Mini Marvels
Mini Marvels is a Self-Parody of the Marvel Universe created by Chris Giarrusso, a universe that deliberately pokes fun at the Crapsack World aspect of the latter. Much fun.
How much? Well, it comes off as a Fun Personified universe compared to the mainstream M.U.. The kicker is, all the superheroes are Peanuts-esque kids, Secret Identity is not a problem whatsoever, and most surprisingly, The Good Guys Always Win.
The only (notable) adults are Stan Lee, Jarvis, Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, Aunt May, Nick Fury and J. Jonah Jameson.
In particular, their versions of most Crisis Crossovers always end up as self-parodies, like Civil Wards, which pokes fun at the un-needed Conflict Ball present in the Marvel Civil War.
There are many other memorable moments, such as when Harry Osborn saves Gwen Stacy, thus making this incarnation of the character one of the few ones still alive (alongside the other two[1]).
This series and its setting started as a series of strips by Giarrusso, called "Bullpen Bits", relying more heavily on the Peanuts aspect, but when it evolved into Mini Marvels, the series' source of inspiration was ultimately dropped.
- Badass Adorable: Everyone.
- Better Than a Bare Bulb: It might just be the most tongue-in-cheek version of the Marvel Universe ever.
- Crapsack World: Played with. Yes, the shades of the defining trait of the original Marvel Universe are still there... except nobody makes a big deal out of it.
- Crisis Crossover: The way they sum it up in only two panels provides the current page image for the trope.
- Deadpan Snarker: Spider-Man is just like his mainstream counterpart. Just read this exchange.
Hulk (in his video message): "Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Dr. Strange... you have twenty-four hours to face me, or I'll flatten New York City. To clarify, our battle will consist of me physically beating you into submission, so abandon any notion that your facility with haiku will be of any advantage. Last, but not least, I will smash anybody else who tries to get in my way."
Spider-Man: "I'm inclined to stay out of his way."
- Eye Scream: Implied.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: More like a kind of Parental Bonus, but seriously. This universe includes every Marvel character... including the Red Skull. What.
- Girls Have Cooties: "ROGUE HAS COOTIES!"
- Glad I Thought of It: Summed up in a single panel.
- Hand Wave: Parodied. Joe Quesada's (initial) explanation for One More Day ("It's magic! We don't have to explain it") was just begging people to snark the hell out of it, and so Giarrusso did.
- Homage Shot: Plenty. As a simple example, just compare the two-page spread at the end of Secret Invasion (which started the Dark Reign) with Giarrusso's take on it.
- Insistent Terminology: Somewhat because it's not touched upon, but since he's not a man here (he's still a boy), everyone calls him "Spidey" in lieu of "Spider-Man". And we do mean everyone.
- Jerkass: this verse's Hawkeye has shades of this.
Hawkeye: "I remember you!"
Sentry: "Really?!"
Hawkeye: "No."
- Milking the Giant Cow: Played straight by Wolverine when he rants about the past he can't remember. Turns out he was using this as an excuse because he didn't do his homework.
- Mythology Gag: All over the place.
- Punny Name: Charles Xavier's name turns out to be this when you realise that, even after dropping the Peanuts aspect of the series, he still looks like Charlie Brown. Also counts as both a Stealth Pun and a Visual Pun.
- Refugee From TV Land: Doctor Doom's MiniMarvels-verse self is the current page image for that trope[2].
- Self-Parody: Where to begin... there are parodies of Marvel Civil War ("Civil Wards"), World War Hulk, the Symbiote's origin[3]... and the list goes on and on...
- Somebody Else's Problem: As a Take That towards the involvement of people outside the Illuminati in World War Hulk.
Iron Man: "C'mon! You heard him - - he's threatened the whole city!"
Cyclops: "Only if you three don't show up!"
Wolverine: "For anybody else involved in this, they'd have to be completely insane!"
(Beat Panel)
Iron Man: "Sentry, can you do us a favor?"
- At the end of the Planet Hulk parody, all of the Illuminati are freaking out over the Hulk approaching Earth...except Namor, who's in his best "don't give a crap" pose saying "I live underwater".
- Spared by the Adaptation: Gwen Stacy. That Gwen Stacy.
- Spiritual Successor: The Superhero Squad Show. However, Mini Marvels is still an ongoing series.
- Take That: Many pot-shots at Marvel themselves. This universe's Sentry, in particular, gets a nasty one from none other than the MiniMarvels-verse Deadpool:
Sentry: "Why doesn't anyone remember me? I'm the Sentry, darnit! The Sentry!"
Deadpool: "Listen, I can't remember every guy I beat up."
- And his interaction with Wolverine, with shades of Never Live It Down for the latter:
Sentry: "Wolverine! You remember me, don't you?"
Wolverine: "You from Project Weapon X?"
Sentry: "No, I..."
Wolverine: "Shut up."
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Surprisingly, a "nasty" trope shows up in an All-Ages comic, but only in one panel. Poor Hawkeye.
- What Do You Mean It's for Kids?: The worry is understandable, given the source material. And then, outside of this series, Giarrusso plays the opposite trope for laughs with a drawing of... wait for it... Mini Watchmen. D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: During Power Pack's fight with Sandman:
Zero G: Powa Pack, Attack! [saves Spider-Man from Sandman's grip]
Lightspeed: Take dat! [punches Sandman in the face]
Energizer: Sandman go boom! [shoots energy beams at Sandman]
Mass Master: I'm a cloud! [floats around in the background]
- ↑ three if you count Spider-Man: The Animated Series as well
- ↑ Here it is - just in case it ever gets changed with another page image.
- ↑ It comes from newspaper print ink, who would've thought?
