Ralph Snart
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Ralph Snart is a cartoon character. Ralph Snart was the main character in the "independent" comic book Ralph Snart Adventures, written by Marc Hansen and published by NOW Comics. The comic ran from 1986 until 1993, with some periodic lapses. It was quite popular, selling on average 50,000 copies per month for the length of its run.
The title character, Ralph Snart, is a Walter Mitty type who frequently escapes the painful realities of his life by daydreaming himself into incredible and often bizarre adventures. As the series progresses, his real life becomes as strange as his daydreams until there is not much to differentiate the two states. He has been labelled as the most "dangerously insane" person on Earth. For this reason, his brain is sought by the arch-villain, Dr. Goot. Ralph's insanity takes the form of delusional fantasies, mostly consisting of drinking beer, that provide sub-plot respites from the main plot: Dr. Goot's eternal quest to use Ralph's brain for his own evil ends.
Ralph Snart is a fine example of absurdity in modern comics. All characters are depicted as grotesque and ugly, with bulbous noses and bulging eyes. Many of the male characters have physiques that ripple with muscles in unlikely places, an obvious deconstruction of the popularity of the muscle-sculpted weightlifter as male action hero in the 1980s. Hansen like to elevate the mundane to epic proportions in Ralph Snart; for example Ralph would take terrible risks and great journeys to obtain a case of beer; another example is an alien attempt to dominate humanity in order to brew fermented beverages from our tissues.
Currently, the comic is being published by Hansen as a series of trade paperbacks including new and old material.
