“I’ve got something stronger than an iron fist–a T-Fist!”
Mr. T And The T-Force #1
NOW Comics (June, 1993)
WRITERS: Neal Adams & Pete Stone
ART: Neal Adams & Continuity Studios
COLORING: Continuity Studios
COVER COLOR: Joe Schiettino
LETTERER: Andrea Albert
LOGO DESIGN: Neal Adams, John Picha, & NOW Staff
EDITOR: Joan M. Weis
Armed with a fancy camcorder, Mr. T is on a mission to stop the drug trade in the city. He takes down one group of runners and their bosses, but forces one kid to bring a crack baby they found in a dumpster to a nearby clinic. There, two members of Mr. T’s group, the T-Force, talk a nurse out of leaving after getting frustrated with dealing with the results of crack addicts getting their newborns hooked. Meanwhile, Mr. T. goes after the head man of the operation…and he’s a big mudsucker.
What they got right: It’s not surprising to see Mr. T as a crimefighter in a comic book. (Heck, I’m surprised there wasn’t a tie-in to his 80s cartoon like there was for the A-Team.) I remember Mr. T promoting the comic as something less violent (T in this version doesn’t carry guns) and there’s plenty of action here. No gun violence, although T is temporarily knocked down by a cattle prod but is able to shake it off when he’s ready for it. At least it shows a little vulnerability in your hero.
What they got wrong: What is it about this one kid, that a few minutes ago wanted to take a baseball bat to Mr. T for wrecking his car, that made him force the crack baby (which had no connection to the kid…there’s no proof he even sold the baby’s momma the crack) and make him care for this baby, after beating the daylights out of his pals?
Other notes: Odd little easter egg: the dumpster the girl left her baby in was either outside Continuity Studios or near a sign promoting it. Also, didn’t Continuity have their own publishing company around this time? Why were they doing a comic for NOW Comics?
Recommendation: If the 90s had been more like this comic it might not have been so bad. It knows how to do “extreme” and is fun with decent art. It’s worth checking out. I have one more issue, but it’s sadly not issue #2. Luckily there’s a review for that. I think I have #3 but I’m not sure. We’ll both find out next week.
BW Media Spotlight 
I never knew there was a Mr. T comic book. It definitely didn’t sugarcoat issues of the time. The crack and drug trade in general was out of control in the early 90s….a continuation of the 80s. Remember all the gun violence that was happening in our state’s cities in the early 90s, and that was due to conflict between different gangs over control of the drug trade. I’m surprised this comic was printed in the 90s instead of in the 80s. The 80s was the time of the Mr. T cartoon. That was a fun cartoon to watch on Saturday mornings and it had a real soulful theme song. How long did the Mr. T comic book last for?
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I did some research and discovered that the Mr. T comic book series ran for 10 issues from 1993 into 1994. It was produced by the same company that had an Astro Boy series from 1987 to 1989. I did collect the Astro Boy comics in that time period. Until today, I had no idea that NOW also put out Mr. T comics.
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There’s also Speed Racer comics. I’ll be reviewing the few I have some time in the future, as well as the couple of Astro Boys I have.
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