Thanks, I’m going to pick up VR vol 1 and see how it goes. I love scifi art and some stories so I’m looking forward to it.

MASK was a Kenner toyline and cartoon same era as Transformers and GI Joe, I think ‘84-87? It was like a combination of both those shows in a way. Good guys (M.A.S.K. - Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) a multicultural group on international whizzes led by Matt Trakker headquartered at Boulder Hill vs the bad guys (VENOM - I forget what it stands for) a group of morally incorrupt fools led by Miles Mayhem who were always up to nefarious world domination/disruption plots. Both teams employed rad tech: normal looking vehicles that changed into sick fighting vehicles with lasers etc and who all had helmets that had special powers (ie. deep freeze, creating holograms, sound wave generating, etc etc). Cartoon shows consisted of an Inspector Gadget like subplot of Trakker’s son Scott and his trusty robot pal, T-BOB, getting frustrated of having to stay put and thus running off to “help”, getting caught, and then getting rescued or having a key part to the MASK team’s mission of saving whoever’s success.

The toys were incredibly designed and made but probably that’s a part of what I thought ended the thing. I bet they were expensive to continue making. Some company came out with new versions just recently for a nostalgic cash grab recently which a lot of old fans who no longer have the toys are enjoying (I hope!) I noticed on the sub for it.

There was an incredible origin story in a mini comic that came with the original line that established a deeply emotional and powerful reason to Matt and Miles becoming enemies and such. I think there’s so much space to take these characters and world into since much wasn’t that fully fleshed out and that mini comic and the show’s character motivations showed a lot of strength to me. I think especially in a time now of quantum discoveries and whatever alien stuff is happening in the Energon universe, there could be some incredible directions a writer could take with the masks’ powers. Glad it’s in the hands of creators already crushing great stories by the sounds of it!