The Face

The Face
250x450px The Face, as he appears in Project Superpowers
Publication information
Publisher	Columbia Comics
First appearance	Big Shot Comics #1 (May 1940)
Created by	Mart Bailey
In-story information
Alter ego	Tony Trent
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth
Abilities	Originally, none; currently, causes terrifying hallucinations via his mask

The Face is a fictional character, a comic book superhero that appeared in 1940s comics during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was created by artist Mart Bailey and an unknown writer.

Publication history

The Face first appeared in the Columbia Comics omnibus title Big Shot Comics #1 (May 1940) and continued until issue #62 (January 1946). From issue #63 the feature continued as "Tony Trent" until Big Shot #104, the final issue of the series. Apart from appearing in Big Shot, The Face also had two issues of his own title (1941-1942), as well as two as Tony Trent (1948).

In the 1980s, new stories were published by Ron Frantz' Ace Comics. Three issues of What is... The Face? were published.

Passing into the public domain^{[citation needed]}, The Face was revived for the 2008 limited series Project Superpowers, published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Fictional biography

The Face is radio announcer Tony Trent, who decides to fight crime after having witnessed a murder committed by gangsters disguised as cops. Having no innate superpowers, he instead uses a frightful mask to scare criminals, not unlike Batman. With issue #63, he no longer wears the mask and fights crime as himself.

Project Superpowers

At some point after World War II, The Fighting Yank persuades Trent to don his mask just one more time, immediately after which the Yank traps him in the mystical Urn of Pandora, as part of a misguided quest to end all evil on Earth. Decades later, the Urn is broken and all the prisoners are freed, although some of them are now changed; Mr. Face discovers that anyone who looks at his masked face now experiences hallucinations of whatever they fear most.