In the early eighties, while David Michelinie and I toiled laboriously on the monthly adventures of Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man, we came up with the idea of publishing our own project, without the constraints of the Comics Code Authority and the heavy-handed editorial policies of the publishing giants.  Independent publishing was in it’s infancy at that time, with only a handful of books ever seeing the light of day. So the odds were against us. It didn’t matter at the time.  We were in love with the medium, as most young creators are when they meet with a modicum of success, as we had with Marvel’s Armored Avenger.

Our concept revolved around the story of Senaca St. Synn, a stage magician who had been disfigured by the Mob, after refusing to knuckle under to their demands. What was born of that botched assassination became the hooded and black garbed creature of the night called—The Sorcerer.  The Sorcerer, using the magics taught to him by his Native American Grandfather, began a trail of vengeance against the mob that was ghastly, even by today’s more accepting standards. (a long time before there was SPAWN, by the way)

Okay…maybe we went a little overboard with the gooey stuff but it sure was a great catharsis for living under the constant scrutiny of the Powers-That-Be.

Unfortunately, the backer of the Sorcerer graphic novel bailed out at the last minute, leaving us with 48 pages of visceral fun that no longer had a home.

The Sorcerer, our first independent brainchild, was still-born.

Years passed and David and I continued working on the mainstay characters that inhabit the Marvel and DC universes.  David’s body of successful projects, such as VENOM, THE BOZZ CHRONICLES, and JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE could fill yet another volume as thick as this book. To this day, some twenty-five years later, Michelinie’s IRON MAN is still considered the definitive version of that character.

I made out okay, as well.  I got involved in a little start-up publishing company that eventually turned the industry on its ear.  As Editor-In-Chief of the Valiant Comics line, I had the opportunity to create a plethora of exciting new characters such as X-O Manowar, NINJAK, H.A.R.D. CORPS and DR. MIRAGE.

But, in spite of the various creations David and I had brought to life (either together of separately) we had never forgotten our first, original collaboration together.

Sure, there was talk about bringing the Sorcerer character back in other incarnations with the mainstream companies. However, for one circumstance or another, that never seemed to materialize.

Time marched on and the comics industry continued to evolve. Towards the end of the last decade, independent publishing reached an all-time high, from small basement operations to full-fledged superstar collectives such as Image.

Spider-Man, the Crow, Superman, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Matrix and other comic properties were well on their way to becoming part of the American lexicon of identifiable characters, thanks wholly to the motion picture industry’s discovery of the goldmine that was the American comic book.

By the time that the movie industry woke up and discovered comics, David Michelinie, Dick Giordano and I had anticipated that coming development onslaught.  We made the decision to create a company whose characters would easily translate into other mediums, without the normal bends and twists that Hollywood producers would have to go through to make the character plausible to a general audience.

Thus-- Future Comics was born.

David and I had long discussions about reviving the Sorcerer character under the Future banner. Agreeing that the basic concept was still sound, we set about the task of updating the Sorcerer premise to the 21st century.

However, as circumstances would have it, our trademark on the character’s name had lapsed. Someone else was now in possession of it. So—we had a concept without a title. Subsequent names with met with trademark rejections. (So--why should things be any easier than they were the first time around?)

That’s when the golden mask, that would become the character’s namesake, came into play.

David and I conceived a new origin for the character’s astounding abilities—manifested in an ancient mask of unspeakable power and malevolence. And, as it sometimes occurs in the process of creating, the other missing pieces of the character seemed to fall magically into place.  By the time we had finished with the revamp of the SORCERER, his new name had become a no-brainer.

Seneca St. Synn had now become—DEATHMASK.

The rough drawings on this page are from the initial redesign project that David and I began once we decided to revive the Sorcerer character.

This drawing was an attempt to make Deathmask look something like a stage magician.  Ultimately—it was way too silly.

I got some reference on western dusters (since the character’s adventures and legacy was tied to the Southwest) and tried a few drawings with him wearing them.

This design was more of a tribute to the original Sorcerer costume.  But I thought it was much to “super-hero”looking.

This was the beginning of the final design.  Although I hadn’t quite perfected the mask, the laced leather costume began to come into focus with this illo.