Publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim | Created by Dave Sim | |
First appearance Cerebus the Aardvark #11 (August/September 1979) Notable aliases Captain Cockroach, Moon Roach, Artemis Strong, Normalroach, Kevitch, Punisheroach, many others Abilities Above-normal strength, telepathy. | ||
The Cockroach is a fictional supporting character in Dave Sim's 300-issue comic book series Cerebus the Aardvark. He first appeared in Cerebus the Aardvark #11 (August/September 1979).
In July 1984, Canadian comic book publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim was threatened with possible legal action by Marvel Comics over a Cockroach parody of Wolverine in Cerebus.
Fictional biography
The man who would become the Cockroach is an unnamed merchant and former magician. Due to the influence of Adam Weishaupt (and later Astoria), the Cockroach begins to suffer from multiple personality disorder. The ultimate effect of his psychoses causes him to take on many secret identities, all of them parodies of comic book superheroes. Among his aliases are:
In most of his personae the Cockroach believes he is helping others; unfortunately, he generally manages to cause mayhem and destruction instead.