Here's the cover of one of my favorite BATMAN issues of that era... BATMAN # 386 (DC Comics, Cover Date: August, 1985).
And, for once, the villain is smarter than Batman because he is wearing a FULL MASK, rather than just a cowl like our hero!
In fact, Batman doesn't even seem to BE in his cowl on this cover! Perhaps he's off getting a safety mask from Alfred, or something!
Esther and I have just gotten a box of masks to wear with our gloves, if and when we venture out again into the contaminated New York environment, and I couldn't help but think that Black Mask (and other face-shielding criminals) may have "had it right" all along!
...When you escape The Blot's clutches, Mickey, be sure to carefully discard those white gloves of yours... and fer goodness sakes move at least six feet away from The Blot, even though he looks "safely wrapped"! ...You don't know WHERE he's been!
Seriously folks... This is no laughing matter! Stay masked. Stay gloved. ...And, most of all, stay safe!
4 comments:
The origin of Black Mask is pretty nutty...Moench seemed to want the catalyst for Roman becoming to be multiple choice! I actually think his best moments were when Judd Winnick was writing him and gave the character a dry, self-aware sense of humor, at the cost of eschewing Moench's concept of him as a Pulp/Film Noir Batman villain.
‘Rehab:
While Judd Winnick was never my favorite writer, he was also far from the worst, and his characterization of Black Mask was one reason why. I recall it made B.M. (May I call him “B.M.”?) better stand out among a plethora of psycho-gimmick-villains.
Doug Moench (the writer of the BATMAN issue pictured in the post, for those who might not fully follow what we’re talking about) was more to my taste. His being the writer on both BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS when I returned to DC in the ‘80s probably had a bit to do with it. …That, and I really like me some “Film Noir”!
But, given the timing of the original issue, perhaps Black Mask underwent a “change” as a result of the imminent “Crisis on Infinite Earths”… and, alas, so did Doug Moench, as he was not the writer on both BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS when we came out of “The Crisis”!
But, oddly – and maybe it’s just me, but I sure remember thinking this at the time - Doug Moench’s origin for Black Mask largely found itself grafted onto “Hush” a good 15 or so years later!
All that was missing was for Tommy Elliott to get bitten in the face by a dog after watching a Scooby-Doo movie when he was a kid for his origins to be even more on-the-nose!
I actually liked how Hush was retconned as an attempt at a new identity by the Riddler in the "Batman: Hush" movie, but I think a lot of people hated that idea. Without Jim Lee's art, "Hush" would've faded out a long time ago...
‘Rehab:
I bought the “Hush” Blu-ray some time ago, and then a lot of things hit… GCD Indexing, the book research (which is still ongoing) … and the virus, so never got around to watching it.
But, if The Riddler is in it to such an extent, that will serve to help move it more toward the forefront – which is lately occupied by the recent seasons of DOCTOR WHO and STAR TREK DISCOVERY.
I’m also not the biggest fan of Jim Lee – or ANYONE who came out of Image – but he sure did a magnificent job on “Hush”!
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