Too Much Coffee Man

Too Much Coffee Man is an American satirical comic strip, created by Shannon Wheeler. It is also the name of an accompanying magazine.

Too Much Coffee Man Magazine #21

The strip — most often presented as a single page in comic books, alternative press newspapers and other publications, though occasionally in multi-page stories — features an anxious Everyman who broods about the state of the world, from politics to people, exchanging thoughts with friends and readers.

Visually, the character is a parody of superheroes, which since their inception have been colloquially referred to by industry professionals as "long-underwear characters". Too Much Coffee Man wears literal long underwear, dressing in what appears to be a spandex version of old-fashioned red "long johns" (full-body underwear with a buttoned flap on the back for bodily functions).

Publication history

Wheeler had started cartooning for his college newspaper in 1988 while attending his hometown college, the University of California, Berkeley. Moving to Texas in 1989, Wheeler wrote and drew a comic strip for the college paper of the University of Texas, Austin. Too Much Coffee Man began in the early 1990s as a self-published, photocopied minicomic.

Initial runs of TMCM were 300 copies. After approximately a year, Wheeler was reaching runs of 12,000 with color covers, produced at a printing company. On his first such run, to save money, he stapled each of the thousands of minicomics himself, a chore he vowed publicly he would never repeat. With three friends, he formed Adhesive Comics, releasing Jab #1-6 (March 1992 - August 1995). Adhesive evolved into Wheeler's solo company after the others moved on to individual careers.

In an interview in Destroy All Comics #3 (Aug. 1993, which takes place after the TMCM #1 mag. and before #2 that was slated for Dec.), it's stated that approx. 500-600 photocopied prints of each issue of the early TMCM comics where printed before a 2,000 print each was done at a printer for all the early issues.

From 1994 to 1996, Too Much Coffee Man ran in the Dark Horse Comics anthology series Dark Horse Presents #92-95, 100-111. Wheeler also published several issues of the comic book Too Much Coffee Man, which became the basis for a magazine of comics, interviews, and articles.

The strip Too Much Coffee Man was retitled How to Be Happy, with Too Much Coffee Man with the Jan. 23, 2006, installment.^[1] On Feb. 6, 2006, the title was simplified to How to Be Happy, and Too Much Coffee Man did not appear in the strip again until Jan. 21, 2008.^[2]

In other media

In 2000, Jazz musician Bob Dorough recorded a CD entitled Too Much Coffee Man. The character appears on the cover, drawn by Shannon Wheeler, and there is a title track (originally intended to be music for an animated series based on the character) as well as a cover of the Richard Miles composition The Coffee Song (They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil).^[3]

Marvel Comics and the cable television network Comedy Central were developing a potential animated series or special with the production company Nelvana in 2000 and 2001. The character has also been used in advertising for such companies as Hewlett-Packard and Converse.^{[citation needed]}

Wheeler and composer Daniel Steven Crafts adapted the strip into what the press called as "the world's first comic-book-to-opera adaptation". Too Much Coffee Man Opera debuted at Brunish Hall at Portland, Oregon's Center for Performing Arts on Sept. 22, 2006. A sample performance, which preceded the debut, was given at the Opera America convention in Seattle, Washington.^[4] The opera's regional success prompted Wheeler to team up with Portland, Oregon-based comic Carolyn Main and write a second act. This new, extended version, dubbed "Too Much Coffee Man: The Refill," debuted again at Brunish Hall in April, 2008.

Characters

Too Much Coffee Man (TMCM) wears a red spandex bodysuit with a large mug attached atop his head; it remains unclear whether he is wearing it or whether it's physically part of him. He rarely sleeps and his nerves are shot from an excess of caffeine. TMCM spends most time in his apartment or at the local coffee shop with his often pessimistic cohorts, debating politics and the toils of urban society. He has also been in outer space and in a U.S. prison.

Too Much Espresso Guy is TMCM's cynical and cold-hearted friend. Their friendship appears mostly based upon mutual loneliness and a shared pessimism.

Too Much German White Chocolate Woman With Almonds is a mutual friend. She is pale-skinned, worries a lot, and has large almonds on her face.

Underwater Guy is another mutual friend, who wears a wetsuit with a diving snorkel and mask. He has the ability to remain underwater indefinitely. An obvious parody of Aquaman.

Mystery Woman is TMCM's secret love.

Books

• Too Much Coffee Man: Guide for the Perplexed (Dark Horse, 1998)  ISBN 1-56971-289-1
• Too Much Coffee Man: Parade of Tirade (Dark Horse, 2000)  ISBN 1-56971-437-1
• Too Much Coffee Man's Amusing Musings (Dark Horse, 2001)  ISBN 1-56971-663-3
• Too Much Coffee Man: How to be Happy (Dark Horse, 2005)  ISBN 1-59307-353-4

Footnotes

References

• Too Much Coffee Man official site
• Thrust Electronic: Shannon Wheeler interview
• Acid Logic, Aug. 12, 2002: Shannon Wheeler interview
• Transcript, interview from NextPlanetOver.com, March 1999
• Comics2Film: Too Much Coffee Man
• The Grand Comics Database

External links

• The Austin Chronicle (May 17, 2002): "Never Too Much Coffee Man" (Review of Amusing Musings)
• The 4th Rail (Nov. 24, 2004: "Snap Judgments" (column) (Review of Too Much Coffee Man magazines #21)
• An interview with Shannon Wheeler at The Daily Cross Hatch, from March 26, 2007