Mr. T: Limited Advance Edition Graphic Novel by Christopher Bunting

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is not Mr. T's first rodeo in comics. The character based on the real Mr. T featured in a 1990s NOW comic book series and then a brief stint in two comics for the British AP Comics prior to this book which was published by Mohawk Media.

Unlike those prior books which has Mr. T as an urban warrior, right wrongs for the poor, this book has Mr. T in his role as a bodyguard for celebrities, something he actually did in real life.

The result is a tad less impressive. In Mr. T and the T Force, Mr. T took on whole gangs of criminals, battled a giant Aztec, and showed incredible feats of strength. Here, it's a tad more routine. In four "episodes," he bodyguards a child, hunts for a kidnapped girl, and is hired to bodyguard an Anglican Priest in Issues 3 and 4. Overall, the stories are more realistic, but that's the problem. You don't pick up a Mr. T comic looking for realism.

The comic also fails for the look of Mr. T. The Costume is horrendous and doesn't suit him at all. The idea of giving him a body armor is also something that's not quite the Mr. T we know and love. The end to Episode 4 is dark and left unresolved and is a big violation of the Mr. T character.

The one saving grace of the book is the "Bonus" Episode which has Mr. T guarding an Australian "superhero" from a supervillain only to discover things aren't quite what they seem. There are some nice moments and some good action in this story. The art in this is decent throughout, but it's nothing special. Worst of all, the writer doesn't seem to get the appeal of Mr. T as a comic character.

The action should be a bit over the top and we ought to get some positive life lessons out of the story. There ought to be tenderness and tough love. If we can't support a proper Mr. T comic and have to settle for this stuff, than in the words of the man, I pity us foos.



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