What was the name of the worst superhero ever?

May 14, 2007 11:24 AM

Who was the bouncy superhero?

I had a comic some years ago featuring a superhero whose only superpower, so far as I remember, was the ability to bounce off of things. He wasn't stretchy like Reed Richards, just highly resilient. I clearly recall him falling down a rocky chasm, bouncing harmlessly off the sharp crags. I'm not certain on this, but I believe his suit was mult-colored though predominantly blue and he wore goggles of some sort.

He' has to be the stupidest non-satirical superhero with the most ridiculous superpower in comics history, and I'm struggling to recall his name. I mentioned him to a comic-geek friend and he looked at me blankly; I'd love to show him proof that I have not gone mad. Anyone?

posted by Terminal Verbosity to media & arts (15 comments total)

Bouncing Boy? From DC's Legion of SuperHeroes.
posted by FreezBoy at 11:26 AM on May 14, 2007

He certainly fits the description, but the guy I was thinking of didn't have to inflate to be bouncy. In fact he was pretty skinny. Fast work, though, thanks!
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 11:31 AM on May 14, 2007

Speedball
posted by drezdn at 11:38 AM on May 14, 2007

Though I think speedball wasn't the worst ever.
posted by drezdn at 11:40 AM on May 14, 2007

His name is Robbie Baldwin - codenamed Speedball, you can find his bio here

He's actually got more of an interesting power than it seems, and in recent events in Marvel, he's been redubbed Penance and his power's changed for the worse.
posted by FritoKAL at 11:50 AM on May 14, 2007

In one incarnation of the Teen Titans, they had a member who wasn't (at first) super at all, and he was just called "Mal" or something. He later got a super power - actually, a super horn, and became known as "Hornblower".

Definitely much worse!
posted by mikel at 11:59 AM on May 14, 2007

Not being quite up on my comic nerdishness, I've no doubt there are worse heroes. But he's the worst I've encountered. Thanks, guys.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:06 PM on May 14, 2007

He didn't even make the list of the 25 lamest superheroes.

Dogwelder? WTF?
posted by ND¢ at 12:28 PM on May 14, 2007

No one remembers Warmth (who could raise his body temp 15 degrees) or Flicker (who could time travel but only a few seconds either way) or that guy who could teleport but whenever he got where he was going he was covered in leeches... all DC.
posted by Cosine at 2:37 PM on May 14, 2007

I, too, think dubbing him the lamest is a bit harsh. First of all, he was created by Steve Ditko and the way he rendered Speedball was pretty interesting (with the balls and whatnot). Also, I remember vaguely enjoying the New Warriors...
posted by ChasFile at 2:53 PM on May 14, 2007

Eh, none of these are as bad as a one-shot villain that the Thing fought back in the late '70s or early '80s. I think it was in Marvel Two-in-One or Marvel Teamup? Anyway, the bad guy had the ability to control his body's adhesiveness. Yes...he could make stuff stick to himself. Kinda like he was a living Post-It (tm) note. Except less exciting.
posted by Midnight Creeper at 3:51 PM on May 14, 2007

The problem I have with Speedball is that he's a character only an artist could create.

I imagine Steve Ditko sitting in his studio, trying to think up a new character. He picks up an ink bottle, "Hmm. Kohinoor. Oooh! Nice exotic name. Maybe she has darkness powers or something."

He picks up an eraser. "Everhard. Good name for a muscle-guy type character. Kind of racy-sounding, though."

He picks up his pen. "Oh, hey! Speedball! Now, there's a name I can work with. Hehehe!"
posted by SPrintF at 6:11 PM on May 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

I always liked the joke about having to ask your parents for money to buy a Speedball.

Ah, Dogwelder was invented by Garth Ennis. He does shit like that all the time (creates goofy one-off characters, not welds dogs to people's faces, unfortunately). Entertaining as hell.
posted by converge at 7:00 PM on May 14, 2007

Ah, Dogwelder was invented by Garth Ennis. He does shit like that all the time

Nope, the Wikipedia page says "created by Steve Dillon after Ennis, in a pub, dared him to find a dumber name than Green Lantern".
posted by martinrebas at 7:13 PM on May 14, 2007

Some day, a true comics great will take Dog Welder and combine history with mythology and create a transcendent series which furthers comics as an art form.

You heard it here first.
posted by drezdn at 8:24 PM on May 14, 2007