The BATS#!T INSANITY of Steve Ditko's MR. A!

[@bckomix]

Kudos to Wood for giving Ditko a platform despite the two reportedly having quite different political beliefs, you don’t see that too much anymore. I second seeing more Witzend.

[@joelgreenlee9421]

I'm really interested in checking out more of Mr. A. I'm a huge fan of the Question so my main reason I want to check it out is to see where the character of the Question originally derived from. I'm not an Objectivist/ Ayn Rand fan but I'm interested in Steve Ditko and it seems like Mr A is his most signature title/character. I feel that the Question is an extension of the writer's philosophy. I find it interesting that when Dennis O'Neil did it, he made him into more of a Buddhist instead of an objectivist. It's all really interesting. I heard rumors come out that the Ditko Family will be authorizing future releases of Mr A in trade paperbacks. I hope the rumor is true because I'd really like to see it. Great work, gentlemen!

[@markditko4363]

Yes, the Ditko Estate continues to work on getting all of the Mr. A republished in a high-quality compilation volume.

[@markfinneral2487]

...If I am not mistaken, I believe that the proclamation/dialog "Save Me!" is yelled from over the ledge by the hanging on "Angel" (as Ditko has Angel saying it in a couple panels prior)and is not intended by Ditko to be attributed to the "Teacher" finally making a decision to save herself... Mr. A makes it for her...

[@feliperisseto9113]

Despite the weird politics, this is a legit good comic. The art is amazing, and the simbolism Ditko applies on some of the scenes are incredible. The guy was, in fact, a genius on his craft.

[@tonygriego6382]

A is A.

[@matuvarela3760]

A is A, but aslo is ά a â á à Â â Ã ã Λ ∆ ∂ Ǻ ǻ Ά Æ æ ą Ặ Ẫ ẫ Ắ ắ Ằ ằ ẳ Ẵ ẵ Ä ª ä Å Ä À Á Â å ã â Æ à æ Ǽ ǽ Δ А λ Д д Δ Λ а α ά Ά Α Ā ā Ă ă ĄA À Ã Å Á Â Á Ä a á....

[@Nohagasdrogas]

PLEASE< >PLEASE, TALK MORE ABOUT MR. A. You guys are by far the most balanced critiques I've heard of this early Ditko in a while. I love how you guys talk about the ridiculousness of the philosophies portrayed but still still keep an objective and historical POV based on the time and culture this was released on.

[@phillytoon]

I think the 9 panel motif definitely had an influence on some of the panel rhythm in Watchmen, right?

[@marthademovimaus5140]

Wish I had time to do the art challenge. Mr. A gets a bad rap but I don't think they're bad. The B and W art is great. It's a breath of fresh air to see an action hero with ANY moral standards. Since the 90's, superheroes pretty much screw around and fight each other over BS.

[@r3dronin]

Would love to see you guys cover the progression from Mr. A to Question by Ditko to Question by O’Niel, to Rorshach back to Question by Lemire

[@danaandra9735]

As someone who read WITZEND at the time, I loved Mr. A. The Question was essentially Mr. A made palatable for 4-color comics. DC's Question by Denny O'Neil has little to nothing in common with Ditko's Question except the look. If one ignores the Objectivist angle. Mr. A can pretty much be viewed as a Dirty Harry kind of character, dispensing with the criminal element and allowing fate to run its course. My favorite Mr. A story is the first one, where it's a choice of saving the knife-wielding punk or the woman he stabbed. The knife-wielding punk falls to his death. Oh well. 😏

[@mayomonkey-gen1]

Ditko Rules.

[@hamzadawud]

I have those old paperback collections from Fantagraphics called The Ditko Collection Vols. I and II, and I believe they contain all of the Mr. A stories. I haven't gone through them all yet, but it's so cool even though I'm not at all attached to Objectivism. It's a testament to how good the guy was that so many of us can enjoy such a batshit insane comic despite disagreeing with the worldview of the writer/artist.

[@markditko4363]

The Ditko Collection doesn't contain all of the Mr. A issues. ... but that's being worked on.

[@thebey0nder668]

Mr. A is an awesome character.

[@Vicshade]

Love the Ditko work. I think his Creepy work was his artistic best but I love it all. He worked to the end, making comics his way.

[@markditko4363]

I agree that his Creepy / Warren work was amazing!!! ... but the work he did in the 50's was also story telling at another level!!

[@frenchmime1972]

Ditko's eccentricities is also what made a lot of his other creations iconic, he had a unique vision of the world, if you are familiar with libertarian point of view it doesn't come across as that weird.

[@jimellis7115]

Has Kayfabe done "Avenging World?" i see that work as somewhat of a Rosetta Stone both contextually and visually.

[@markditko4363]

OMG!!! Yes!!!

[@lukesnard4082]

I personally think that Ditko's artwork peaked in the 80's with his series on Static, I'd love to see you guys cover that someday

[@markditko4363]

I LOVE his Static work... Stay tuned for more on Static to be revealed in the future.

[@yotimbo2751]

Does anyone know what came of that Mr A collection IDW was going to put out a few years ago? It got announced at some con or other maybe in 2019 and I haven't heard any more about it since.

[@usedbymyusername]

I think soon after it was announced it got caught up in rights and disagreements over Ditko’s wishes to never collect it all. But I hope it happens. Would buy, easy.

[@danaandra9735]

@@usedbymyusername The issue about "Ditko's wishes" were dispelled by Ditko's family, to the best of my knowledge. It's just in IDW limbo with who knows how many other books we all want.

[@markditko4363]

@@usedbymyusername ... no, there wasn't any issue with rights or disagreements. As @danaandra9735 said ... that was dispelled years ago... and the project was just caught in a COVID vortex. ... Stay tuned...

