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Comic books have a long association with star-spangled, flag-draped, red-white-and-blue-festooned crimebusters. It’s a heroic tradition dating all the way back to the very first patriotic paladin, The Shield (who debuted in 1940), and his better-known successor Captain America (who followed a year later). They’re not the only heroes to don the dapper togs of liberty, however. Literally dozens—maybe hundreds—of other comic book superheroes have filled the four-color ranks of liberty, including these lesser-known do-gooders who always wore their patriotism on their sleeves (or capes, or in one case, fur).

Comic book superheroes are a strange class of folks. Is there anything more unusual than a flying man wearing his underwear on the outside of his leggings, or a giant green behemoth with the language skills of a toddler, dressed in a pair of purple shorts, smashing everything in his path? The League of Regrettable Superheroes rebuttal: Yes! Even among the cape-and cowl set, you'll find much stranger characters (which is one of the reasons superhero comics are so great). And among LORS elite roster of oddballs, here are a few of the weirdest superheroes ever published–which makes them the oddest of the odd.

What does your favorite superhero wear into battle—body armor? Protective gauntlets? Some kind of sissy utility belt? Pfftt…why not fight crime in a bike helmet and knee pads, Caped Crusader? No, the truly dedicated hero doesn’t waste time zipping up a full-body costume when there are crooks and henchmen to punch. Those who completely commit to the lifestyle know that the only way to confront the forces of evil is the same way you came into this world: naked and howling. While complete nudity is a dealbreaker for characters pursuing mainstream success in the masked hero game, here are a few shirtless, skin-baring superheroes from The League of Regrettable Superheroes who are proud to let their beach bodies shine.

Somebody–I think it was Aquaman–once noted that criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. Which is why so many superheroes prey upon crooks’ apparent fear of the mysterious and supernatural. And let's face it, when shopping for frightening guises, a hero could do worse than flip through Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm for inspiration, what with all those wolves and bears and diabetes-inducing candy houses. Here are a few crimefighters from The League of Regrettable Superheroes who apparantly drew on fairy tales and other fantastic literature for their personas…to varying degrees of success.

SCIENCE! Where would superheroes be without it? If not for the admittedly shaky principles of comic book super-physics and four-color chemistry, we’d live in a world without Iron Man or The Flash, sans the Atom or Ant-Man; even the Hulk and Captain America would be absent from our cultural landscape. But in writing The League of Regrettable Superheroes, I was frequently reminded that not all super-scientists have their thinking caps on straight, even by comic book standards. Here’s a selection of five mental giants whose questionable choices and often-terrifying inventions will never get them on the good side of the Nobel Prize committee.