics and cartoons to a fully fledged figure in the G.I. Joe line.  So, M.A.S.K. being linked to G.I. Joe in the same universe has come as no surprise to any of us.

But, are they following the formula set out by Marvel's successful movies?  Whereby you have individual movies for each product and then a movie when they all appear together?

I would hope that this happens rather than just throwing everything into one movie and hoping for the best.  Certainly seems like Micronauts are getting their own movie.

However, the fact that Hasbro have already linked M.A.S.K. to G.I. Joe in a toy - I'm not getting my hopes up.  The problems are that M.A.S.K., Micronauts and Rom weren't Hasbro's properties when they were first out.  So, in my mind, Hasbro owe nothing to the fans to bring them back as they were.

The G.I. Joe movies didn't have the success that everyone thought they should have.  I blame too much CGI in the first one.  The second movie was FAR better - but they killed everyone off....

I get the impression that Hasbro are going to use these other characters to prop up a failing G.I. Joe movie series - whilst trying to cash in on Marvel's success at the Box Office.  Especially outside of the US where the likes of M.A.S.K. ran longer, had more toys and the comics lasted for years instead of a handful of issues.

The original Joe Movie set the scene in the "near future" - is that future set far enough ahead for Rom, Micronauts and Visionaries to live in the same realm?  More importantly, how is this going to affect M.A.S.K.?

M.A.S.K. is of the 80's.  It was set in that time period.  In my script, I brought it up-to-date, however, many of the vehicles will still be based on the 80's design - such as Thunderhawk and Rhino (could you imagine the outcry if they were changed?).  My plan was to introduce them as we know them in the first movie, then have updated versions in future movies.

Then we have the Masks.  I think that Hasbro will go down the route of the Accelerator Suits from the Joe Movie - whereby there won't be a physical Mask, the Mask will form around the face in some holographic or Stargate "Jaffa" fashion.

This is why I have posted my script on my blog - click here to read it - as I can't see that my vision of M.A.S.K. will fit in with Hasbro's/Paramount's vision of a multiverse.  Nor can I imagine any of other the other scripts out there will fit this new "world of illusion" that I believe is being created.

I've not read Wyatt and Jason's script but, from the hints they have given us, their script is very much a throwback to the 80's - honouring the M.A.S.K. from our youth - but the new movies will look to the future.

So far, the only thing that I've seen that might resemble Hasbro's possible vision is Dave Guivant's Fan-Made movie that is currently in production.  His vision is set in the future and the images of Condor that I've seen would be more akin to the new swathe of movies soon to come out.

One thing that I've not seen chat about on the internet is the toys themselves.  After all, it is ALL about the toys.

Rom, like the original Joe toys, were 12" figures.  The new Joe Figures and the Micronauts are 3.75" toys.  So, it's likely that 3.75" will be the standard for all of these toys when the movies come out.

This is going to prove problematic for M.A.S.K. fans.  M.A.S.K. figures are considerably smaller than Joe toys - at about 2.5" tall.  That means that any new toys will not be compatible with the original toys.

This may ruin M.A.S.K. before it even starts.  One of the things that M.A.S.K. had going for it was its scale.  The vehicles and figures were to scale and were easy to play with.  If we take Star Wars toys as an example, the Millennium Falcon is about 21" long - but it's nowhere near to the correct scale.  As an example, you can only fit 2 figures in the cockpit and that's it full.

Once M.A.S.K. Scales up to 3.75", how is this going to effect the vehicles?  Will they still be in proportion?  The smaller vehicles, perhaps.  Rhino, Outlaw, Switchblade?  I doubt it very much.

Instead of setting up these new lines to succeed, it's almost like someone at Hasbro is setting them up to fail.

When I was growing up, Hasbro wasn't really a player in the UK Toy Market.  We had Palitoy who gave us our Star Wars and Action Man toy lines.  My 6 year old son is growing up in a world of Hasbro toys and, if I'm honest, I'm not yet impressed.

To give you some examples -

He received a 12" Ant Man figure from Santa Claus.  The detail on it looks pretty - but, the quality of the plastic, lack of joints, the hollowness of the figure, make it feel very cheap (and it certainly wasn't cheap for Santa to buy it!!).  Far from the quality of Action Man and G.I. Joe 12" Figures we grew up with.

He also received some Star Wars toys for his Christmas.  Again, more detail in them, however, many of the toys he received weren't even in the movie.  I realise that part of this was due to footage being cut from the movie - he received a "First Order Snowspeeder" that you just about see as the camera cuts away.  From what I've read on the internet, there was a whole chase scene cut out where these vehicles were meant to be featured.  Maybe we'll see them in the Blu Ray!

