Cliff Dagger - Demolitions Expert

Cliff Dagger fills one of the essential slots in an 80's cartoon evil organization: the Dumb Guy.

The dumb guy's role is to screw up at important times to make sure the bad guys don't win for good. Cliff Dagger was an expert at it.

For Cliff Dagger I used a Heroclix Hired Henchman and added his Torch mask with green stuff. I tried to make the mask look accurate, but I'll admit he kind of looks like a rabbit.

A dumb rabbit.

-c

Vanessa Warfield - Espionage and Intelligence Agent

Vanessa Warfield was kind of like the Baroness, Scarlett, and Lady Jaye all rolled into one. She filled a lot of the same rolls they did as the intelligence and infiltration expert for V.E.N.O.M. And she was rockin' some serious 80's hair.

Vanessa was a pretty cool character, and she was probably the only capable person on the V.E.N.O.M. team. Plus, she had what was in my opinion *the* best vehicle in the whole M.A.S.K. line: the Manta. A purple Nissan 300ZX that turns into a plane? So cool.

For Vanessa, I used the Heroclix Kryptonian Infiltrator (seems appropriate) and adjusted the hair a little with green stuff to look more like the figure. Then, I added her Whip mask with green stuff.

-c

Sly Rax - Weapons Expert

Sure, I already did Sly, but now he has his Stiletto mask.

Woohoo!

-c

Bruno Sheppard - Kidnapping and Extortion Expert

Looking through the back story on some of the V.E.N.O.M. agents reminded me how different they were from Cobra. Sure Cobra was a terrorist organization, but I don't think they had anyone whose specialty was kidnapping.

It was more of a hobby.

In the cartoon, Bruno Sheppard looked kind of cool, but his action figure was FUGLY. Good thing he had a mask to cover his horrible face.

So, for Bruno, anything was an improvement. I started with the Heroclix Ares and added his Magna-Beam mask with green stuff.

I originally had him all painted and finished before I decided to do a version with the mask, so I did my best to match the paint between the two. From now on, when I do M.A.S.K. minis, I'll do both masked and unmasked at the same time.

-c

Miles Mayhem - V.E.N.O.M. Leader

What a difference a week makes. At the beginning of the week, I said I wouldn't be making masked versions of the M.A.S.K. characters, and now here I am with Miles with and without his Viper mask.

Whenever artists do mash-ups of 80's cartoon villains, Miles Mayhem is usually not on the list, and I think I know why. In the cartoon, Miles seemed too buffoonish to be a real threat. To me, he came across more like a Hanna Barbara villain. He should be chasing after Penelope Pitstop.

In the comics though, he seemed more intimidating. It's been a while since I read them, but I recall feeling a bit unsettled because of how he was done in the comics. If I read them now, I might have a different opinion.

I had already done Miles without the mask using the Heroclix Intergang Underboss, and had another of the same mini sitting around that I had planned to use for his tan costume. But, instead, I used some green stuff and made Viper.

As a kid (and even now) I wonder if there is a Battlestar Galactica influence on Viper's design. I feel like it has a similar feeling to the Colonial Viper pilot helmets.

Just me?

-c

Sly Rax - V.E.N.O.M. Agent

I'm not really sure what to call Sly Rax (or any of the V.E.N.O.M. members actually.) Unlike teams with specific titles, they mostly seem to be just thugs and goons.

When I think of the M.A.S.K. toys and cartoon though, Sly Rax is usually the first one that comes to mind. He wasn't the leader, but he had a lot of personality. And he talked like Jack Nicholson...because every cartoon had to have a character that talked like Nicholson. (I'm talking about you, Shipwreck.)

I used the John Jameson Heroclix for Sly Rax, mostly because I happened to have one around. I used green stuff to add shades, chains, and boots. I see now that my coloring is a little off. Maybe he just bought some new jeans.

As crazy as it sounds, I hadn't planned to do masked versions of the M.A.S.K.characters...but then realized something: that's a great excuse to buy more miniatures!

So, will I make masked versions? Maybe!

-c