After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.
In a twist on the Superman mythos, the title character in Jim Valentino’s normalman (stylized in all lower-case letters) is shipped off into space by his father when he concludes that the planet they inhabit will explode. The child arrives on a planet inhabited completely by super-powered beings – they dub him normalman, because he’s the only one there without powers.
The character debuted in Cerebus the Aardvark #56 and was soon given his own ongoing series. That title served as a vehicle for creator, Jim Valentino, to spoof and parody other comics, a perfect opportunity (if ever there was one) to introduce cover swipes that parody the source material.
Famous Funnies began in 1934 and collected classic strips including Mutt & Jeff, Tailspin Tommy, Joe Palooka, and many other popular comic strips of yesteryear. One of the more notable characters featured in Famous Funnies was Buck Rogers and, as Famous Funnies was closing out its publishing history, they hired Frank Frazetta to draw Buck Rogers covers for the series from issues #209-217 (#218 was the last issue).
 Famous Funnies #214 November 1954 Frank Frazetta |
 normalman #8 April 1985 Jim Valentino |
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