Moose Mason
Encyclopedia
Moose Mason is a fictional character
in the Archie Comics
universe. He attends Riverdale High School where he is typically depicted as the best athlete but the poorest student. His difficulties with school were later attributed to dyslexia
. Mason is a Russian-American.
, baseball
, football, ice hockey
, and various other sports, though he seems to have a preference for football. Moose was originally created to serve as the personification and stereotype
of the Jock
—all brawn and no brains. In the Spanish
version of the comic, Moose is called "Gorilón" (lit. Big Gorilla). In at least one story in the 50s, Moose gives his real name as "Merton Matowski."
His various tendencies may be inherited from one of his first ancestors to immigrate to the United States. In one story, a Russian
by the name of "Lazslo Kharandashikov" befriended Archie Andrews
's Scottish
ancestor "Andy Andrews" when they met on the same ship immigrating to the U.S. Laslo protected Andy from another man who wanted to beat Andy up, and Andy returned the favor by finding Laslo's immigration money for him after Laslo nearly lost it. Laslo's difficulty in speaking English led him to give his name as "Mason" to the immigration officials who let him into the country.
In some stories one of the gang, usually Archie, asks for Moose's help with a problem that can only be solved by means of the big guy's strength or intimidating presence. In a story titled "Guardian Devil," Archie and Betty meet a runaway child whose hospitalized mother left the boy in her brother's care, but the brother locked the kid in his room and had wild parties in the house—until Archie brought Moose over to straighten things out; after briefly manhandling the brother, the intimidating Moose sent the partygoers running with a simple "Scat!" In another story, Archie had tracked down two thugs who robbed the Chok'lit Shoppe, using a description given by Jughead
, whom the cops had found in the store and initially accused. The thugs had just started beating Archie when Moose showed up; he picked the thugs up effortlessly and took them to the police station.
While Moose is easily angered and will threaten to hurt those who upset him, he is very kind, loyal, and compassionate. He is always willing to help somebody in need, and he constantly protects his friends from bullies (often without using punches). He also cares for the well being of animals and small children. In one story, two young child
ren vandalized a classroom in Riverdale High School and Moose took the blame for them.
, his steady girlfriend, and has time and again flattened anybody (Reggie Mantle
is his most frequent victim) who seeks her affection. This possessiveness is at times taken to extremes. He's wary of any male even speaking to her, and has at times assaulted even his best friends, inflicting injuries that should, by all rights, be life-altering. There are times when Midge cannot stand Moose's jealousy and ends up scolding him, but every time he just wants to give Midge some space, she decides that she prefers the old Moose.
He has threatened Archie before for various things, but since he knows that Archie is not anywhere near interested in Midge as a girlfriend
, this allows Moose to be more tolerant of Archie. At one time, a computer matched Archie and Midge, to Moose's fury, but Archie and Midge both stated that they weren't interested in each other, except as friends, which allowed Moose to cool off. At one point, Archie outright asks permission to date Midge, and Moose declined the request, but it showed, that at least Archie has the courtesy to ask him, whereas Reggie will stoop to dating her on the sly-which often results in Moose pounding up Reggie-as a running gag
.
Archie was once able to use Moose's devotion and genuine concern for Midge to help him defeat a gang of robbers who were stealing office electronics from the school. The robbers managed to bind and gag Archie and Jughead and appeared to be getting away, until Archie spotted Moose playing handball on the school grounds through a window. Archie managed to slip a note out the window to Moose saying Midge was the one being held. An angry Moose quickly subdued the gang and freed Archie and Jughead. Rather than being angry over the deception, Moose showed relief that Midge was not in any danger and joked that stopping the crooks was more exciting than playing handball was.
Moose has a mean streak in many comics, and spends a lot of time hiding behind park benches inhabited by his girlfriend, Midge. He does this so that whenever somebody comes along to talk to her, he can jump out and beat him up. Often, these are false alarms; someone just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In Archie comics as late as the 1970s, Moose sported a flattop
haircut. Also, in earlier days, whenever Moose talked he would start off with a "D-uh", decades before it became a synonym for something so obvious that everyone should know it. When Moose says it, he is not being sarcastic. He seems to have tried both a modified moptop and a modified flattop in recent years.
, which made it harder for him to understand what his teachers, such as Miss Grundy
, were writing on the chalkboard
. However, Moose's friends never want to see him fail and are always willing to help him study. Moose has done better at school when he needs to, and is able to understand complex subjects like algebra
if people explain them to him enough—something which nearly drove Reggie Mantle
crazy when he acted as Moose's math tutor
.
A theme used in many stories is based on the Riverdale High rules that failing students are not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities. At such times, Moose has to pass a makeup test, and proves to have difficulty studying. Coach Kleats and Moose's teammates depend on Moose to help them win most of their games. Moose can always depend on a friend to tutor him, and he almost always passes the test makeup test. However, sometimes their efforts backfire, and they do not win the game even if he did pass.
