Line #46 ComicBook/MajorBummer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/major_bummer.jpg]]
2	->''"The first inaction hero!"''
3	-->-- '''Tagline for issue #1'''
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5	Major Bummer is a humorous {{Superhero}} ComicBook created by John Arcudi (writer) and Doug Mahnke (artist), published by Creator/DCComics between 1997 and 1998, set outside the regular [=DCU=]. The series follows Lou Martin, [[TheSlacker slacker]] extraordinaire, who wakes up one day with [[SuperStrength superhuman muscles and strength]] and capable of [[SuperIntelligence building rayguns in his sleep]]. Lou, committed to an existence of videogames and B-movies, tries his hardest to [[RefusalOfTheCall keep the powers from changing his life]] — but [[WeirdnessMagnet usually fails]].
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7	Constantly trying to enlist Lou in the fight against evil are a group of "superheroes" with more goodwill than actual ability: '''The Gecko''', a nerdy guy who can [[WallCrawl walk on walls]]; '''Val''', a girl with [[{{Flight}} the power of flight]]; '''Francis''', a haughty hippie with a sonic scream; and '''Lauren''', an old lady who can [[{{Seers}} see the future]] but not usually [[ScatterbrainedSenior concentrate long enough to communicate it]]. The threats faced by the team include, among other things: a team of equally incompetent "supervillains", a LoonyFan of Lou's who gives [[UnwantedAssistance "help"]] that's arguably as dangerous as the villains themselves, and the ''Tyrannosaurus Reich'' — an intelligent [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] T. Rex from AnotherDimension.
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9	As it turns out, the superpowers are a "gift" from Zinnak and Yoof, two alien college students who are writing a thesis on Earth hero culture: part of their project is sending out [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent "extreme enhancement modules" (EEMs)]] that give superpowers, attract their hosts to each other — be them friend or foe — and [[MagneticPlotDevice attract trouble in general]]. Lou’s [=EEM=] was actually meant for Martin Louis, an activist and philanthropist, who would have whipped the team into shape — but taking the module back from Lou would kill him — which he objects to.
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11	The series suffered from low sales and was eventually cancelled after fifteen issues, but at least Arcudi and Mahnke had time to write a properly epic GrandFinale — as close to epic as Lou can come, at least — involving a TimeCrash. Due to its status as something of an oddball in the DC lineup the series was not reprinted for a long time, until ''Complete Major Bummer Super Slacktacular'' finally came out in 2011.
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13	----
14	!!Major Bummer contains examples of the following tropes:
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16	* AnotherDimension: Usually accessible through {{Antimatter}} [[ArtisticLicensePhysics leaks]]. One dimension is the origin of Tyrannosaurus Reich.
17	** AlternateUniverse: Some dimensions are this, most notably the one [[spoiler: the crazy and superpowered Zinnac]] comes from.
18	* BrilliantButLazy: Lou in a nutshell. He could be the greatest hero Earth has ever known, but he doesn't find superheroing as interesting as B-movies. Bonus points for being brilliant in the intellectual sense as well (thanks to his SuperIntelligence).
19	* ContrivedCoincidence: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for the most part: people with [=EEM=]s become magnets for other enhanced individuals and for all kinds of other weirdness, so their life will be as action packed as a comic book. On the other hand, Lou keeps bumping into Martin Louis, who has no [=EEM=] and shouldn't have any special connection to him.
20	* CorporateSponsoredSuperhero: Lou briefly becomes one -- complete with [[BadJobWorseUniform embarrassing outfit]] -- for Val's dad, an ice cream magnate. It doesn't work out, in no small part because Lou's LoonyFan Milton sabotages him so that "his super-heroism will not be prostituted".
21	* {{Expy}}: The Gecko, a nerdy guy who can walk on walls, is clearly a riff on ComicBook/SpiderMan. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in his first appearance:
22	-->'''The Gecko:''' So you see, this is why I call myself The Gecko. I can crawl right up walls just as if they were floors.\
23	'''Lou:''' Sounds like a spider to me.\
24	'''The Gecko:''' ''[crestfallen]'' Yes, well, some people might see it that way.
25	* FatAndSkinny: Yoof and Zinnac, respectively, [[spoiler:until Zinnac [[LosingYourHead loses his body]]]].
26	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Serious and educated Zinnac, and bungling dimwit Yoof. [[spoiler:Until Zinnac loses his body and [[FreakOut his sanity with it]], leaving Yoof as the only one who can fill the role of MrExposition]].
27	* {{Foreshadowing}}
28	** In issue #3 Lou calls Nunzio "Slappy". Nunzio [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom takes offense]] and replies "Try callin' me slappy again. See what happens". Lou calls him "Slappy" again in issue #9 [[spoiler:just before killing him. In the following issue, the [=EEM=] revives Nunzio as a brain-damaged, feral beast who [[MadnessMantra can only repeat "Slaaaapeeee!"]]]].
29	** Yoof mentions in issue #10 that exposing an [=EEM=] to open air has a "very high disaster potential". Two issues later we discover that [[spoiler:exposed [=EEM=]s find a new host but, if not reconfigured, make them crazy in the process. Which is what happened to an AlternateUniverse Zinniac who is coming to conquer our world]].
30	** [[TheSmartGuy Reggie]] lets his SesquipedalianLoquaciousness slip for a few seconds in issue 7. [[spoiler:It's the first sign there is a second mind in his body]].
31	* GratuitousNazis: Tyrannosaurus Reich is currently the page image.
32	* GravityMaster: Nancy, from the villain team, has the power to make things light as a feather or much, much heavier with a touch.
