Megaton Man (1990):
“Leavings and Beginnings!”
by Don Simpson

46 characters in this story:

Character (Click links for info about character and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)	Religious Affiliation	Team(s) [Notes]	Pub.	# app.
Megaton Man (Trent Phloog) (lead character)		The Megatropolis Quartet; VW Gang	Kitchen Sink Press	65
Pamela Jointly	Liberal	The University of Michigan [muckraking liberal columnist; attacks Megaton Man in print]	Kitchen Sink Press	10
Yarn Man (Bing Gloom)		The Megatropolis Quartet; VW Gang [parody of Thing (Ben Grimm)]	Kitchen Sink Press	26
Liquid Man (Rex Rigid)		The Megatropolis Quartet [parody of Mr. Fantastic]	Kitchen Sink Press	5
See-Thru Girl (Stella Starlight)		The Megatropolis Quartet; The University of Michigan [parody of Invisible Woman; had affair w/Megaton Man]	Kitchen Sink Press	8
The Human Meltdown (Chuck Roast)		The Megatropolis Quartet [parody of Human Torch]	Kitchen Sink Press	2
Preston Percy		ICHHL [Megaton Man's best pal; based in part on Jimmy Olson]	Kitchen Sink Press	19
Rudy Mayo		[city editor; partially based on Perry White]	Kitchen Sink Press	9
The Manhattan Project		[newspaper Megaton Man and friends work for]	Kitchen Sink Press	15
Felicia		[Alicia Masters parody; Yarn Man's girlfriend]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Kozmik Kat	uplifted animal	cat; The Megatropolis Quartet...  VW Gang	Kitchen Sink Press	4
Megaton Mice	uplifted animals	mouse	Kitchen Sink Press	1
The Megatropolis Quartet		[Fantastic Four parody]	Kitchen Sink Press	18
The Peeper (6-panel cameo, pg. 0, panels 1-4, 6-7)  The Peeper is featured on a page which is shown as page "0" within the comic.	Peeper religion	[Watcher parody]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
unnamed college intellectual (6-panel cameo, pg. 20-21)		[befriended Stella Starlight at college]	Kitchen Sink Press	2
Red Meatball with Spaghetti Sauce (5-panel cameo, pg. 8-9)	Italian fascist	[Red Skull parody; Mussolini's right-hand man]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
U.S. Air Force (3-panel cameo, pg. 9, 26, panels 6-7)  (pg. 9) Yarn Man: "Look above us! The Air Force!" Liquid Man: "What luck! The Pentagon used Bug-Eyed Island for atomic testing!" Bombs dropped by Air Force jets and the resulting explosion are seen, but we do not actually see Air Force personnel or planes.		[military unit; pilot]		197
Melford (2-panel cameo, pg. 13, panels 2, 7)		[new boyfriend of Yarn Man's girlfriend Felicia]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Sarge Snorkel (1-panel cameo, pg. 18, panel 3)  Seen in a newspaper comic strip.		U.S. Army		199
Beetle Bailey (1-panel cameo, pg. 18, panel 3)  Seen in a newspaper comic strip.		U.S. Army		448
Partyers from Mars (1-panel cameo, pg. 30, panel 6)  On page 1 splash page, Rudy Mayo hold newspaper. Below-the-fold headline reads "Partyers from Mars?"; (pg. 18) headline: "Partyers from Mars!"; (pg. 30) Seen in 4-panel "Next Issue" preview section.	anarchist; alien	[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #3 (Apr. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	3
The Contraptoid (1-panel cameo, pg. 2, panel 6)  Megaton Man: "After all, Doctor Software is safely behind bars, and the dread Contraptoid was blown to smithereens in that explosion! This case is all wrapped up!" The wreckage of the demolished Contraptoid can be seen in a trash heap in an alley, in the foreground of a panel in which the heroes mention it has been destroyed.	N.A.	[scientist]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Maynard F. Trombone (voice only, pg. 18, panels 3-6)  Preston Percy: "Maynard F. Trombone, please! This is an emergency!" Trombone: "Preston! How ya doin', old pal! Say what? But Pres! Do you know how much research a column like Pammy's takes? No kidding! A ton! And do you know how much research a strip like mine takes? That's right! Next to none!" M.F. Trombones's name is seen above 1 complete Doomesbury strip. Rudy Mayo and Preston Percy discuss hiring him as a columnist (he declines). Panel 5 features his dialogue, talking to Preston.		[based on Garry Trudeau; writes respected strip "Doomesbury"]	Kitchen Sink Press	3
The Fantastic Four (character based on)  The Fantastic Four are parodied extensively throughout this issue.		[1st app: The Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #1 (Nov. 1961)]		100
Jean-Luc Godard (name seen in illustration (or on screen), pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight and her new college friend walk from a movie theater with marquee displaying: "Jean-Luc Godard Film Festival: 5 Big Obscure Classics". They discuss many characters from Godard films	Huguenot (raised); Maoist (convert)	[cinematographer; film critic...]		115
Libyan Air Force (toy, pg. 15, panel 2)  Toys the Human Meltdown is playing with.		[military unit; pilot]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (mentioned, pg. 14, panel 5)  Stella Starlight: "Well, Rex was always in his lab, so I'd sneak out to adjoining rooftops... It was... cheap... but I had needs... Pamela Jointly: "And he never found out?" Stella: "One time, I came home with web fluid on my skirt! Rex flew into a rage!"	Protestant	Secret Defenders; Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends...  The Avengers; Weapon X (Exiles)		10,664
