The Middleman is a comic book series written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach with art by Les McClaine and published by Viper Comics. The series was initially intended to be a television pilot that went on to be published as a comic, before being picked up as a TV series for the 2008 season by ABC Family. The show was cancelled the same year.
Publication history
The first issue was released in July 2005. The mini-series was collected as a single trade paperback volume, entitled The Trade Paperback Imperative. The second trade volume, entitled The Second Volume Inevitability, was released in July 2006 and includes the supplement Legends of the Middlemen, three short stories chronicling the adventures of past Middlemen. The third "mini-series" was released straight to trade in 2007 as The Third Volume Inescapability.
All three volumes were collected in 2008 into a single volume, The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability.
In 2009, a fourth volume, The Middleman: The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse, was published. Unlike the previous comics, this volume was based on an unpublished script for the ABC Family TV series and serves as the show's finale.
Plot
The Middleman's slogan is "fighting evil so you don't have to" and the character has been doing it for an unknown length of time. The Middleman is not just the incarnation in the current mini series; it is a job, a title, a persona that is handed down from Middleman to Middleman. There are no written records of the Middlemen throughout history; only Ida holds the answers to the present day Middleman's predecessors. Each Middleman receives information via Ida from the "Organization Too Secret To Know" (O2STK). They carry out their orders in typical hero fashion and always save the day.
The series follows hero-by-day, artist-by-night Wendy Watson as she tries to balance her normal life of boyfriends, mothers, and roommates with her more surreal adventures with the Middleman. She is presumably training to become the next Middleman.
Thus far, the adventures of four Middlemen have been chronicled in the book and its supplementsPresent Day Middleman, World War Two Middleman (and his doomed sidekick "The Middleboy"), Victorian Middleman and Barbarian Middleman, who operates in a quasi-Hyborean era. All of the historic Middlemen (with the exception of Victorian Middleman) have female sidekicks who bear a peculiar resemblance to Wendy.
In November, 2011, it was announced that The Middleman would cross over with Doctor Who, although the Doctor may not be mentioned by name.
Characters
The Middleman (present day) The Middlemans real name and past is unknown to anyone, save Ida, although in the first comic book series (and first episode of the TV series) he recounts having been a Navy SEAL and being recruited shortly after having been cashiered for insubordination. But even though much of his life is a mystery, his character is unmistakable.
In the third trade paperback series, and the scripted 13th episode of the TV show (turned into a standalone comic book), he is revealed to be named Clarence (full name Clarence Colton in the 13th episode). The 13th episode also revealed the Middleman who recruited him.
The Middleman is what Grillo-Marxuach calls a "Dirk Squarejaw" character. He is the all American hero and a callback to heroes of more innocent times. He hardly ever swears. He is rugged, dorky, and he drinks his four glasses of milk every day. It was lightly hinted in the first episode that he had feelings for Wendy.
In the ABC Family TV version, he is played by Matt Keeslar.
Wendy Watson
Wendy is The Middleman's sidekick and presumably a Middleman-in-training. She was picked because the weird things that the Middleman deals with on a daily basis do not faze her. In many ways, she is the total opposite of The Middleman, which makes her even more perfect for the job.
She is an artist by passion and a temp-worker by necessity. On one of her temp-jobs, something went horribly wrong and she accidentally met The Middleman. He recruited her under the guise of the Jolly Fats Wehawkin Temp Agency. Wendy's roommate calls her "Dub-Dub", for her initials "WW", and reminiscent of the name of Doctor Dolittle's housekeeper, a duck named Dab-Dab. The Middleman picked up on this nickname, and frequently calls her "Dubbie".
In the ABC Family TV version, Wendy is played by Natalie Morales.
