A Case of the Bumps: Stand By Your Maniac

If the Goosebumps second era can be accused of one thing, it's a definite lack in iconic characters. There are some notable names like Murder the Clown, but none that I can ultimately think holds the same staying power that many of the original era monsters and maniacs had to offer. But Stine has tried with one character at least. It's fitting I used the word Maniacs because we're talking about the king of the maniacs and lead villain of three Goosebumps books in the second age. That's right, we're talking about Dr. Maniac. 

My general feeling on Dr. Maniac is that of my feelings on comic book themed Goosebumps books themselves. A lot of potential that is bogged down to a lot of Stine's worst trappings, and the end result of the three books he's in has led to two books I wasn't super fond of and one that I did like. But this is also Stine's favorite character from the new age, and the books featuring him have sold well. So in terms of modern era iconography, it's hard not to call Dr. Maniac a bit of a success, much to the chagrin of reviewers like Me who kind of think his antics stink. But through this Case of the Bumps, can I find the silver lining, or I guess leopard printed lining, in Dr. Maniac? Let's go crazy, let's get nuts, let's get talking about Dr. Maniac.

#1. FROM THE TWISTED MIND OF A SAD KID

Dr. Maniac, or at least the version that began in HorrorLand (more on that in a bit), was the creation of a kid named Robby Schwartz. Robby was a lonely kid, with a single mother and no other siblings. Robby would often escape into the world of comics and as such, he would be inspired to draw his own digital comic books. Often featuring himself with a new family. A mom, a dad, a brother and a sister. And they would often be accosted by a supervillain named Dr. Maniac. Bedecked in red and blue tights with a big gold M on his chest, yellow gloves, white boots with yellow feathers, and a long leopard cape. Dr. Maniac tends to do wild things like trying to force Robby to eat a dead squirrel. All while saying his catchphrase of "I'm not crazy—I'm a MANIAC!" I mean, the costume already makes that evident.

But the main story that Robby tells is his fictional brother Sam being kidnapped by Dr. Maniac. Robby and his fictional friend Brooke (because he's a sad, lonely kid) soon discover that Dr. Maniac plans to kidnap all of the kids in town and forced them to perform an ice show for him 24 hours a day. Robby's attempts to thwart Dr. Maniac are thwarted by the Purple Rage, a supervillain who gets really angry and also has a scorpion tank for reasons (Look, it's a story written by a depressed child, I can buy him not making much sense). Another villain also shows up called the Scarlet Starlet who joins forces with Dr. Maniac. Robby learns the truth that Dr. Maniac and Scarlet Starlet being Sam and Brooke who became villains because all Robby does is write about villains. Anyway it doesn't matter since Robby just deletes the story. But Dr. Maniac does still exist in HorrorLand despite being Robby's creation.

I think the first book does a fine enough job in establishing who Dr. Maniac is. The problem with this and the book that follows is that the story itself doesn't do a strong enough job in making this villain interesting. And I think that has to do with the twist that this was always a comic book written by Robby. But not only that, the main story is the second time this twist is done, also taking away any clever sting that Stine could have done with it. But you can see why Stine would be enamored with this character as he's written to be completely insane and spontaneous. Which could be a really great avenue for Stine to write some fun stuff with. Emphasis on "could be". 

#2. HE'S A MANIAC, MANIAC ON THE FLOOR

So, what are the inspirations for a character like Dr. Maniac? There's an obvious sense of The Joker in how this character is described as a grinning psychopath. But I also think a more obvious reference is The Creeper, who is mainly a superhero, but I can see Stine trying to tune this idea into a maniacal supervillain. Although Dr. Maniac thankfully isn't running around in a green-striped speedo. Instead, Dr. Maniac's initial look feels more like an attempt at a bizarre (not Bizarro) form of superman. Red and blue outfit with strange colored gloves and boots along with a leopard print cape instead of the iconic red. It's a visually striking design. Later books shift it to a silver armor with green tights which I think is more fitting and makes him stand out more. 

In terms of powers, Dr. Maniac has a few. But none that really sell him as a maniac when you think about it. He can make things explode, he has heat powers, cooling powers, flight, and of course the ability to enter both the comic world and real world. Which does explain some things later on like how Dr. Maniac kind of stopped just being Robby's creation and just became a regular villain. But, I don't know. You'd think for a maniac his powers would be more akin to making people go crazy. Be it a maniacal super laugh, or hypnotic powers that compel his victims to go insane. Otherwise it's a very safe set of abilities. 

#3. RAGING REBOOTS 

So, there was a Dr. Maniac sequel, and it being a Stine sequel, you know what that means? That's right! It's a sequel that barely factors in any of the continuity of the first book. The tried and true testament of all things R.L. Dr. Maniac Will See You Now takes us out of the Robby Schwartz misery and instead has us with Richard Dreezer, who is somehow more depressed than Robby, but given that everyone hates him, and badmouths him even when he does the right thing, I can kind of see why. But this book implements Dr. Maniac as the main antagonist as the comic world and the real world collide. 

