Calhoun Burns

CALHOUN BURNS

Real Name: Calhoun Burns

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Adventurer, architect, horse breeder

Group Affiliation: MASK

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Boulder Hill

First Appearance: MASK I #3 (February, 1986)

Powers: Calhoun Burns was a demolition expert and rode Raven, a Corvette that could transform into a seaplane or submarine. His Gulliver mask could enlarge or shrink objects.

History: (MASK I #3) - MASK worked with Duane Kennedy of the P.N.A. (Peaceful Nations Alliance) to counter Contra-World, who sought to undermine world order with their agents of VENOM. VENOM broke Charles Bigglesby, a man convinced he was Guy Fawkes, out of Eltham Asylum, and then broke into Arnheim Explosive Works to steal dynamite, telling Charles they were revolutionaries like him, and eager to help him blow up the UK House of Parliament. MASK was called into investigate, and Scott summoned Calhoun Burns, Gloria Baker, and Dusty Hayes to join him and Bruce Sato on the mission. New Scotland Yard Inspector Carruthers was to guide them on the case, and was initially distrustful of their newfangled methods and technology. MASK easily foiled the bombing, apprehending Charles and some low level VENOM henchmen. Bigglesby told them his new friends in VENOM planned on attacking a number of British landmarks simultaneously, such as the Tower of London. New Scotland Yard responded by removing the British crown jewels from the Tower, and sending out an armed convoy to hide them in a subterranean vault in the countryside. Matt Trakker deduced that the jewels were what VENOM was after the whole time. He was correct, and Miles Mayhem, Sly Rax, Floyd Malloy and Vanessa Warfield ambushed the convoy and stole the jewels. MASK confronted them, and after a clash Matt freed the jewels, which were hanging in a crate from Miles Mayhem's Switchblade copter. Sly Rax tried to recover it with his Piranha sub, but Gloria chased him off in her Shark sub. In the end Carruthers had to admit that MASK had the right stuff.

(MASK I #4) -VENOM kidnapped Duane Kennedy, and the imposter Duane called Scott Trakker reporting that VENOM had stolen a number of valuable paintings from the Louvre. Scott wanted to be at the opening of the P.N.A.'s missile-defense, but the false Duane insisted he and his team go to France. His Spectrum mask revealed that the paintings hadn't been stolen, VENOM had only installed lighting that made the paintings invisible to the naked eye. While MASK was preoccupied VENOM agents Vanessa Warfield, Floyd Malloy and Sly Rax knocked out the NASA astronauts set to put the final satellite in place for the P.N.A. defense system and replaced it with a VENOM satellite armed with a particle death-ray. Alex and Buddy set a fire in their cell, setting off the MASK computer system, which unlocked the holding cell in case of an emergency, and brought Matt up to spread. When President Regan pushed a computer console to demonstrate the defense-system it activated VENOM's satellite, calling down a death ray that would continue firing until it hit nuclear storehouses in the Midwest. VENOM looted Las Vegas casinos as the city was being evacuated, but MASK responded, capturing them all. Alex Sector hacked into the VENOM satellite, shutting it down, and the imposter Duane Kennedy was arrested by the P.N.A.. Matt was proud of his team, but worried that the delay in implementing the space missile prevention program would lead to continued tensions in the world that could end in nuclear war.

Comments: Created by Kenner.

Calhoun Burns was a character from the MASK toy line and cartoons. This entry covers only his DC appearances.