Caution: prolonged exposure to Mr. T will result in you speaking like Mr. T. Although, it is cool to tell "fools you ain't got time for no jibber-jabber." ;P
While the whole misinterpreting what Mr. T meant when he said Mario was straight joke worked, using straight to mean "not a criminal" is not exactly an obscure use of the word. People say of an ex-con that he went straight (of course you only use straight in that way in the idiom of going/gone/went straight). So I find the joke a little forced (similarly all the jokes made about Speedy's straight friends not understanding him because of his heroine use are a bit forced).
I did not remember the reporter character but I have not watched that much A-Team since the mid-80s.
On the movie, I enjoyed it and think it was pretty good (for a wish fulfilling action adventure), but I could see that there were problems and whether it is particularly true to/respectful of the series is going to be subjective.
Also, no Murdoch/Barclay joke or Face/Apollo (heck the A-Team made that joke when Face ran into a Cylon)?
I was also confused by Mario's glowing aura during the barfight. Maybe that's HIS superpower, and he originally met Mr. T. as a superhero Avengers-style. (Avengers/A-Team crossover, anyone?)
The Lopez brothers? I guess Lopez from the hilarious arcade game "Crime Patrol 2: Drug Wars" gave up cocaine production.
Yah, the using subway for LA underground would not really work. While LA does have a subway I am not sure it was in operations in 1980's and well its not extensive.
One thing if you lived in Southern California for a while underground is not always seen as fun. It is Earthquake country after all.
HUGE fan of when you do a review in the style of the TV show the comic's based on (as you did here and previously with Dragnet)...leads to HILARIOUS impressions and quite an interesting plot to frame things around too.
Maybe whenever you review the other two issues down the road, you might want to have the end credits logo be Mike Michaud at a typewriter, tossing the paper to form an animated "IR" logo above "An Inked Reality Production" (like the famous Stephen J. Cannell Productions logo after every episode)
Well I hope your happy Linkara. With you using the cybermat for commercial bumpers, your making me paranoid because of the king of worms. Its the Entity Arc all over again!!!
Thank you for the kind words concerning Amy Allen. Some fans of the show didn't like her, but I thought she brought a breath of fresh air to the show. My favorite episodes were usually one she was in, and I felt the show lost something not-small when Melinda Culea was fired.
The more I think about this plot, the more I wonder if the writers were forced to make a plot change at the last minute.
If the diamond guy had suspected his son, it would have made hiring the A-Team and having the sister-in-law set him up make a bit more sense. (It would have made more sense to disguise herself as someone the A-Team had never seen before.)
Good review; the comic story seemed to end rather abruptly. Turns out there's a complicated family squabble...and then the A-Team just goes 'whelp, at least we got paid, let's get out of here'! and it just ends. Doesn't really feel right. Other than that, for a TV comic tie-in from around the eighties, it's surprisingly passable.
And yeah, the 2010 A-Team film was surprisingly fun. Liked Sharlto Copley in it.
The movie was... very uneven. There are moments that are just pure A-Team awesomeness, and they even get a shoutout to the original cast into it, but... then there are places that are just too stupid and/or wrong.
Go in expecting the worst, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Go in expecting the best, and you'll be SORELY disappointed.
Cool intro & review it feels like if the story was fresh out more it would have been much better, along with some more action. But what's most important is that the Mr. T Superpower counter has increased once again. All has been made right with the world for today.
The A-Team?? Hell Yeah! I loved that show as a kid, being lucky enough to see it when it first aired. They killed the series in the end but that's another story. This comic was dreadful, why were you so nice to it? Talk about missing the point of the show. It was like they had a generic mystery comic and threw the A-Team name on it for marketability. The mystery sucked and there was no cool action.
I bought all 3 issues before you mentioned you were doing this and I was kind of wondering whether you'd swap it out because it was a little un-Ateamish.
