Deathmask #1-2
By David Michelinie, Dick Giordano and Bob Layton
Published by Future Comics
The latest entry in Future's effort to deliver youngster-friendly entry-level superhero comics is Deathmask, the "Mystic Marauder" of the Future Comics universe. Mythology, mystery and organized crime are the primary elements of the title, with Las Vegas as the setting.
An apparent Native American named Jacob is the titular protagonist, a driven vigilante who works out of a holographically-hidden cave and uses hallucinatory vision quests to seek answers to vaguely-defined mysteries. He also appears to be horribly scarred, which explains his choice of facial apparel. Batman by way of the Shadow, one supposes.
Deathmask is being pursued by the unfortunately-named Agent Dillinger, a tough-as-nails FBI agent who makes his debut in an unconvincing scene in the first issue; he convinces a robber that a cheap diner is filled with people whose pockets are bursting with their casino winnings. I've never been to Vegas, but I doubt that the first thing you do after winning a small fortune is to go to a seedy diner to eat -- and I certainly doubt that a couple dozen high-rollers would all choose to do so at once. Further, I doubt the small-time hood who tries to rob the place would be so stupid, either. Such a scene puts a strain on my willing suspension of disbelief, to say the least.
The art in Deathmask is marginally better than that in Future's flagship title Freemind (although a recent Ron Frenz-pencilled issue of that title was the best art the company has yet published), but not as good as that in the team-book-with-a-twist Metallix -- many of the characters in Deathmask suffer from central casting-itis, with generic looks that suggest little about their character other than "I'm a cop," "I'm a rich bastard," and so on. A scene like the explosive escape of Deathmask at the climax of issue #2 highlights another problem with the art -- it should be an exciting moment, but it's stiff and lifeless.
I wish I could deliver better news about this title, and Future in general --
Michelinie, Giordano and Layton are three key creators in comics over my three decades of reading them, and they've earned a lot of goodwill for their participation of some of the most well-regarded superhero titles of the '70s and '80s. But their work here and in Deathmask's sister titles seems generally uninspired. The production quality and timely shipping have been impressive, but a spark of creativity is needed if Future is going to grow and
thrive. If some excitement and new ideas aren't injected soon, I fear all this
effort will have been for nothing more than providing (pun unintended) future
quarter-bin fodder to retailers across the country. Grade: 3/5