First, it's set almost entirely in the past. The story follows Miss Masque's adventures in the late '40s and early '50s. Specifically, it revolves around the one case she was never able to solve. That leads into the other differentiating aspect- it's a very personal story with personal stakes. It doesn't engage the ongoing metaplot of the Project Superpowers. That perhaps makes this the best place for readers new to the PSP setting to jump into the action.
Carlos Paul, the artist for Chapter One, returns for this story, and I must say there's a marked improvement. Not that he was bad before, but there's a good deal more consistency in the art. This is possibly due to the smaller scale of the story; Paul doesn't have to worry about large battle scales and can focus on the details.
The main attraction, though, is the star, Miss Masque. This is a very character driven piece, and Phil Hester and Alex Ross deftly showcase the strengths of her character. As a character who is both (initially) non-powered and female, the story showcases the condescension she's often subjected to by her peers and how she overcomes it.
Masquerade is a story that combines emotion and action in healthy amounts, making this a fine offering from Dynamite Entertainment.
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