A team of
inept comic book superheroes created in 1966 by
E. Nelson Bridwell and
Joe Orlando and published by
DC Comics. They first appeared in "
Showcase #62," but got their own book less than a year later.
The team consisted of five
children of older and more successful heroes.
- Merryman, the leader, was a skinny cartoonist named Myron Victor; he was the son of Patriot and Lady Liberty. Merryman had no powers and wore a jester's costume -- he felt that if he was going to make a fool of himself by pretending to be a superhero, he should at least look the part. (Merryman closely resembled comics writer Roy Thomas)
- Awkwardman, the son of Mr. Might and Mermaid, was big, strong, and very clumsy. His real name was Leander Brent, and he "worked" as a beachcomber and part-time writer.
- The Blimp was Herman Cramer, the son of Captain Speed. He owned a deli and was very fat. His only power seemed to be that he could float like a balloon.
- Dumb Bunny was Athena Tremor, the daughter of Princess Power and Steve Tremor. She was blonde, very curvy, worked as an artists' model, and was not particularly bright. (My favorite line about her was that she was "Strong as an ox! And almost as smart!")
- White Feather was a fashion photographer named William King. The son of the Bowman, he was tall, handsome, an expert archer, and a craven coward.
In addition to
parodying DC's own heroes, "The Inferior Five" also
lampooned characters from other comics companies. As far as I can tell, the book lasted about a dozen issues, but the characters occasionally show up in other comics (Dumb Bunny and Merryman, for instance, were
supporting characters in
Phil Foglio's "
Angel and the Ape" series from a few years ago...).
Source: Scott Shaw!'s "Oddball Comics" column at the ComicBookResources.com website. If you have the original comics, let me know your address so I can break into your home and steal them from you.