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Mini Marvels (Earth-99062) is a Self-Parody of the Marvel Universe created by Chris Giarrusso, a universe that deliberately pokes fun at the Crapsack World aspect of the latter. Much fun.

How much? Well, it comes off as a Fun Personified universe compared to the mainstream M.U.. The kicker is, all the superheroes are Peanuts-esque kids, Secret Identity is not a problem whatsoever, and most surprisingly, The Good Guys Always Win.

The only (notable) adults are Stan Lee, Jarvis, Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, Aunt May, Nick Fury and J. Jonah Jameson.

In particular, their versions of most Crisis Crossovers always end up as self-parodies, like Civil Wards, which pokes fun at the un-needed Conflict Ball present in the Civil War.

There are many other memorable moments, such as when Harry Osborn saves Gwen Stacy, thus making this incarnation of the character one of the few ones still alive.note 

This series and its setting started as a series of strips by Giarrusso, called "Bullpen Bits", relying more heavily on the Peanuts aspect, but when it evolved into Mini Marvels, the series' source of inspiration was ultimately dropped.

Similar to DC series Tiny Titans.


Mini Marvels provides examples of the following tropes:

  • Refugee from TV Land: Doctor Doom's Mini Marvels-verse self is the current page image for that trope.
  • Secret Identity: As stated above, averted. It's worth mentioning here that the whole deal is made funnier because J.J. Jameson interacts with Peter Parker while the latter is in full Spider-Man uniform. It gets funny when you see, in one story, that he has the usual "threat or menace" view on Spider-Man. Same goes with Aunt May: she warns Peter to look out for "that terrible Spider-Man", apparently ignoring the fact that her nephew is Spider-Man:
    Spidey: (after a beat) Aunt May, have you been taking your medication?
  • Self-Parody: Where to begin... there are parodies of Civil War ("Civil Wards"), World War Hulk, the Symbiote's originnote ... and the list goes on and on...
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Gwen Stacy. That Gwen Stacy.
  • Spiritual Successor: The Superhero Squad Show. However, Mini Marvels is still an ongoing series.
  • Take That!: Many pot-shots at Marvel themselves.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Surprisingly, a "nasty" trope shows up in an All-Ages comic, but only in one panel. Poor Hawkeye.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: During Power Pack's fight with Sandman:
    Zero G: Powa Pack, Attack! (saves Spidey from Sandman's grip)
    Lightspeed: Take dat! (punches Sandman in the face)
    Energizer: Sandman go boom! (shoots energy beams at Sandman)
    Mass Master: I'm a cloud! (floats around in the background)
  • World of Jerkass: Somehow even more blatantly than the normal Marvel universe, but softened by the fact it's Played for Laughs 100% of the time.

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