treaty with the USSR. With the assistance of the institutionalized Captain Mantra (Captain Marvel) and a grown-up, flamboyantly gay Peter Pan, David relearns how to use his powers and ultimately defeats his enemies: gigolo "Stretch" O'Toole, aka Elastic Man (Plastic Man); the incest-born Demoniac (reminiscent of Captain Marvel, Jr. and Black Adam); and the millionaire Powell Pugh, a.k.a. the alien elf Pxyzsyzygy (Mr. Mxyzptlk by way of Howard Hughes). Characters David Brinkley/Rodney, the main character. A Superman analog from Cronk, he is married and has two beautiful blonde children. By the end he has another child, a son, with his blue hair (and possibly some of his powers). Billy Button, aka Captain Mantra, is an ex-superhero who claims to be crazy. Like Captain Marvel he becomes a superhero after saying a magic word. In Button's case the word is "tomato-herring." Mary Button, aka Mary Mantra, is an analog for Mary Marvel died before the story begins after being run over by a train. She and her brother, Billy, had a child (Near the end of the book, she is revealed to be a head angel in heaven). Peter Pan is now older and homosexual, and gave Rodney some tips on flying. Demoniac, a villain who is the product of incest between Mary and Captain Mantra. He is a mix of Captain Marvel, Jr. and Black Adam. Elastic Man is an analog for Plastic Man, and serves as a villain for the series. Pxyzsyzygy is an analog for Mxyzptlk. He serves as the main villain for the story. Influence Grant Morrison wrote an article in Speakeasy #111 and "[i]n the span of a few paragraphs, Morrison implies that Alan Moore stole the plots for 'Marvelman,' 'Watchmen,' and 'Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?' from Robert Mayer's relatively obscure novel." When asked about the influence of Superfolks, Moore said that he had read it at some point before writing Marvelman but that "it was by no means the only influence, or even a major influence upon me output." suggesting "I’d still say that Harvey Kurtzman’s Superduperman probably had the preliminary influence, but I do remember Superfolks and finding some bits of it in that same sort of vein." According to Kurt Busiek, "Superfolks was a revelation, over time changing my outlook on both superheroes and on writing, and making it possible for me to write Marvels, Astro City, Superman: Secret