Spinning out of IDW Publishing's Revolution event, M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand details the adventures of the titular team in their quest to stop V.E.N.O.M. The book's an updated telling of the M.A.S.K. cartoon from the 80s, launched as part of the Hasbro Comic Universe. The origins are tellingly a lot different and begin with the Big Bad, Miles "Mayhem" Mannheim. Miles served with Joe Colton of G.I. Joe fame, and when aliens began appearing on Earth, Miles was put in charge of M.A.S.K.- a team with transforming vehicles reverse-engineered from the captured Decepticon Triple-Changer Blitzwing. Among the recruits was Matt Trakker, a rebellious youth who's turned to the army to hopefully straighten himself out. Matt and his friends go along with Miles's plans in their hope to protect Earth. Miles, being evil, secretly worked to sell the human race out to Baron Karza and sought to rule Earth for himself. After Karza's initial defeat, Miles and his agents go rogue, forming V.E.N.O.M. leaving Matt and his friends to lead M.A.S.K. to stop him.
Kicking off in 2016, the series is helmed by writer Brandon Easton and artists Tony Vargas and Jordi Escuin.
Not to be confused with The Mask.
Tropes in M.A.S.K.
- Adaptational Heroism: Bruno largely comes across as the most moral of the future V.E.N.O.M. recruits when they're all in basic training, he even saves Matt's life once. After his Face–Heel Turn, Matt regards him with more sympathy than the others and Bruno's disfigurement is supposed to invoke tragedy for the character.
- Big Bad: Miles Mayhem, the leader of V.E.N.O.M. has set most of the plot in motion. He's killed Matt's father, starting the enmity with him and Matt, created the vehicles and seeks to take over the world.
- The Brute: Bruno, with the biggest vehicle and penchant for violence is V.E.N.O.M.'s muscle.
- Jerkass: Sly Rax. In a team full of killers, war criminals, and Bruno, Sly stands out because he's an asshole. He's perhaps the least heinous of V.E.N.O.M. but he's a slimy weasel nonetheless. During the look into the Villains' backstories, Bruno and Vanessa are humanized, but Sly is largely the same asshole he's always been.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Whenever Miles seems to be hitting on a soft point or potential Pet the Dog, he'll just upend it and show himself to be an utter bastard. His fatherly relationship with Matt's a ruse as he killed Matt's father, any friendship with Joe is thrown out when we learn Miles knew and approved of Joe being replaced by a Dire-Wraith, even Miles's attempts at playing himself off as a Well-Intentioned Extremist give way to him just being a power hungry dictator wannabe.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Blitzwing has a minuscule role in the series and even in the Transformers comics at large, but he is what made M.A.S.K. and V.E.N.O.M. possible.
- The Sociopath: Subverted. During a talk with Dr. Mindbender, Matt believes Vanessa to be a sociopath with Mindbender noting that she had many of the signs (most notably a Lack of Empathy). Though after listening to her origin story Matt realized that he had misdiagnosed her, which the doctor confirms (having stated that she had sociopathic tendencies rather than claiming she was one). Vanessa has been able to form natural connections and empathetic bonds with other people but years of childhood abuse have left her embittered.
