Awesome Con made a valiant effort to break the world record for assembled superheroes on Friday at the Capitol Reflecting Pool, but fell short .  

Perhaps the somewhat-stringent guidelines for acceptable costumes played a part in the failed effort? Among the “Official Pre-Approved Character List from Guinness® World Record,” were such icons as Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman and more esoteric characters such as Dazzler and Raven.  

The guidelines wanted to specify that “the characters must have first appeared in comic books,” but this is leaving out a whole lot of characters from the two big comic book universes, DC and Marvel.  

Why, then is Swamp Thing a go, but not Man Thing? Why Deathstroke but not Deathlok? How about Ragman and the Scarecrow? With those last two, some of the Washington press corps could have been hustled into the frame without anyone blinking an eye.  

Overly restrictive? Seems like a Brother Blood/Red Skull type plot to foil the record. (Neither of whom, ‘natch, was on pre-approved list.)