M.A.S.K. #1 Review

M.A.S.K. #1

Writer: Brandon Easton
Artist: Tony Vargas
Colorist: Jordi Escuin
Letterer: Gilberto Lazcano
Publisher: IDW

Reviewed by David Hildebrand

Wait, David. You’re going to review M.A.S.K. #1 after you disliked  M.A.S.K. Revolution that was recently released? Yes, yes I am. Usually I don’t give second chances, but I have always liked M.A.S.K.. I was so severely disappointed after reading the M.A.S.K. Revolution. In fact, I was pretty let down by the Revolution story in general that I stopped reviewing the books as they were released. I wanted to give M.A.S.K. another try. The Revolution story line is winding down and M.A.S.K. is starting their own series. I am pleased to say that I enjoyed this more than I anticipated that I would.

M.A.S.K. #1 starts out with a very quick summary of the Revolution story. Miles Mayhem chooses the recruits that he wants from the M.A.S.K. strike force for his own personal agenda. Matt Tracker is not one of them and it briefly shows Mayhem losing faith in Tracker after telling him the story of how fearless Tracker was when he climbed a burning tree at age five to save a cat. This is one of the things that bothered me about M.A.S.K. when they were introduced in the Revolution story. I don’t like that Mayhem and Tracker have this past that dates all the way back to Tracker’s childhood. It just doesn’t feel right and I wish it didn’t exist. Thankfully, it isn’t mentioned anymore through the rest of the issue.

After the summary, we are introduced to Matt Tracker again but now he is the acting commander of M.A.S.K. M.A.S.K. was originally formed by Mayhem to battle the Cybertronian menace on earth but Tracker and his crew discover that Mayhem had ulterior motives and now M.A.S.K. is on a mission to stop Mayhem from regrouping and continuing on with his plans. The police and Feds are after M.A.S.K. because of there have been attacks on military installations by highly advanced vehicles. So not only has M.A.S.K. been framed for these crimes but they also get tricked into falling into a trap set by Mayhem and we are finally introduced to V.E.N.O.M.

As I said above, I like this much more than when M.A.S.K. was introduced in the Revolution story. Easton does a good job in beginning a new story and thankfully not delaying the introduction of V.E.N.O.M into the mix. This is what I wanted from the start! It is starting to become a little more familiar to me. I also like the characters a little more this time around. I like that Vanessa Warfield is still a badass chick and appears that she might be Mayhem’s right hand. She was always one of my favorites from V.E.N.O.M. and I like how she is being portrayed so far. The other members of M.A.S.K. are still establishing their identity and I do look forward to seeing them progress.

I love the art by Vargas and Escuin. The new look of the masks, their armor, and the vehicles are a nice change with the times. Everything is more sleek looking, including the vehicles and I can’t wait to see an all out war with them.

The Verdict
Buy it! Yeah, why not? I am glad I decided to give M.A.S.K. #1 a read. I enjoyed it a lot more this time around then when they were first re-introduced in Revolution.  M.A.S.K. #1 reminded me of the M.A.S.K. of old and that is what I want! There are certain characters that haven’t been mentioned yet, so I am very curious to see if they make an appearance. If you like M.A.S.K. then I think you should definitely take a look at it. If you aren’t a fan of M.A.S.K., then I forgive you and you should go ahead and check out this book as well!