A Couple of These I Have Actually Read
Morris has put together a compendium of weird and failed superhero characters from the across the 75 year history of the genre. Some of these characters are just unfortunate attempts to cash in on a trend like Skateman, NFL Superpro, and US 1 the trucker superhero. Others border on outsider art like Fletcher Hanks intensely odd creations Fantomah and Stardust the Super Wizard, or Madame Fatal the cross-dressing crime fighter. Some appear to be self-conscious parody like Squirrel Girl and Fatman the Human Flying Saucer. The saddest entries are the attempts by once great creators to catch lightening in a bottle again, like Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's character Funnyman who fights crime with clown props.
It is easy to mock these oddball attempts at superheroes, but I can't help but think that if Spider-Man had been cancelled back in 1962 his concept would seem just as bizarre as the Red Bee or the Ferret.
Disclaimer: review copy provided by LibraryThing.
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