Masks #2

With New York City now a police state controlled by corrupt new government of gangsters known as the Justice Party, The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Kato, and The Spider find themselves overwhelmed by the enhanced technology the criminals have gotten their hands on to keep control of their city.

Issue #2 also introduces the Green Lama and Black Bat who begin to fight back against the oppressive new government as well. The story of the young artist on the wrong side of the government's new oppressive regime continues as well foreshadowing, I'm guessing, the eventual birth of a new Zorro.

I thought the first comic worked in trying to throw all these characters together in an unusual situation that required them to work together. Masks #2 isn't quite as good, forced to rely more on fleshing out a story than just introducing the concept. There's far more talking about doing something than actual action, and some "necessary" awkward introductions among the heroes take up way too many panels. Hit-and-Miss.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]