Comic Reviews by Walt

The Woman Behind the Mask

Creator-Writer: Mike W. Barr
Penciller: Terry Dodson
Inker: Al Vey
Letterer: Patrick Owsley
Colorist: Moose Baumann
Editor: Chris Ulm
Published by: Malibu Comics
Cover Date: August 1993
Cover Price: $1.95

I had a bit of deja vu opening this issue…the first page feels like it mirrors the exact cliffhanger of the first issue! Warstrike–the man who killed Lukasz–is at the door,and Lukasz is in the seemingly-weak body of a woman. Turns out that Warstrike is here to offer his aid–Notch tricked him as well, and he doesn’t take kindly to that. They part, and Lukasz–now Eden Blake–deals with kids (s)he doesn’t know what to do with, a job (s)he only knows the address (not what tasks to perform), and so on…while elsewhere, Boneyard and Notch torture Archimage, who refuses to give up his last warrior. Later, Lukasz/Eden crashes a party/auction and bumps into Warstrike in his civilian guise–Brandon Tark. The mask that Archimage and Boneyard have been after is there, and when Notch goes for it, Lukasz leaps into action, and manages to get the mask…while also discovering some new powers this Eden Blake body has. Emerging apparently victorious, Lukasz later takes the kids to a movie, figuring why not? It’s not like they’d be a problem much longer…he aims to pawn them off on the father as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the "Repo Men" encountered at the auction are also here…and the battle doesn’t go nearly so well. Combined with having to protect the kids…Lukasz–Mantra–is not in a good situation.

The Dodson art is a bit "cheesecake" and such with several panels (AND the cover) NOT being shy about how well endowed Eden’s body is. Despite that, the art overall is quite good, and pretty distinctive on the characters…particularly where costumes are involved.

I am pretty sure I’ve never read this issue before, but enjoyed it. There’s something almost cinematic about it, something that could definitely work for tv, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been picked up FOR tv given current vibes on stuff.

It makes sense to have some time seeing Lukasz adjust to the new body as well as the hints of fear that weren’t present while in other bodies: knowing there will be no next body makes everything far more dangerous than they seemed when he had endless reincarnation to keep going with. While it’s not much "development," we get to check in on Boneyard and Archimage to keep that fresh in mind, that they and their war are why we’re here.

In some ways, this could BE a first issue, had the previous issue been doled out as a #0 or a serialized bit. Still, as with other titles…this being "only" the second issue, I’d highly recommend getting the first issue along with this, as the story would be far more meaningful than specifically going for this issue in isolation. As a second issue, I definitely liked this, as it continues to develop the main character and flesh out the world/supporting cast and build on the previous issue, while also leaving some stuff to be wondering about for the next issue, along with the cliffhanger leaving us to wonder how Mantra will get out of the situation and if the kids will also make it out, etc.

This was one of my favorite Ultraverse series back in the ’90s, and so far on re-read, nothing is changing my thoughts on that. As said above, this title seems all the more "relevant" or poignant in 2018, like it would surely be championed now more than ever before. Regardless…it’s simply a fun read, with art that’s hardly bad on the (male) eyes.

Filed under: 2018 posts, 2018 Reviews, Malibu Comics, Mantra, The '90s Revisited, Ultraverse, Ultraverse Revisited | Tagged: 1990s, Al Vey, Chris Ulm, comic books, Comic Reviews, comics, malibu, Malibu Comics, Mantra, mike w. barr, Moose Baumann, Patrick Owsley, Terry Dodson, The '90s Revisited, Ultraverse Revisited, Warstrike, Woman Behind the Mask |