The Mighty Heroes



The Mighty Heroes was a lighthearted Superhero Parody cartoon that originally aired on CBS in 1966, reportedly created on-the-spot by animator Ralph Bakshi. The show featured a team of five misfit heroes -- Strong Man, Cuckoo Man, Diaper Man, Rope Man and Tornado Man -- protectors of the city of Good Haven. The show featured a fair amount of skewering of superhero tropes, and is seen by some as a precursor to Bakshi's work on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures.

Dell Comics published a comic about the characters in 1967; decades later, one-shots with the characters were printed by Marvel Comics and Spotlight Comics.

Tropes for this work include:

 * Blow You Away: Tornado Man, who can turn his body into a vortex to grab and throw villains.
 * Brainy Baby: Diaper Man, the leader of the team.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Cuckoo Man, appropriately enough.
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero - Diaper Man
 * The Lancer - Tornado Man
 * The Smart Guy - Rope Man
 * The Big Guy - Strong Man
 * The Chick - Cuckoo Man
 * Flying Brick: Strong Man, the Superman Expy.
 * Fully-Absorbed Finale: One episode of Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (also produced by Terrytoons) had a cameo which revealed that the Heroes had retired from super-heroics and started the law firm of Man, Man, Man, Man and Man.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Any supervillain better pray their Death Trap works, because when the team breaks free and regroups in the episode's second half, nothing can stop them!
 * Power-Up Food: Both Diaper Man and Strong Man can drink from Diaper Man's milk bottle when extra strength is needed.
 * Rubber Man: Rope Man, whose body is an unending length of rope.
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Rope Man.
 * Something Person: All of the heroes, naturally.
 * Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Averted, as the heroes' civilian jobs tend to be unglamorous positions pertaining to their powers.
 * Strong Man is a mechanic.
 * Rope Man is a sailor.
 * Cuckoo Man runs a pet shop.
 * Tornado Man is a weatherman.
 * Diaper Man is a baby (natch).
 * Super-Hero Speciation
 * Superheroes Wear Capes
 * Super Zeroes
 * Team Spirit: Pretty much the only way the heroes achieve success.
 * Up, Up, and Away: Averted with Cuckoo Man, who -- despite dressing up as a bird -- needs to repeatedly flap his arms to fly. Played straight with the rest of the team.