Mr. A


Mr. A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Ditko's work, the character of Mr. A remained the property of Ditko, who wrote and illustrated the stories in which the character appeared entirely himself. The character first appeared in Wallace Wood's witzend #3.
Ditko has been quoted as saying that his creation, The Question, is a comics-code acceptable version of Mr. A. Mr. A was inspired by Objectivism, the belief system and moral absolutism of the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand.

Fictional character biography

Rex Graine is a newspaper reporter for the Daily Crusader. He is known for his uncompromising principles and incorruptibility. In order to fight crime, Graine wears metal gloves and a steel mask that resembles a placid face, thus becoming Mr. A. In keeping with the hardboiled detective theme, both personae typically wear suits and fedora hats; Mr. A's outfit is completely white. There is no origin story for the character, thus the only discernible reason why Graine sometimes disguises himself is due to his choice to become a vigilante. Mr. A uses half white-half black calling cards to signify his arrival, as well as to represent his belief that there can only be good and evil, and no moral grey area.

Influence

Comics creator Alan Moore was once a member of a band the Emperors of Ice Cream which performed a Moore-penned song entitled "Mr. A." parodying Steve Ditko's political ideology. Moore later created the character Rorschach for the series Watchmen, which was based on both The Question and Mr. A. Moore related a story about an unspecified acquaintance who said he asked Ditko about whether he was familiar with Rorschach. Reportedly, Ditko acknowledged Rorschach as being "like Mr. A except insane".
In Troy Hickman's Twilight Guardian mini-series, the titular character's father is an homage to Steve Ditko, and his creation, "The Gulch", appears in issue #4 as a parody of and tribute to Mr. A.

Publication history

A new edition of the 1973 Mr. A. #1 comic was published by Snyder and Ditko in late 2009. This edition has all the story contents of the original, though with a different story order, the covers and centerfold printed in black and white and the splash page to "Right to Kill!" restored to Ditko's original intent.
In addition, Ditko drew numerous single-page Mr. A images for fanzines in the 1960s and 1970s.