Well as soon as Superman made his first appearence back in the Thirties, the flood gates were opened on whatever power could be added to a human being (Or in some cases animals but more about that later) and that has resulted in some super heroes who are anything BUT super.
I need to point out that there are two different kind of lousy super hero: the ones which are wacky because of the stupidty behind their creation and the ones which are wacky because of being a parody of what a super hero is supposed to be.
I'll start with some examples of the former category, first off, a Marvel comics character that most Marvel Comics enthusiasts wished to forget about: Video man.
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/812907-videoman_large.jpg
Video Man: Real name Francis Byte, gets his powers from being sucked into a mutated Arcade game. Making him without a doubt the most absurd Super Hero ever to come from Marvel, needless to say, he was quickly abandoned.
Now if Video man is the wackiest super hero to come from Marvel: Eye Scream must have been their wackiest Villian.
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/iscrm.7.gif
A guy who can turn himself into Icecream, oh please...
Not only Marvel but DC comics had their share of wacky characters too. Matter Eater Lad for example...
http://www.studiosanning.shawbiz.ca/legion_of_super-heroes/membership/matter-eater_lad/super-speed_eating.jpg
Matter Eater Lad’s power was the ability to eat through any substance. Yup. The power of “super eating”. It kind of worked like this: you needed to get through a steel door you got Matter Eater Lad to “eat” it.
If Superman, Superboy and Supergirl weren't enough, at DC they apparently decided to up the Cute factor with their francises and thus "Superpets" were created.
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x9/blackcanary2000/sm176_pets_telepathy.jpg
A Super horse, Super dog, Super monkey and Super cat...
Both Marvel and DC have made themselves guilty of creating super heroes based on fads. Dazzler, a mutant who can turn sound into light was created to cash in on the Disco scene.
http://www.cinema-suicide.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/dazzler.jpg
While DC's Vibe was created because of the upcmoing breakdance scene.
http://st3.speedforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/vibe-surprise.jpg
And then there's Jubilee, who was created to incorporate the Mallrat culture of the late eighties.
http://girl-wonder.org/dimestoredames/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/jubilee.jpg
Jubilee's superpower was to create these fireworks-like colorful explosions, making her a subject of ridicule from her first appearence. However, she won over the hardcore fans by destroying the mansion of Villian The Mandarin when losing her cool and creating an explosion that would make a nuke proud. After that Jubilee became quite the tough cookie.
Okay, now onto the parody super heroes, the ones who are wacky because they were MEANT to wacky, taking the mick out of super beings and super powers.
I'll start with El Kabong.
http://sonofgeektalk.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/el-ka-bong.jpg
El-Kabong named himself after the sound a guitar being smashed on somebody's head. He's clumsy, frequently arrives too late to make any difference and in general is too much of a chicken to really get into a fight, preferring to wait until the bad guys are gone before making his grand appearence.
Then there's Inspector gadget.
http://www.imisstheoldschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Inspector-Gadget-Go-Go-Gadget-Collection.jpg
It's debatable how much of Inspector Gadget's body is still human and how much of it is robotic, he's never seen without his hat and long coat, his arms and legs can expand and he can change his feet into motorised roller skates. Further Gadgets include a build in helicopter that comes out of his hat and a third arm with a magnifying glass. However the gadgets are only as good as the one who's using them. Inspector Gadget is hopelessly oblivious to what's happening around him and often finds himself in very dangerous situations without having a single clue to what's going on. The fact that he survives all that danger he unwillingly (and unknowingly) puts himself into is because of his very cunning and competent Niece Penny and her dog Brain, who always manage to save Gadget and solve the cases he's put on. As a result, Gadget always gets the job done but don't ask him how, he wouldn't know it himself.
The there's the guy I named myself after. The Great Saiyaman from Dragon Ball Z.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-8EJcTJR0
Saiyaman has super powers: he can fly, shoot beams of energy and has superhuman strength (He once saved an airliner that was going down by simply plucking it from the sky.) So what would make him a failed Super hero? The fact that Gohan is a nerd and performs a highly elaborate (and absurd) dance routine to announce himself when arriving at a scene of a crime, making it impossible to take him seriously.
Super Grover.
http://images.wikia.com/muppet/images/c/c1/Supergrover.jpg
Super Grover has his heart in the right place and is always well meaning but being as slow and thick as he is, the people he's out there to help solve their own problems without ever needing Super Grover's help in the first place.
Then there's Suppaman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fILWZN1E_sI
Suppaman (Coming from the Japanese word "Suppai" which means "Sour") doesn't wait for opportunities to fight for justice, rather he creates them. Like the one he's based on, he prefers phoneboxes to change in and if that phone box happens to be occupied he clears it by throwing in a hand grenade. Hand grenades are also used to generate emergencies in which he can play the hero. As for superpowers, Suppaman has none. He rides along lying on his belly on a skateboard pretending to be flying. Suppaman's greatest achievement was when he cleared all the fish from a river in an effort to save them from drowning.