More Mr. T; good thinking. Though then again it wasn't as funny or bizarre as it could have been. The story was a tad confusing but hey, we did get a bar fight while Cheers was on...I guess it was cross-promotion for NBC or something.
To Jeff Jacobson above yes, I meant Starbuck, not a huge BattleStar Galactic (either series) fan so got it wrong off the cuff. At least it was another character from the same series. Thanks for the correction.
Just on the side of original commentary, I meant to add that Last Action Hero gives us one possible way of explaining what Rocky III was like in the A-Team universe (in Last Action Hero we learn that in the fictional universe Jack Slater inhabits the Terminator in Terminator II was played by Sylvestor Stalone instead of Arnold). So perhaps Clubber Lang was played by someone else in the universe of this comic (have fun and come up with some cute/cool alternatives).
Also, to slightly more usefully review the A-Team movie. It did go to some dark places (grim and gritty) which makes it less light-hearted than the original, at other times it was as fun and whimsical as the original. So I can see why people found it not to live-up to the original and also its tone is inconsistent. Those are the things I remember a year+ after seeing it (and over a decade since I really watched the A-Team).
Regarding "the Los Angeles underground", I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to be a metaphor. Think about the "Underground Railroad" (used to help slaves escape in the 19th century USA); it wasn't literally underground like a subway, it just meant that they were hiding from the authorities.
In case you haven't seen it, I recommend watching "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", since that has Mr T in it. The DVD extras are particularly good, e.g. the writers talk about one of their conversations with him.
Mr T: "Stay in school!" Writers: "But we've both graduated from film school." Mr T: "Stay in school!" Writers: "Yes sir, Mr T!"
Nice that this comic was set in Puerto Rico, because that's where I live. :) Too bad they don't seem to have bothered to research it better, the place looked so generic. And was Mario supposed to be Puerto Rican?
The A-Team was one of my favorite shows in the 80s. One thing I never found out, thought, was the explanation for their name: was there a B-Team as well?
I didn't expect anything spectacular but come on this was boring as far as an A-Team story goes.
Growing up my favorite part of one of the openings was when someone in s a Cylon costume walked past Faceman and he just has a 'wait the hell?' sort of expression.
I am not actually sure I ever knew about what crime they had committed. I LOVED Murdock. There was always something else going on in his brain, like you mentioned, you never knew how crazy he really was.
I also don't remember the reporter chick who got them cases.
Somewhere my mom has a pic of me and my brothers inside an A-Team van at a car show. It was so cool.
I always got a kick out of the fact BA drank milk, probably because I drank so much of it.
This was a very fun review (loved the opening) but this comic was beyond lame.
I don't think wanted war criminals tend to stay in the very same country that is searching for them - or really any country that has a extradition treaty with the searching one. Then again, I'm trying to bring logic into the A-Team.
And yeah, I was expecting a bit more craziness in a Marvel comic adaption of the A-Team o_O
Great as always Linkara. You should do a Marvel Now title (you already did a New52 title) I recommend Hawkeye... That comic IS AWFUL. its more like a sitcom with more repeated memes than All Star Batman and Robin
Go back to mister t and the t-force! They have trading cards! If you collect them all, mr. T will appear with a heavenly choir rendition of the a-team theme like Exodia.
So I just read the first issue of Moon Knight by Warren Ellis and I really liked it. I figured I'd check out some older Moon Knight stuff. Why am I not surprised to find that Marvel's closest thing to Batman was created by none other than Doug Moench?
Regardless, I recommend checking out Ellis' first issue.
I should probably say something about the A-Team... um... I got nothing. All was pretty much said. Please take pity on me for I am but a humble fool.
I wonder how high the Mr. T Superpower Count will ever reach. Did you ever find out if the Youngblood/Power Rangers Zero crossover actually exists? I'm still curious about that. (That, and that Rump Rangers porno spoof that I still want to see a crossover with Brad for.) On that note, have you considered covering comics based on the three "sister series" of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, like VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs, and Masked Rider? I know at least VR Troopers has comic books based on it, though I'm not sure if they suck. I'd be interested in seeing a review of one, at least. (And it'd be an excuse to play the theme song.) There was also a terrible fighting game for the Mega Drive/Genesis based on VR Troopers that would probably warrant a mention, too, if only for it's surprisingly decent 16-bit rendition of the theme song.
