Line #8 ComicBook/MrA


1	[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MrA_5691.jpg]]
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3	->''"There is black and there is white, and there is wrong and there is right, [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity and there is nothing, NOTHING in between]]."''
4	-->-- '''Creator/AlanMoore''' referring to Mr. A.
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6	Born in 1967 of Creator/SteveDitko's fascination with UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}}, Mr. A is a "superhero" without observable powers aside from his steel gloves and mask, similar to the first incarnations of ComicBook/TheQuestion.
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8	Philosophical elements aside, ''Mr. A'' marked Ditko's shift from working on contract for mainstream publishers like {{Creator/Marvel\|Comics}} and {{Creator/DC\|Comics}} to more creator-owned projects; ''Mr. A'' was first published in the Wallace Wood founded UndergroundComics series ''witzend'' and was later collected in self-published comics Ditko distributed himself.
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10	Creator/AlanMoore disliked this character ''strongly'' and portrayed this type of character [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity in a rather twisted way]] as ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'''s Rorschach.
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12	----
13	!!''Mr. A'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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15	* AuthorTract: There are times when the action comes to a sudden stop in order for Mr. A to put on WallOfText after WallOfText regarding BlackAndWhiteMorality and Randian philosophy.
16	* BadassNormal: As mentioned, he is absolutely a normal human, without even the TrainingFromHell someone like Batman will usually have.
17	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The driving force behind the comic. Mr. A's entire outfit is portrayed as pure white because of this, and his "calling card" is half-black, half-white.
18	* CallingCard: A black and white business card, representing his worldview, usually displayed before Mr. A beats up some criminals.
19	* CharacterFilibuster: Mr. A is prone to going on rants about there being no "gray area" between black and white morals.
20	* CrimeAfterCrime: Most stories revolve around this, the Objectivist moral being that there's no such thing as toeing the line between good and evil.
21	* DirtyCommies: The comic refers to America and its allies as the Free World, and the Warpac nations as the Slave World.
22	* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The teenage criminal Angel uses his innocent good looks and young age to get people to sympathize with him and ignore his true violent nature and sociopathic personality.
23	* FlatCharacter: Given the didactic nature of the series, there's not much room for character development.
24	* GentlemanThief: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} in the story "Count Rogue". The titular Count Rogue acted AffablyEvil toward his marks (while insulting all of them in his head) as part of a complicated plan [[spoiler:to embarrass a rival at his day job who had been promoted before him]]. Mr. A is the only person who doesn't buy into the mystique of the Count as a noble thief, [[spoiler:except for a burglar who randomly breaks into the Count's home at the end of the story, and gives an oddly on-the-nose NotSoDifferentRemark while trying to blackmail his way into a "partnership"]].
25	* GoodIsNotNice: Mr. A, who is basically Rorschach, just not ugly and insane.
26	* MissXPun: Mr. A sounds like a variation on "Mystery".
27	* OneLetterName: Mr. A's name consists of just the letter "A" after the "Mr."
28	* QuitYourWhining: Mr. A's reaction to criminals who complain about being unfairly treated by society, and to people who complain about criminals being unfairly treated by society.
29	* RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: This is Mr. A's modus operandi. He's not much for [[SaveTheVillain Saving the Villain]].
30	* SadisticChoice: A rare heroic example. In the very first Mr. A story, the protagonist forces an [[LethallyStupid excessively gullible and naive]] woman to choose whether he should save her or her friend the villain when both are in grave danger, in order to prove that her philosophy doesn't work. Made somewhat more reasonable by the fact that the bad guy is a complete [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying]] StrawHypocrite and [[TheSociopath murderous psychopath]], who had also [[spoiler:''stabbed the woman in the guts'' moments before, which was the reason she urgently required medical attention in the first place]].
31	* SaveTheVillain: Completely and utterly defied and averted.
32	* SecretIdentity: One that's every bit as much a champion of objectivism, journalist Rex Graine.
33	* StrawmanPolitical: Mr. A's opponents tend be of the Straw Liberal persuasion with the standard beliefs about social problems influencing bad behavior and sympathizing with criminals.
34	* TheDreaded: Among the criminal underworld, Mr. A showing up is treated as effectively a death sentence.
35	* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: How a journalist could get all of the gadgets and an iron mask without getting any funny looks is left unrevealed.
36	* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Mr. A wears a somewhat dehumanizing white mask.
37	* WouldHitAGirl: He judges people solely on the basis of BlackAndWhiteMorality, with no distinction for gender; he did not hesitate to put a bullet in the head of a female kidnapper.
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Context ComicBook / MrA