Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Superman | Tagged: bananaman, beano

The Beano's Bananaman Does Spider-Man No More & The Reign Of Supermen

This week's Bananaman in Beano #4225 sees the yellow superhero making a big change and channelling classic Spider-Man and Superman storylines.

Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, schoolboy Eric Wimp who is transformed into a muscled, caped superhero when he eats a banana. Created by Dave Donaldson, Steve Bright and John Geering, he first appeared in the weekly British kids comic Nutty in 1980, which I totally bought before transferring to The Dandy and then Beano, the second longest-running comic book in the world – the longest is Action Comics. The character gained greater fame when, from 1983 to 1986, the BBC aired a cartoon series based on Bananaman and featuring the voices of the members of The Goodies, which I totally watched. And even had a musical stage version of the comics in the Southwark Playhouse in London in 2017 and 2018, which I totally missed.

The current artists on the Beano strip, Tommy Donbavand and Danny Pearson joined in 2016, and Ned Hartley has written it since 2018. And Ned knows his superheroes. So this week's Bananaman in Beano #4225 sees the yellow superhero making a big change.

Which is straight from the sixties Amazing Spider-Man #50 by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. from 1967 and the famous "Spider-Man No More" splash page

But then he takes a jump to the nineties, as we get a reworking of the Reign Of The Supermen that followed the Death Of Superman which gave us four new Supermen with Cyborg Superman, The Eradicator,  Superboy and Steel as the new Man Of Steel.

So how does Bananaman do it? We have Bananaboy instead of Superboy, complete with leather jacket with his logo on the back, and facing down Appleman

We have Cyborg Bananaman instead of Cyborg Superman. Not quite as convincing,

And instead of Steel's Man Of Peel, we have The Man Of Peel, which is an old Bananaman joke but should always be made given half a chance.

And to match the Eradicator's look, Top Banana shades up.

The question must be asked, what other superhero classics could go through the Bananaman filter to an un suspecting British kids audience? Watchbanana? The Dark Banana Regurgitates? B For Banoffee? Or something more recent like House OF Banana or this summer's Absolute Banana? The banana is in your court, Ned…

Bano #4225 is is all British newsagents right now and available digitally as well.

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