Masks 2 #8 solicitation

[MajorHoy]

Masks2 #8a.jpg

MASKS 2 #8
Written by Cullen Bunn, art by Eman Casallos, covers by Butch Guice, Jae Lee, variant cover by Gabriel Hardman.

Final issue! The masked heroes have been cast through time and twisted into strange versions of themselves. Now, they make one last attempt to set things right... without damaging the time stream any more than they already have. The final confrontation with the Red Death will lead to the emergence of a new masked hero!

(http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...ynamitenov.htm)

Available in November . . . I wonder if this "new masked hero" will just be a one-issue deal or if s/he will appear elsewhere in the future?

[MajorHoy]

. . . I wonder if this "new masked hero" will just be a one-issue deal or if s/he will appear elsewhere in the future?

I posted this in another thread, but I've got a guess where Bunn is going to go with this "new hero" bit.
spoilers:

In Masks 2 #7, it seems like the final issue will focus on the heroes trying to change the past so that either the events that created the villain Red Death don't result in the death of her father, or if they don't do that they'll stop her from becoming the Red Death. Maybe if she doesn't become Red Death, she'll instead become a hero . . . possibly even The Woman in Red or Masquerade?

end of spoilers

[MajorHoy]

A few other cover versions:


Cover B Variant by Jae Lee




Exclusive Subscription variant cover by Gabriel Hardman




Cover D Incentive by Colton Worley / Black Sparrow Variant Cover

[Ishmael]

Really looking forward to this -- I wound up enjoying it quite a bit. The story unfolded very nicely and I really liked the art a lot (very gritty as fitted the tale).

Hope they follow up on this.

[MajorHoy]

Really looking forward to this -- I wound up enjoying it quite a bit. The story unfolded very nicely and I really liked the art a lot (very gritty as fitted the tale).

Hope they follow up on this.

I have been less-than-impressed with the writing / direction, but before I read issue #8 I'm going to re-read the first seven issues and see if it works better the second time and without the monthly (or longer) delays between the different issues.

(And if there is a third one, I hope it doesn't involve all the time-hopping!)

[MajorHoy]

Re-read #1-7 before buying issue #8, and they did work better when I didn't have the +/-monthly breaks between issues. But since this was first presented as monthly issues, that's still not good . . . is this just another case of "written for the trades" and trying to jam it in to monthly issues first?

Read issue #8 and wasn't all that impressed by the ending. Too many things felt like "why did they even bother to do that in the first place", and the "new masked hero" (who I admit wasn't who I thought it might be) appears in just one panel at the end of the story? Has this character ever appeared in any shape or form before, and will this character ever appear anywhere again?

I was definitely disappointed by this. It didn't feel like their was a real payoff to the story we got in the previous seven issues. The ending seemed more accidental than carefully constructed.

[Carloshll726]

I can't wait until the trade paperback comes out!

[MajorHoy]

I can't wait until the trade paperback comes out!

You might do even better by waiting to see if there's a store that has the issues in their dollar bin in the not-too-distant future (unfortunately).

[Carloshll726]

You might do even better by waiting to see if there's a store that has the issues in their dollar bin in the not-too-distant future (unfortunately).

I'm still waiting for Project Superpowers: The Owl TPB to come out.

[MajorHoy]

I'm still waiting for Project Superpowers: The Owl TPB to come out.

The sales numbers may not justify releasing it in tpb.

From Diamond Distributors Top 300 Comic Books lists for the months it was published,
* July 2013 - 245th - OWL #1 - 8,010 copies

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/26456.html

* Aug. 2013 - 279th - OWL #2 - 5,114 copies

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/26668.html

* Sept. 2013 - 350th - OWL #3 - 4,307 copies

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...3/2013-09.html

* Oct. 2013 - 389th - OWL #4 - 3,780 copies

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomi...3/2013-10.html

But don't forget all the usual caveats about how limited that information from Diamond is.

[Carloshll726]

Hmmm... I didn't know all that. I just assumed Dynamite would release The Owl TPB right after the mini-series was finished because of The Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, and Masquerade projects. Thanks for the info!