#2 is actually another book that misses the whole point of what the A-team is about as they'e plan is very loose and everyone is caught. Positive side is Mr. T fights a sumo wrestler.
#3 is the only story that feels like a real A-team story. It involves them being hired by a movie cowboy to steel a Soviet airplane. Not a whole lot of Mr. T action though.
Question: is Brock from Pokemon racist even though he was made by Asians, or is he racist even though the race that people claim he's racist of made him?
I always thought "soldiers of underground" just meant they are doing underground military business, meaning they are working in secret from the government.
Forget History of Power Rangers! I want you to review the A-Team series instead, only to see more hilarious Mr T impressions from you.
ReplyDeleteI too am sure The A-Team movie looks like fun, but remember one thing.
ReplyDeleteMr. T himself HATED that movie!
I like the part where B.A. gets hypnotized into being on a plane. Imagine trying that on Brad!
Caution: prolonged exposure to Mr. T will result in you speaking like Mr. T. Although, it is cool to tell "fools you ain't got time for no jibber-jabber." ;P
ReplyDeleteExcellent review, Linkara.
I love it when a review comes together!
ReplyDeleteWhile the whole misinterpreting what Mr. T meant when he said Mario was straight joke worked, using straight to mean "not a criminal" is not exactly an obscure use of the word. People say of an ex-con that he went straight (of course you only use straight in that way in the idiom of going/gone/went straight). So I find the joke a little forced (similarly all the jokes made about Speedy's straight friends not understanding him because of his heroine use are a bit forced).
I did not remember the reporter character but I have not watched that much A-Team since the mid-80s.
On the movie, I enjoyed it and think it was pretty good (for a wish fulfilling action adventure), but I could see that there were problems and whether it is particularly true to/respectful of the series is going to be subjective.
Also, no Murdoch/Barclay joke or Face/Apollo (heck the A-Team made that joke when Face ran into a Cylon)?
I was also confused by Mario's glowing aura during the barfight. Maybe that's HIS superpower, and he originally met Mr. T. as a superhero Avengers-style. (Avengers/A-Team crossover, anyone?)
ReplyDeleteThe Lopez brothers? I guess Lopez from the hilarious arcade game "Crime Patrol 2: Drug Wars" gave up cocaine production.
Fun Episode.
ReplyDeleteYah, the using subway for LA underground would not really work. While LA does have a subway I am not sure it was in operations in 1980's and well its not extensive.
One thing if you lived in Southern California for a while underground is not always seen as fun. It is Earthquake country after all.
HUGE fan of when you do a review in the style of the TV show the comic's based on (as you did here and previously with Dragnet)...leads to HILARIOUS impressions and quite an interesting plot to frame things around too.
ReplyDeleteMaybe whenever you review the other two issues down the road, you might want to have the end credits logo be Mike Michaud at a typewriter, tossing the paper to form an animated "IR" logo above "An Inked Reality Production" (like the famous Stephen J. Cannell Productions logo after every episode)
Well I hope your happy Linkara. With you using the cybermat for commercial bumpers, your making me paranoid because of the king of worms. Its the Entity Arc all over again!!!
ReplyDeleteSword of Primus
Thank you for the kind words concerning Amy Allen. Some fans of the show didn't like her, but I thought she brought a breath of fresh air to the show. My favorite episodes were usually one she was in, and I felt the show lost something not-small when Melinda Culea was fired.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about this plot, the more I wonder if the writers were forced to make a plot change at the last minute.
ReplyDeleteIf the diamond guy had suspected his son, it would have made hiring the A-Team and having the sister-in-law set him up make a bit more sense. (It would have made more sense to disguise herself as someone the A-Team had never seen before.)
