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This may seem silly, but I was curious as to whether Superman was the very first superhero or were there any other superheros that appeared before he did?

He is the original.

There were 'heroes' before him. But not with super-powers etc.

Okay, Thanks

He was the first to show up with an amalgamation of powers all in one, without being a god or anything of the like.

Ancient heroes, some of them did had what we qualify as super powers/abilities.

just not usually more than one or two.

yes

100%
The first
The best
SUPERMAN

I thought Namor the Sub Mariner predated him.

Originally posted by roughrider
I thought Namor the Sub Mariner predated him.

Nope, Supes showed up in 1938, then Batman in 1939, Namor came in the 40's.

Namor popped up in the Funnies in 1939.

You want to say superhero, like fantastically-powered or just a vigilante hero?
A vigilante hero with some powers would be The Shadow; he started in the 1920's I think. And there's Doc Savage in the 1930's pulp magazines. He had an influence on Supes origin, I understand.
The Shadow certainly inspired Batman, along with Zorro.

the first comic book superhero is technicly the Phantom since thtas were he originated. Zorro and the Shadow came before but weren't in comics till after. Phantom debutted in 1916 the Shadow didn't get a comic till 1938 and Zorro wasn't in a comic till the 1940's. Also you could count Dr.Occult could be called a superhero but was kind of a magic detective and was created in 1935 buy Shuster and Siegel. But the way I see it it's the Phantom

Purple tights rule!!!

opps I mean the Phantom debutted in 1936

yes, hes the first superhero who people actually cared about and didnt suck

So the true logical answer to the question posed is no. Superman was not the first superhero. He's just the most famous. If anybody has any issues with this post, see above.^^^

Comic-wise yes. But as said here, myths and legends from the past tell tales of superhumans, dating back to like 2000 BC. And those were those days comics, just not in it's current form.

Namor came first.

Originally posted by EsteemedLeader
Namor came first.
Namor's first appearance was in Marvel Comics #1, November 1939. Superman's was in Action Comics #1, in June of 1938 (nearly a year an a half earlier). Batman showed up in between.
As for that business about the Phantom: Sure, The Phantom wore a mask and fought wrongdoers no different than Zorro or the Lone Ranger, but none of these characters were considered superheroes because this term originated with Superman (Thus he is, by definition, the first superhero).

Amazing what tenure does

Superman basically set up the path for the other heroes.

The term "Superman" predates the term "super-hero". Super-hero is a reaction Superman. It was to describe any character resembling Superman. So no matter how you cut it with The Phantom, The Shadow, Zorro, Doc Savage it doesnt matter. They were what they were and in retrospect they may now be considered super-heroes. But since the phrase is a direct response to Superman then he remains the original example.

And even if you do count the earlier characters, theres still a strong case for Superman being the original. Its hard toimagine that it didnt occur to anyone for quite sometime to create a character who by now seems so simple. He wasn't such a no-brainer. Comics were more...comical. Funny. If not that, then gritty, street detectives, shady characters and the like. Batman in ways is a little less bold a creation than Superman since he mixes Superman with the style that predated him. Superman was old time mythology redone.

superman didn't debut in action comics did he? I thought he showed up in a newspaper first

I'll post a scan which made me think so

EDIT: here it is

http://img15.imgspot.com/u/05/329/17/121133043368.gif

Originally posted by Jedi Shmedi
Nope, Supes showed up in 1938, then Batman in 1939, Namor came in the 40's.

Namor came before Batman.

But not before Superman.

Namor was the first anti-hero, though.

Originally posted by Zarathustra
Namor's first appearance was in Marvel Comics #1, November 1939. Superman's was in Action Comics #1, in June of 1938 (nearly a year an a half earlier). Batman showed up in between.
As for that business about the Phantom: Sure, The Phantom wore a mask and fought wrongdoers no different than Zorro or the Lone Ranger, but none of these characters were considered superheroes because this term originated with Superman (Thus he is, by definition, the first superhero).