I need to point out that there are two different kind of lousy super hero: the ones which are wacky because of the stupidty behind their creation and the ones which are wacky because of being a parody of what a super hero is supposed to be.
I'll start with some examples of the former category, first off, a Marvel comics character that most Marvel Comics enthusiasts wished to forget about: Video man.
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/812907-videoman_large.jpg
Video Man: Real name Francis Byte, gets his powers from being sucked into a mutated Arcade game. Making him without a doubt the most absurd Super Hero ever to come from Marvel, needless to say, he was quickly abandoned.
Now if Video man is the wackiest super hero to come from Marvel: Eye Scream must have been their wackiest Villian.
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/iscrm.7.gif
A guy who can turn himself into Icecream, oh please...
Not only Marvel but DC comics had their share of wacky characters too. Matter Eater Lad for example...
http://www.studiosanning.shawbiz.ca/legion_of_super-heroes/membership/matter-eater_lad/super-speed_eating.jpg
Matter Eater Lad’s power was the ability to eat through any substance. Yup. The power of “super eating”. It kind of worked like this: you needed to get through a steel door you got Matter Eater Lad to “eat” it.
If Superman, Superboy and Supergirl weren't enough, at DC they apparently decided to up the Cute factor with their francises and thus "Superpets" were created.
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x9/blackcanary2000/sm176_pets_telepathy.jpg
A Super horse, Super dog, Super monkey and Super cat...
Both Marvel and DC have made themselves guilty of creating super heroes based on fads. Dazzler, a mutant who can turn sound into light was created to cash in on the Disco scene.
http://www.cinema-suicide.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/dazzler.jpg
While DC's Vibe was created because of the upcmoing breakdance scene.
http://st3.speedforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/vibe-surprise.jpg
And then there's Jubilee, who was created to incorporate the Mallrat culture of the late eighties.
http://girl-wonder.org/dimestoredames/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/jubilee.jpg
Jubilee's superpower was to create these fireworks-like colorful explosions, making her a subject of ridicule from her first appearence. However, she won over the hardcore fans by destroying the mansion of Villian The Mandarin when losing her cool and creating an explosion that would make a nuke proud. After that Jubilee became quite the tough cookie.
Okay, now onto the parody super heroes, the ones who are wacky because they were MEANT to wacky, taking the mick out of super beings and super powers.
I'll start with El Kabong.
http://sonofgeektalk.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/el-ka-bong.jpg
El-Kabong named himself after the sound a guitar being smashed on somebody's head. He's clumsy, frequently arrives too late to make any difference and in general is too much of a chicken to really get into a fight, preferring to wait until the bad guys are gone before making his grand appearence.
Then there's Inspector gadget.
http://www.imisstheoldschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Inspector-Gadget-Go-Go-Gadget-Collection.jpg
It's debatable how much of Inspector Gadget's body is still human and how much of it is robotic, he's never seen without his hat and long coat, his arms and legs can expand and he can change his feet into motorised roller skates. Further Gadgets include a build in helicopter that comes out of his hat and a third arm with a magnifying glass. However the gadgets are only as good as the one who's using them. Inspector Gadget is hopelessly oblivious to what's happening around him and often finds himself in very dangerous situations without having a single clue to what's going on. The fact that he survives all that danger he unwillingly (and unknowingly) puts himself into is because of his very cunning and competent Niece Penny and her dog Brain, who always manage to save Gadget and solve the cases he's put on. As a result, Gadget always gets the job done but don't ask him how, he wouldn't know it himself.
The there's the guy I named myself after. The Great Saiyaman from Dragon Ball Z.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-8EJcTJR0
Saiyaman has super powers: he can fly, shoot beams of energy and has superhuman strength (He once saved an airliner that was going down by simply plucking it from the sky.) So what would make him a failed Super hero? The fact that Gohan is a nerd and performs a highly elaborate (and absurd) dance routine to announce himself when arriving at a scene of a crime, making it impossible to take him seriously.
Super Grover.
http://images.wikia.com/muppet/images/c/c1/Supergrover.jpg
Super Grover has his heart in the right place and is always well meaning but being as slow and thick as he is, the people he's out there to help solve their own problems without ever needing Super Grover's help in the first place.
Then there's Suppaman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fILWZN1E_sI
Suppaman (Coming from the Japanese word "Suppai" which means "Sour") doesn't wait for opportunities to fight for justice, rather he creates them. Like the one he's based on, he prefers phoneboxes to change in and if that phone box happens to be occupied he clears it by throwing in a hand grenade. Hand grenades are also used to generate emergencies in which he can play the hero. As for superpowers, Suppaman has none. He rides along lying on his belly on a skateboard pretending to be flying. Suppaman's greatest achievement was when he cleared all the fish from a river in an effort to save them from drowning.
