Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
The iconic Mr. T has now become a comic book hero. What first sounds like it’s going to be a comic jab, like the band Mr. T Experience or “The New Adventures of Mr. T” from TV Funhouse, is actually a serious endeavor that features input from the mohawked one himself as the Executive Editor. He offers up the Foreword and states he is happy to be the star of a book. He also tells the reader to always do the very best you can and stay off drugs, and to quote Mr. T, “Don’t forget to pay for it, sucka! Grrrrrrr.”
The book tells a story in four parts. It begins with Mr. T kidnapped by the F.B.I. to protect Mr. Davenport, a weapons designer who works for the government, from his former partner Edward Franklin. Part two finds Mr. T searching for a kidnapped girl in Montana. He fights redheaded Rhino Richards in a long fight sequence. The reader learns that Mr. T is so strong he can break logs with his bare hands and when knocked off a cliff is somehow able to fly although it isn’t explained. A mystery man with T’s silhouette signals trouble ahead.
Chapter three takes Mr. T to England to protect a vicar. With former F.B.I. agent Indigo Jo in training as his assistant, they square off against a tough foursome of costumed ninjas, The Quad Squad, and deal with a young boy at the church who has a black eye, but won’t tell who did it. All the secrets are revealed in the conclusion chapter.
Mr. T is an odd book because it’s not clear who the market is. It’s too childish to work for adults and too adult to be for children. The plot is simple, Mr. T is inexplicably superhuman in the story, and he answers questions after each chapter; however, the book is also graphic in its ridiculous depiction of women with big breasts and tiny waists as well as some mature subject matter and off-page conflict resolution, none of which are suitable for children. It’s an interesting effort that unfortunately comes up woefully short for any potential reader.