Good review; the comic story seemed to end rather abruptly. Turns out there's a complicated family squabble...and then the A-Team just goes 'whelp, at least we got paid, let's get out of here'! and it just ends. Doesn't really feel right. Other than that, for a TV comic tie-in from around the eighties, it's surprisingly passable.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, the 2010 A-Team film was surprisingly fun. Liked Sharlto Copley in it.
really good review, i do like how your intro more atop the fourth wall character as your own A-Team style.
ReplyDeletewell to bad there is not making there own device in the first isssue it bring more a-team style like how they getting a cab or helicopter.
The movie was... very uneven. There are moments that are just pure A-Team awesomeness, and they even get a shoutout to the original cast into it, but... then there are places that are just too stupid and/or wrong.
ReplyDeleteGo in expecting the worst, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Go in expecting the best, and you'll be SORELY disappointed.
Cool intro & review it feels like if the story was fresh out more it would have been much better, along with some more action. But what's most important is that the Mr. T Superpower counter has increased once again. All has been made right with the world for today.
ReplyDeleteNow waiting for the day of Mr.T vs Dr. Doom.
The A-Team?? Hell Yeah! I loved that show as a kid, being lucky enough to see it when it first aired. They killed the series in the end but that's another story. This comic was dreadful, why were you so nice to it? Talk about missing the point of the show. It was like they had a generic mystery comic and threw the A-Team name on it for marketability. The mystery sucked and there was no cool action.
ReplyDeleteI bought all 3 issues before you mentioned you were doing this and I was kind of wondering whether you'd swap it out because it was a little un-Ateamish.
ReplyDeleteIssue 3 at last has a more interesting cover.
"Also, no Murdoch/Barclay joke or Face/Apollo (heck the A-Team made that joke when Face ran into a Cylon)?"
ReplyDeleteYou mean Face/Starbuck, right?
More Mr. T; good thinking. Though then again it wasn't as funny or bizarre as it could have been. The story was a tad confusing but hey, we did get a bar fight while Cheers was on...I guess it was cross-promotion for NBC or something.
ReplyDeleteAw, it only lasted three issues? I think Marvel's ALF comic lasted four years! Yeah, I'm wondering if we'll see an issue of that one day.
ReplyDeleteHearing Linkara explain the premise of The A-Team...I had a thought: A-Team was Leverage before Leverage.
ReplyDeleteOf course you change things around (soldiers of fortune vs criminals turned good), but still...
Onto the review...cool intro Linkara. Really worked into the aesthetic of the review.
To Jeff Jacobson above yes, I meant Starbuck, not a huge BattleStar Galactic (either series) fan so got it wrong off the cuff. At least it was another character from the same series. Thanks for the correction.
ReplyDeleteJust on the side of original commentary, I meant to add that Last Action Hero gives us one possible way of explaining what Rocky III was like in the A-Team universe (in Last Action Hero we learn that in the fictional universe Jack Slater inhabits the Terminator in Terminator II was played by Sylvestor Stalone instead of Arnold). So perhaps Clubber Lang was played by someone else in the universe of this comic (have fun and come up with some cute/cool alternatives).
Also, to slightly more usefully review the A-Team movie. It did go to some dark places (grim and gritty) which makes it less light-hearted than the original, at other times it was as fun and whimsical as the original. So I can see why people found it not to live-up to the original and also its tone is inconsistent. Those are the things I remember a year+ after seeing it (and over a decade since I really watched the A-Team).
Regarding "the Los Angeles underground", I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to be a metaphor. Think about the "Underground Railroad" (used to help slaves escape in the 19th century USA); it wasn't literally underground like a subway, it just meant that they were hiding from the authorities.
ReplyDeleteIn case you haven't seen it, I recommend watching "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", since that has Mr T in it. The DVD extras are particularly good, e.g. the writers talk about one of their conversations with him.
