M.A.S.K.
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M.A.S.K. was a TV animated series produced by at DIC Enterprises, Inc. It was broadcast during the 1980s. One of many cartoons produced during the 1980s as vehicles for toy merchandising, M.A.S.K. followed in the footsteps of the popular G.I. Joe cartoon, in that it featured a military task force engaged in an ongoing battle against an evil terrorist organization. The major difference between the two shows was the emphasis on super-powered helmets and masks worn by the characters on the show and their transforming vehicles.
The cartoon focused mainly on the vehicles and characters from the original 1985 toy line. Later on, there were also some appearances from some 1986 vehicles. The last season of the show apparently featured a racing theme to correspond with the racing series M.A.S.K. toys.
Besides the cartoon and toys, there were also various spin-off products like sticker books and comics.
M.A.S.K stood for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. MASK battled against VENOM, which is an acronym for Viciously Evil Network Of Mayhem.
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Character list
Here is a list of featured characters, their vehicles and masks.
MASK (the protagonists)
- Matt Trakker is the leader of MASK. His mask is called Spectrum. His vehicle is Thunderhawk, a red Chevrolet Camaro, which can transform into a plane. Matt also was co-pilot on Rhino, where he used the mask Ultra-Flash. Matt also uses the vehicle Volcano and uses the mask Lavashot. Trakker also uses the vehicle Goliath and uses the Shroud mask.
- Scott Trakker is the son of Matt Trakker.
- Alex Sector is a veterinarian. His mask is called Jack Rabbit. His vehicle is Rhino, a truck with a lot of (fire) power once transformed. Alex can be accompanied by Bruce Sato in Rhino.
- Bruce Sato is a toy designer. His mask is called Lifter. His vehicle is Rhino. Bruce can be accompanied by Alex Sector in Rhino.
- Dusty Hayes is a cook. His mask is called Backlash. His vehicle is Gator, a terrain car with a releasable boat.
- Gloria Baker is a racecar driver. Her mask is called Aura. Her vehicle is Shark, a sportscar that can transform into a submarine. Gloria also uses the vehicle Stilleto, a sportscar that turns into a glider and uses the mask Aura 2.
- Brad Turner is a musician/rockstar. His mask is called Hocus-Pocus. His vehicle is Condor, a motorcycle that can transform into a helicopter. Brad also uses the vehicle Razorback, a Daytona race car which turns into an observation post and uses the mask Eclipse.
- Hondo MacLean is a history teacher. His mask is called Blaster. His vehicle is Firecracker, a truck with quite some fire power. Hondo can be accompanied by Buddy Hawkes in Firecracker. Hondo also uses the vehicle Hurricane. A '57 Chevy which turns into an attack tank and uses the mask Blaster 2.
- Buddy Hawkes is a mechanic. His mask is called Penetrator. His vehicle is Firecracker. Buddy can be accompanied by Hondo MacLean in Firecracker.
- Nevada Rushmore. His mask is called Totem He is co-pilot of the vehicle Goliath, a truck with a racecar which turns into a command station and jet plane respectively.
- Ali Bombay. His mask is called Vortex. His vehicle is called Bandit. A racing motorcycle which turns into a hovercraft.
- Julio Lopez is a doctor. His mask is called Streamer. His vehicle is called Firefly, a racing buggy which turns into a jet. Later, he also used the vehicle Fireforce, a sportscar that turned into a jet and a motorcycle and used the mask Streamer 2.
- Boris Bushkin. His mask is named Comrade and his vehicle is Bulldog. A truck rig which turns into a tank.
- Calhoun Burns. His mask is called Gulliver and his vehicle is Raven. A Corvette which turns into a seaplane.
- Jacques LeFleur. His mask is Mirage and he is co-pilot of Volcano. A monster truck van which turns into a attack station.
