1. The Whizzer
There are no stranger origins for a superhero than that of Robert L. Frank The Whizzer. The Whizzers story begins while young Robert is on a trip to Africa with his father, Dr. Emil Frank, where Robert is bitten by a Cobra. Presumably keeping with the standard medical practices of the day, Dr. Frank decides to pull a Doctor Moreau and saves his son by giving him a transfusion of mongoose blood, and soon discovers that Robert has developed super-speed. Robert decides that rather than exact revenge on all snakes, hell use his powers to fight crime, so he becomes The Whizzer." Presumably traumatized by what today's authorities would most certainly call child abuse, Robert later spends several years battling alcoholism and depression, at his lowest point becoming homeless before working as a nuclear laboratory technician.
Can you think of any other ludicrous superhero origin stories we've missed? Let us know in the comments section below.