And therein lies the problem that, much like Dr. Maniac Vs. Robby Schwartz, really hurts a book about Dr. Maniac. While he is the most prevalent villain, he's also overshadowed by so many villains and so much wackiness that the book falls apart especially by the end. It also doesn't help that this book just feels too mean spirited for its own good. But it is from Most Wanted, and I have said that series feels the most nihilistic and mean spirited. Which can work in some books, but can also drag them down, case in point.. 

#4. THE MANIACAL MANTLE

They Call Me the Night Howler! brings Dr. Maniac back one more time, but does something a bit more interesting with him. Night Howler sets up the concept of "the clothes make the man", or in the case of the book, "the super suit makes the superhero or supervillain." Mason Brady gains the costume of the Night Howler and gains the powers of the superhero, but fails at the job and eventually loses his powers by revealing his secret identity. But the twist of the story is that Dr. Maniac chooses to retire from being a supervillain and offers the costume and the mantle to Mason who takes it. So what the book does is build on the idea that supervillains can be played by multiple people. That perhaps the Dr. Maniac of the HorrorLand era and the Dr. Maniac of the Most Wanted era are different people under the costume. 

It's a definite play on whenever someone else becomes and established hero or villain and is one of the better ways to parody that idea, even down to the wearer of the costume ultimately failing at what they're good at. Though maybe Mason's calling was to be Dr. Maniac and he does a better job at villainy than heroics. But I guess it works as well in making Dr. Maniac no longer being Robby's creation. That perhaps this wasn't always Robby's creation, but rather a character that existed and manifested himself into Robby's comic. Or there are just multiple Dr. Maniacs and Robby was never that creative to begin with.

#5. PURPLE HAZE

Since I'll never get a chance to, unless Stine makes a book about him, I just want to gush some more over my boy, The Purple Rage. Appearing in two of the three Dr. Maniac books, Purple Rage serves as a sort of anti-hero. More of a supervillain but with some shades of gray, or to be more precise, purple. While he's determined to defeat Dr. Maniac, he'll also put others in danger if they anger him. And, oh boy, is it easy to anger him. And when he gets angry, he becomes Peter Griffin's "Grinds my Gears" segment. It makes for a great side villain that honestly feels more prevalent in the story about Dr. Maniac than even Dr. Maniac. He doesn't get as much screentime, but his encounter with Robby is easily the best part of that book. He appears less in the sequel, but again, the shining purple light in the bleak darkness that was that book. Please Stine, you wanna try another supervillain story, give us a full Purple Rage tale. I-err, the WORLD demands it.

#6. WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE? 

The thing about Dr. Maniac is that he is, by all accounts, a maniac. He's not exactly a character like Slappy who is mostly forced into the same situations over and over again. He can be used in more interesting comic and superpower stories. Perhaps have a story where we see Dr. Maniac trying to be a superhero for once. Either as the Mason form of the character or a unique canon. Have the villain try to do good, but only end up being so bad that he ultimately decides to be even more evil and more maniacal. Yes, that's very in line with Slappy's Nightmare, but I think if done right and with the superhero angle, it could feel like a variation of the plot. 

There's also one other idea that I think could work, but it would be up to Stine to really attempt it and I don't think he would. And that's Dr. Maniac meets the Masked Mutant. Yes, the original supervillain of Goosebumps that sadly got back seated super quick. And while yes, he was killed off in his own story, I mean it's comic books, nobody stays dead and canon can always change. But I think a story where a kid has to deal with both Dr. Maniac and The Masked Mutant invading the real world, or the real world being merged into the comic world, could work better with a better idea. Have the story feature The Masked Mutant and Dr. Maniac at first working together, only to soon be at each other's throats. And for added continuity, even bring Skipper back into the story. Would be a cool callback. 

#7. CONCLUSION

I think Dr. Maniac as a concept is not bad at all. An agent of chaos with enough powers to make him a threat. Memorable in his own way with how bizarre he looks and acts. He has that presence of spawning out of the wild imagination of some kid. The problem has always been more that the books he's in are terrible, save for the third book and he's less of a focus in that one. Either in that he doesn't get a chance to shine as much like in the first one, or he's part of a cluttered mess of characters and ideas in the second. But I do kind of see why Stine likes using him, because there is potential in that character. Hell, the fact I'm even talking about him for one of these sidebars kind of points that out. I likely wouldn't get as much meat for an Inspector Cranium or a Dr. Screem or Francine the Robot. 

I don't know what Stine has planned for House of Shivers, or if sequels are even going to be in play here, but part of me suspects that we'll probably see one or two pop up. And I wouldn't be too shocked if we saw Dr. Maniac at least one more time before it's all said and done. Maybe with more dedication to the story and the "New, ramped up style" that these books are going for, we might finally get a chance for Dr. Maniac to have his true greatest moment that might change a lot of minds on the character, even me who sees a positive to him but hasn't found that Stine's made the best book to utilize him. So if we see Dr. Maniac again, I'll be intrigued to see if he finally has that true great book in him. Though maybe hoping for that makes me more of a maniac than even Dr. Maniac. I mean I have typed over 2000 words on him. That's pretty damn crazy if I do say so myself.