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11/22/2013

A closer look at what's under those hoods, capes and masks...

If you enjoy hooded antiheroes, you really
need be watching Arrow, CW Network.





As I prepare to write the spin-off series to the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, I've been working on a perplexing character, Detective Inspector Flynn Rhys, CODENAME: DRAGON. Flynn works as a double agent for Scotland Yard. He is the go-to gentleman for covert ops, and the occasional nasty bit of business. These unsavory jobs utilize his skills as an undercover operative, up to and including womanizing (scandalous sexual high jinx), as well as torture and assassination. His work for Her Majesty's government is of such a sensitive nature, he enjoys multiple identities and often wears disguises, or masks. Quite a character I'm working on. Is he a hero, an antihero or villain? I've come to believe, he's all three. 

In between writing contemporary erotic romance novels, I have been studying the intriguing nature of masked men: superheroes, heroes, antiheroes, villains. I suppose, like the Greeks and Romans, we must have our minor gods and mythical archetypes, even if they are only entertainment for our leisure. But there is something else that's been bugging me. Why are these characters so easy to relate to? So archetypal?  Maybe it is because, like these masked creatures, we often have different roles to play in the world––mother, wife, lover, writer––in essence we all wear several masks. A big part of the fascination is also that no one knows the identity of the masked hero/heroine. Perhaps it's easy to believe for a moment, that the masked man or woman might be you...or me...


Personally, I love an uncommon hero who is virtuous, skillful, cunning, as well as a devilish reprobate. Do you have a favorite masked hero, antihero or villain, if so please leave a comment. I will be giving away a copy (ebook or print) readers choice, any book from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series or the Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator series. 

Take for instance, Arrow (photo above). After being stranded on a hostile island, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrows.

Zorro (Spanish for fox) is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega, a California nobleman during the era of Mexican rule. Dashing black-clad masked outlaw who defends the people of the land against tyrannical officials and other villains. He is too cunning (foxlike) for the bumbling authorities to catch, and he delights in publicly humiliating them.






Lone Ranger, is a former Texas Ranger who fights injustice in the old west with his Native American friend, Tonto. This masked hero is an enduring icon of American pop culture.



Batman is the secret identity of Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on criminals, an oath tempered with the greater ideal of justice.  See a pattern here?



And who could forget the upside down Spidey kiss? 


Lots of comic book heroes, and still very few heroines. Except for maybe...


 ...the unmasked, reluctant heroine, Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, and is forced to represent her district in the fight to the death, Hunger Games. 



 Do you have a favorite masked hero, antihero or villain, if so please leave a comment. I will be giving away a copy (ebook or print) of readers choice: any book from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series or the Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator series. 


***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America  addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.

21 comments:

  1. I'm a huge Batman and Zorro fan, and I've spent way too much time debating the essence of Batman as well as what makes me love him. I can honestly say because he's the guy who does the things we only wish we could do and at no time does he ever leave his morals. He sticks to his own personal expectations with such rigidity, even if his actions would be questionable to others. I absolutely lurve him!

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    1. He really is the ultimate total package. I particularly love his darker edge, which makes him uber sexy and a bit more complex

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  2. Zorro, because he could use a sword and could dance also ride...The Green Hornet, because he looked awesome in his suit and coat...The Lone Ranger...he had great physique and could ride also his use of a gun.

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    1. Hi Juanita!

      Love Zorro, especially the sword fights and his Spanish accent. ;)

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  3. I love the show Arrow. :) So exciting and cool...

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    1. Hi May,

      Arrow is currently my new favorite action/revenge hero. Mostly because of the TV show, but also because he is a true antihero.

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  4. I would pick Batman as my favorite. He was always a little bit edgy and rebellious as a superhero.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

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    1. Maureen,

      I'm with you––see my comments above. Batman is right up there at the top of the list of all time great masked heroes.

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  5. I love Arrow. It's one of my favorite shows. I also like Batman and Iron Man.

    yenastone at aol dot com

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  6. Tammy,

    How fun! You and May and I all love Arrow!

    What is great about these masked heroes is that many of them are not superheroes with superpowers. But they are great fighters––and those eyes shaded by hoods or masks...and those husky voices...hot.

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  7. Love that you included Don Juan DeMarco in your tweet (but maybe not here). For me, it's a tie between him (a pure fantasy with the world's best them song) and Zorro (a more or less real-life character), just for balance. Or just because I flike dark, smoldering men...

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    1. I'm thinking about another blog with Don Juan DeMarco, and Westley of Princess Bride...maybe Jack Sparrow...(his smokey eyes substitute for a mask). A gallery of romantic rogues....interesting that two of them are Johnny Depp characters.

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  8. Darn typos! I like dark, smoldering men -- not sure what flike even means!

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    1. I didn't even notice flike...I just read through typos!

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  9. I think you've listed just about all of them !!
    ~Angi

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    1. There are so many intriguing masked, caped, and hooded heroes, and yet, they are the same character! ;)

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  10. My fav villain is Darth Vader - the voice & the breathing sends shivers down my spine. Current fav (anti)hero is Thorin Oakenshield from Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. I really do have a thing for deep voices!

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    1. Darth is a great, iconic villain. And Thorin is certainly moody/dark/brave enough to be an antihero. When you're pushed out of your mountain kingdom by a dragon, who wouldn't be grumpy?

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  11. Zorro

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  12. Congratulations bn100 and Tammy Yenalavitch!
    You are both regular reader/commenters here at Get Lost in a Story and my holiday gift to each of you is your choice of a book from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard or Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator series (e-book or print). I'll be contacting you both soon! Happy Thanksgiving! Jillian

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