normalman

normalman

Cover to the Complete normalman trade paperback, with Captain Everything carrying normalman. Art by Jim Valentino.
Publication information
Publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim
Renegade Press
First appearance Cerebus #56 (Nov. 1983)
Created by Jim Valentino
In-story information
Alter ego Norm-L
Place of origin Arnold
Partnerships Captain Everything, Sgt. Fluffy, Sophisticated Lady
Abilities none
normalman
Series publication information
Schedule Monthly
Format Limited series
Genre Superhero, Parody, Humor
Publication date (Aardvark-Vanaheim series)
Jan. 1984 – Apr. 1985
(Renegade Press series)
June – Dec. 1985
Number of issues 12
Collected editions
Normalman - The Novel ISBN 0943151007
The Complete Normalman ISBN 9781582408156

normalman is a limited series of American comic books created by Jim Valentino. It began in November 1983 as a four-page story in Cerebus #56 and #57 before being launched as a full-color 12-issue series which was published by Aardvark-Vanaheim before moving to Renegade Press. There was also a crossover with Journey. The story of normalman concluded in normalman 3D Annual #1 (Renegade Press).

The series spoofed the comics of many comic book companies, including DC, Marvel, EC and Harvey, as well as doing parodies of The Spirit, Elfquest, Asterix, Star Wars, and The Wizard of Oz.

normalman was first collected in trade paperback by Slave Labor Graphics. Recently, a new trade paperback which included several followups was published by Image Comics. Both trades are in black and white.

Contents

Overview

On the planet Arnold, a junior CPA had come to the conclusion that Arnold would explode in eight hours. In a take on the origin of Superman, the junior CPA built a rocket ship to launch his infant son into deep space. No sooner had he done so, however, that he discovered that Arnold was not going to explode after all, leading his enraged wife to murder him. Twenty years later, the rocket carrying the now-grown baby ended up crashing into an Earth-like planet called Levram ("Marvel" spelled backwards), populated entirely by super powered people. Because he had no superpowers of any kind, the locals dubbed him "normalman".

Most of the super-powered inhabitants of Levram were disposed to violence ("fight scenes") and normalman (or "norm" for short) sought a way to leave Levram for good and return to Arnold. His allies in this endeavor were the impossibly powerful but cheerfully dimwitted Captain Everything (a spoof of Superman and Mighty Mouse, whose ability to negate all known laws of physics and invent new superpowers at every plot twist made him the most powerful being in the universe limited only by his considerable stupidity), the battle-ready Sgt. Fluffy, agent of S.C.H.M.U.C.K. (which stood for nothing in particular), and the beautiful Sophisticated Lady who would become the love of his life. normalman had gained an enemy in the Ultra Conservative who saw him as a threat to Levram's status quo. A mysterious time-traveling woman calling herself the Countess of Monte Crisco (who debuted in a later issue) had plans of her own regarding both normalman and Fluffy's ruby slippers.

Characters

Main characters

Recurring characters

  • Captain Everything
  • Human Person- Powers unknown. A parody of Wonder Woman. She seems to the leader.
  • Flesh- A parody of Flash. He is a nudist.
  • Nastygirl- Possibly a parody of Black Canary. She can use her beauty to get men to do what she wants.
  • Flatman- A parody of Batman. He is completely flat.
  • Water-Logged Man- Likely a parody of Aquaman. He has "water breath".
  • Green Heartburn- A parody of Green Lantern. He emits a beam causing heartburn and seems to suffer from it.
  • Robin Hoodlum- Likely a parody of Green Arrow and the name seems to a parody of Robin Hood. He uses arrow silimar to Green Arrow.
  • Useless Kid- Likely a parody of Snapper Carr. He is a random kid that hangs out with the League.

They battled the Unnecessary A-Men (Uncanny X-Men), Tight Teens (Teen Titans) and Cloned Kids (DNAgents) only to discover they were clones created by Rotten Kid as mean as revenge for not letting him join (despite the fact he never applied).

References