IDW M.A.S.K. Comic Series To End After 10 Issues

IDW's current M.A.S.K. comic series written by Brandon Easton will end after just 10 issues. The final issue is currently scheduled for release on August 23, 2017 which was confirmed by the writer on Twitter and also in the official description for M.A.S.K. #10:

In the final issue of M.A.S.K., Matt Trakker loses the trust of his friends and teammates causing the group to disband. With mounting threats on the horizon, Mobile Armored Strike Kommand is no longer on the front lines, plunging them all into an uncertain future.

This is not the end for our overtime crusaders as M.A.S.K. will be a part of the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook beginning later this month and the new First Strike crossover event from IDW starting August 9. As for M.A.S.K.'s future as a standalone book, nothing else has been revealed at this point.

In retrospective, IDW's series will become the longest running ongoing M.A.S.K. comic in US history. DC Comics published a 4-issue mini series beginning in 1985 and an ongoing series in 1987 that lasted 9 issues. The new series also won two Glyph Awards recently for Best Character (Matt Trakker) and the Fan Award for Best Work.

Personally, I'm sad that IDW has cancelled the series. I assume it was more of a business decision than anything but as a fan of the franchise, I was hoping the series would last much longer than 10 issues. I'm not going to say it was perfect (definitely was not a fan of how the first story arc ended) but having a modern version of M.A.S.K. in comic shops was exciting and I'm definitely grateful for the entire creative team behind it.

I've seen fans share already on Facebook about their disappointment, even from those who admittedly didn't like the new version. That's the attitude we need to share as a fan community moving forward. Hasbro has taken the first step and now has some feedback on a modern version of the M.A.S.K. franchise. I hope they will use that toward KEEPING the franchise in their future plans and we as a fan community need to continue to show our support for their efforts.

I consider it a privilege to interact with the original creative team of Brandon Easton, Tony Vargas, and Tommy Lee Edwards. I'll be keeping an eye on their future work and won't forget their efforts over the last several months. I know many more people were involved but just wanted to thank this core group for bringing M.A.S.K. back into the modern day. It's something I've been waiting to see for years and while we have yet to see the franchise back in animation or cinema, I can say I appreciate comic books more now than I ever have and this book has alot to do with my perspective.

These next few trips to the comic shop will definitely be bittersweet!