At the height of the X-Men boom of the early '90s, playgrounds across America were full of kids who would never read a comic in their lives, but dug discussing the powers listed on the backs of their favorite mutant's trading cards.

Problem was, it wasn't a case of "The more, the merrier." As more characters entered the fray, their power sets began to get a bit watered down. Sure, Adam X the X-Treme could boil blood, but only if his enemies were already bleeding.

Such caveats may have caused frustrated young comic fans to bang their heads against their school desks, but they've evolved into comic gold at the hilarious Superuseless Superpowers blog.

Take Laser Pointer Vision, for example:

Featuring both original and user-submitted powers, the blog sums up the argument against, oh, 90 percent of the "Heroes" cast and gives credence to my trading card frustration with the kind of charm I'd buy as a bound collection.

I think it'll be really telling to track the blog over the next few months to find out if any existing characters' powers make the cut. It'd be magic for a non X-fan to submit an entry on boiling the blood of cut people.

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