Superman Analogue: Stupendous Man
47The power fantasy of being a Super Hero is compelling and indelibly associated with childhood, so it's no surprise that one of the most famous exploration of childhood had an example. Calvin and Hobbes featured all kinds of fantastic adventures, including those of a hero called Stupendous Man.
Music: "VHS Dreams" by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com
Original Thread: https://twitter.com/CaseAiken/status/1122322780077400064
Original Text: I really don't want to accidentally give any hints about #AvengersEndgame (because it's THAT good and I REALLY want to talk about it) so staying far afield. Let's talk about the #SupermanAnalogue alter ego of Calvin, Stupendous Man!
It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that this is as much an excuse to talk about Calvin and Hobbes as anything else. I freaking love the series! When I was little I was obsessed with the strip. The character had a deep imagination that fueled his "adventures".
In retrospect, Doug and Calvin and Hobbes have very similar concepts, just at different stages of life. I mean their personalities are wildly different, but both series are about youths who construct elaborate escapist metaphors for their real problems.
Stupendous Man stories weren't as prevalent as Space Man Spiff tales, but they were fun bombastic yarns with a very Superman-esque power fantasy. His foes were super-powered versions of his teachers and associates (Calvin being much more antisocial than Doug)
He'd pepper normal run ins with purple prose. Amusingly, we'd see both the fantasy version of events as well what was really happening. Unlike Doug, Calvin acted out his fantasies.
In a #Shazam like fashion, the name was an acronym... Kind of. Mostly gibberish, but a nod, though probably unknowingly, to one of the foundational entries into the genre.
It just occurred to me that someone might not know about #CalvinAndHobbes. This was a newspaper comic strip that ran in the 90s about a first grader with behavior issues and an over active imagination, along with his imaginary friend/stuffed tiger.
Interestingly, we don't really see Hobbes in much of the Stupendous Man material. I guess there was a desire to keep the different fantasy elements separate.
As for powers and design, Stupendous Man is mostly characterized as having Superman powers and a non specific costume plus a cowl that he wore both in fantasy and reality. However there were appearances (early, I think, maybe the first) with a more traditional domino mask.
While Stupendous Man wasn't the biggest part of Calvin and Hobbes, the series as a whole was so good that it all stands out to me. It's a bit of a walk down memory lane just bringing up panels from the strip and I hope some of you share this nostalgia.
(Also, I hope if this isn't your thing, that you have your own thing that brings warm memories and you have an excuse to revisit it)
Master Thread: https://twitter.com/CaseAiken/status/1346189702580342785
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