VENOM (the antagonists)
- Miles Mayhem is the leader of VENOM. His mask is called Viper. His vehicle is Switchblade, a helicopter that can transform into a jetplane. Miles also used the mask Python with the vehicle Outlaw, the mask Ripper with the vehicle Wolfbeast, a blue Stingray which turned into a tank and jet plane and the mask Deep Freeze with the vehicle Buzzard.
- Sly Rax has the Stiletto mask. His vehicle is Piranha, a motorcycle with a submarine sidespan.
- Cliff Dagger has the Torch mask. His vehicle is Jackhammer, an SUV with a lot of fire power.
- Vanessa Warfield has the Whip mask. Her vehicle is Manta, a Nissan Fairlady that can turn into a plane.
- Bruno Shepard has the Magna-Beam mask. His vehicle is Stinger, a GTO that turns into a tank. He also used the vehicle Jackal, a yellow motorbike that turned into a jet with the mask Magna Beam 2.
- Nash Gorey has the Powerhouse mask and co-pilots the vehicle Outlaw, a black "Snake Oil" tanker which turns into a mobile missile launcher.
- Lester Sludge has the Mudslinger mask and pilots the vehicle Iguana which is an off-road vehicle which turns into a mobile buzz-saw platform.
- Floyd Malloy has the Buckshot mask and flies the vehicle Vampire, a red motorbike which turns into a jet.
- Maxiumus Mayhem, brother of Miles. Co-piloted the vehicle Buzzard, a racing car which turned into a jet and two armed sidecars. He used the mask Deep Heat.
Theme Song
Unfortunately, a lot of the M.A.S.K. animated series does not hold up over time, but it's theme song is the thing that it tends to be most fondly remembered for.
Masked Crusaders, working overtime,
Fighting Crime, fighting crime!
Secret raiders who will neutralise,
(unintelligable)
Trakker's gonna lead the mission,
And Spectrum's got such super vision!
M-M-M.A.S.K.!!
Is the mighty power that can save the day!
M-M-M-M.A.S.K.!!
No one knows what lies behind the masked charades!
M-M-M-M.A.S.K.!!
Always riding on Venom's trail!
Come see the laser rays!
Fire away!
There is a degree of some debate over exactly what the fourth line of the song is - popular opinion has it at either "Soon as they arrive," or "Till the day arrives," followed by "At the site!" or "Out of sight!" This writer has always believed it to be "So that they arise! Synthesise!" but he's probably wrong.
Spinoffs
M.A.S.K. has had such an impact that a parody show in the mid-1990s from Fox and Universal Animation was made called Vor-Tech which also aired later on ABC's The Power Block. This show also had a toy line.
History
The VOR-tech undercover conversion squad is a group of secret agents led by Hudson Roarke. Their mission is to stop Lord Matrix, Hudson’s older brother, and his evil Bio Mechs (much like the Phalanx creature's in the X-Men comic titles) from infecting the world with a techo-infectious plague. In their battle with the Bio Mechs, VOR-tech agents use special computer systems with VOR-technology that imbue them and their vehicles with special powers.
One of the voice actors who did this show was who played the evil Lord Matrix (alias Damien Roarke), the other voice actor was Michael Donovan who played Shepard (aka Hudson Roarke) who lead VOR-tech.
The other members were (Hardfire), John Payne voiced by Ian Corlett, Thomas Pickett, Scott McNeil (Stinger, the car), Venus Terzo who voiced (Miranda/FireFly), Pauline Newstone, Dale Wilson, Pauline Gitts, Jim Byrnes (Brad's brother Vance), Linda Boyd, Maine Miller, Colin Murdoch, Christopher Gray, Richard Newman, Mark Heldreth, Chris Turner, Andrea Libman (M.J. Sloan), Lenore Zahn, Saffron Henderson, and Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff (characters: Rick/Ace, Tate/Hacksaw, Mac/Gearhead, Brad/SnakeOil).
David Sobolov is known for his work on Transformers: Beast Wars.
Much like M.A.S.K. though, the show Vor-Tech had trouble staying on the air thus not completing its final episode which left fans with a cliff hanger.