T-Bob gets aaaaalllll the honeys.
MASK #8
DC Comics (September, 1987)
“Fun In The Sun!”
WRITER: Michael Fleisher
PENCILER: Curt Swan
INKER: Kurt Schaffenberger
COLORIST: Bob LeRose
LETTERER: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Robert Greenberg
Matt takes Scott and T-Bob for a restful day at the beach. However, it’s anything but restful for Matt as he ends up being dragged into one rescue mission after another. Meanwhile, the rest of MASK is given the task of scrubbing down the vehicles, which they have to stop when VENOM attempts an armored truck convoy heist. MASK arrives in time to stop them and chase them off, but Cliff Dagger manages to escape with some of the money. Hearing this on the radio, Matt goes after him and manages to save the stolen loot.
What they got right: I do admit that seeing Matt perform all of these rescue missions was pretty cool, and I think the story is meant to show that Matt Trakker is just a hero at heart and saving people is just what he’s driven to do.
What they got wrong: However, considering Fleisher’s other stories it comes off as another “Matt Trakker is awesome and MASK can’t run without him” tale. Imagine if the story had been MASK having to stop VENOM without Matt, to see what the other members are really capable of. Sure they’re not as good without Matt, but the last time Matt wasn’t with MASK they still needed him to save their butts from a VENOM trap. Let’s see how good these guys really are.
Recommendation: Despite my complaint it is a fun story that’s worth reading. Sadly this is the last of the DC MASK comics in my collection, and we were done with the minicomics a long time ago, so unless I get more DC MASK comics, or some of the current IDW books, I appear to be done with this series. I do hope to return to it, though.
BW Media Spotlight 
I bet that cover artwork led to some increased sales for this particular issue of MASK. In fact, T-Bob is kind of like Spuds McKenzie on the cover. Except instead of a dog hanging out with pretty ladies in bikinis on the beach, it’s a gleaming metallic robot! Who says droids can’t have fun? When this comic book issue came out in 1987, Spuds McKenzie was at the height of his popularity on commercials and in merchandise such as T-shirts. I do recall that our middle school frowned upon the wearing of Spuds McKenzie shirts, so instead my mother had bought me a Rude Dog shirt. Rude Dog was a “tamer” version of Spuds, and our middle school was cool with it.
I see you have two interesting in depth articles (one on Transformers and the other on movie industry). I’ll have to read those later tonight.
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