Mr. A rules
>>151032672/co/ will not get it
>>151032893why?
I love the old Mr A comics. It's not anything like the shlock of the '60s with big dumb battles and overpowered heroes, it's all about philosophy. Mr A fights petty crime while musing about how granting mercy to a villain does an injustice to the victims of the villain. He shot a pair of kidnappers, and while they're bleeding out they beg him to call an ambulance and accuse him of being evil when he ignores them. It's all interesting philosophy to me, how villains in real life can paint themselves as victims and how good-natured people can indulge evil people out of naivete.
>>151033310The art in that one is so good too. Fuck it; story time.(Mr. A #1, 1973)
>>151033478
>>151032904browse the catalog and you will understand why>>151033478>Mr. A>MRAhmmmmmm
>>151033497
>>151033527>>151033508I think it'd make for better conversation if you just tell me why you think that's the case
>>151033554
>>151033567
>>151033554>I think it'd make for better conversation if you just tell me why you think that's the casebut where would be the fun in that?searching for answers is much more satisfying that having them given on the plate
>>151033583>>151033591Searching wouldn't tell me what you think about anything, which is what I'm asking. Why don't YOU think the people on this board would get it? I can form my own conclusions about that, but I'm not here to talk to myself lol.
>>151033648
>>151033668The last few panels really stuck with me when I first read this. Gorgeous stuff.
>>151033310Too much strawmanning and bland prose for me to enjoy. Less like a philosophical text and more like a Chick tract.>>151033687I like the art, though. Including the lettering.
>>151033874>bland proseI'd agree as far as the issues published in 1973 go, but I'd really encourage you to look at the stories published in zines during the late 60s. Mr. A has a lot more personality in those. Ditko even threw in stuff like some fun references to his Vic Sage, which I assume was how he communicated that Rex Graine (Mr. A) and The Question are the same character.
>>151034047Here's the part of The Question that's being referenced. As an aside, I really think this shows how much Ditko shined in black and white. The Question still looks good, but his line work and shading in Mr. A is just something that I don't think could ever be matched if he drew it with the intention of a colorist going over it.
>>151033874Hmm I love it, but that's good criticism anon.>>151033687Thank you for storytiming. This page >>151033554is my favorite. It's the linchpin that makes Mr A work, the moment where the villains embrace a philosophy that leads to evil. How it's stylized as a stark black/white path that becomes Mr A's calling card. The dialogue all works, the villains aren't over-the-top evil monologueing, their language is all about getting ahead for themselves and how the rich guy must have been ripping people off too so they're reframing their crime as a good deed.
>>151034213Yeah that's why I wouldn't co-sign the "strawmanning" part of what >>151033874 said. The dialogue in the two issues from '73 is very utilitarian and sparse, but it accomplishes the primary goal of getting across who the characters are and why they think the way they do. It tells the story of a guy who knows that he ought to be good while lacking the character and clarity to actually act on that. The picture of him crying about how unfair it is that the world is forcing him to stab this child in the head is honestly all you need to know exactly what that character is, and to make you glad when you finally see the spineless pussy bite it.Ditko rocked. I wish more people saw what a unique artistic voice he had.
>>151033310Its the writer masturbating, might as well be an mspaint comic
>>151033310>>151032672Behold: the psychopathIncapable of even basic empathy or introspection he imagines people to be simple and unchanging, himself to be an all-good diety, and those he despises to be irredeemable monsters not worthy of the name "human."Curiously it is he himself that is the least human of all.
I prefer Mad Magazine’s Mr E.
>>151034524>he imagines people to be simple and unchangingretard
>>151033874agreedthe dialogue can often be stilted and verbose given the scenarios they are in, soapboxing almost
one of the greatest comic books ever
>>151034598instead of criticizing the comic for what it isn't according to your tastes, how about approaching it with an open mind and just let it take you on a journey? Study study study
>>151033583>>151033567>>151033554>>151033527I get the kid is frightened but holy fuck every panel with her doesn't need her internal monologue lmao.
>>151034630well, there were a lot of things I did like about mr aditko has a good grasp how to use light and darknessmovements and choreography is easy to followgood character art in generalif he had made more stories like >>151034557, which incidentally was one of my favorites I would have been a happy comic reader
>>151034707Nah I like it. It really drives home how disconnected the kidnappers are from what it is they're actually doing. The whining about how unfair the whole ordeal is gets contrasted with the humanity they're ignoring the existence of.
