It’s been nearly twenty years since The Mask, Dark Horse’s green-headed antihero, graced comic pages. That’ll change in October, though, when writer Christopher Cantwell, artists Patric Reynolds and Lee Loughridge, and letterer Nate Piekos present The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance To The Mask!. The new four-issue miniseries was announced via Forbes this morning, and sees the titular magical headwear fall into the hands of a candidate for President of the United States.
In the Forbes piece, Cantwell, co-creator of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire and writer of the Berger Books series She Could Fly and the forthcoming Everything!, described why he thought now was the right time for The Mask, originally called “Big Head”, to both return and enter the political arena:
“It’s the perfect time for Big Head to reemerge, because not only have people grown numb to radical extremism, nationalism, hate, vitriol, and politics-as-sport… they thirst for it, like blood,” continued Cantwell. “If Big Head ran for President today… he’d have a ton of support. He’d have a real chance of winning. Even though he’s a murderer, even though he’s violently insane. I channeled all my anger, fear, and cynicism into a story, and tried to create something as pitch black, profane, ugly, and nihilistic as my own hopes for America right now in 2019. I scared myself writing this book. I didn’t realize how angry I was. I think we could very well be lurching towards a President Big Head-style Doomsday very soon… and maybe we’re already in one.”
News of The Mask’s return comes on the heels of another Forbes piece in which Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson, who originally conceived of The Mask in the early ’80s, described a desire for a new, female-driven Mask film.
Cantwell and Reynolds both seem to be an excellent fit for The Mask. Cantwell’s work on She Could Fly has shown that he can write stories that are both relatable and more than a little disturbing, while Reynolds’s moody artwork should fit nicely with the dark tone and noir-ish aspects of the tale. Head over to Forbes for more quotes from both Cantwell and Reynolds on the new series, and check out Reynolds’s cover for the first issue below. Look for The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance To The Mask! #1 in stores in October.