He was also given an "Assault Walker", "Elite Speeder Bike" and a "Desert Landspeeder".  I was going to complain to Hasbro for misrepresentation as NONE of these seem to appear in the movie (I may have missed them in all the action of course).  However, it turns out that Hasbro have been very clever/sneaky in their marketing.

Although all the boxes have an image of Kylo Ren so people automatically associate the toys with Star Wars and more specifically, The Force Awakens - only the Snowspeeder mentions the phrase "The Force Awakens".  The other toys only state "Star Wars".

I guess the lack of merchantable material in the movie meant that Hasbro had to create their own range of toys to fill the hole in the market.  By making people believe that it was associated with the movie, but not actually stating that, would help their sales of these toys.

As you can tell, I'm not impressed and I don't think that Hasbro will live up to expectations for any new M.A.S.K. toys.

Feel free to head over to my M.A.S.K. Comics Facebook Page for more chat and feel free to share, like and comment below and over at my page.

Thank you,

Scott.

#assemlbeMASK #Hasbro #MASKComics

#DIC #MASKday

#jamesgunn #Marvel #ROM #Micronauts #Visionaries

Collectionneur & Chineur - M.A.S.K.

Today is my 43rd Birthday and I received a nice gift in the post today.  A few months ago, I was asked to take some images for the French Collection Magazine - "Collectionneur & Chineur".  I took some pictures - suitably helped by my son, Reece.

Some of the pictures are printed in this months magazine dated 15th of January - or should that be 15 Janvier?

I was originally contacted by Nordine Zemrak - one half of the team who wrote the book "Les séries de notre enfance" - read my interview with him here.  His friend, Richard Blin, works on the magazine and was doing a piece.

I took quite a lot of pictures - I knew that most of them wouldn't be used - but best to take as many as possible.  Of the Pictures I took that were printed, the quality of them has turned out very well in the magazine - and I even got a little mention.

Ok, so I'm going to put my hands up and be honest here - I don't speak French, unfortunately, so I can't read the article myself!  A bit of a drawback, but that's what Google Translate is for!!

The main part of the article is about our very own Dave Guivant - who is making his own Fan Made M.A.S.K. Movie which, going by the available clips that I've seen, looks amazing!



In the above image from the magazine, you can see an image of Dave in the top right hand corner.  The picture of Boulder Hill's box is one of mine.  The box is a little worse for wear now - but did the trick for the photos for the magazine.



Another one of my images above of Hondo MacLean in Hurricane surrounded by various figures.

I'll post all of the images across at my M.A.S.K. Comics Facebook Page - I hope that you enjoy.

If you are looking for a copy of this fine magazine, please follow this link direct to their site.

#assembleMASK #Hasbro #MASKComics

#DIC #MASKday

Full M.A.S.K. Script

Many Years ago, I started a journey...  a journey that began with writing a script based on M.A.S.K. - Mobile Armored Strike Kommand.  

Along the journey I have met some great people.  When I started out, I'd always said that I wanted my script to be enjoyed, preferably as a movie, but with the recent announcement that Hasbro and Paramount are working with a team of writers to bring out a M.A.S.K. movie, I guess my dream is over.

I had promised some time ago that I would publish my script for everyone to read and hopefully enjoy.  So here it is.

I had hoped to rewrite it as I know that it could be a lot better than it is - the 1st 20 or so pages concentrate too much on a back story to lead into the movie but I've not yet had the time.

Thank you all for reading my blog over the past few years.

#assembleMASK #Hasbro #MASKComics

#DIC #MASKDay

M.A.S.K. Comic UK Issue 20

The last two weeks of July 1987 offered up issue 20 of M.A.S.K. UK Comic from the 18th to the 31st.

In spectacular fashion, we see Cliff Dagger literally bursting through the front cover of the comic all guns blazing.  This is another typical example of the great covers we have come to love and expect from M.A.S.K.

Meanwhile, on the back cover, Matt Trakker instructs Julio Lopez to get Airborne in Firefly as V.E.N.O.M. are attacking in force in the "Energy Crisis" story within.

Is there anything I could criticise this cover for?  Only a small point - if the tears in the page had shown us a glimpse of the first page on the other side - that would've been awesome.  Although, this would've been difficult to achieve, so I can understand why they didn't go down this route.

