M.A.S.K. Creative Team Reveal What Inspired the Reboot Series

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Published Jul 4, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT

JC is a pop-culture enthusiast and native New Yorker, with over 20 years of experience in entertainment as a writer/producer creating content for HBO, Warner Brothers, and Paramount. He has covered the biggest Hollywood red carpet premieres from Los Angeles, California, to Leicester Square, UK, and has been behind the scenes of hit series, interviewing notable industry personalities across all media, on the front lines of many of the most thrilling franchise hits and theatricals. A lifelong comic book reader, JC likes to say: “I knew comics were cool before primetime.” The intersection of comics, science fiction, and fantasy across all media, becoming mainstream, remains one of the most profound shifts in modern popular culture, keeping JC’s finger on the pulse, grateful for the opportunity to share his unique insights with fans everywhere, especially as a contributor to CBR and via the podcast “Out Loud & Live with JC Alvarez!”

Nostalgia is alive and well over at Skybound and Image Comics. Having successfully appropriated popular 80s toy brands including G.I. Joe and Transformers, they are moving fast and furious onto M.A.S.K.

The era's hyper-consumerism dominated the toy industry's marketing and merchandising, particularly for action-oriented brands like the aforementioned Hasbro lines. Each had spin-off deals for comic books and animated series that successfully reached the target audience. The competition stiffened, and eventually Kenner entered the race with M.A.S.K.; now a new comic book series is revitalizing interest.

M.A.S.K. stands for “Mobile Armored Strike Kommand” (sub “K” for “C”), and combines aspects of both G.I. Joe and Transformers. The members of the strike team wore specially designed masks, each with a unique ability, and piloted state-of-the-art vehicles that transformed into tactical weapons when deployed into battle. Their arch-enemies were known as V.E.N.O.M. and used similar technology in their terrorist attacks.

Leading the charge to revamp the property for contemporary times is Dan Watters, the writer behind the just-launched Skybound and Image Comics, which, ironically enough, is set in the imprint’s “Energon Universe” inhabited by the Transformers and The Joes. “There was so much potential there,” Watters said, who happily stepped up to the challenge.

“It was sort of something that I was excited to have the excuse to dig into and educate myself on,” he admitted. “It’s also about looking at where it was coming from and what was sort of inspiring in the first place.” From the outset, it’s simple to imagine M.A.S.K. existing in the Energon Universe; much of the brand’s DNA is very similar. Watters partnered with artist Pye Parr to spruce up the brand's 1980s look.

The original designs for the more popular vehicles in the line, including the Thunderhawk sports car, Rhino semi-truck, Condor, and the Hurricane, are very retro and still work, making them not only recognizable but also maintaining their essence. “I think of the Knight Rider of it all,” Watters elaborated, “it was all kind of there in the franchise.”

Get Geared Up For The 80s Return of M.A.S.K.

Though it doesn’t have the established fanbase of G.I. Joe or The Transformers, which has only increased over the decades, especially as the properties expanded to include live-action film franchises, Watters and Parr are determined to stay faithful to the original. “The Thunderhawk, you can’t change too much,” Parr insisted. “I always thought the spoiler at the back was goofy, so I’ll add things that you see on more modern cars.”

The storyline will center on former colleagues, Matt Trakker and Miles Mayhem. “Mayhem framed Trakker and ran off with a load of stuff,” Watters revealed, in anticipation of a coming invasion. “There’s a sort of very direct grudge and rivalry between these two guys,” and now that Earth is caught in the middle of war with the Transformers, M.A.S.K. may be the first line of defense. Relive the 80s and rev up!

Issue #1 of Skybound and Image Comics’ M.A.S.K. written by Dan Watters with art by Pye Parr, is available now wherever you get your comics.