No, you didn’t read that wrong. No, the proofreaders haven’t taken a day off. Yes, that does say Baman Piderman.
It’s quite hard to describe what this web series is without it reflecting badly on me a little, but here goes: I have spent the last few weeks wetting myself with laughter because of a show about what can only be described as “what would happen if Batman and Spider-Man were mentally impaired housemates that lived with an anthropomorphic pumpkin”. Now, if that doesn’t sell it, nothing will.
Animated and written by a husband-wife duo and hosted by MondoMedia (Dick Figures, Happy Tree Friends), Baman Piderman is taking the rather niche world of online animation shorts by storm. It doesn’t really have much of a concept… or plot… and it doesn’t really make a great deal of sense a lot of the time, but if you’ve ever appreciated slightly off-kilter,
surreal humour, then you really must give Baman Piderman a chance.
A few defining moments include Baman’s propensity to forward-roll almost everywhere he goes, usually culminating in all his limbs spontaneously exploding; Piderman’s adorable obesity leading him to drag himself by web-slinging himself everywhere; or the oddly gripping love story between the aforementioned anthropomorphic pumpkin and a sort of green squid thing. Believe me, by the time you’ve got to the end of the second series, you’ll be rooting for the odd couple like they were Romeo and Juliet for the Internet age, only instead of gang warfare, their obstacles are the fact that one is a pumpkin, the other is a mass of tentacles and they are both of indeterminate gender. O, cruel fate!
Each episode ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes long, and the second series is infinitely more plot-driven than the first (if you can call it a plot, considering that it mostly revolves around cake, evil basement clones and the relationship between a tuba and her father) so I advise sticking with it, since it can seem a little hard to follow at first.
Don’t expect there to be a whole lot of comic book references, either. The title may imply a bit of gentle ribbing in the direction of our favourite superheroes, but in reality, their identification with the Dark Knight and the ‘Weedy Radioactive SpiderNerd’ has little bearing on the actual action. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; just consider it as a standalone series that happens to involve some oddballs dressed as superheroes and you’ll be well on your way to understanding at least some of what this insane series is all about.
Overall, this show is just a little bit weird, with a dash of creepy humour, a large pinch of ridiculous animation and a sprinkling of surrealism. While you may not think this is the most sparkling review ever made, I’d definitely recommend a cursory glance at Baman Piderman, even if it’s just to kill some time… or to work out what the hell I’ve been rambling on about for this whole article.
To Youtube!
Kate Gray
exeposedev 