Inferior Five
| Inferior Five | |
|---|---|
Showcase #62 featuring the Inferior Five
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Showcase #62 (May–June 1966) |
| Created by |
Nelson Bridwell (writer) Joe Orlando (artist) Mike Esposito (inker) |
| In-story information | |
| Member(s) | Merryman (High Intellect, Weaklings Body) Awkwardman (Flawless in water, clumsy on land) The Blimp (Could fly only when propelled by tailwind) White Feather (Skilled Archer, Scared of people looking at him) Dumb Bunny (Super Strength, Terrible Grades) |
The Inferior Five (or I5) are a parody superhero team that premiered in the DC Comics title Showcase #62 (1966). Created by E. Nelson Bridwell (writer) and Joe Orlando (artist) and Mike Esposito (inker), the group was intended as a parody not only of the Fantastic Four, but of all the superhero teams whose members had such great powers that they could have solved any of the crimes put before them singlehandedly. The Five had to work as a team; none of them could have fought crime on their own.
The premise is that the characters were sons or daughters of members of a superhero team called the Freedom Brigade, a parody of the Justice League of America. Most of the Inferior Five were takeoffs of other popular DC characters, though Merryman's appearance was modeled on Woody Allen.
After appearing in Showcase #62, 63, and 65 (1966), they got their own title which lasted twelve issues. The first ten had new material and were published from 1967–68. In two memorable adventures (published in #7 and #10 respectively), they met a parody of Marvel superheroes such Iron Man and Spider-Man (here called "Cobweb Kid") (#7), and then (#10) fought alongside the "Kookie Four" (the humorous version of the Fantastic Four) and Sub-Moron (an obvious look-alike to Namor) to repel an invasion of aliens with hypnotic eyes and garlic breath.
Issues #11 and 12 were published in 1972, and titled Inferior 5 (using the number 5 rather than spelling out the word) and were all reprints, except for new covers. Nothing changed with the alteration of the title. Afterwards they appeared sporadically after their own series was canceled, most notably in Showcase #100, one or two panels in Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Oz–Wonderland War #3 (March 1986), in a superhero Limbo in the Grant Morrison written Animal Man series. They appear in one panel in JLA: Another Nail as Flash and the Atom take a trip through many dimensions.
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