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We all know that comic books have produced many a great hero. Batman. Superman. Spider-Man. Wonder Woman. The Red Bee. “Wait a minute,” I hear you say, “and who’s that last guy?” Why, the Red Bee is one of the dozens of heroes featured in Jon Morris’s THE LEAGUE OF REGRETTABLE SUPERHEROES, a collection of some of comic book history’s less impressive characters. Tracing the history of comics from the dawn of the Golden Age of Comics, into the space race of the Silver Age, and through the dark times in the ‘90s and the Modern Age, the book is a pleasure to read for anyone who has ever enjoyed a superhero comic or watched an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

Morris has lovingly assembled a collection of superheroes you may or may not have heard of, and if you have, you may wish you hadn’t. These aren’t some of the painfully racist characters that could be found in comics in the Golden Age, no. This isn’t about regrettable in the cultural hindsight way. This is regrettable in the “what were they thinking when they came up with that character?” way. The book runs the gamut from characters created by DC Comics (Brother Power the Geek, a life-sized hippy ragdoll brought to life), Marvel Comics (Man-Wolf, a superhero werewolf with ties to outer space civilizations), and many others, like Brain Boy from Dell Comics, who was a psychic Communist smasher during the cold war.

"While Morris’s tongue is planted firmly in cheek, he treats the creators, and even the worst of these characters, with a measure of respect."

And it’s not just oddball creators like the famous, or maybe infamous, Fletcher Hanks whose creations appear in these pages. (Hanks’ Fantomah and Stardust the Super-Wizard appear here, have no fear.) Oh, no. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster might have created Superman, who got the whole superhero genre going, but they also created the more lackluster Funnyman, a comedian crime fighter. Stan Lee co-created most of the heroes who formed the foundation of the Marvel Universe, but he came back in the ‘90s with Ravage 2099, a hero who started out with an ecology message and became a ravaging man-bull with an attitude when that didn’t work.

While the book doesn’t pull punches on just how ill-conceived these characters are, Morris is never cruel. So much of what you’d find on the internet about these kind of characters would be mean-spirited and personal at those responsible for their creation. While Morris’s tongue is planted firmly in cheek, he treats the creators, and even the worst of these characters, with a measure of respect. This might make the whole thing even funnier, since you feel like you’re laughing along with someone, not laughing at the hard, if unsuccessful, work of others.

There is an important caveat when reading this book: you might find some characters you like in these pages. As long as you have your sense of humor turned on, though, that adds to the fun. Personally, I have a soft spot for Adam-X the X-Treme, who appears in the Modern Age section. Sure, he wears a backwards baseball cap, has blades all over his costume, and has the disquieting ability to ignite the blood in his enemy’s veins. But that’s what makes him the epitome of a ‘90s hero, and I get a kick out of that --- fondly remembering that era, warts and all. Is he regrettable? Probably. But reading the entry about him gave me a warm feeling of nostalgia for when everything was as extreme as Adam-X.

Superheroes aren’t for everyone. But if you are a fan of the history of comics and graphic novels, of seeing what can happen when the creative madnesses of writers and artists are given free reign --- or if you do indeed love superheroes --- THE LEAGUE OF REGRETTABLE SUPERHEROES is a journey down a lane of strange characters you simply must take.

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