Number 1529: “Twisting” Dickens...Green Mask and the boy pickpockets

Not long ago I showed a science fiction story that was inspired by Robinson Crusoe, and here is a superhero/crime-fighter story of the Green Mask and a Fagin-like criminal (Spelled “Fakin” or “Faken” depending on the panel) right out of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. I always say if you’re going to swipe, swipe from the best.

Green Mask was a short-lived superhero (1939 to 1942) from Fox Features. According to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.com, the character was drawn by Walter Frehm (spelled phonetically as “Frame” in the splash panel.) Also according to Toonopedia, Frehm went on to draw Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. His cartooning style on Green Mask was pleasing, but reminiscent of a style of an earlier era. He died in 1995 at age 89.

From Mystery Men Comics #3 (1939):