The Inferior Five

    (DC, 1967-1968, 1972)
™ and ©1967 DC Comics, Inc.

Merryman! Dumb Bunny! The Blimp! White Feather! Akwardman! This humorous assortment of would-be super-heroes debuted in Showcase #62 and were popular enough in the late 1960s to merit their own book.

With the camp craze in full gear and DC gradually waking up to the new, comparatively older and more “sophisticated” comics audience that Marvel had developed in the 1960s, the Inferior Five was a gesture of wit from the normally staid and traditional publisher. Even if today it reads as more gesture than wit, Inferior Five offered lots of broad attempts at humor and some very effective parodies of Stan Lee’s histrionic style at Marvel (effective enough that Marvel responded with their own humor title, Not Brand Echh). The Five were rumored to be parodies of The Fantastic Four.
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Apr 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: E. Nelson Bridwell, Henry Boltinoff  ·  A: Mike Sekowsky, Henry Boltinoff
    Mar-Apr issue
    1 copy for $7.80
  • 2
    #2
    Jun 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: E. Nelson Bridwell, Jack Schiff, Henry Boltinoff  ·  A: Mike Sekowsky, Sheldon Moldoff, Henry Boltinoff
    May-Jun issue
    4 copies from $32.00
  • 11
    #11
    Sep 1972
    Cover: $0.20
    W: E. Nelson Bridwell  ·  A: Joe Orlando
    Series begins again (1972); Reprints Showcase #62
    3 copies from $5.50
  • 12
    #12
    Nov 1972
    Cover: $0.20
    W: E. Nelson Bridwell  ·  A: Joe Orlando
    Reprints Showcase #63; Final Issue
    1 copy for $14.98