Bananaman

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Alternative Origins

In the 1991 Dandy Annual, Bananaman's origin was changed to that of being a normal Earth baby in a maternity hospital, who obtained his powers after unintentionally eating a banana that the General Blight had hidden a stolen supply of Saturnium in, and accidentally left it next to Eric.

Related Topics:
1991 - Dandy Annual

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Bananaman initially faced a different pastiche supervillain each week, who were often lampoons of the kind of single-issue, uncreatively-named villains that heroes fought during the Silver Age, or tips-of-the-hat to famous supervillians.

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Enemies include:

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• Doctor Gloom, a Doctor Doom homage
• Appleman, Bananaman's arch-enemy in the early strip
• Weatherman
• Clayman
• The Heavy Mob, a group of thieves led by Eddie the Gent
• Auntie, a nanny with remote controlled balls of knitting wool as weapons
• Impossible Man, complete with a quiff who performs impossible things such as hopping at 100mph
• Scotsman, who controls haggis with a set of bagpipes
• The Nerks, an alien race bent on conquering Earth, led by King Zorg
• Bubblegum Bert
• Skunk Woman, an homage to Catwoman

The strip's medium-subverting elements became toned down as the strip gained in popularity, becoming more simplistic to appeal to the supposed audience. Bananaman gained a talking crow sidekick called simply Crow, and he became so stupid he often forgot how to fly. Eventually, Bananaman even began to go to school despite being an adult. General Blight, a generic criminal mastermind, largely replaced the inventive criminal-of-the-week.

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Bananaman is allied with Chief O'Reilly, a stereotyped Irish policeman (apparently a homage to Batman's James Gordon or the equally stereotyped Chief O'Hara in the 1960s Batman TV series). He used to wear an Indian feather headdress as a visual pun on Chief. Chief works in a police station shaped like a giant police helmet, which frequently has to be rebuilt after Bananaman accidentally destroys it.

Related Topics:
Batman - James Gordon - 1960s - Batman

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