Goodbye, Peter Mayhew

Another sad day for Star Wars fans across the world as news breaks about the death of actor, Peter Mayhew. Peter, of course, was the man who brought Chewbacca to life. His mannerisms, movements and genstrues all an identical part of the character, but also a glimpse into the man himself.

As Chewbacca, many of us learned just what a true friend was. Loyalty. Honor. Compassion. Strength. Bravery. Chewie had all of these traits. He was the kind of guy you wanted watching your back, and if he was your friend, he did just that.

Many children giggled with glee at the opportunity to dress up as the character in 1978 when Ben Cooper released the Chewbacca costume and mask set. For that moment in time, we not only could act like Chewie, but look like him too. To this day, many fans continue to cosplay as the character, not because it's fun to dress up, which it is, but because Chewie expresses the kind of person they want to be. I can't help but feel like all those characteristics I listed above weren't just a character, but also Peter Mayhew.

Peter was beloved by fans, and always took the time to share in their joy through numerous convention appearances and autograph signings. He made it a point to meet fans, and not just shuffle them along through a queue. Even when the likes of Luke, Han and Leia were nowhere to be found in the convention scene, you could always count on Peter to be there.

Though we as fans started out loving Chewbacca as a character, over the decades since the first film we've been privileged enough to also get to know the man behind the mask. Be it through watching interviews, reading stories, or for those of us lucky enough, to meet him in person.

Peter Mayhew will be deeply missed. Not only by fans, but those who worked so closely with him for all these years. It will be odd to go to any kind of Star Wars convention and not see Peter there. At least he'll be there in spirit.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

M.A.S.K. (DC Comics)

M.A.S.K. (Mini Series)
DC Comics
1985 - 1986

M.A.S.K. was one of the biggest successes for Kenner post their Star Wars franchise years. The toys combined intriguing characters with multi-function vehicles and playsets which provided hours of entertainment for kids. It didn't hurt that the line was backed by a highly popular animated series which lasted for two seasons and encompassed seventy-five episodes.

As was quickly becoming the norm for the era, toy developers were looking for marketing campaigns which allowed them to grab kids attention. Though animation was a great tool for commercials, stringent laws limited the amount of seconds a commercial could feature "cartoon" footage.

To help get around this, several big name toy companies sought out comic books as an alternative source of marketing. Pretty much every toy line from the 80's had a coinciding book through either Marvel, DC or Star Comics.

M.A.S.K. actually began its history in comic pages via three mini comics which were included in the actual packages of the toys. However, in 1985, DC Comics developed a mini series of four issues for comic book racks which ran until early 1986.

M.A.S.K.
DC Comics
1987

The mini series garnered enough popularity that DC Comics launched a monthly series in 1987.

Unfortunately, popularity dropped quickly by readers and the series was cancelled after just nine issues.

IDW attempted to revitalize M.A.S.K. in comic book for in 2011 where Matt Tracker was depicted as a police officer. However, this series never saw publication. Instead in 2016, a re-introduction / re-re-visioning of the series was produced which ran for ten issues through August 2017.

M.A.S.K. was initially slated to be a part of Hasbro's proposed cinematic universe which was in the works. However, the film got lost in the shuffle of flip flop responses from the studio (Paramount) and folks working on it who would one day say it was happening and then the next day retract and say it's not happening. As of April 2018 it is once again on the green light list. We'll see where it goes from there.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.