BANANAMAN IN EUROVILLAIN CONTEST

A Dandy Special No.2 with Bananaman and General Blight on the front cover

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I consider Bananaman in Eurovillain Contest to be the first Bananaman graphic novel.

Printed and published in 1990 by DC Thomson as the second issue of the A Dandy Special series, it's a complete story which parodies the Eurovision Song Contest.

Wishing he had satellite TV, Bananaman's secret schoolboy alter-ego Eric Wimp decides to make his own satellite dish from various household items.  Surprisingly, his handiwork pays off and he settles down to watch the Eurovillain Contest, introduced by a presenter who is clearly based on the late Sir Terry Wogan, former presenter of Eurovision for UK audiences.

Regular Bananaman villain King Zorg stars as chief judge, with his Nerk minions making up the rest of the judging panel who are tasked with scoring supervillains from all over Europe on their attempts to best Bananaman.  At this point Eric realises he's not going to be able to relax in front of the telly after all...

Hilarity ensues with good-humoured writing and visual jokes aplenty poking fun at cultural stereotypes.

Bananaman crash lands right in the middle of Europe

These stereotypes extend beyond the general public to the supervillains themselves.  From left to right in the image below is Doctor Gloom, King Zorg, Ivan the Terrible representing Russia, Garlicman from France, Greece's Abzorba the Greek, Weatherman, a Nerk, Switzerland's Goudaman and The Norseman (aka Ragnar the Hairy) representing Norway.

A wealth of supervillains cause Bananaman no end of trouble

Their superpowers are inventive and bonkers in equal measure.  Goudaman gets around in a giant wheel of swiss cheese, the holes in which allow him to pop out to surprise Bananaman with a blast from his alphorn.  Eating a sackful of garlic cloves turns Garlicman's breath into a powerful blowtorch capable of burning through brick walls!  Abzorba the Greek is able to transform his body into the same material as anything he touches.

France's Garlicman

Abzorba the Greek

My favourite supervillain to feature in the story is Spaghettiman, from Italy.  A spoof of Marvel's Spider-Man, he shoots spaghetti ropes from his wrists and uses this pasta producing ability to perform other spider-like tasks too.

Italian supervillain Spaghettiman in action

​Interestingly, despite being prominent on the comic's front cover, General Blight makes only a minor appearance on page one.  Supposedly partially based on Adolf Hitler, I imagine it was deemed too insensitive to have him feature in the story for obvious reasons​.

West Germany isn't represented in the story at all, and before German reunification on 3rd October 1990, The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Smiffy from The Bash Street Kids makes a guest appearance

At one point in the story, Bananaman borrows Smiffy from The Bash Street Kids to deter Weatherman from expanding his focus on the whole of Europe.  A fun cameo from The Beano dunce.

Plenty more plot twists and silly surprises feature throughout the comic's 36 pages but I'll leave these for anyone thinking of finding a copy of the comic to enjoy.  Bananaman fans will certainly find it worth a read!

Next time, readers, I'll be taking a flick through Bananaman's second outing in the A Dandy Special series.  The Secret of Willie Boggins coming soon!