BOOKLOG: LEAGUE OF REGRETTABLE
SUPERHEROES
by Eilis Flynn
Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book
History
by Jon Morris
For a quick gift for the would-be comics fan with a sense of humor, I present to you this book, The League of Regrettable Superheroes, by Jon Morris.
Everyone knows about Superman, the granddaddy of them
all, and Wonder Woman, the grandmommy. But what about the super-heroes who
didn’t make the headlines, the ones who slipped away from the game, the ones
who were (in many cases) not well-conceived or well-executed or just plain
terrible? Well, you’re going to get a taste of some of them here. In cartoonist/graphic
designer Jon Morris’s book—the title might have suggested a rollicking novel. It
is not; it is rollickingly funny,
however—the reader is introduced and even charmed by these comic evolution
leftovers, most of which were (logically) forgotten. A quick look at the heroes
and heroines in question when I first picked up this book made me laugh and
then protest (some of them were familiar from when I was a kid, and I remember
liking them!), and then ask where certain others, some of whom always showed up
in lists like these, were. (Matter-Eater Lad, I mean. But he’s a great character!
Even evolutionarily. Because if your planet suddenly changed, the residents
would h…well, never mind. Not the point today.)
The book is divided into comic ages—Golden Age,
Silver Age, Modern Age (because Bronze Age sounded not precious metally enough?
Or the concept of lessening metals alarmed someone?)—and familiar and nonfamiliar
names abound. What’s amusing is that in the constant search for new twists on
an old trick, some of the least likely names have been resurrected for the
comics, here and now. But the ones not likely to be resurrected are the ones I
found most memorable, with names like “Bozo the Iron Man.” That name alone made
me laugh out loud. Or that might have been the baseball game in the background.
All I know is that I had tears falling down my cheeks after I read a few of
these entries.
The creators of all these Regrettables (hey, it
should be the name of a bad boy band, too!) were themselves of note, including
Fletcher Hanks, creator of Fantomah (a heroine who debuted the year before
Wonder Woman), who disappeared from comics after three years of creating odd
characters. Then there was Bob Fujitani, a Japanese/Irish-American creator who
was a prolific comics artist during the 1940s, who can’t have had an easy time
of things during that period (who nonetheless had an interesting and lengthy career).
The names that caught my eye, both good and bad, however, had to have been
those of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman himself. While
they inspired the birth of an entire industry (and didn’t get much else but
fame out of that), they continued to create, both together and separately, for
a very long time after their teenaged enthusiasm gave us the Man from Krypton.
Interested in comic history? Read this. If nothing
else, read it and think about the drive to create a piece of history. Happy holidays, and a wonderful new year!
Elizabeth
MS Flynn has written fiction in the form of comic book stories, romantic
fantasies, urban fantasies, historical fantasies and short stories, a young
adult novel, and a graphic novella (most published under the name of Eilis
Flynn). She’s also a professional editor and has been for 40 years, working
with academia, technology, and finance nonfiction, and mystery, science
fiction, fantasy, and romance fiction. If you’re looking for an editor, she can
be found editing at emsflynn.com and reached at emsflynn@aol.com. If you’re
curious about her books, check out eilisflynn.com. In any case, she can be
reached at eilisflynn@aol.com.
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