[Ishmael]

Re-read #1-7 before buying issue #8, and they did work better when I didn't have the +/-monthly breaks between issues. But since this was first presented as monthly issues, that's still not good . . . is this just another case of "written for the trades" and trying to jam it in to monthly issues first?

Read issue #8 and wasn't all that impressed by the ending. Too many things felt like "why did they even bother to do that in the first place", and the "new masked hero" (who I admit wasn't who I thought it might be) appears in just one panel at the end of the story? Has this character ever appeared in any shape or form before, and will this character ever appear anywhere again?

I was definitely disappointed by this. It didn't feel like their was a real payoff to the story we got in the previous seven issues. The ending seemed more accidental than carefully constructed.

I've read it twice now, and my first response was like this. But, after I read it again tonight, I kinda changed my mind. I was initially disappointed because I had a set of preconceived notions about how it would end: go to the past, have a big brawl with the Red Death organization that prevents them from forming, redeem the little girl who then becomes Masquerade or the Lady in Red. Obviously, now that I've read it, I know NONE of this happened.

And that made me realize I actually liked the story a lot more. Bunn actually subverts the reader's expectations in this issue in a very nice way. The realization that if they keep the Red Death from forming they may do MORE damage to the time stream was brilliant, while the decision to then go and TALK to the father of the girl was equally brilliant. Haven't seen a plot turn like that -- where the heroes decide to discuss things sensibly -- since Ordway's "Power of Shazam" series. Very clever, and a real departure from the usual slugfest.

Despite that, we still get the climactic fight ... and here I think again Bunn subverts the reader's expectations. I did not, in any way, anticipate the Red Death causing her own demise, especially in that fashion -- so accidentally and so quickly. Slightly dissatisfying as a read -- but then again, very well done because that's exactly how a moment like that would unfold: an accident that leads immediately to an unintended consequence. I personally loved the two-three pages showing the heroes returning to their times and seeing what happened next. The father becoming the hero was interesting, though really underdone -- again, a subversion of our expectations based on a reversal of the Batman-paradigm (son becomes vigilante in the wake of tragic loss gives way to father becomes vigilante in the wake of tragic loss). Unfortunately that's where it ends, and it feels incomplete (that, and the pic of the father with the mask and glasses really didn't do it for me artistically).

Overall, not bad -- def not what I expected. LOVED the art though. Very nicely done. I think I def enjoyed this more than the first Masks series.

[MajorHoy]

. . . I personally loved the two-three pages showing the heroes returning to their times and seeing what happened next . . .

I had a problem with that, though.
* In issue #3, when we first encounter Black Bat, he showed up in the present and was involved with Peter Cannon's attempt to stop that cargo from reaching the shore. (Black Bat even had his own boat.)
* In issue #8, when they showed the heroes returning to their own times, Black Bat gets "Queens, New York; October 17, 1937"?!?

By the way, the original Masks mini-series had a Black Bat in the 1930s, but he had a costume more like the Golden Age pulp magazine covers, not the 21st century redesign.

[Ishmael]

I had a problem with that, though.
* In issue #3, when we first encounter Black Bat, he showed up in the present and was involved with Peter Cannon's attempt to stop that cargo from reaching the shore. (Black Bat even had his own boat.)
* In issue #8, when they showed the heroes returning to their own times, Black Bat gets "Queens, New York; October 17, 1937"?!?

I noticed that too. Maybe they're planting the seeds for Masks 3?

I've personally been surprised (but enjoyed) the fact that the Spider has been such a focal point for both series (the first being roughly based on a storyline from the Spider pulp, this one involving his time machine). Loved that series he briefly had and was sorry to see it end.

[MajorHoy]

But is there an explanation for all those masks that Green Lama and the others found back in the prehistoric era beyond "someone's playing games with us", or was the whole reason Bunn did that part just so he could have 1970's Miss Fury bond with Annabelle the dinosaur? (And what was the point of creating 1970s versions of Miss Fury and Black Sparrow in the first place?)

Again, it seemed like so much time was wasted in this series by the heroes not accomplishing much more than stumbling around like headless chickens, with the final resolution happening because of quirks of fate more than their direct actions. It was more like the Keystone Kops and the Three Stooges fought the Red Death than the pulp heroes I really wanted to see in action.