Remembering… The AAU Shuperstar!

Back in the 1970s a unique superhero appeared on the back covers of numerous DC comics. Nothing is known about the back story of the AAU Shuperstar, a hero sporting a blue and yellow disco jumpsuit. He had blond hair, no mask, and yet no known secret identity. He constantly spoke in shoe puns and attracted like-minded villains such as Dirty Sneakers, Sinister Sole, and Missile-Toe.  The purpose of the one-page stories were to sell AAU brand shoes, but the AAU Shuperstar possessed abilities far beyond what the shoes would likely give their owners. Now most of his abilities to be sure were simply exaggerations on what shoes can allow (super-speed, super-jumping, super-kicking – he kicked Dirty Sneakers into outer space, possibly killing him; also the ability to block miniature missiles with the shoes.  However, he also had the ability to detect when evil was a-foot; no shoes are going to give their owners even minor mental abilities!  As another site pointed out (I can’t recall which one), the Dirty Sneakers ad is particularly fascinating because AAU Shuperstar is well groomed, likely having some money, while Dirty Sneakers was obviously much closer to the poverty with some hippy tendencies, and thus likely to not be entirely unsympathetic to some readers; this is the villain that the AAU Shuperstar chooses to apparently kill.  They don’t make ads like these anymore!