Megaton Man

by Donald Simpson

Don Simpson might be better known today as a contributing artist to Al Franken's non-fiction book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, for which he drew a number of comic book-style stories based on Franken's scripts. But long before that bestseller hit bookstores, Simpson had made a name for himself in the comic book industry as the writer and artist of the critically acclaimed series Megaton Man-one ibooks now presents in the first of a proposed series of graphic novel collections.

Megaton Man is an outrageous and loony satire of the superhero genre. The origins of Megaton Man are shrouded in mystery. Some say he was bitten by a radioactive frog, others that he was a guinea pig in a top secret government megasoldier program. Regardless, one-time normal civilian Trent Phloog now has superpowers and is Megaton Man! Armed with a highly developed sense of justice, superhumanly developed biceps, and a brain the size of a pea, Megaton Man strides through the city determined to bring evildoers to task-regardless of the chaos he causes.

Genres: Comics, Surreal, Graphic Novels, Fiction

1 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

About the author

Comic book author and artist and illustrator.

Reviews

[Newly Wardell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so superheroes, right? I mean can no one make this genre funny? This looks like a task for DON SIMPSON. In a world where people line up to masticate Stan Lee's wrinkly nuts, one man and only one man, strikes a blow for humorists everywhere. Armed with premise so close to what its parodying there were acres of cease and desist orders littering the faceless side of Mount Rushmore, Don Simpson has struck a blow for comedy. Is the story the most original heck no, but that's the point. (The illustrations are top notch.) It's funny or as funny as a graphic novel written in the 80s parodying a lesser know bunch of heroes can be. Does it stand up to the test of time? Not remotely, but if you are familiar with the quad squad and a certain super someone, this should make you smile.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Simpson's groovy artwork recalls prime-period MAD Magazine and prefigures the Maxx (while bearing at least a passing resemblance to Dave Sim's Cerebus). Megaton Man isn't exactly a cult classic--the jokes are only occasionally funny and the narrative structure is weak--but it's a shame Simpson (who is now a Ph.D. student at Pitt) missed out on the kind of screw-you money that Tick creator Ben Edlund made.

[Arpad Okay · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word: WOO!

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. At it's best, this is a campy parody of '80s Marvel comics. Unfortunately, it spends most of its time caught up in the very thing it's trying to parody.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this has not aged well at all.