I really can't wait for Phil Hester and Carlos Paul's Masquerade. If you're not familiar with the concept, it's part of Jim Kreuger and Alex Ross' Project Superpowers series that updates a bunch of public domain Golden Age superheroes. I don't know any of those characters and haven't been that interested in seeing them updated, but Miss Masque has a cool look and Hester's involvement makes me immediately interested.
While Hester acknowledges Miss Masque's origins as "cheesecake-with-a-gun," he's got some great ideas on how to make her cool.
Unlike all those big guns, she has no powers. Nothing. She must rely on her wits because even her pistols are pretty small potatoes when faced with something like The Claw. I tried to make her special by describing her intellect as almost super human in that she's able, due to a childhood trauma, to imagine herself outside her body. This perspective allows her to observe any dilemma dispassionately and solve problems that go beyond linear logic. She's the brains of the outfit!It also doesn't hurt that the preview art (in the link above) has her fighting a giant Nazi robot.
6 comments:
So when a publisher does something like this with a character that is public domain does that mean that they now have a copyright or trademark on the character?
I know next to nothing about copyright or trademark law, but my understanding is that no, they don't now own the character. Anyone else wanting to use the characters still can.
In fact, I think I remember Alan Moore using a lot of these same characters in some of his America's Best Comics series.
Do you follow Art Jumble? they have been doing Wonder Woman this week.
http://artjumble.blogspot.com/
the link.
Miss Masque looks fantastic. I am definitely going to have to check out Masquerade. I really like the updates they seem to have made to her character.
Do you follow Art Jumble?
I do now! Thanks!
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