Showcase #62
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeShowcase #62 marks the debut of the Inferior Five, DC Comics' first fully committed superhero-parody team, arriving at the precise moment the Silver Age superhero boom was peaking — and cheerfully puncturing it. By casting the bumbling offspring of Justice League stand-ins as protagonists, writer E. Nelson Bridwell transplanted the anything-goes satirical energy of Mad magazine directly into DC's mainstream line, demonstrating that the publisher's own house style was fair game for mockery. The issue also broke topical ground by lobbing jokes at Marvel Comics heroes in the same pages, a meta-awareness of the intercompany rivalry that was genuinely unusual for 1966. The concept proved durable enough that the Inferior Five earned their own ongoing series the following year, won a 1966 Alley Award for Best Humor Title: Costumed, and continued to turn up in DC continuity for decades — including a prominent role in Grant Morrison's Final Crisis, where Merryman serves as king of Limbo.
In "The Coming of the Costumed Incompetents," a mad doctor’s desperate quest for a ruby leads him to build a junkyard robot, setting off a chaotic showdown that only the delightfully inept Inferior Five can handle. Written by E. Nelson Bridwell and brought to life with sharp, energetic art by Joe Orlando, Jerry Grandenetti, and Mike Esposito, this 1966 Showcase #62 is a classic showcase of DC’s quirky humor and offbeat heroics—complete with Joe Orlando’s distinctive cover art.
In "Part 2: Roll Out the Robot!" from Showcase #62, the mad doctor’s latest scheme takes a clunky turn when he builds a robot from scrap to steal a vital ruby—only for the bumbling but well-meaning Inferior Five to roll in and stop it. With their usual mix of missteps and determination, the team faces off against a junkyard creation that’s more awkward than dangerous.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 16 grades ▾
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The creative seeds for the Inferior Five were planted long before the issue reached newsstands: Bridwell had been developing parody superhero concepts since childhood, and those ideas coalesced once he joined DC in 1965 as assistant to Superman editor Mort Weisinger. Crucially, Bridwell had been submitting freelance material to Mad magazine illustrated by artist Joe Orlando, and it was Bridwell who in 1965 first suggested Orlando as the artist for the new feature — a pairing that brought a knowing, caricature-driven sensibility straight from the pages of Mad into Showcase. The story 'The Coming of the Costumed Incompetents' was published on March 24, 1966 (cover-dated May 1966), with Orlando penciling and inking the lead story alongside inker Mike Esposito, and lettering by Ira Schnapp; a back-up one-pager featuring Professor Eureka was scripted by Jack Miller and drawn by Henry Boltinoff. The team's Showcase run — issues #62, #63, and #65 — was successful enough to spin off into a standalone title that ran ten issues of new material from 1967 to 1968, with two all-reprint issues following in 1972.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Inferior Five: Merryman, Awkwardman, the Blimp, Dumb Bunny, and White Feather — all debuting together in this single issue.
- First appearance of the Freedom Brigade, the parody Justice League whose retired members are the parents of the Inferior Five (members include the Patriot, Lady Liberty, Captain Swift, the Bowman, Princess Power, and Mr. Might).
- First appearance of villain Dr. Gregory Gruesome, the mad scientist antagonist of the debut story 'The Coming of the Costumed Incompetents.'
- Professor Eureka appears in a one-page backup feature scripted by Jack Miller and drawn by Henry Boltinoff, separate from the main Inferior Five story.
- Created by writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Joe Orlando; their collaboration grew directly out of prior freelance work together at Mad magazine.
- Published on March 24, 1966 (cover date May–June 1966); the team is set on what Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity would later designate as Earth-Twelve.
- The lead story was reprinted in Inferior Five #11 (1972) and again in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22.
- The Inferior Five won the 1966 Alley Award for Best Humor Title: Costumed, recognizing the debut Showcase run's impact on comics humor of the era.
Cast · 6 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Cuentos de Misterio #100 (1966), World's Finest Comics #189 (1969), The Inferior 5 #11 (1972), DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #22 (1982)
Key issues in Showcase
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.