This week continues the misadventures of Tony Hollywood in The Masked Macher #2. After a very funny and entertaining debut, David Goodman and Alex Andres continue to deliver on what is shaping up to be a great mini-series.
The first issue introduced the setting in the golden age of Hollywood and Tony’s supporting characters through the narration of Benny the bear. The first issue ended on the surprise reveal that the story was being relayed to us by a bear (during what seems to be a therapy session) set after the events of the main story. From the first issue, I expected the main narrative of this mini-series to center on Tony building up his career as the Masked Macher alongside his motley crew. What is so great about this series is that – like the first issue – Goodman subverts our expectations with a cliffhanger that promises that wherever we thought this series was leading us, we were wrong.
That’s not to say that the tone of the book has changed. It’s still a charmingly hilarious-at-times read. We are given some insight into Benny the bear’s backstory and why he’s performing at Mickey’s wrestling arena. And we learn from his “therapy session” that he will come to care deeply for Tony, despite Tony’s many shortcomings. The identity of Benny’s interviewer still remains a mystery, and this drapes the narrative in uncertainty. Will Tony succeed in boosting his lagging career prospects? Did the crew at Mickey’s arena experience some tragedy that Benny is now being interviewed about? It is this sense of potential tragedy along with the book’s cliffhanger that moves the story more into the noir genre.
Mickey, the curmudgeon of a wrestling manager and owner of the arena, had been shown in the previous issue to wield some unknown level of influence over corporate Hollywood. And in this issue, her character and the death of her husband are placed as the central puzzle of the series. Mickey’s ultimate motivations may contradict Tony’s goal of bringing a wider audience to the wrestling arena. I can’t wait to see how this plot unfolds. Goodman has woven a tight, comical story with memorable characters wrapped in a compelling puzzle that I must wait a month to unravel further.
Andres’ art is once again top-notch. Who can resist a bear in a trench coat and dapper hat? The fact that he can draw a realistic-looking bear conveying genuine human emotion is laudable. I do wish the backgrounds could have more detail, but, after two issues, I can see the aesthetic Andres is going for here. His panel choices make the story easy to follow, even sometimes going with a page of only horizontal panels in order to provide the best angles to convey the action.
Gonzalo Duarte’s colors allow Andres’ pencils to really pop. I appreciated his choice to tone down the colors of the other reporters in Happy Happenstein’s newsroom so that Happy stood out for the reader in a wide horizontal panel.
Dark Horse is publishing a really wonderful series that has begun to straddle multiple genres. I hope there are further plans for this world beyond this mini-series. Add The Masked Macher to your pull list; you won’t be disappointed.
Creative Team: David A. Goodman (writer), Alex Andres (artist), Gonzalo Duarte (colors), Mauro Mantella (letters)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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