The Mundane Adventures of Dishman was a self-published small press comics zine launched in 1985 by JD MacLeod

Dishman launched as an 8-page minicomic in 1985, near the crest of the eighties small-press comics boom. It was one of the top-selling minis of the time, a proverbial big fish in a small pond. Ten issues were published between 1985 and 1990, and Eclipse Comics released a collection of the first six in 1988. Two more issues were published digitally in 2018.

A combination slice-of-life character/superhero study, Dishman is the story of Paul Mahler, a schoolteacher who—after years of washing radioactive Fiestaware—suddenly gains the power of instantly cleaning dishes and putting them away by telekinesis, and his attempts to launch a career as a costumed crimefighter. It’s the superhero comic for people who don’t like superheroes. And in true Canadian fashion, Dishman’s satirical absurdity comes from playing everything absolutely straight.

“I never exactly thought of Dishman as a superhero satire. I felt like it wasn’t so much that I was satirizing superheroes, but more like by treating them as rigidly realistic as I could, I gave them the opportunity to satirize themselves if people wanted to read it that way. I wasn’t trying to say that superheroes are ridiculous. I just wanted to say they weren’t realistic.” —John MacLeod from an interview with Mel Taylor.

You can pickup a copy of the rerelease of Dishman by Black Eye Books here: https://www.blackeye.ca/product-page/dishman-trade-paperback

This limited edition Dishman collection is unapologetically black and white from cover to cover. But don't be mistaken, this is no photocopied pamphlet—this is prestige black and white, with a matte laminated cover, and deep inky blacks on high-quality uncoated paper inside.

Dishman Copyright ©1985 John MacLeod. All rights reserved.

John MacLeod was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1957, relocating to Guelph, Ontario in 1975. He drew his first comic book at age seven and never changed his mind about making them. Dishman remains his best-known work. He has contributed other short works to a number of indie and minicomic publishers. He also created the webcomics Space Kid! (2010-2018) and Not That Magic (2020-present). He further distracts himself by writing novels and learning to paint.