Inferior Five
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The Inferior Five (or I5) are a parody superhero team that premiered in the DC Comics test book Showcase #62 (1966.) Created by E. Nelson Bridwell (writer) and Joe Orlando and Mike Esposito (artists), 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.
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[edit] History
All the characters were sons or daughters of members of a superhero team called the Freedom Brigade, a parody of the Justice League of America, and most of the Inferior Five were takeoffs of other popular DC characters, while Merryman's appearance was specifically 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 one memorable adventure, they met a group of what appeared to be Marvel superheroes, slightly changed to avoid copyright problems, and fought alongside them 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 cancelled, most notably in Showcase #100, one or two panels in Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Oz-Wonderland War #3 (March 1986), and in a super hero limbo in the Grant Morrison written Animal Man series.
Although the Inferior Five's original stories made frequent references to other prominent DC heroes, The Oz-Wonderland War #3 revealed their adventures to have actually occurred on "Earth-Twelve," which thus had its own dopplegangers of the JLA, the Teen Titans, etc., meaning that any such references were out of continuity in relation to the heroes of DC's primary Earth-One.
[edit] Current Status
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths (where the Five were seen simply standing around in a few crowd scenes, with no point of reference to where they had come from originally), the Inferior Five's sole "continuity" appearance as a team was in the first Angel and the Ape miniseries, where it was revealed that Angel and Dumb Bunny are half-sisters. Members of the Justice League of America had cameos in the series, indicating that the Inferior Five now existed on the post-Crisis Earth. Dumb Bunny and Merryman appeared in a crowd scene in Superboy, and Dumb Bunny later made a solo cameo appearance at a super-hero convention in Bulleteer, part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory series. The Blimp was a pallbearer at Michael Jon Carter's funeral (52 Week 18).
[edit] Inferior Five
- Merry Man (Myron Victor), the son of The Patriot and Lady Liberty. He is a descendant of Yellowjacket and the Crimson Chrysanthemum (obvious takeoffs on the Green Hornet and the Scarlet Pimpernel). He is a weakling in a jester outfit and leader of the group.
- Awkward Man (Leander Brent), son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid. He is super-strong and able to live underwater but is also very clumsy.
- The Blimp (Herman Cramer), the overweight son of Captain Swift who could fly like his father but, as he lacked his father's speed powers, could only fly at super slow speeds — with a tail wind.
- White Feather (William King), son of The Bowman and an unidentified woman. He was a superb archer when he didn't think anyone was watching; people made him nervous (as did just about everything else).
- Dumb Bunny (Athena Tremor), the stupid but super-strong daughter of Princess Power and related to Angel of the Angel and the Ape comic.
[edit] Superior Five
In the mini-series Villains United, the Inferior Five were paid homage as a group of supervillains who are tentatively known as the Superior Five. Each member has the abilities of an I5 member but, aside from being evil, are serious and modernly styled characters. They consist of:
- Tremor (Awkward Man)
- Hindenburg (The Blimp)
- Splitshot (White Feather)
- Lagomorph (Dumb Bunny)
- Jongleur (Merry Man)
Little has been seen of these characters except for one panel in Villains United #4 and a few shots of them in the background in the same issue. How they'll be used is not known but some speculate that their appearance will herald a return of the Inferior Five in one form or another.
[edit] Awards
The series and characters have been recognized in the field, being awarded a 1966 Alley Award for Best Humor Title: Costumed.
[edit] External links
[1] Comic Book Awards Almanac
