At Forbes magazine, Dark Horse Comics have announced “The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask!,” a new four-issue series from writer Christopher Cantwell, artist Patric Reynolds, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Nate Piekos starting this October. This revival of the character will harken back to the dark and violent original comics series, instead of the classic Jim Carrey film, with a new murderer taking on the mantle of Big Head: worse still, the new wearer of the Mask is also campaigning for President under the slogan, “Make America green again!”
Cantwell, the co-creator of Halt and Catch Fire and Dark Horse imprint Berger Books’ “She Could Fly,” said “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. 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.”
Reynolds, who previously illustrated “Hellboy & the BPRD” and “Joe Golem” for Dark Horse, told Forbes “this take on ‘The Mask’ is much different than previous iterations — there is a gritty, noir element that casts a shadow throughout, lending the story a sense of weight and emotional gravity. Within that framework, writer Christopher Cantwell has created a story bound with very sharp and very relevant social and political commentary. This version of ‘The Mask’ reminds us of the cost of empowering chaos and our basest impulses, how that can elevate the worst people into a position to make our most important decisions.”
“The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask!” #1 will be released on October 16, 2019. For more, head on over to Forbes, and read the the press release below:
Christopher Cantwell and Patric Reynolds Team Up to Make America Green Again
The Mask is back in The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask! The bestselling comic series that inspired the blockbuster film returns with gruesome hilarity from Christopher Cantwell, the showrunner of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire and writer for the Berger Books series She Could Fly and Everything through Dark Horse Comics, and Joe Golem artist Patric Reynolds, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Nate Piekos.
Years ago, a weird mask of unknown origin and limitless power was buried in the cement of an apartment building’s basement floor. Edge City and its residents have all but forgotten the mysterious green-faced killer known only as “Big Head.” But now, decades later, the bizarre Tex Avery–style killings are happening all over again and are on a collision course with a bizarre political campaign where a homicidal maniac wants to “Make America Green Again”!
The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask #1 (of four) goes on sale October 16, 2019, and is available for pre-order at your local comic shop.
