It would be hard to count how many times on this blog (or on other comic related sites) there have been discussions around comic book costumes. Surely we have ranked and filed a few costumes ourselves. But today I want to focus just on the masks that the heroes wear. That piece is so integral to how we perceive the character and there are such wide ranging options and artistic designs. Let's compare and contrast this comic book contrivance.
What was the original purpose of the mask? Surely it went hand in hand with vigilante sensibilities and secret identities. But it is interesting to see that throughout the ages, there are wide ranges in the styles.
Here are a few categories to get you thinking:
The Full Mask: Definitely for the private hero, it limits any possibility of identification. And it muffles the voice. The likes of Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Black Panther, Doctor Spectrum, and Deadpool employ these masks. Not too many females characters wear the full mask!
The Three-Quarter's Mask: Head covered - yep! Ears out -maybe! Mouth and chin exposed - you betcha! It has no breathing interference and still good identification coverage. The athletic heroes often gravitate to this style. Think in terms of Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Hawkeye, and even Wolverine.
The Shampoo Mask: This is a variation on the above option. The hero let's the hair fly free. We see the locks of Captain Mar-Vell. Spider-Woman and some other female characters frequently apply this look. Captain Britain has a variance in which the lower part is a full mask, but he cannot resist sharing his fine head of hair.
The Headband or Tiara: These are less masks than accessories. I guess they just look cool. I put Scarlet Witch, Luke Cage and even the Angel in this category.
The "No" Mask: The confidence of these characters must be off the charts. Surely, not everybody can be distracted by Superman's single curl. Reed Richards, Wasp, Valkyrie, and Starfox all refuse to hide their faces.
The "No" Mask (but my nature helps): Some heroes however may have attributes that help the disguise. The Hulk for one never looks like mild Bruce Banner. The Thing, Human Torch, Beast, and Iceman also use their transformation to set them apart.
Added Accessories: And don't forget about goggles and antennae like those Yellowjacket wore. Or the helmets of Ant-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the Black Knight, and Dr. Doom.
Take a look at these corner boxes and handbook pages to assess the various masks and lack of masks of some of our favorite heroes.
So what is your favorite mask type? Or lack thereof? Can you think of types that I did not address? Do you think about the characters in terms of their facial disguise? How well has the cinema adopted masks into the real world? What character wears the best mask? Who has the worst? How do you define that? Is the secret identity that important or is the trope dead?
Don't mask your intentions... tell us what you think? Cheers!
Don't mask your intentions... tell us what you think? Cheers!
11 comments:
Galactus's mask... who was he hiding his identity from? The Watcher? The Thanos? The Mephisto? THe Stranger? The folks living on the planet he was going to devour? I mean, everyone knew it was Galactus coming to devour their planet so the mask was an epic fail?
And Thanos's mask... we see his full face so I can only assume the his ears would get cold or he was bald and embarrassed? But the Watcher was bald so...?
I can't mask the never ending array of questions this magnificent blog is going to trigger today!
Ha ha CH47. Yes, how true. Galactus needing a mask is pretty funny. I like thinking with those boomerangs coming out of his ears it serves some technological incomprehensible function. Although it would be pretty funny if he ripped off his mask and it was really Rick Jones!
In reverse, Wilson Fisk' the Kingpin of Crime, sure didn't hide his face.
I forgot to mention the masks that were tied in the back like Iron Fist or Killer Shrike. It seems that they'd get their head tugged and neck snapped fairly often.
I should have shared the panels with Spidey with a paper sack over his head.
It always seemed strange to me that the Inhuman royal family wore masks. None of them had a secret identity and they were the highest profile people in their own kingdom.
Oh well, at least they didn't make Lockjaw wear one.
Having said that, Medusa always looked wrong on the rare occasions when you saw her without the mask.
@Martinex: Criminal? Wilson Fisk is just a humble spice dealer ...
@Steve: Lockjaw may not have worn a mask, but remember Ace, the Bat Hound? I think he wore a mask whenever he accompanied Batman.
I always liked Spidey's mask; I figure it muffled his voice enough to be unrecognizable. I always wondered how people couldn't recognize guys like Batman or Captain America by their voices, since their mouths weren't covered.
Of course, masks go back even before the Golden Age: the Shadow, the Spider, the Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, Zorro, the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Marti - you touched my Marvel "nerve" i.e., Rick Jones!
Ole Doc Wertham would have had a field day with him and his colleagues, no?
Being "passed around" from Hulk to Cap America to Avengers to Cpt Marvell to...? And then with Hulk's sidekick dying Jim Wilson from AIDS. Not to mention Jim Wilson was the Falcon's nephew and then the Falcon hung with Cap after Rick was done hanging with Cap. Not to mention Rick dressed up as Bucky who was also an adolescent hanging around with the original Cap in the 1940s. Oh man oh man...
I think if Wertham weren't in his 80s when all this was happening he would have rose to the occasion?
Anyhow, whenever I saw a Rick Jones appearance I just cringed that I would not understand what/ why!
I always rationalized Galactus's mask/helmet, and accompanying outfit as either containment gear for a decidedly non-humanoid energy being that was configured for the dominant shape of life in their universe, or as how the collective perception of those present interpreted this being that was beyond their senses' ability to input.
I don't think they ever said anything like that, it just made sense to me when we encountered him.
On the masks, i always had a fondness for the Shampoo Mask with the free flowing hair. But, funny how that fondness has dimmed as my own mane has grown "less lustrous" over the years. Still, from a heat trap perspective, it's got to feel better. Except that i'm writing this as we await snow here.
So, i guess it depends on the power/invulnerability factor of the wearer?
There was always something cool about the Spidey-style, full-coverage mask.
But overall, most of my favourite characters sported the three-quarters, like Wolvie and Daredevil.
Iron Man wins points for being one of the most unique, with the eyes-and-mouth slits.
Back in the 80s, when so many heroes were getting new costumes, it's interesting to note that the element that always stayed consistent was there mask-type. Wolverine, Spidey, Captain America, Iron Man...all got different colour schemes and some different designs, but keeping their iconic masks made any changes just palatable enough to be, for the most part, accepted.
-david p.
Just a couple of comments.., I'm still wryly surprised that masks typically don't translate well to the cinema. I thought the Dozer Batman worked well, as did 'The Flash' '90s series, but they've just looked a bit awkward for the latest 'Flash' series, even Cap in the Avengers movies.. Perhaps it's just the pleather or whatever fabric used, but the movies these days just don't do 'em justice.
As for Iron Man, I'm still amazed that folks picked on Yellowjacket so much. Yes yes, I know nowadays you can see in side IM's helmet (thanks to the Downey Jr movie franchise..), but back in the Silver/Early Bronze days, you never saw such electronic displays goin' on. so a metal helmet with slits were FAR less practical for peripheral sight than YJ. Just my thoughts. :)
I've always been a fan of the 3/4 mask worn by characters like Batman, Daredevil, and Captain America, etc. It seems like a good balance for maximum concealment and comfort. However, I do like the look of a good full face mask as well.
Adding my two cents to the discussion of "Why some characters even wear a mask in first place?" (Such as the aforementioned Galactus and the Inhumans). I would add T'Challa (The Black Panther) to that list. Why is he wearing a mask? Everyone in his entire kingdom already knows who he is. And running around the hot jungle in a full face covering would have to be torture.
And for that matter, why would any superhero who doesn't have a secret identity wear a mask? I remember in the Flash books when Wally West went public with his "secret" identity, but he still kept wearing a mask. Why? I could see him maybe wearing some goggles for eye protection when he ran, but not a whole mask. There have been other such instances of this as well, and it always bugs me.
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