Rat-Man is an Italian comic book about an inept superhero of the same name, created by Leonardo Ortolani in 1989. Although it was initially meant to be a satire of other superheroes, most prominently Batman, it has since evolved into an independent comic sporting a complex, evolving continuity. The comic is well known for its nonsense humor à-la Monty Python, its engaging storytelling and its frequent breaking of the fourth wall. Ortolani often pays both direct and indirect tribute to other comic authors (Jack Kirby above everyone else) and he frequently makes his characters use pop-culture references, either generic or specific to the native Italian context and background. The comic was published by Panini Comics as new installments under the name of Rat-Man Collection (closed with issue #122) and is currently being published as reprints of older stories in Rat-Man Gigante.
Publishing history The character of Rat-Man appeared for the first time in the second issue of Spot, a supplement to the Italian magazine L'Eternauta #86 of June 1990, shortly after Leonardo Ortolani won a young artists' contest. From 1990 to 1995 Rat-Man was published on the fanzine Made in USA. After the debut, Leo Ortolani chose to self-publish the comic alongside his primary job as a geologist; however, in 1997 Leo signed a contract with Marvel Italia, today a brand owned by Panini Comics (and, at the time, a branch of Marvel Comics itself), to publish the comic under the Marvel brand, which allowed Leonardo to become a full-time comics author. The contract also allowed him to use popular Marvel characters like Captain America, Wolverine, Doctor Doom and Elektra in Rat-Man stories; however, copyright problems have since prohibited such use of characters in the Rat-Man world.
Leo Ortolani stated his intention to close the series with issue #100.
He later on remarked how this was a joke not to be taken seriously (as on Rat-Man #92), and that the series would have ended after #100. In fact, in 2016, Ortolani stated his intention to really close the series with issue #122, which was published around September 2017 effectively closing the main Rat-man saga.
Structure of the Comic Rat-Man was born as a parody of Batman, which is reflected in his name, in his gadgets and in the details of his first story. For example, while Bruce Wayne took inspiration from a bat coming through his window, Deboroh took inspiration after a similar search from his weekly Mickey Mouse comic. They both lost their parents at a young age, both vowed to fight crime to avenge them and both inherited a large fortune with which they fund their activities. Rat-Man even had a sidekick named Topin (Topo, in Italian, means mouse) who was clearly inspired by Robin. Rat-Man's stories were initially either classical superhero stories, with the main character fighting various supervillains to save his city, or, sometimes, the world, or parodies of famous works of fiction. Sometimes, there would be stories revealing Rat-Man's past and troubled origins as a superhero. Lately, the "normal" superhero stories have been abandoned in favour of telling his present problems as he struggles to find his identity. The parody stories continue as usual, often used to break between story arcs.
Among the parodied works, there are Star Trek, Star Wars, 300, Titanic, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, 007, and many others.
Summary of Rat-Man adventures
Before Rat-Boy In Rat-Man's universe, two entities fight against each other: the Light, representing all that is good and pure, and the Shadow, a force of evil and corruption. After the Second World War, the First Secret Squad, a team of superheroes led by the Pipistrello (bat), combats for truth and justice backed by the Light, in an age of great prosperity and peace. After this failure, in 1954, the Shadow abandons the current vessel it had to take the body of the criminal boss Boda Valker, and contaminates his son, Janus, as well. Despite the best efforts of Samuel Krik, then a simple cop but already affiliated with the Light, the child is irremediably corrupted, and is taken by his father to be trained as his successor.
Under Boda's leadership, the Shadow instills fear in the heart of the No Name Country, who starts to doubt the superheroes. Feeling that they are manipulated, the First Secret Squad quits and is subsequently killed by the traitor Lupo (wolf) in 1965. Two years later, Deboroh la Roccia is born.
Rat-Boy Deboroh is not an intelligent child, but he is well-meaning and willing to become a superhero after reading their adventures in comic books. He is taken to an orphanage after being lost by his parents in a mall sale, and he is rescued by Janus Valker, who believes him to be his son. However, this is a lie installed in his mind by his brother, the insane Joba, in order to control him and make him weak with affection for someone else. Janus falls for it and becomes attached to the child, despite being very stupid. The young Deboroh still carries his dream to become a superhero.
In the meantime, the Shadow, through its agents and the scientific research centre Elsewhere in which Janus also works, is planning the Second Secret Squad in order to control the nation and influence it. Since the program involves total anonymity, Janus has Deboroh join it as Rat-Boy as a way to fulfill his wish to become a superhero and protect him from the Shadow, who is constantly seeking to further corrupt him. The Second Squad, led by Wolf, however, fails to unite the nation and is seen as a tool of the government. They also clash with the Men in Tights, heroes who spontaneously embraced the teachings of the First Secret Squad and consider themselves the true heirs of their legacy. The No Name Country loses faith in superheroes.
