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Nick Philips was born Nikolas Philosophos, son of Greek immigrants. Honest, hard-working folk, they were quite successful in their new country, and ran a small grocery in the Little Greece neighborhood of New York. Nikolas was an adequate student in school, but a gifted scrapper, and it was with some relief that his parents allowed him to join a boxing club for boys, even if it was run by a Roman Catholic. The boy's skills were good enough to get him a partial scholarship to college, where he also was on the wrestling team. But Nikolas knew that his parents wanted him to have a more respectable profession, and he decided to pursue journalism.

Nikolas quickly discovered that his name was a bit of a handicap, and reluctantly changed it to Nick Philips, which fit well on a byline. The young reporter quickly worked his way up to the crime beat, establishing a reputation for fearlessness and honesty. But Nick didn't forget his old neighborhood, and often came to visit his father. (His mother had died shortly after he graduated college.) On one such visit, Nick witnessed a thug harassing the shopkeepers into carrying shoddy merchandise distributed by the Dubny Company. Nick investigated, and discovered that "Dubny" was actually former bootlegger Don Buny. Nick started a series of articles exposing Buny's past and current unethical business practices.

The morning after the first article ran, Nick received a call to come down to his father's store. Someone had smashed every display in the shop, and painted on the wall were the words, "Shut up if you know what's good for you." Nick knew who had done this and why.

"What am I going to do, Pop?" Nick asked. "I can't back down to crooks, but you'll be in danger if I don't. If only I could get enough evidence to put Buny behind bars for good!"

"There was something in your own paper, Nick, just the other day. Remember that story about the masked man who caught those arsonists?"

"Yeah. But how would I get in contact with him? He doesn't exactly advertise in the classifieds, you know."

The elder Philosophos nodded. "Actually, I was thinking maybe you could be the masked man."

"Me?"

"Yes. I think it is time to show you a family heirloom." Mr. Philosophos led the way upstairs to the cramped apartment Nick had grown up in, and removed a small cedar box from a cupboard.

"Long ago," began Mr. Philosophos, "before Athens united Greece, the king of Thessalonika was a cruel tyrant who had anyone who spoke against him killed. One day, a man named Philosophos returned from the fields where he'd been tending his goats with his son to find his wife and infant daughter had been slain. His neighbors told him that the king had been passing by when the little girl had started crying, and the king had taken offense. When Philosophos' wife protested the order to execute her daughter, she too had been condemned to death on the spot. Philosophos was naturally wroth against the king, but knew that saying anything against him would endanger not only himself, but his son.

"Philosophos went to the temple of the gods, and prayed for their aid. To his surprise, Dike, the goddess of Justice, also known as Astraea and Virgo, appeared before him. She told him to don a mask she would give him, and to seek justice. His identity protected by the mask, Philosophos was able to lead a revolt against the cruel king and overthrow him. After a new, better king was enthroned, Philosophos took off the mask and returned to being a goatherd."

"Uhh, nice story, Pop. I notice he has the same name as us." Nick was wondering where this was leading, though he had a strong suspicion already.

"Yes. According to legend, that man was our ancestor. And this," said Mr. Philosophos, opening the box, "is his mask. Try it on."

Later, Nick would wonder how a cloth mask had supposedly survived more than three millenia, but at that moment, he lifted out the white cloth with black markings, and slid it over his head. "Hey, Pop, this thing doesn't have any eyeholes. How am I supposed to--I can see?!" And indeed he could. It was slightly odd, like a black and white movie, but very clear. Even more interestingly, just by willing it, Nick could see *through* objects.

"This...this is amazing! Like something out of Buck Rogers! This could actually work!"

That night, Nick donned the mask, along with a blue trenchcoat and fedora, and set out to prove that Buny was committing actual crimes. He was pleased to find that he could also see clearly in the dark. With his new abilities, the Mask of Justice was able to find the evidence he needed, and Buny was put behind bars. At the trial, Nick used a store mannequin and a gramophone to make it appear he and the Mask of Justice were two separate people, protecting his father.

Since then, Nick has used the Mask of Justice identity whenever he runs across crimes that a mere reporter can't stop.

Nick is a two-fisted journalist, proficient in boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. But he also has uncanny abilities to see in the dark and through objects, only when his eyes are covered. While these abilities apppear to have been triggered by the mask, they are not exclusively tied to it; an ordinary blindfold will do, or even the Mask of Justice putting his own hand over his eyes (though that causes its own problems.) Although he has not discovered it yet, his powers also allow him to see through illusions of various kinds. Nick cannot, however see through plastic. Whether this is because of its molecular structure, or because it's a man-made material that wasn't around in Ancient Greece is unknown. In addition, Nick's other senses become more sensitive at these times; with the drawback that he's vulnerable to having his senses overloaded, a weakness that persists even with his eyes uncovered. He does not know if his powers are magical or otherwise in nature, as he hasn't met anyone who could tell the difference.

By preference, Nick does most of his investigating in civilian ID. After all, it's an investigative reporter's *job* to ask questions. He'll even get into minor scraps on his own. But when he reaches a roadblock, or when innocents might be endangered, Nick dons the garb of the Mask of Justice. As the Mask, he prefers fighting in the dark and using cover to his advantage. He has begun to wish he had some sort of a ranged weapon, but regular firearms are too likely to kill by accident. If a gas gun or other non-lethal option becomes available to him, the Mask of Justice will certainly adopt it.

Nick Philips is a ruggedly handsome man in his mid-twenties, 5'10" and built like a middleweight boxer. He has slightly wavy blond hair and brown eyes. In civilian guise, he wears inexpensive but tasteful suits, with a press pass stuck in his hatband. As the Mask of Justice, he wears a white mask that covers his entire head, with a stylized pair of scales emblazoned in black on the face. There are no eyeholes. To this is added a blue trenchcoat and fedora. (It is likely that the Mask of Justice will switch to a full-blown costume as time goes on.)