33	* HeroicBuild: Lou and his villainous counterpart Nunzio get SuperStrength as a power, and develop muscles so big they look more cartoonish than heroic. Nunzio's new body, unfortunately for him, is not just big but looks like [[PowerUpgradingDeformation a cross between an ogre and a lizard]].
34	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: Extreme Enhancement Modules. They graft onto a host's heart, giving them superpowers and attracting other supers and trouble in general. They can also heal their hosts and even bring them BackFromTheDead (within certain limits).
35	* KindheartedCatLover: Lauren has ''dozens'' of cats in her house. She could be considered a borderline CrazyCatLady, although she's more scatterbrained than crazy.
36	* LosingYourHead: [[spoiler:After a fight with Lou, all that remains of Zinnac is a disembodied head kept alive by alien technology]].
37	** Later in the series, [[spoiler:Reggie chops off his own head and puts it on life support, because he doesn't want to share a body with his second brain]].
38	* LovableCoward: Lou's instinctive reaction to supervillains is to run away as fast as he can, a fact that he'll happily acknowledge and defend.
39	* MagneticPlotDevice: [=EEM=]s again.
40	* MetaOrigin: Most of the superhuman powers in the story come from the aliens' experiments.
41	* MilitaryRankNames: Invoked by the title, but absent in the comic itself, where no one uses a codename (except The Gecko). The closest we get is Lauren commenting that Lou should lead the team and have the rank of major like her former husband.
42	* MindHive: [[spoiler:The villain Reggie]] is an odd example, in that [[spoiler:the [=EEM=] that enlarged his brain also turned a nerve cluster in his colon into a fully sentient second brain -- and the two don't like each other]].
43	* MissedTheCall: The entire premise of the story. The ImportedAlienPhlebotinum that gave uber-slacker Lou Martin his powers was intended for uber-samaritan Martin Louis, but the alien who left it on Lou's doorstep didn't realize that the phone book prints last names first. Since the phlebotinum can't be removed without a fatal surgical procedure, Lou's stuck with his powers, but for the entire length of the series, he tries his hardest to maintain his slacker lifestyle. Unfortunately, the [[WeirdnessMagnet plot keeps finding him]].
44	* MsFanservice: From the hero team, Val (who shows {{Underboobs}}), and from the villains, Nancy (who's not wearing much more than a bra for a top).
45	* NoProductSafetyStandards: Using a second-hand [=EEM=] makes you insane if you don't recondition it first. Think it doesn't sound too bad? Did we mention that [[spoiler:exposed [=EEM=]s graft themselves automatically to the nearest person]]?
46	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: At one point [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Reggie]] speaks a sentence in plain English, and looks very concerned after he realizes he did. [[spoiler:This {{foreshadow\|ing}}s the revelation that there is a second mind inhabiting his body.]]
47	* PietaPlagiarism: Parodied on the cover of [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Major_Bummer_Vol_1_12 issue 12]].
48	* PowerUpgradingDeformation: Several of the villains become rather grotesque when they get superpowers. [[SuperStrength Nunzio]] becomes a hulking ogre-like brute, Carlos gets CreepilyLongArms (and legs) and AbsurdlySharpClaws, while [[SuperIntelligence Reggie]]'s head becomes [[MyBrainIsBig huge]] and covered in veins.
49	* RapidAging: Happens to Lou when he falls into the [[TimeTravel time stream]] without protective equipment.
50	* RealityWarper: Moe, from the villain team, has the power to rearrange matter. The series was cancelled before we find out if he ever figured out how to do anything really impressive with it.
51	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: [[SuperIntelligence Reggie]] is such an an extreme example that he is ''utterly incomprehensible'' to anyone.
52	-->'''Reggie:''' Hield that rabelaiesian integument, jabbernowl. Anneal your crasis, or a trucidation is ineluctable.\
53	'''Lou:''' ''[to Carlos]'' What the ''hell'' -- ?\
54	'''Carlos:''' Nobody knows.
55	* ShockAndAwe: Bridget, from the villain team, can generate electricity.
56	* SpellMyNameWithAThe: The Gecko, the only one who bothered coming up with a secret identity.
57	* StoutStrength: Middle-aged Lou from the future, while still superstrong, has certainly let himself go.
58	* SuperIntelligence
59	** Lou's massively augmented intelligence would enable him to [[GadgeteerGenius build rocket engines from garbage]], comprehend languages he [[ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum never heard before]] and see inhabitants of the [[SpiritWorld astral plane]] with a little concentration. Too bad he ''never'' concentrates. Alternatively, he can access his intellect subconsciously, such as when falling asleep or daydreaming.
60	** Played straighter with Reggie on the supervillain team, who has a [[MyBrainIsBig ginormous head]], builds AppliedPhlebotinum in his spare time and is a [[ExaggeratedTrope comically extreme]] case of SesquipedalianLoquaciousness.
61	* SuperLoser: Our "heroes" and most villains. It's pretty much the whole point of the comic.
62	* SuperZeroes: Ditto.
63	* TimeCrash: The GrandFinale arc of the series involves a time machine exploding in the timestream in the past, launching history as shrapnel into the future, and causing past events to overlap with the present. Time travelers need to be cautious when time traveling to fix it, as they risk being impaled on jagged chunks of time if exposed.
64	* WallCrawl: The Gecko and Carlos have this. In the Gecko's case, this seems to be his ''only'' power.
65	* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Half of the "good guys" team is stuck with abilities that don't really help in combat. The Gecko can only WallCrawl, Val can fly but her offensive abilities are limited to pelting adversaries with garbage, and Lauren's precognition is useless half of the time (she gets better -- or at least luckier -- later in the series). Their abilities ''could'' be useful in the hands of a skilled person -- which they are not.
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Context ComicBook / MajorBummer