In 1984, Rat-Boy quits the squad. Janus contacts him one last time after he discovers Joba's deception in order to erase from both minds any memory of the other. He hopes that by doing so they can escape and rebuild new lives. Unfortunately, after using the machine, Joba reaches them to kill them. The Shadow has abandoned Boda for the failure of the Second Squad, and his seeking a new vessel. Joba wants to make sure that he is chosen by eliminating Janus. In a bloody showdown, the two brothers clash and Joba is defeated. Janus buys Rat-Boy some time by embracing the Shadow and becoming its vessel, and letting him escape. Rat-Boy flees to No Name City, where the effects of the machine finally kick in and he forgets much about his past life. The Shadow loses track of him, and the only tool that it has to find him again is his mental track, which is hidden by Janus' wife, Kalissa, who has gone into hiding.
MarvelMouse Deboroh becomes MarvelMouse, a superhero who fights in the Arena, a brutish coliseum where the last remaining superheroes fight for the crowd's amusement. Their kind is dying, being replaced by the newer and more stylish manga, but MarvelMouse's determination and goodwill convince one of the last agents of the Light, only known as Teacher, to end his reclusion and train him as a proper superhero. The Teacher, who had mentored the First Secret Squad, helps him embrace his potential, and MarvelMouse becomes Rat-Man.
In his last fight in the arena, Rat-Man is pitted against the Dragon, the greatest of the manga, who wants to kill him to end all superheroes. Just as he is defeated by him, Rat-Man realizes that his destiny is to help the nation, not to fight in the Arena. Before his demise he is saved by the other remaining superhero, the Man With A Spider Costume. With their triumph, the country remembers the superheroes and Rat-Man starts fighting crime.
However, Janus, who is now fully under the Shadow, seeks to destroy him with the Guardian, a colossal robot built to eliminate the First Squad and abandoned after the same goal was accomplished through other means. When the Guardian detects a new superhero, it is sent to kill him. In fact, it detected the rebirth of the Teacher as Pipistrello. Pipistrello had escaped the destruction of the Secret Squad and lived since then in hiding, blaming himself for the failure and death of his comrades. The Guardian kills him, but not before he leaves his legacy to Rat-Man.
Rat-Man Though initially unwelcome, Rat-Man, with the help of Samuel Krik, becomes the last remaining superhero apart from the Second Secret Squad, which is still controlled by the Shadow. He starts protecting the city from many threats, such as the demon of desire Tefnut, the devourer of worlds Cosmicus and the publisher-gone-mad Spider. He inherits everything the Teacher had, including the wealthy Fuffa Corporation and butler Archibald, befriends Tadeus Brakko, and is the object of lust of transsexual Cinzia. This is the period when he is in his prime, and the animated series is set during it.
However, the Shadow still conspires to bring him down. Using the Buffoon, Rat-Man's first enemy, Janus Valker tries to destroy the Second Secret Squad in order to make space for the Third one. However, Rat-Man and his former teammates foil his plan, with all the others deciding to quit crimefighting after the confrontation. Rat-Man remains as the only superhero.
A while later, Kalissa uses the mental track to contact Rat-Man and convince him to participate in a cloning program led by the former scientists of Elsewhere. The project is to create an army of clones of Rat-Man to act as a powerful force of good, but the plan goes awry when Number Six, one of the clones, mutates and gains too much conscience. He frees the original Rat-Man, who stops the program. Hindered, Kalissa and the other scientists contact Janus to seek his help with the project, but they are unaware of how much he has changed.
Valker has fully embraced the Shadow and wallows in the complete knowledge it offered to him. However, the Shadow still conceals some information from him, and Janus, who craves omniscience, is forced to seek Rat-Man on its quest to gain it. When the other scientists find the Shadow and reveal that they have the mental track, he takes it away from them and murders them brutally. After making sure that Rat-Man is completely unaware of their shared past, he deletes that information from his brain as well.
Demise and Rebirth Rat-Man, in 2003, enters a coma which he comes out of in 2005. In the meantime, the city has forgotten him and replaced him with many new superheroes, and he struggles to fit in again. All the new superheroes, however, flee when the Guardian, sensing activity of the Light, returns to the No Name City. Rat-Man realizes that the existence of a supervillain is inextricably tied to the presence of a superhero, and, being the last one, he stops donning a mask to save the city. Without a purpose, he retires to private life.
This is in fact a ploy orchestrated by Valker, who is slowly destroying him. After robbing him of his secret identity, he drives the Fuffa Corporation to bankruptcy and undermines the faith of the nation in superheroes. Rat-Man tries to return with an animated series but it is shallow and it worsens his conditions. He becomes a hobo, ready to be devoured by the Shadow, but with the help of Krik, Brakko, Cinzia and his fan club, he overcomes it. Janus is further stopped by the last lingering memory of being Deboroh's father, his last sliver of humanity which prevents him from taking the life of his adopted son.