Review -- UNMASKED

Unmasked
Art by John Broglia
Written by Michael Sarrao
Indie

There are tons of superhero comics. Why?
Hey deep down that is what most think of first when thinking about comic books, at least in North America. It is characters such as Batman and Superman that really captured imaginations decades ago, followed by the Marvel Universe many years later.
Over the years you would think most hero ideas would have been exhausted, yet there are still those who can put an interesting spin on the realm of superheroes.
That of course brings us to Unmasked, created by writer Michael Sarrao.
With Unmasked Sarrao has a world where superheroes disappeared for a time, and are reemerging. However, the new generation of 'hero' has a more self-centered view of what they do as heroes. They see violence as a way to create the world they want, more than protecting the world as it is.
OK! the idea of power hungry heroes is not totally unique. The Watchmen coming to mind thanks to the outstanding movie, but it is a storyline far less explored than the general 'do-gooder' vision of the hero we get with Superman and Spiderman.
Only two issues into the title, Sarrao has set up some intriguing plot threads which work as big time hooks to read more.
The heroes may not have a break-out superstar character among them, but they work as an ensemble cast with a story more focused on their mind set than their powers, which is a nice change for the genre.
Not surprisingly Spidey and the Watchmen helped Sarrao in terms of inspiring him to look at the superhero genre.
“The initial groundwork for Unmasked really started during the Spiderman movie hype back in 2002,” he said. “When the movie came out and it was a success it made me think about what I could write that would be just as cool and fun. I had picked up the Watchmen graphic novel for the first time ever later that year and read it twice over. The groundwork was laid in my mind for a series where the 20th Century heroes are gone and now a new wave of violent legacies have appeared in the wake of the world wide economic crisis. Rookie reporter Paige Cruise has taken it upon herself to uncover the whereabouts of the 20th Century heroes and unmask the New Age heroes.”
Sarrao is also keeping the secret identities of the heroes’ secret as a way to build suspense in the story, which is a nice storytelling tool.
“The approach I want to take with Unmasked is that we don’t know who these superheroes are. They can be anyone,” he said. “This is a huge departure from the common superhero mythos as we know who Superman, Batman and Spiderman are. I want to amplify the mystery making their "unmasking" that much more shocking.”
The reporter Cruise is actually a more integral part of the story than the heroes in many ways. Having a now super powered character playing a major role is also not something generally scene in the genre, giving another element of freshness to Unmasked. Sarrao said he saw having that context to the story as important.
“I had always liked the combination of Mulder and Scully from the X-Files and I wanted that same kind of chemistry from Paige and Scott our main characters,” he said. “I eventually threw the 'reformed' super villain Eric Ziest in there to serve as comedic fun and as a bizarre mentor.
“The superheroes developed from the classic archetypes of Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman etc., but with some more realistic costume designs. For example, characters from the 1940s have a very World War II military look to them instead of the undies over the tights.”
Interestingly Unmasked was initially envisioned as a movie, with the story initially developed as a script, but becoming a comic in order to potentially attract movie interest.
“I had been writing notes for Unmasked since 2002. It wasn’t until 2004 where I had decided to write a full length movie script for the series,” said Sarrao. “I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Film from Brooklyn College and I had always wanted to see this story on the big or small screen. I coordinate events at Brooklyn College and I met a fellow alum, Vinnie Favale, a VP of CBS Late Night Television. He advised me to take the screenplays and convert them to comics as graphic novels were starting to gain momentum in Hollywood. After he told me that I was on my way to adapting the scripts and searching for an artist.”
As a writer Sarrao said Unmasked was relatively easy to put into words because the characters became very defined in his mind rather quickly.
“If you know your characters well they start writing themselves,” he said. “Once a writer is in that inspired mode, nothing can stop him/her. I wrote that initial script in two-weeks. When I converted Unmasked from feature length script to comic book form it took a bit longer as the formatting and flow of pages were things that I needed to learn. Creating the Unmasked mini comic has been an eye opening and educational experience. I credit John (Broglia), and my letterer Kristyn Ferretti for helping me along the way.”
Artistically, Unmasked is simply excellent. John Broglia has a style that leaves this story, which I basically set in the current era, with a definite classic, near pulp-feel. These are square-jawed 'heroes' that pop off the page.
The colours are amazing too. Broglia uses muted-orange and yellow as backgrounds on several panels to great effect when doing flashback scenes, and in issue two, scenes in a snowstorm are quite dramatic.
Broglia can draw folks.
Sarrao said he ended up teaming with Broglia on the recommendation of a friend.
“Credit goes to Jacki Berger,” said Sarrao. “She was my assistant at Brooklyn College at the time and she knew I was writing screenplays. I had told her what Vinnie Favale had said and she suggested a friend that was an artist. I emailed John the script, he liked it and we were off and running.
“I like his style as it was very reminiscent of the old Batman Animated Series as well as the other series that had followed.”
Broglia said he just wants to tell a story through his art.
“My influences have always been cartoonists that have not only mastered their own artistic style but the art of sequential storytelling as well,” he said. “Will Eisner, Bruce Timm, Michael Avon Oeming, John Romita Jr, and most recently, Darwyn Cooke. Each one is a master in the field of cartooning and comic book art. If I can accomplish just half of what these talented men have, I would consider myself blessed.”
Sarrao said he certainly is satisfied with the finished product.
“We created this mini comic to pitch to publishers,” he said. “I think it looks gorgeous. John’s art combined with Nick Filardi’s colours and Kristyn Ferretti’s letters are fantastic. I’m sending it out to publishers and hoping that someone will give us a shot. We have over 300 fans on Facebook and hope we can spread the word out even more.”
And, there is more Unmasked story to come.
“As these New Age Superheroes start to force their rules upon society, Paige is going to desperately search for the old 20th Century heroes and try to band them together to face their deadly legacies,” said Sarrao.
This is one of those titles that if it was coming from a big name publisher there would be a significant buzz. The story and art are both excellent, and as a result Unmasked deserves a long look. Find it, and enjoy.
For more information check out http://www.facebook.com/l/8fd21;Michaelsarrao.blogspot.com
-- CALVIN DANIELS
-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra