365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…
November 14th - The Inferior Five
The Inferior Five are a group of rather silly heroes who possess super powers that are not especially useful. Nonetheless, they have banded together to fight evil and, through luck, guile and circumstance, always manage to prevail.
Originally, The Inferior Five existed on a parallel earth adjacent to the main DC continuity. There the members of the team were each the children of established and successful superheroes (and each parodies of character’s from the DC pantheon).
The five included:
Merryman, the son The Patriot and Lady Liberty (parodies of Uncle Sam and Miss America). He is the team’s leader and wears a jester outfit (having decided that if he was going to make a fool of himself, he might as well look the part). Merryman is highly intelligent and a keen strategist. H is also highly trained int he martial arts. Unfortunately, his ultra-lean frame and lack of physical strength often prevents him from best utilizing these skills.
Awkwardman, who is the son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid (parodies of Superman and a female version of Aquaman). Awkwardman is super-strong and able to breath underwater, having inherited powers from both parents, but is also very clumsy. In keeping with his half-undersea heritage, he requires periodic contact with water, which can consist of simply pouring it over himself with a watering can.
Dumb Bunny, the daughter of Princess Power and Steve Tremor (parodies of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor). The beautiful Dumb Bunny is dim-witted yet superhumanly strong as well as invulnerable to nearly all forms of attack.
The Blimp who is the son of Captain Swift (a parody of the Flash). The Blimp is able to fly yet lacks his father’s speed powers and hence can only sort of float at a rather slow speed, requiring a tail wind for propulsion.
And finally White Feather, who is the son of The Bowman (a parody of The Green Arrow). White Feather possesses a skill at archery that possibly rivals that of Green Arrow himself. Unfortunately, White Feather suffers from debilitating and untreated social anxiety. As such he can only utilize his peerless archery skills when nobody is looking.
Again, despite the underwhelming nature of their abilities, The Inferior Five always managed to prove victorious against their many adversaries. The continuity in which these characters existed in was erased during the Crisis of Infinite Earths event yet versions of the heroes have periodically shown up at various time in the contemporary DC continuity. Specifically, Dumb Bunny has been reintroduced as the older sister of Angel O’Dare (from the Angel and The Ape series); further more, Dumb Bunny is not dumb at all but rather quite brilliant. She merely pretends to be ditzy as an act so to make sure her enemies underestimate her.
The Inferior Five first appeared in the pages of Showcase #62 (1966).