>>151034524>people to be simple and unchangingChanging doesn't undo you crimes genius, nor does really have anything to do with the point about>>151033310 > He shot a pair of kidnappers, and while they're bleeding out they beg him to call an ambulance and accuse him of being evil when he ignores them. It's all interesting philosophy to me, how villains in real life can paint themselves as victimsShit like that happens all the time and people simping for the criminals over the victims is a real problem
>>151034828I really like that story a lot too, but honestly I wish there was more in the style of what was published in Witzend. I'm a huge fan of Ditko's question, and those felt like his vision for the character fully realized.
Gonna go ahead and do another story time, because this is one that I don't see discussed all that often. It's a Mr. A story with no written dialogue at all."Death vs. Love-Song" (1976)
>>151035283
>>151035292
>>151035315
>>151034524It's at the whim of Ditko's intention with the plot obviously, but in the defense of Mr. A the character he really does come across people who illustrate or admit in some fashion they're not going to remedy their thinking with any amount of chances, it isn't statistically impossible either.Whatever their reasons there are people who have been career criminals and convicts to the bleak end.If a vigilante ran into such types on the way to prevent a plot or save a life and just decked them to the concrete it wouldn't be a great tragedy.And that's the thing, Mr. A doesn't actually seem to kill unprovoked, he's swiftly and relentlessly brutal but not homicidal. I don't think a psychopath would show such restraint>>151033648>>151033668Watching two people kill each other might be something they'd allow out of indifference if not amusement, but afterward they'd just double tap both of them so there was no risks on their way out.All that said the point is Ditko and Mr. A show more a superiority complex at worst than anything deranged like malicious psychopathy.
>>151035335
>>151035361
>>151035387
>>151035404
>>151035424>>151035345He only kills people who attack him or others first. He isn't Frank Castle or something.
>>151033687 This is utter shit. It's basically a multipanel political cartoon.You have awful taste.
>>151035471Done
>>151034613Probably one of the worst, honestly.
>>151035492One of my favorite pages in any comic.>>151035476>>151035511>It's basically a multipanel political cartoonThat you find disagreeable and therefor don't like because you're a pleb yeah.
>>151035572>That you find disagreeable and therefor don't like because you're a pleb yeah.Nah it's because it's fucking garbage. The art is awful, the paneling terrible, the character stupid, the morals disgusting.Just all around trash.
>>151035595>The art and paneling in this Steve Ditko comic is terrible!Actually kill yourself lmao
>>151035572It has cool art and a badass character, and it's still fucking boring. To me, that's failure.
>>151035627I don't find it boring. Sucks that you do.
>>151035625>>The art and paneling in this Steve Ditko comic is terrible!>Actually kill yourself lmaoWell it is, seems like he needed an editor to not suck ass at it.
>>151035720ok retard
Settle down, guys. We only have each other. Nobody out there gives a fuck about comics.
>>151034474>Yeah that's why I wouldn't co-sign the "strawmanning" part of what >>151033874 # said>The picture of him crying about how unfair it is that the world is forcing him to stab this child in the headSee, that is what you call a Straw man.
>>151033310the best part is how they made a morally ambiguous anti-hero when ditko was intending to make the most pure ideal hero possible
>>151034524Sink the boats.
>>151037667What boats?
>>151035492ditkos art really speaks for itself, and the decompressed paneling does wonders
>>151034557Yeah I love this. He takes the time to explain why the guy is still good and the situation was nuanced.>>151035283>>151035292>>151035361>>151035387This Death character has a great design. It's really effective in black and white. No dialogue adds to the mystery, like what's his deal? Why are his arms outstretched in the cemetery, and that cross tombstone looks like it has the same marking, a family member maybe? Did Ditko do anything else with this villain?
>>151033687Great art>>151034524>NOOOO NOT THE POOR HECCING CRIMINARINOS, DEYS GONNA TURN DEY LIFE AROUND AFTER MURDERING A LITTLE GIRL, JUST NEED MO MONEY FO DEM PROGRAMS
>>151036979Too bad it isn't though. There was a court case not even a week ago where a murderer was crying that the court was "taking his life away" by giving him life
>>151039631That's not even close to being the same thing.
>>151040045>man crying about how the world wronged him while about to slit a child's throat>man crying about how the world is about to wrong him after having bashed a child's brains inSounds pretty close to me