Table of Contents -

• Front and Back Wraparound Cover
• Five Pages - "Operation Vandal" Part 4 (B&W with Blue Tint First Cell)
• Four Pages - "Royal Rescue" Part 4 (Colour)
• Five Pages - "Inside the Volcano" Part 4 (B&W)
• Centre Page Spread - Firecracker
• Five Pages - "Energy Crisis" (B&W with Pink Tint First Cell)
• Single Page - Advertisement
• Single Page - Half MASK Art/Half Advertisement
• Four Pages- Advertisements
• Four Pages - "The Drowning City" Part 1 (B&W)
• Single Page - Advertisement

Our opening salvo comes in the form of Part Four of "Operation Vandal".   After V.E.N.O.M.'s threat against one of America's most famous landmarks, Mount Rushmore, M.A.S.K. agents Dusty Hayes and Hondo MacLean in Gator and Brad Turner on Condor are dispatched to protect it.

However, the United States Air Force are a bit trigger happy and don't realise that the M.A.S.K. team are on the same side.  As three "LT A-7 Corsair II" jets attack our team, Alex Sector is on the hotline to the President to get him to call off the attack - leaving our team to sit and wait....

Sierra Nevada and Miles Mayhem has carved his image into a rock formation.  As he is admiring it, Cliff Dagger is the one to bring up the business in hand.  When Mayhem has a go ad Dagger for his impudence, it is up to Floyd Malloy to intervene and bring his boss back to reality.

Revealing that the threat on Mount Rushmore is just a Red Herring, Sly Rax is sent on a different mission....  A sinister mission to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge.  Julio Lopez picks him up on his Radar and Matt instructs him to follow as he, Bruce Sato, Scott and T-Bob are closing in on V.E.N.O.M's not-so-secret base in Rhino.

There are two things here - 1. - why is Matt yet again taking his son into another dangerous situation.  2. - the picture of Rhino - there is no drivers door on it.  Not quite sure what has happened there.  Rhino wasn't part of the action in the previous issue - so no reason why it should be damaged.  In fact, in other cells, it seems to be missing the door.

Moving on from this anomaly, Matt then asks Scott if he can borrow T-Bob.  T-Bob takes umbrage at the fact Matt didn't ask him directly, rather than going through Scott.  Matt heads off astride T-Bob on a secret mission to get closer to the V.E.N.O.M. hideout.

In an unusually cruel comment, Matt Trakker calls T-Bob "Tin Head" as they are riding off.  I don't really get this comment - I wouldn't have thought this is something that Matt would say.

Meanwhile, Sly Rax takes to Piranha's submarine to enter San Francisco's bay to to attack the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Julio takes to the air in Firefly with a hunch that the bridge is Rax's intended target.  He has to take some drastic action and causes a lorry to jackknife to stop the traffic.  What will his plan be to stop V.E.N.O.M.?

Miles Mayhem revels in the destruction of Tunderhawk at the start of "Royal Rescue" Part 4.  However, the illusion of Thunderhawk being destroyed takes Mayhem by surprise as Brad Turner's Hocus Pocus Mask stops its projection.

Matt Trakker in Thunderhawk is soon on the offensive taking out V.E.N.O.M. agents.  All the time, Buddie Hawks is still tied up and hanging from the exterior of the Castle Tower.

It's at this point, if I were Jason and Wyatt from Agents of M.A.S.K., that if there were a similarity to my script I should point it out!

To the left is a page from my script whereby Buddie Hawks is in peril and hanging from a rope.

Ok, he's not hanging from the outside of a Castle Tower - but is in danger as he is taking a beating from V.E.N.O.M.  thug Cliff Dagger.

This scene is at about the halfway point of the script as we see new M.A.S.K. Agent, Annaliese Ziegler, make her début mission.

It was important that there is something; someone; new in the script.  If we were to stick completely to the original "Cast" of characters, everyone would already know them and there would be no surprises.

I'm quite proud of this scene and I think it works well - the select few people who have read my script thought it was good - one person going as far as saying the hairs stood up on their arms reading this!

Anyway, getting back to our "Royal Rescue", that is now becoming more of a "Buddie Hawks Rescue" - as Matt takes out the V.E.N.O.M. agents, Mayhem uses his Viper Mask to spit corrosive poison at the rope holding Buddie up.  Matt wants to blow the Tower, but he knows his agent is in peril as he plummets towards certain doom.

Matt jumps out of Thunderhawk and uses Spectrum's Freefall abilities to come to Buddie's rescue - leaving Bruce Sato at the helm of Thunderhawk.