[@markditko4363]

@@danaandra9735 That's right.

[@Michniko]

Would love to see more Mr. A analyzed on the channel, or any Ditko period!

[@markditko4363]

Get Zack Kruse involved in that episode and you'll get a perspective that's pretty thought-provoking!!

[@ChuloAA]

It's weird to think where the direction of Spider-Man could have potentially gone if Ditko was there longer or if Stan and Steve would continue to Butt heads and he'd still inevitably leave

[@markditko4363]

Ya, I would have LOVED to see where my uncle would have taken Spidey / Peter Parker!!!

[@andrewp_cc]

Great video, as usual. *Bonus gullywarts mention

[@pbgauthier5487]

Holy shit thank god i ordered Avenging World yesterday by pure coincidence, gonna be out of stock for sure

[@markditko4363]

You really need to get the original Avenging World!!! ... not the republished one by Snyder.

[@VideoGamesAF]

Never clicked on a video faster. I've read Ditko's Mr. A and other comics. He's a crummy writer, just terrible. The motivations are "I'm evil but wont admit it" or "I am merely wishing for my own agency!" Which as a call and response turns to gibberish. But hey, clearly I love the nutty Ditko, I've even read his prose haha edit: If you think his written work is impentitable, trust me, he's just a lousy philosopher, everything is established and insisted upon without real classical logical rationalization. But I suppose when things are black and white, how can you possibly talk in subtle tones

[@markditko4363]

Ooo... harsh.

[@mark_fox_music]

Really enjoyed hearing you talking about this. Definitely agree about witzend.

[@marthademovimaus5140]

I'm surprised he's not more popular. Mr A is clearly fed up with people making excuses for criminals, (which is a common attitude nowdays).Plus, he really has some guts compared to most vigilantes. He's a regular human fighting street crime with only a metal mask (and metal - reinforced gloves?) as weapons. Actually LESS weaponry than the police. It'd be interesting to see how Ditko would have had him handle something like a BLM riot.

[@GeorgeIsaacsZzz]

The issue with rationalizing criminality was probably gaining steam even as this was published. Some of the commentary expressed in the Batman TV show seemed almost like a satire of those sentiments when I watch them now, and just a few years later we get Dirty Harry, Popeye Doyle and Death Wish (filtered back to comics via The Punisher). I kinda feel like criticizing Ditko for his politics/philosophy is mostly people trying to reassure themselves that cape comics aren't inherently batshit insane (similar to many complaints about the '86 Dark Knight comics in magazines like the Comics Journal back in the day). J Jonah Jameson wasn't completely wrong.

[@chibodeecrocket9394]

The saddest commentary I can offer on Ditko's turn to Objectivism comes from the time I met Dick Giordano at a convention about 15 years ago. Giordano worked with Ditko at Charlton for years, long before the Action Heroes era. They were pals. They played ping-pong together. Giordano said that after Ditko found Rand, he wasn't the same anymore... it consumed him. In the end, it cost them their friendship. And even after all the time that had passed, I could still see and hear Giordano's sense of loss from losing his friend. That's not a fate I'd wish on anyone.

[@markditko4363]

There may be more to that story than is commonly known. I suspect that my uncle may have first read Rand in the late 50's. And I believe his relationship with Giordano went south in the 70's.

[@radiokunio3738]

​@@markditko4363 I know Steve wasn't fond of being pestered by those who feel "obligated" to his attention. But I look at Rorschach and Danny O'Neil's question run and it's honestly frustrating how aggressively his creations and beliefs were misconstrued. With the irony being that Rorschach fails as a satire, as his core beliefs still resonating with readers despite Alan Moore's intent. If you knew while he was alive, what were his feelings on Danny's O'Neils Question run and Rorschach's inclusion in it.

[@JorgeVelezMusic]

Jeez Louise, Steve!

[@Mr.E-xc3tg]

Good video!

[@shadhansen739]

Fountainhead, atlas shrugged and anthem ( a huge influence on 2112 by the band rush) are masterworks of literature and above "politics " and certainly not nonsense

[@skramzfather]

exceptionally mid

[@CosmoShidan]

Those books are rather shallow compared to The Iron Heel by Jack London, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisen, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad (who wrote the classic Star Trek episode The Doomsday Machine), and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

[@VicRattleHead28]

​@@CosmoShidanlol ok. Absolute garbage feminist stuff

[@c.a.t.732]

It's hilarious to me that the artist who endlessly pontificated about moral absolutism, no grey areas, and sneered at flawed heroes, had a lesser known career drawing kinky bondage comics. It makes me wonder what Mr. A did in his private life!

[@VicRattleHead28]

Cope

[@radiokunio3738]

It's built on consent between two parties, with is fine under libertarian ethics.

[@FionnigantheCinemaHeretic]

You guys can just say it, Steve Ditko was mad as a March hare.

[@markditko4363]

I'll bet you didn't know him as a person.

[@harleybrignall9034]

Adam Warlock was created by Jack Kirby to make fun of Steve Ditko's dogshit beliefs in Ann Rand 🤣🤣😂

[@danaandra9735]

It wasn't really Kirby's style to "make fun of" anyone's "dogshit beliefs." Instead, "Mike Gartland wrote in JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #24 that Mark Evanier explained that Kirby's original intent was that the Enclave WERE honestly good in their intentions. Kirby's idea was to do a riff on Objectivism. His idea was that the Enclave ended up creating a true Objectivist, but a true Objectivist being wouldn't put up with the flaws in his creators, hence him destroying them."

[@markditko4363]

@@danaandra9735 You're right about Jack.

[@driver8sk]

It's a great comic, but I feel more like a voyeur than a fan looking at this. All 9 panel pages that are half text don't strike me as being created by someone in a good place.