The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History

“A volume rich with historical anecdotes and informed commentary on every era of comics history.”— A.V. Club “With its gorgeous full page images of the comics and humorous descriptions of the heroes, each second-stringer gets a few pages of glory.” —Boing Boing “Jon Morris has compiled the histories and art of some of the strangest and most unusual superheroes that ever saw print and collected them here for you. Definitely check it out!”— Nerdist “This compendium of short-lived superheroes (from actual comics) will thrill and amaze.”— Mental Floss “A great idea, executed with adroit prose, attractive design and painstaking production quality. . .xa0xa0turning what could have been a merely dutiful archive into a vibrant, living, expertly curated tour of a long-neglected and seriously goofy facet of American cultural history.”—NPR’s Monkey See “[A]n amusing collection of obscure wonderments.” —Sci Fi magazine“Forgotten but not gone, cartoonist and graphic designerxa0Jon Morrisxa0has lovingly resurrected, wittily chronicled, and copiously illustrated these idiosyncratic super-D-list-ers—more than a hundred—for our enlightenment and—mostly—amusement.”— PRINT magazine“[Morris’s] wealth of knowledge and whip-smart sense of humor add up to a book that’s both deeply informative and quite funny.”— Seattle Weekly “This excellent book would be a worthy addition to any comic fan’s collection, be they the hardcore enthusiast or the more casual fan of the superhero genre.”— ComicBook.com “This compilation is essential reading both old and new fans who revel in the art of comic books. . . This is a wealth of comic art and undeniable fun.”— The New York Journal of Books Praise for national bestseller The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains : “Fascinating.”— Entertainment Weekly “A sequel to Morris’s acclaimed The League of Regrettable Superheroes , this quick-read volume is a chronological encyclopedia of the strangest and silliest antagonists ever to appear in sequential art.”— Vulture “In the realm of comic books, the undisputed guru of all things ridiculous, forgotten, and regrettable is Jon Morris.”— VICE “ [A]xa0delightfully fun rundown of more than 100 of pulp history’s most marvelous forgotten baddies.”— Parade “Full of gorgeous vintage comic art and poignantly entertaining character entries.”— PRINT magazine Praise for The League of Regrettable Sidekicks: “Axa0gorgeous technicolor reference tome.”—Tor.comxa0xa0xa0“Entertaining, well-written and researched. . . Highly recommended!”— My Comic Book Jon Morris is a cartoonist and graphic designer and author of The League of Regretxadtable Superheroes (Quirk, 2015), The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains (Quirk, 2017), and The League of Regrettable Sidekicks (Quirk, 2018). Since the late 1990s, he’s operated the blog Gone & Forgotten , an irreverent in-depth look at the worst, the lowliest, and the most unfortunate stories and characters comic books have ever offered. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Superheroes are big! Contemporary culture has embraced superheroesxa0in a major way. Hardly a month goes byxa0without an announcement about the release ofxa0a new blockbuster superhero movie. Superheroxa0television shows are all over the airwaves, withxa0more waiting in the wings. Superheroes populatexa0our video games, advertising, clothing, andxa0collectibles—even home furnishings. You canxa0make your bed with superhero sheets and lightxa0your house with superhero lamps.xa0 xa0 xa0Perhaps this ubiquity should come as noxa0surprise. When superheroes burst onto thexa0scene almost eighty years ago, they capturedxa0the public imagination like nothing before.xa0Bold, distinctive, and sometimes bizarre, thexa0four-color caped crusaders quickly leapt fromxa0drugstore comic book racks to newspapers,xa0radio, movie theaters, and television. True,xa0their popularity has had its ups and downs.xa0But however you look at it, brightly coloredxa0defenders of right and goodness like Captainxa0America, Superman, Wonder Woman, andxa0Spider-Man have become household names.xa0Even once-obscure characters like the X-Menxa0or Guardians of the Galaxy have achieved silverxa0screen success.xa0 xa0 xa0Still, not every Spandex-clad do-gooderxa0manages to make the big time. From the veryxa0origins of the genre to the newest digital graphicxa0novels, the family tree of costumed crimefightersxa0includes hundreds of third-stringers andxa0Z-listers: near-misses, almost-weres, mightabeens,xa0nice tries, weirdos, oddballs, freaks, andxa0even the occasional innovative idea that wasxa0simply ahead of its time.xa0 xa0 xa0In the pages that follow, you’ll meet largelyxa0forgotten heroes, those who walked away fromxa0their comic book careers without so much as axa0participation ribbon to show for it. They arexa0some of the most intriguing also-rans in comicsxa0history: super-centaurs, crime-fighting kangaroos,xa0modern-day Draculas, shape-changingxa0spaceships, and even an all-powerful disembodiedxa0flying eye. We call these second-tier (orxa0lower) superheroes “regrettable,” but it’s importantxa0to remember that none of these charactersxa0are inherently bad. Sometimes, the onlyxa0factor that kept them from succeeding was badxa0timing, an unstable marketplace, or merely beingxa0lost in the crowd. There’s not a single characterxa0in this book who doesn’t have at least the potential to be great. All it takes is the perfect combinationxa0of creative team and right audience to makexa0even the wildest idea a wild success. xa0 xa0 xa0In fact, several members of the League ofxa0Regrettable Superheroes have been revived,xa0revamped, reintroduced, or otherwise regiftedxa0with a new lease on life. A few are attempting axa0comeback even now. In comics, there’s alwaysxa0a chance that a seemingly vanished character willxa0come back from extinction. With superheroesxa0becoming more popular with every passingxa0day, you never know when a once-regrettablexa0hero might return and become the next mediaxa0sensation—or at least find devoted fans amongxa0a whole new generation of comics readers. xa0 xa0 xa0To count these heroes out and consign themxa0to oblivion without appreciating what theyxa0represent—evolving notions of heroism, insightsxa0into comics history, and a sampling of fantasticxa0fashion trends in cape-and-cowl ensembles—well, that would be truly regrettable. Read more