As Mayhem makes a run towards Switchblade, Brad Turner again uses Hocus Pocus to disorientate him - creating multiple holograms of the V.E.N.O.M. leaders transport.  Cliff Dagger comes to his aid and uses his Torch Mask to back Brad off.

Once in the air, Mayhem's target is Thunderhawk.....

In stark contrast, Miles Mayhem and Matt Trakker are having to work together in Part 4 of "Inside the Volcano" - as Mayhem pulls Matt Trakker out of a certain doom situation.

There is method to Mayhem's madness - being held by the madman J.J. Kinsale, Trakker and Mayhem need to work together to escape their common captor.  They are soon reunited with their vehicles and continue on their perilous journey.

Meanwhile, Alex Sector, Bruce Sato, Hondo MacLean and Dusty Hayes have come to the conclusion that Matt has been taken hostage by the same persons involved in Scott's capture.  In an unknown disclosed V.E.N.O.M. hideout, Mayhem's henchmen -  Bruno Sheppard, Sly Rax, Cliff Dagger and Floyd Malloy fear a similar fate for their boss.

Thunderhawk and Switchblade come under attack from Missiles - they manage to evade them - only for Kinsale to release his "Total-Jungle Warfare" - as all the plants and trees grow they engulf both Thunderhawk and Switchblade as vines and branches capture and spread through the vehicles....

After a number of issues featuring bio's of agents in the centre spread, it's great to see the welcome return of a vehicle to grace the centre page spread of this issue of M.A.S.K.

Firecracker - what a great vehicle.  Although Hondo MacLean has been a regular the UK M.A.S.K. Comics from the very get go, he'd always been seen as a co-pilot of other vehicles - namely Gator.  I assume this was due to the toy releases in the UK.  Gator wasn't one of the first line up of toys - but Hondo MacLean was feature in one of he figure packs that was available.

It is a simple, yet brilliant design - even if Hypno-Headlights and Ice Cannons are strange weapons.  In the cartoon of M.A.S.K., they made a big deal of completely destroying Firecracker to introduce a "replacement" vehicle of Hurricane for Hondo.  This seemed a strange move - in the comics, vehicles are destroyed fairly regularly but they keep coming back.

We then enter a bit of an "Energy Crisis" as V.E.N.O.M. vehicles Switchblade, Vampire and Jackhammer are seen attacking the Mansion of a wealthy art collector.  Firefly, Tunderhawk, Condor and Rhino are soon on the scene and V.E.N.O.M. flee for cover...

However, all is not as it seems.  Sly Rax takes the opportunity to chain himself to the underside of Rhino to sneak a ride back to Boulder Hill.  Once there, he tampers with the Energiser Room to prevent M.A.S.K.'s Masks from being charged.

And so, V.E.N.O.M. attack a Gold Bullion Convoy to draw out M.A.S.K..  As our opponents face off - our M.A.S.K. team try to use their Masks but, as expected by V.E.N.O.M., they don't work.

As the M.A.S.K. team flee with no means to defend themselves, Mayhem and his team chase afterwards until they back them into a corner.  Mayhem, believing he has the upper-hand, is taken by surprise when it turns out M.A.S.K. have been stringing them along and reveal that their Masks are fully charged.

Explaining that, a computer scan revealed Rax hanging from Rhino and their cover was blown.  If not for Floyd Malloy on Vampire, V.E.N.O.M. would've been defeated, however, they managed to escape.

Matt makes a comment that someone should've taken a picture of Mayhem - luckily, the artist of the comic managed to do just that...

"The Drowning City" Part 1 sees the wettest English Summer in 70 years.  As coastal villages are engulfed by unusually high tides, an Oil Tanker in the English Channel comes under threat as it smashes into rocks.

Several M.A.S.K. vehicles are making their way to London after attending a P.N.A. European Military Training Convention.  They get a distress call from the Oil Tanker and Matt Trakker and Bruce Sato fly out in Thunderhawk to offer assistance.  As they arrive, an Air Sea Rescue Helicopter is already at the scene airlifting some of the crew as the rest flee in a lifeboat.

Believing they are not required, Matt is about to set back to land when suddenly a thirty metre high wave is about the engulf the lifeboat.  Using his Lifter Mask, Bruce Sato lifts the boat out of the water and they take them to safety.

Bruce fears that the tidal water heading up the Thames estuary will be enough to flood London - but Matt is confident that the Thames Flood Barriers will prevent that from happening.

Not knowing that at the same time, Sly Rax is being dispatched by Miles Mayhem to blow up said Barrier....

Another fine example of the UK M.A.S.K. Comic.

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