''Major Bummer'' is a

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

ous

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

produced by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in the late 1990s. It was created by writer

John Arcudi John Arcudi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on '' The Mask'' and '' B.P.R.D.'' and his series '' Major Bummer''. Early life Arcudi grew up in Buffalo, New York. He attended Columbia University as an English major and ...

and artist

Doug Mahnke Douglas Mahnke () is an American comic book artist, known for his work and penciller, penciling books including ''The Mask (comics), The Mask'', ''JLA (comic book), JLA'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', ''Final Crisis'', and ''Green Lantern (co ...

. For the series's brief run, the main character was 19-year-old Lou Martin, who Arcudi described as "smart enough that he might be able to cure cancer if he applied himself, but he'd rather use his brain to try and steal

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

". ''Major Bummer'' was cancelled after issue #15 - "Sales were bad and there was just no way to keep this book going", wrote editor Peter Tomasi in the letter pages of the last issue.

Concept and development

Creator

developed the concept of the series in 1992 and pitched it to

under the title "Captain Slack-Ass". DC rejected this title and also insisted that the series be set in the mainstream

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

. Arcudi and penciler

, both of whom were in their 30s when the series was produced, admitted that they found it hard to empathize with a teenage slacker. Mahnke went so far as to visit malls and sketch passing teenagers just "to get reference".

Plot synopsis

Two alien college students, Zinnak and Yoof, are doing their thesis on heroes in Earth culture. To further their study, they send through the mail EEMs or Extreme Enhancement Modules that, when opened, endow the recipient with superpowers. Due to the incompetence of Yoof, an EEM is sent to Lou Martin, a

slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...

, instead of Martin Louis, an upwardly mobile young lawyer and philanthropist. Lou receives superhuman strength and intelligence. Unfortunately, because Lou is so lazy, he is only able to use his intelligence either subconsciously or during moments of extreme concentration. Despite this flaw, Lou was an erudite and intelligent individual already. Gaining powers is actually an inconvenience to him. Lou's EEM is designed to attract trouble and the other

superhumans The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...

whom Martin would have chosen to lead. The other "superheroes" are Val Andrist, the environmentalist daughter of an Ice Cream magnate who can fly; Francis Dutton, an

aromatherapist Aromatherapy is a practice based on the use of aromatic materials, including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological well-being. It is used as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medici ...

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

with a sonic scream; Lauren Isley, an elderly woman who can predict the future (but is so absent-minded she got confused with the past); a cat that became a giant when scared; and "Gecko", a nerdish man who can stick to walls. EEMs were also gifted to a group of

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

s and attracted to one another in order to ensure battles would occur (e.g. the loser-turned-monster Nunzio, whom Lou brain-damaged via unintentional electrocution). Other stories involved a Nazi dinosaur from a parallel universe named Tyrannosaurus Reich, a demon-possessed toddler, carnivorous alien worms, an overly adoring fan of Lou's that tried to kill him to make him more famous, and an alien time traveler that destroyed time.

Supervillains

* Tyrannosaurus Reich is a

who was featured in ''Major Bummer'' #5. T. Reich was pulled to earth through a dimensional portal from a dimension inhabited by

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

References

* * {{Refend

External links

Major Bummer
at the DC Database project Comics characters introduced in 1997 DC Comics superheroes Fictional majors Characters created by Doug Mahnke DC Comics characters with superhuman strength