In today's Archie world, Moose isn't as dumb as he appears. He was offered a full football scholarship to a University. When he found out that they wanted to place him into "joke classes" so he would get good grades, he turned down the offer. When asked about it, he replied "I may be dumb, but there's no reason for me to stay dumb." He also briefly dropped out of high school, but returned upon realizing he would need a college education to get the jobs he would like to try.
Despite his limited intelligence, Moose has a deeply sensitive side, which many people do not see. Dilton Doily appears to be moose's best friend. The first person he opens up to is Dilton Doiley
. Moose has a deep admiration of Dilton because of his intelligence; Moose calls him his "little buddy" and will go to any length to help the diminutive genius
. When Moose feels discouraged by other people's opinions of him, Dilton is the first to stick up for him. In one story, walking through the snow, the two discuss Moose's thoughts and feelings. At this point, Dilton finds that despite what people think of him, Moose has a poetic and philosophical view of certain things.
of the Simpsons
, along with Archie, Reggie and Jughead, where they drive up to the Simpsons' house and dump Homer
unceremoniously onto the front lawn. Moose then warns Homer to "Stay outta Riverdale!" Later, Homer, while reading an Archie comic, calls them all "stuck-up Riverdale punks."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
universe. He attends Riverdale High School where he is typically depicted as the best athlete but the poorest student. His difficulties with school were later attributed to dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. Mason is a Russian-American.
Character's background
Moose is blessed with such great strength -- in one sequence, he slides under a car and, from his prone position, lifts it off the ground -- that people often have high expectations of him when it comes to sports. He has helped Riverdale High School win many matches in basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, football, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, and various other sports, though he seems to have a preference for football. Moose was originally created to serve as the personification and stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of the Jock
Jock (subculture)
The term jock, when used primarily in the United States, refers to the classic stereotype of a male athlete. It is generally a negative stereotype, and is attributed mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct youth subculture. In sociology, the jock is thought to...
—all brawn and no brains. In the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
version of the comic, Moose is called "Gorilón" (lit. Big Gorilla). In at least one story in the 50s, Moose gives his real name as "Merton Matowski."
His various tendencies may be inherited from one of his first ancestors to immigrate to the United States. In one story, a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
by the name of "Lazslo Kharandashikov" befriended Archie Andrews
Archie Andrews (comics)
Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...
's Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
ancestor "Andy Andrews" when they met on the same ship immigrating to the U.S. Laslo protected Andy from another man who wanted to beat Andy up, and Andy returned the favor by finding Laslo's immigration money for him after Laslo nearly lost it. Laslo's difficulty in speaking English led him to give his name as "Mason" to the immigration officials who let him into the country.
In some stories one of the gang, usually Archie, asks for Moose's help with a problem that can only be solved by means of the big guy's strength or intimidating presence. In a story titled "Guardian Devil," Archie and Betty meet a runaway child whose hospitalized mother left the boy in her brother's care, but the brother locked the kid in his room and had wild parties in the house—until Archie brought Moose over to straighten things out; after briefly manhandling the brother, the intimidating Moose sent the partygoers running with a simple "Scat!" In another story, Archie had tracked down two thugs who robbed the Chok'lit Shoppe, using a description given by Jughead
Jughead Jones
Jughead Jones is a fictional character in Archie Comics who first appeared in the comic in December 1941. He is the son of Forsythe II; although in one of the early Archie newspaper comic strips, he himself is identified as Forsythe Van Jones II...
, whom the cops had found in the store and initially accused. The thugs had just started beating Archie when Moose showed up; he picked the thugs up effortlessly and took them to the police station.
While Moose is easily angered and will threaten to hurt those who upset him, he is very kind, loyal, and compassionate. He is always willing to help somebody in need, and he constantly protects his friends from bullies (often without using punches). He also cares for the well being of animals and small children. In one story, two young child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren vandalized a classroom in Riverdale High School and Moose took the blame for them.
Relationships
Moose is extremely possessive of Midge KlumpMidge Klump
Midge Klump is a fictional character appearing Archie Comics.-History:The character of Midge was designed by Dan DeCarlo and bears an uncanny resemblance to pin-ups he did for men's magazines just before he started working for Archie Comics. She was originally created simply to serve as Moose's...
, his steady girlfriend, and has time and again flattened anybody (Reggie Mantle
Reggie Mantle
Reggie Mantle is a fictional character in the Archie Comics book. His full name is given as Reginald Mantle, but he is usually called by his nickname Reggie, and sometimes refers to himself as "Mantle, The Magnificent." The character was introduced in 1942...
is his most frequent victim) who seeks her affection. This possessiveness is at times taken to extremes. He's wary of any male even speaking to her, and has at times assaulted even his best friends, inflicting injuries that should, by all rights, be life-altering. There are times when Midge cannot stand Moose's jealousy and ends up scolding him, but every time he just wants to give Midge some space, she decides that she prefers the old Moose.
He has threatened Archie before for various things, but since he knows that Archie is not anywhere near interested in Midge as a girlfriend
Girlfriend
Girlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-romantic friend that is closer than other friends....
