Let me start this journal by saying that comics are generally created for the purpose of entertainment. Mr. A is not about entertainment, Mr. A is about prosthelytizing the views of Ayn Rand and advocating a way of thinking and living. However if a writer is suggesting a viewpoint to be applied to the real world it would make sense that the stories should take place in the real world. For instance it wouldn't make sense to write a serious story where the solution to the proliferation of nuclear weapons would be to have an alien Superman gather all the nuclear bombs in one giant net and fling them into the sun. The foundation of Steve Ditko's views are that good and evil are objectively rather than subjectively evident. Ditko makes no attempt to defend this view, it is simply accepted as fact and nearly every other view he advocates is built off of it. Ditko also creates his world to support this black and white view but the world of Mr. A in no way resembles the actual world.

The cover story, 'Right to Kill' has a very simple message; mercy is asked for by evil while justice is asked for by good. Society should focus on justice and forget mercy. The beauty of the story is how bluntly Steve Ditko beats the reader over the head with the massage. I honestly can't remember ever reading a less subtle comic story outside of a Jack Chick tract.

A young girl named Lilly is taken and held for ransom by three kidnappers. The parents quickly pay up but rather than release the girl two of the three kidnappers (one of whom is a woman) tell the third he has to kill the girl to get rid of her as a witness. The third kidnapper is less ruthless than the other two and is filled with dismay at the thought of slitting the young girl's throat. In fact the other two kidnappers plan on killing him after he dispatches the girl so they only have to split the ransom money two ways. The story then moves into the motif of the black and white card. Prior to the crime, the third kidnapper is shown to be on the white half of the card while the other two stand on the black but as he reluctantly joins in on the kidnapping scheme he moves from white (good) to black (evil).

The story moves back to the present as the reluctant kidnapper stands over Lilly, knife in hand when Mr. A bursts in to save the day. Mr. A temporarily holds the kidnappers at bay with a pistol until the more ruthless of the male kidnappers shoves the female into Mr. A and a fight ensues. The female kidnapper threatens to kill Lilly with a knife prompting Mr. A to put a bullet in her head. Meanwhile the two male kidnappers are doing Mr. A's job for him. The reluctant kidnapper bashes the other in the head with a hunk of wood so he can get all the cash for himself but as he tries to run off he gets a bullet in the back from the man who was just hit in the head. The two lie on the ground pleading with Mr. A for help as blood gushes from their bodies but the emotionless Mr. A shows no mercy and carries Lilly out of the house. When Lilly suggests he help them Mr. A replies that only cares about the innocent and good people.

The whole story has all the subtlety of a brick to the head. When Ditko tries to make us feel sympathy for Lilly he doesn't just show a frame or two of her suffering. Instead he includes thought balloons in frame after frame after frame. Thoughts like, "When will they treat me right.. act nice" and "Don't they care that I'm scared.. hurt.. sore..Sob..and I want to go home..Sob.." She continues with these thoughts throughout much of the story and she seems completely oblivious to things going on around her. Likewise when the two kidnappers are bloody and dying Ditko doesn't hold back one bit on their cries for help, "..Sob.. P.Please.. I'm sorry.. Don't leave me like this. Stop the pain..Sob..help me..Sob.." Mr. A shows absolutely no sympathy and simply steps over their bodies.

It is left to a cop who appears in only a couple of frames to articulate the message Ditko is attempting to get across. "Many people think action against the guilty is inhuman! Justice to them is to treat those who initiate force and inflict pain better than those who must suffer the unchosen force and pain! And all in the name of concern for human life! What an obscenity! Mercy for the guilty, indifference to the suffering innocent victims and justice for no one!"

Overall this story is more of a morality tale than an actual story. There is no mention of Mr. A's alter ego Rex Graine. He simply appears, rescues the girl and leaves stepping over the kidnappers dead or dying bodies. Mr. A generally does not kill outright as he did in shooting the woman in the head. Usually he does as he did with the other kidnappers which is to leave the person or persons to die. I expected the parents to have some comeuppance also since they gave the money to the kidnappers thereby negotiating with evil but nothing happened to them beyond suffering over the concern for their child.

In order to push the idea of good and evil as black and white Ditko creates a black and white situation. We know the kidnappers are bad because we as the omniscient reader see their conversations and even read their thoughts. Ditko even goes the extra mile by having them plan on killing the girl with a knife no less. However Ditko isn't advocating no mercy only for the truly vicious. He is advocating no mercy for evil in general but he never defines evil other than to say it is objectively evident. Is a shoplifter evil? Is a slanderer evil? Is a drug user evil? Also, if cops break in on kidnappers and end up shooting them should they then walk over their dying bodies and eschew any sort of trial? It's interesting that Mr. A is able to shoot a woman in the head but still remain spotless. Of course there were extenuating circumstances but doesn't that defeat the whole idea of objective good and evil. I will return to some of these ideas in later journals but the main problem with the stories is that Ditko creates a black and white world for his black and white values but the real world isn't that cut and dry.

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.