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?
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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.
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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
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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'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).
Superman basically set up the path for the other heroes.
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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.
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Oct 10th, 2005 05:54 PM
