From back in the day... the 1980s that is. A superhero parody comic strip.
Self-published, Joe gave me his last copy. I scanned it and will give the original to the Library of Congress. But you can read it here at the Internet Archive.
Who is Dunderman?
Rocketed to earth as a baby when his planet explodes .. . no, that's not it. Deep in a cave beneath stately Wayne manor... nope, not that either. Bitten by a radioactive ...?
The truth is that Dunderman represents the classic everyman, frustrated with the injustices of life and feeling powerless to make a change. His excuse, he tells himself, is that he is no one special. When chance events give him tremendous power, however, it becomes clear that he is as ineffectual as ever. It is the desire and ability to do great things, coupled with total ignorance as to how to go about it, that is the basis for Dunderman.
6/25/25 update: Joe told me more about the background of the strip last month, and it turns out the booklet is one of ten that he created as a pitch for syndicating the strip. In his own words"
This strip, incidentally, holds the world record for fastest rejection.
After the sweat and labor of creating the strips, I made 10 copies in
booklet form (the standard in those days) and delivered one by hand to
Al Leeds at the Washington Post writers group (too poor to afford a
courier and didn't want to trust the Post Office.) So I went down to the
front desk of the old WP Building but they wouldn't let me go upstairs
to drop it off. The desk guy said I should take it to the delivery
entrance but that I should hurry, since they only made two distribution
rounds each day and the last one would be going any minute.
So I hustled out and around and up the back alley to deliveries, and got
it on the cart just as they were loading it up. This was around 2:30 -
then I got back on Metro and went home. The next morning, I checked the
mail (it came around 10 am) I had an envelope with the enclosed message,
which I have framed over my desk. I envision it thus: It comes to his
desk around 3. He opens it, looks through them, and stops everything,
writing the note, getting it in an envelope and then going down to the
mail desk and saying "I don't CARE if the afternoon mail has already
left - this must be delivered as soon as possible!"