Mr T: "Stay in school!"
Writers: "But we've both graduated from film school."
Mr T: "Stay in school!"
Writers: "Yes sir, Mr T!"
Nice that this comic was set in Puerto Rico, because that's where I live. :) Too bad they don't seem to have bothered to research it better, the place looked so generic. And was Mario supposed to be Puerto Rican?
ReplyDeleteThe A-Team was one of my favorite shows in the 80s. One thing I never found out, thought, was the explanation for their name: was there a B-Team as well?
I was so looking forward to this comic.
ReplyDeleteAnd dear god is it LAME.
I didn't expect anything spectacular but come on this was boring as far as an A-Team story goes.
Growing up my favorite part of one of the openings was when someone in s a Cylon costume walked past Faceman and he just has a 'wait the hell?' sort of expression.
I am not actually sure I ever knew about what crime they had committed. I LOVED Murdock. There was always something else going on in his brain, like you mentioned, you never knew how crazy he really was.
I also don't remember the reporter chick who got them cases.
Somewhere my mom has a pic of me and my brothers inside an A-Team van at a car show. It was so cool.
I always got a kick out of the fact BA drank milk, probably because I drank so much of it.
This was a very fun review (loved the opening) but this comic was beyond lame.
@dragons_dusk
I don't think wanted war criminals tend to stay in the very same country that is searching for them - or really any country that has a extradition treaty with the searching one.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I'm trying to bring logic into the A-Team.
And yeah, I was expecting a bit more craziness in a Marvel comic adaption of the A-Team o_O
Great as always Linkara.
ReplyDeleteYou should do a Marvel Now title (you already did a New52 title)
I recommend Hawkeye... That comic IS AWFUL. its more like a sitcom with more repeated memes than All Star Batman and Robin
Go back to mister t and the t-force! They have trading cards! If you collect them all, mr. T will appear with a heavenly choir rendition of the a-team theme like Exodia.
ReplyDeleteSo I just read the first issue of Moon Knight by Warren Ellis and I really liked it. I figured I'd check out some older Moon Knight stuff. Why am I not surprised to find that Marvel's closest thing to Batman was created by none other than Doug Moench?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I recommend checking out Ellis' first issue.
I should probably say something about the A-Team... um... I got nothing. All was pretty much said. Please take pity on me for I am but a humble fool.
I wonder how high the Mr. T Superpower Count will ever reach. Did you ever find out if the Youngblood/Power Rangers Zero crossover actually exists? I'm still curious about that. (That, and that Rump Rangers porno spoof that I still want to see a crossover with Brad for.) On that note, have you considered covering comics based on the three "sister series" of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, like VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs, and Masked Rider? I know at least VR Troopers has comic books based on it, though I'm not sure if they suck. I'd be interested in seeing a review of one, at least. (And it'd be an excuse to play the theme song.) There was also a terrible fighting game for the Mega Drive/Genesis based on VR Troopers that would probably warrant a mention, too, if only for it's surprisingly decent 16-bit rendition of the theme song.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that comic was disappointing. I expected better from the A-Team if only for cheesy and awesome action sequences.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good episode. Loved the A-Team parody intro. I hope you will get to the other issues soon.
So bad it's good. Really really bad issue worse off then most of the comics you usually review.
ReplyDeleteI've read A-Team #2 and #3.
ReplyDelete#2 is actually another book that misses the whole point of what the A-team is about as they'e plan is very loose and everyone is caught. Positive side is Mr. T fights a sumo wrestler.
#3 is the only story that feels like a real A-team story. It involves them being hired by a movie cowboy to steel a Soviet airplane. Not a whole lot of Mr. T action though.
Oh Linkara...
ReplyDeleteQuestion: is Brock from Pokemon racist even though he was made by Asians, or is he racist even though the race that people claim he's racist of made him?
I always thought "soldiers of underground" just meant they are doing underground military business, meaning they are working in secret from the government.
ReplyDelete