49 – MASQUE

Subject: Masque
Real Name: Unrevealed
Height: 5’6″ Weight: 140 lbs
Group Affiliation: Morlocks
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #169, May 1983

Power Ratings:

• Energy Projection: 2/7
• Mental Powers: 1/7
• Strength: 2/7
• Fighting Ability: 2/7
• Intelligence: 2/7

Was I the only one that had a hard time remembering if Masque was a man or a woman? Somehow the que in the name gives it a feminine feeling, and the grotesque face, added to Masque’s occasional crossdressing, and, well, time makes fools of us all.

I actually liked Masque’s power, another one of those unique powers that, uniquely, doesn’t involve psionics or energy powers. In fact, the power to mold/reshape another person’s face like soft clay, and yet not being able to change one’s own grotesque face, is as good of a symbol for the freakshow mutant clique the Morlocks as Rogue, or Cyclops, and their respective powers is a great representative of the X-Men.

Too bad Masque and the Morlocks had their heyday during the 80′s, because aesthetically his mangled physique lends itself well with the 90′s X-artists’ predilection for overdetailed art. That said, Lee’s rendering here is just a little loose for my taste, with messy line weights that obscure Masque’s already craggy face. But still, when most of the characters are either idealized human figures, or at the very least super muscular, Masque stands out (even when, really, the archetype of the hunchbacked had isn’t all that unique).

Power Ratings again show nothing about Masque’s powers, but really you would be hard pressed to come up with a criterion that could showcase such a unique power, so I can’t blame the editors on this one.