This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko’s iconic Mr. A, warts and all.
MR. A
Secret Identity: Rex Graine, reporter for the Daily Crusader newspaper.
First Appearance: Witzend #3 (1967)
Origin: Rex Graine wanted to fight crime without endangering his friends and loved ones. He assumed the white-costumed identity Mr. A and took on the forces of evil.
Powers: Mr. A was in peak human condition and excelled at unarmed combat. He wore a white metal facial mask/ helmet for protection and anonymity. He also wore metal gloves and boots to make his punches and kicks more potent. I assumed he wore articulated body armor on his torso too, for some protection against bullets.
This character was an expert investigator and used calling cards with no writing – just black on one half and white on the other to represent his black & white moral attitudes. I’d have had those calling cards be made of metal, too, with sharp edges so they could be thrown like Moon Knight’s crescent moon blades.
Comment: Mr. A was a more “pure” version of the Question, Steve Ditko’s similar character also created in 1967 when he worked for Charlton Comics. Ditko owned Mr. A, whose nom de guerre came from the Objectivist principle “A is A”. He was an uncompromising vigilante the like of which superhero comic books had rarely seen in 1967. In the decades to come such figures became very numerous in comics. Continue reading
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #31 (Aug 1976) 
Superstitious people in Liberty, NM get covert glimpses of the creature and decide to raid the Pace ranch to destroy Woodgod and any other such “monsters” being created there. David and Ellen are shot to death in the attack but our main character is super-strong and invulnerable, so he survives being shot multiple times.
TEEN TITANS Vol 1 #44 (Nov 1976) 
FLASH COMICS Vol 1 #1 (Jan 1940) 
Jay’s love interest Joan Williams asks him to find her father, who has been abducted by enemy spies called the Faultless Four and led by the French Sir Satan. The Frenchman and his British, Russian and Slavic colleagues want her retired major father to reveal the secrets of America’s new Atomic Bombarder.
This weekend’s belated superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at this Iron Fist adventure serialized in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. It was penned by Chris Claremont and though it features his X-Men foes the Demons of the N’Garai and a woman called the Firebird whose schtick resembles his later retcons to the Phoenix Force, the story ultimately sucks and is an incoherent mess. 
DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #19 (Dec 1975)
Iron Fist attacks the pair, joined by Colleen, who is swiftly defeated. Our hero continues fighting the Messengers and when he uses the power of the Iron Fist to finish them off, that somehow causes him and Jade to be transported from Earth to Feng-Tu. They are in the throne room of Dhasha Khan (right), who affirms that he is the ruler of this afterlife and states that he plans to strip Jade of her soul and have it damned forever.
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #1 (Apr 1972) 
The High Evolutionary studied his creation from an orbiting headquarters, kept company by 
CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS Vol 1 #6 (Sep 1941) 
Story 3: Captain America Meets the Hangman 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #50 (Jul 1967) 
Over the next few weeks, the crime rate in New York City skyrockets with no Spider-Man getting in the way of villainy and only Daredevil fighting street-level wrongdoing. Our hero’s absence is noted in criminal circles, inspiring the Kingpin to at last operate openly. 
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT Vol 1 #32 (Aug 1975) 
Moon Knight arrives at Jack’s Los Angeles apartment, where Jack shows up shortly before the Full Moon rises and turns him into the Werewolf. The pair fight it out through the streets of L.A. while Moon Knight’s helicopter pilot Frenchie abducts 
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #8 (Dec 1941) 
The island is inhabited by THE Amazons from Greco-Roman myths and they are still ruled over by Queen Hippolyta. The Queen’s daughter Princess Diana nurses Trevor back to health and falls in love with him but while he was recovering, Hippolyta used magic to probe Steve’s mind. 
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