Namor's first appearence was Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, May 1939.



http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=1143&si=126

Originally posted by botcherby
superman didn't debut in action comics did he? I thought he showed up in a newspaper first

I'll post a scan which made me think so

EDIT: here it is

http://img15.imgspot.com/u/05/329/17/121133043368.gif
Action Comics 1 1938 - was first, but the newspaper strip fleshed out his origin etc

http://www.redboots.net/comics/supe_history.htm

The Shadow was around in comic books in 1929 but despite his gadgets he was still human (Ithink he was a superheroe though)

New Fun would be the first comic book that a company later called "DC" would publish. It was the first comic book to contain advertisements. By issue #6 New Fun would increase their comic books to 64 pages, and in issue #6 was a team-up of two important people. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created a character known as Dr. Occult. They later created Superman. Dr. Occult had an earlier appearance under the name Dr. Mystic in The Comic Magazine, which came out in 1936.




This comic is the first American publishing of The Phantom, who is now a worldwide hero. The Phantom made his debut on February 17th, 1936 and he was the first costumed hero. He was created by Lee Falk, who still today is working on his stories. The Phantom was the kind of hero that despite his normal "human" capabilities, fought crime with bravery and death defying stunts. Many future heroes would follow his lead. For more information about this breakthrough hero read The Phantom biography. Also in 1936 The Clock appeared in Funny Pages #6. The Clock was a masked detective; this is the first time a character used a mask to hide his face. Later on, masks would be used in most costumes so the hero could disguise his or her true identity.

In June 1938, Action Comics #1 came out, featuring a man in a red and blue costume lifting a car over his head! This was Superman, the very first comic character to have powers far beyond a normal human being. Sure, Flash Gordon and The Shadow were neat, but they couldn't lift a car over their heads and throw it at someone! Nor could they let bullets bounce off their chests, or run faster than a train, or leap over tall buildings in a single bound. To say the least, Superman was a fitting name.


When Siegel and Shuster were younger they tried pitching the Superman idea at newspapers and comics. One of their earliest proposals was a cartoon character called The Superman in 1933. They were constantly rejected, to the point that artist Joe Shuster once tore up his Superman artwork and stated that he'd redo the character properly if the time ever came. Today Superman is one of the 10 most recognized 'people' on the face of the planet. He has been in several movies, cartoons and TV series.

Much of this is taken from here

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/Hist1.html

prior to this lots of Super Characters had existed in books and pulps e.g. John Carter on Mars by Edgar Rice Buggoughs who created Tarzen,
Wylies Gladiator (Superman borrowed strongly from this) etc, etc.

Yup Supes was kind of the first

Keep the faith

Stay Whirly

Whirly, any news on the miracleman trade?

What about mythological figures. i.e. Beowulf who can survive underwater for 3 days or Coyote who can sing the dead back to life (i.e. "superpowers". I'd say that predates Superman.

Myth heroes wer exactly the base that led to the creation of Superman and the pulp heroes that came before like Tarzan.

They had "superpowers", they had abilities beyond other mortals.

But "comic book superhero" its the whole secret identity, crazy costume issue while still being better than the other men. Thats something the "old" heroes didnt have. They are something else.

While i dont agree (by the fact there were people who could match them) Zorro and Phantom can qualify to the group.

Beowulf for example doesnt. Why? While no "mortal" was better or could do what he did, he "lacks" the rest of the kitch stuff to be a conventional comic book superhero.

Wow that was long...

And yes i prefer the old badass heroes.

superman WAS the first superhero in comic books (the term SUPERheroes was used by other charachters as a mark of respect to SUPERman)Originally posted by Zarathustra
Namor's first appearance was in Marvel Comics #1, November 1939. Superman's was in Action Comics #1, in June of 1938 (nearly a year an a half earlier). Batman showed up in between.
As for that business about the Phantom: Sure, The Phantom wore a mask and fought wrongdoers no different than Zorro or the Lone Ranger, but none of these characters were considered superheroes because this term originated with Superman (Thus he is, by definition, the first superhero). I thought that marvel didnt become an independant company until the 1960's

When Superman was born the name Superhero was born, so yes. Superman was the 1st superhero. Not to be mistaken by plain hero.

Superheroe first the Superman is.

Originally posted by eleveninches
I thought that marvel didnt become an independant company until the 1960's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timely_Comics

Originally posted by Accel
This may seem silly, but I was curious as to whether Superman was the very first superhero or were there any other superheros that appeared before he did?

Well, there was Mandrake the Magician.

I don't think he's the first, but he is the most know.

The shadow was first.