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'''The Green Mask''' is the name of two [[fictional]] [[comic book]] [[superhero]]es, both published by [[Fox Feature Syndicate]]. Both are in the [[public domain]] with some of the original stories having been reprinted by [[AC Comics]].
 
== Michael Shelby ==
{{Infobox comics character<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| character_name = The Green Mask
| image = [[Image:GreenMask1.jpg|150px]]
| caption = The first Green Mask
| publisher = [[Fox Feature Syndicate]]
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| supports = <!-- optional -->
| aliases = <!-- optional -->
| powers = SuperSuperhuman strength,<br>Flight<br>Use flight.of gun
}}
 
The first Green Mask debuted in Fox's ''[[Mystery Men Comics]]'' #1 (August 1939).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020 |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/grnmask1.htm |title=The Green Mask (1939)}}</ref> The writer was not credited (although it may have been [[Will Eisner]]); the artwork was provided by Walter Frehm. This Green Mask's final appearance was in ''Mystery Men Comics'' #31 (February 1942).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/174 |access-date=8 April 2020 |page=174}}</ref>
 
Originally, the Green Mask really wasis a mystery man,; the secret identity of this "modern [[Robin Hood]]" is kept that from the readers for many of his earlierearliest appearances and known only to reporter '''"News" Doakes''' (later '''"News" Blake'''), who wasis the only one who couldcan contact the [[Pulp magazine|pulp]]-style costumed [[vigilante]] when needed.
 
EventuallyWith though,the start of the solo ''Green Mask'' title in Summer 1940, the character was retooled. The hero is revealed to be '''Michael Shelby''' (or Selby, in some early stories), a wealthy [[private detective|private investigator]] and son of a crusading [[United States Senate|senator]]Senator murdered by white-hooded [[gangster|gangsters]] known as the '''Grim Circle'''.<ref name=Mougin>{{cite book |last1=Mougin |first1=Lou |title=Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476638607|pages=38–41}}</ref> He wasis transformed into a super-powered "Miracle Man" ([[Miracleman|no relation]]) after being exposed to an experimental "vita-ray" machine created by family friend '''Professor Lascomb'''.<ref>{{cite book In|last1=Mitchell ''Green|first1=Kurt Mask''|last2=Thomas #1|first2=Roy (1940),|title=American heComic wasBook joinedChronicles: by a young [[orphan]] named '''Don''' who, after surviving an explosion meant for the Green Mask, was taken in by the hero and became his non1940-powered,1944 [[boomarang]]-throwing|date=2019 [[Sidekick|sidekick]],publisher=TwoMorrows '''DominoPublishing the|isbn=978-1605490892 Miracle Boy''', and wore a costume almost identical to his own. Eventually, Shelby left behind his [[Playboy (lifestyle)|playboy]]page=31}}</ref> lifestyle when he met girlfriend '''Olivia Tracy''' on a case in ''Green Mask'' #6 (1941).
 
In ''Green Mask'' #1 (1940), he's joined by a young orphan named Don who, after surviving an explosion meant for the Green Mask, is taken in by the hero and becomes his non-powered, boomerang-throwing sidekick, Domino the Miracle Boy, wearing a costume almost identical to his own.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=86}}</ref> Eventually, Shelby leaves behind his playboy lifestyle when he meets girlfriend Olivia Tracy on a case in ''Green Mask'' #6 (1941).
In [[Project Superpowers]], Domino made an appearance in the second series as part of a team of former sidekicks known as the '''Inheritors'''. The Green Mask did not appear.▼
 
According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "The Green Mask fights [[Yellow Peril]] Tong lords, hooded master criminals, counterfeiters, crime syndicates, mummies, and hunchbacked mad scientists".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=118}}</ref>
=== Powers and abilities ===▼
 
▲In ''[[Project Superpowers]]'', Domino mademakes an appearance in the second series as part of a team of former sidekicks known as the '''Inheritors'''. The Green Mask diddoes not appear.
 
▲=== Powers and abilities ===
Originally, the first Green Mask had no superpowers. Despite this, the first issue of his series [[retconned]] his origin so that he became the Green Mask after gaining a number of superpowers after being exposed to vita-rays, including superhuman strength and the ability to fly. He would occasionally display other powers like invulnerability, usually as required by the plot. In addition to super powers, the Green Mask carried a gun (usually a [[revolver]] or an [[semi-automatic firearm|automatic]], although he briefly used a "paralyzer pistol" he had confiscated from a [[mad scientist]]) for those times when being super was just not enough.
 
== Johnny Green ==
{{Infobox comics character<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| character_name = The Green Mask
| image = [[Image:GreenMask17.jpg|150px]]
| caption = The second Green Mask, in his final appearance
| publisher = [[Fox Feature Syndicate]]
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| supports = <!-- optional -->
| aliases = <!-- optional -->
| powers = TransformsAbility to transform into a superhuman adult when angry.
}}
 
Fox Feature re-introduced the Green Mask moniker in issue #10 of ''The Green Mask'' (August 1944); the artist and writer were uncredited.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020 |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/grnmask2.htm |title=The Green Mask (1944)}}</ref> In this version, the Green Mask is secretly '''Johnny Green'''. He is the son of a previous Green Mask, named '''Walter Green'''.<ref name=Mougin/>
 
Johnny is a meek bespectacled teenager often taunted as a "sissy boy" by his high school peers who transforms into an adult "Avenger of Wrong" whenever he becomes angry and cries out at any display of injustice ("''Eee-ow!''"), changing back once he has finished beating up the bad guys, grows tired and yawns (making him a sort of cross between [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] and the [[Hulk (comics)|Hulk]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=236}}</ref> While some stories hadhave him aware of his alter-ego, others indicatedindicate that he either didndoesn't retain the memory of anything he did while transformed or perceivedperceives them as only a dream.
 
The motherless Johnny lives in a rented room above the exclusive '''Miramar Club''' while his father is off serving in the army in Europe,; survivinghe survives on his father's savings and the kindness of the club's owner, '''Punchy'''. He has a dog named '''Curly''' and a much more out-goingoutgoing and courageous girlfriend named '''Suzie''' who is's unaware of his dual identity but, is a big fan of the Green Mask, even dressing up as him once.
 
The second Green Mask's final appearance was in ''The Green Mask'' #17 (October–November 1946).
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== References ==
<references/>
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/grnmask1.htm The Green Mask #1 at Don Markstein's Toonopedia]▼
 
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/grnmask2.htm The Green Mask #2 at Don Markstein's Toonopedia]
==External links==
* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/grenmask.htm The Green Mask #1 at International Hero]
▲* [http://www.toonopediainternationalhero.comco.uk/g/grnmask1grenmask.htm ''The Green Mask'' #1 at Don Markstein'sInternational ToonopediaHero]
* {{comicbookdb|issue|147219|Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Prelude}}
 
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[[Category:Golden Age superheroes]]
[[Category:Fox Feature Syndicate titles]]
[[Category:1939 comiccomics debuts]]
[[Category:American comics characters]]
[[Category:Comic strip superheroes]]
[[Category:Superhero comic strips]]
[[Category:Public domain comics]]
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