Bananaman
| Bananaman | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd |
| First appearance | Nutty No. 1 (16 February 1980) |
| Created by | Writer: Steve Bright, Dave Donaldson Artist: John Geering |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Eric Wimp (later Eric Twinge but usually referred to as simply 'Little Eric') |
| Team affiliations | Chief O'Reilly, Crow |
| Abilities | Super strength Flight Invulnerability Breathing in space Helium-boosted heat finger Immense stupidity ("the muscles of twenty men, and the brains of twenty mussels") Also equipped with gadgets: Thermal Banana, Banana Laser Gun, electronic thermal underwear. |
| Bananaman | |
|---|---|
Title card
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| Genre | Animation/Comedy |
| Created by | Steve Bright |
| Starring |
Tim Brooke-Taylor Graeme Garden Bill Oddie Jill Shilling |
| Theme music composer | Dave Cooke |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Trevor Bond |
| Running time | 5 min |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC STV (reruns on Nutty) |
| Original release | 3 October 1983 – 15 April 1986 (reruns 1989–1997) |
Bananaman is a British comic book fictional character. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped figure when he eats a banana. The character originally appeared in Nutty as the backpage strip in Issue 1, dated 16 February 1980 drawn by John Geering. He has since appeared in The Dandy and The Beano.
The original strip, by Dave Donaldson and Steve Bright, written and developed by the latter, and mostly drawn by John Geering until his death in 1999, is essentially a parody of Superman and Batman with shades of Captain Marvel and his British twin, Marvelman and occasionally other Silver Age characters, while also combining comic slapstick with a heavy dose of eccentric British humour similar to Alan Moore's contemporary work on Captain Britain.
After John Geering died in 1999, Barrie Appleby took over and later Tom Paterson. In 2003, the original scriptwriter, Steve Bright drew it, until 2007. Sporadically from 2007 to 2010 the character appeared in reprinted strips from the John Geering era. For a short time, in late 2008, artist Chris McGhie reinvented Bananaman in a series of new strips. Chris' other work included The Three Bears for The Beano (in 2002) and the characters on Yoplait's 'Wildlife' product range. Two new strips appeared that year drawn by Barrie Appleby as well.
Since the Dandy revamp occurring in October 2010, Wayne Thompson took over drawing Bananaman in a style reminiscent of French cartoonist Lisa Mandel, a popular artist in The Dandy who has previously drawn Jak, Agent Dog 2-Zero and, occasionally, Bully Beef and Chips. In Issue 3515, Wayne's style notably changes and looks more cartoony and detailed. As of spring 2011, Thompson's version of Bananaman appears in full colour over two pages.
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