Los Angeles, CA -- Not all superheroes are created equal. In fact, some of them can be considered super dumb concepts.

That's according to Gina Miseroglu, the author of "The Superhero Book" (Visible Ink Press), an encyclopedia of comic book icons.

She says there have been thousands of superheroes created for comics since the late 1930s and some have powers that are more hysterical than heroic.

For example, in the 1960s, a futuristic crime-fighting team called the Legion Of Super Heroes featured a hero called "Matter Eater Lad," who had the power to eat large amounts of anything.

Other not-so-super heroes in the book include....

-- A 1930s era character called "The Sandman." He didn't have any powers -- just a gas gun he used to put criminals to sleep with.

-- The 1970s heroine "Disco Dazzler" was a young woman with the ability to transform sound into blinding light bursts, holographic illusions and intense laser blasts.

-- Finally, Miseroglu says the dumbest idea in superhero comics are "super pets," such as Superboy's dog, "Krypto"; Batman's pet pooch, "Ace The Bat-Hound" and "Beppo The Super Monkey," a lab animal on Krypton who snuck aboard the spaceship that brought Superman to Earth.

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