Doctor Software (Julius Levitch) (mentioned, pg. 1-2)  (pg. 2) Preston Percy: "Well, that wraps up another case, eh, Megaton Man? What, with Doctor Software safely behind bards and the dread Contraptoid blown to smithereens in that explosion!" [more] On page 1 splash page, Rudy Mayo hold newspaper. Above-the-fold headline reads "Doctor Software Vanquished!!!" Sub-headline reads: "Contraptoid Annihilated in Explosion		[based on Jerry Lewis]	Kitchen Sink Press	5
Mister Metafyzik (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[Mister Mxyzptlk parody]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Claw (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Doctor Demise (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Arms of Krupp (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
The Old Scout (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Mister Braindead (mentioned, pg. 26, panel 2)  Human Meltdown: "All of our old enemies are in the pokey!" Megaton Man: "Yes, but mine aren't! They may be teaming up to descend upon us even as we speak! Mister Metafyzik, The Claw, Doctor Demise, The Arms of Krupp, The Old Scout, Mister Braindead... Any one of them is a tough customer... and they're all overdue for a bid at world domination!"		[1st app: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985)]	Kitchen Sink Press	1
Benito Mussolini (mentioned, pg. 9, panel 4)  Megaton Man: "You! But of course! Mussolini's right-hand man-- the Red Scum-Ball!" Red Meatball: "--Meatball, you insolent swine! --with Spaghetti Sauce! And for our beloved Il Duce-- you shall die!" "Il Duce" (Italian for "The Leader") is what Mussolini's followers called him.	Catholic (raised); Nietzschean atheist; Italian fascist	[dictator]	Unione Cinematografica Italiana	266
Jean-Paul Belmondo (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?"	Catholic	[actor]	France 2	45
Anna Karina (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?"		[pioneer of French New Wave]	GMA Network	27
Eddie Constantine (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?"		[played secret agent Lemmy Caution in French films]	Westdeutscher Rundfunk	36
Jean-Pierre Leaude (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?"		[famed French child actor]	Institut National de l'Audiovisuel	29
Chantal Goya (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?"		[famed French child actor]	ORTF	31
Paul (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight just watched Godard's film "Masculin Feminin," in which actor Jean-Pierre Leaude plays "Paul" and Chantal Goya plays his girlfriend "Madeleine Zimmer."		[grows isolated from his friends' social/emotional politics]	Anouchka Films	1
Madeleine Zimmer (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight just watched Godard's film "Masculin Feminin," in which actor Jean-Pierre Leaude plays "Paul" and Chantal Goya plays his girlfriend "Madeleine Zimmer."		[Paul's girlfriend; budding pop singer]	Anouchka Films	1
Natacha von Braun (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight just watched Godard's film "Alphaville," in which actor Eddie Constantine plays private eye "Lemmy Caution" and Anna Karina plays "Natacha von Braun."		[daughter of Alphaville's evil ruler]	Athos Films	1
Lemmy Caution (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight just watched Godard's film "Alphaville," in which actor Eddie Constantine plays private eye "Lemmy Caution" and Anna Karina plays "Natacha von Braun."		FBI	Coward-McCann	41
Michel Poiccard (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 1)  Stella: "This was my first encounter with foreign cinema! There's a lot of stuff I didn't understand! Like, why didn't Jean-Paul Belmondo just blast the bad guys with cosmic bolts? Why didn't Anna Karina use her elemental powers against Eddie Constantine? Why did Jean-Pierre Leaude just let Chantal Goya walk all over him instead of flaming on?" Stella Starlight just watched Godard's film "Breathless," in which actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has the lead role of "Michel Poiccard."		[criminal]	Les Films Imperia	1
Federico Fellini (mentioned, pg. 21, panel 3)  university intellectual (to Stella Starlight): "Wow! I can't wait 'til I take you to your first Fellini Festival!" Stella (thinking): "I'm almost an intellect already!"	Catholic (raised); Jungian (convert)	[film director; screenwriter]	Institut National de l'Audiovisuel; TF1 Video	74

This comic was reprinted from: Megaton Man (vol. 1) #2 (Feb. 1985): "Leavings and Beginnings!".

Megaton Man is also known as: Megaton Man Volume 1.

This trade paperback publication collects issue #s 1 through 4 from the first 10-issue Megaton Man series.

Webpage for Megaton Man (1990) created 8 April 2013. Last modified 26 December 2013.

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