Normalman

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normalman
Normalman.jpg
Cover to the Complete normalman trade paperback, with Captain Everything carrying normalman by Jim Valentino.
Publication information
Publisher
First appearance Cerebus #56 (Nov. 1983)
Created by Jim Valentino
In-story information
Alter egoNorm-L
Place of originArnold
PartnershipsCaptain Everything
Sgt. Fluffy
Sophisticated Lady
Abilitiesnone
normalman
Publication information
ScheduleMonthly
Format Limited series
Genre Superhero, parody, humor
Publication dateJan. 1984 – Dec. 1985
No. of issues12
Collected editions
Normalman - The Novel ISBN   0-943151-00-7
The Complete Normalman ISBN   9781582408156

normalman is a limited series of American comic books created by Jim Valentino. [1] It began in November 1983 as a four-page story in Cerebus #56 (Nov. 1983) 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).

Contents

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. Later a trade paperback which included several followups was published by Image Comics. Both trades are in black and white. In 2024, Image published a hardcover omnibus collecting the whole series in full color along with other material.

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. As soon as he did so, 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, according to the footnotes, 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.
  • The Flesh: He is a nudist.
  • Nastygirl: She can use her beauty to get men to do what she wants.
  • Flatman: He is completely flat.
  • Water-Logged Man: He has "water breath".
  • Green Heartburn: He emits a beam causing heartburn and seems to suffer from it.
  • Robin Hoodlum: He uses arrows similar to Green Arrow.
  • Useless Kid: He is a random child that hangs out with the League (a possible parody of Snapper Carr).

Bibliography

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References

  1. Markstein, Don. "normalman". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 301–302. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.