, this allows Moose to be more tolerant of Archie. At one time, a computer matched Archie and Midge, to Moose's fury, but Archie and Midge both stated that they weren't interested in each other, except as friends, which allowed Moose to cool off. At one point, Archie outright asks permission to date Midge, and Moose declined the request, but it showed, that at least Archie has the courtesy to ask him, whereas Reggie will stoop to dating her on the sly-which often results in Moose pounding up Reggie-as a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
.
Archie was once able to use Moose's devotion and genuine concern for Midge to help him defeat a gang of robbers who were stealing office electronics from the school. The robbers managed to bind and gag Archie and Jughead and appeared to be getting away, until Archie spotted Moose playing handball on the school grounds through a window. Archie managed to slip a note out the window to Moose saying Midge was the one being held. An angry Moose quickly subdued the gang and freed Archie and Jughead. Rather than being angry over the deception, Moose showed relief that Midge was not in any danger and joked that stopping the crooks was more exciting than playing handball was.
Moose has a mean streak in many comics, and spends a lot of time hiding behind park benches inhabited by his girlfriend, Midge. He does this so that whenever somebody comes along to talk to her, he can jump out and beat him up. Often, these are false alarms; someone just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In Archie comics as late as the 1970s, Moose sported a flattop
Flattop
A flattop is a type of very short hairstyle similar to the crew cut, with the exception that the hair on the top of the head is deliberately styled to stand up and is cut to be flat, resulting in a haircut that is square in shape...
haircut. Also, in earlier days, whenever Moose talked he would start off with a "D-uh", decades before it became a synonym for something so obvious that everyone should know it. When Moose says it, he is not being sarcastic. He seems to have tried both a modified moptop and a modified flattop in recent years.
Intelligence
He it is often said that he consistently scores straight F's (which, at one point, he thought meant Fantastic). Moose's learning difficulties were later revealed to be dyslexiaDyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, which made it harder for him to understand what his teachers, such as Miss Grundy
Miss Grundy
Geraldine Grundy is a fictional character of the Archie Comics series.-Fictional history and character:In the comics, she is the homeroom teacher at Riverdale High School, occasionally teaching English and Math, as well. In Jackpot Comics #4, she is referred to as "Mrs. Grundy, the principal",...
, were writing on the chalkboard
Chalkboard
A chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone...
. However, Moose's friends never want to see him fail and are always willing to help him study. Moose has done better at school when he needs to, and is able to understand complex subjects like algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
if people explain them to him enough—something which nearly drove Reggie Mantle
Reggie Mantle
Reggie Mantle is a fictional character in the Archie Comics book. His full name is given as Reginald Mantle, but he is usually called by his nickname Reggie, and sometimes refers to himself as "Mantle, The Magnificent." The character was introduced in 1942...
crazy when he acted as Moose's math tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
.
A theme used in many stories is based on the Riverdale High rules that failing students are not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities. At such times, Moose has to pass a makeup test, and proves to have difficulty studying. Coach Kleats and Moose's teammates depend on Moose to help them win most of their games. Moose can always depend on a friend to tutor him, and he almost always passes the test makeup test. However, sometimes their efforts backfire, and they do not win the game even if he did pass.
In today's Archie world, Moose isn't as dumb as he appears. He was offered a full football scholarship to a University. When he found out that they wanted to place him into "joke classes" so he would get good grades, he turned down the offer. When asked about it, he replied "I may be dumb, but there's no reason for me to stay dumb." He also briefly dropped out of high school, but returned upon realizing he would need a college education to get the jobs he would like to try.
Despite his limited intelligence, Moose has a deeply sensitive side, which many people do not see. Dilton Doily appears to be moose's best friend. The first person he opens up to is Dilton Doiley
Dilton Doiley
Dilton Doiley is a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe. He is the smartest teenager in Riverdale High School.-History:Characters resembling Dilton appeared quite early in Archie stories—one can be seen, unnamed, in Archie Comics #1...
. Moose has a deep admiration of Dilton because of his intelligence; Moose calls him his "little buddy" and will go to any length to help the diminutive genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
. When Moose feels discouraged by other people's opinions of him, Dilton is the first to stick up for him. In one story, walking through the snow, the two discuss Moose's thoughts and feelings. At this point, Dilton finds that despite what people think of him, Moose has a poetic and philosophical view of certain things.
Cameos
Moose has appeared briefly in one episodeSideshow Bob Roberts
"Sideshow Bob Roberts" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons sixth season, and it originally aired on October 9, 1994. Kelsey Grammer returns as villain Sideshow Bob, who, in this episode, wins the Springfield mayoral election through electoral fraud. The episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh...
of the Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, along with Archie, Reggie and Jughead, where they drive up to the Simpsons' house and dump Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
unceremoniously onto the front lawn. Moose then warns Homer to "Stay outta Riverdale!" Later, Homer, while reading an Archie comic, calls them all "stuck-up Riverdale punks."