Is Superman the 1st Superhero??

[Devil_LeonX]

Would anyone know who is the first superhero??I heard it was Superman but others have said differently and wikipedia also has this list and sups is the 16th on the list( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero_Chronology)and the first hero on the list which is The Scarlet Pimpernel so would this mean he is not the first??

[Jack Zodiac]

Nope. He isn't even the first comic book superhero. Nor is he the first "costumed" comic book superhero. He's definitely the most popular throughout the decades, though.

[karasu]

None of those guys listed before him have superpowers. They're masked detectives and the like. Siegel and Shuster created Doctor Occult before they created Superman, but he was a magician.

[Jack Zodiac]

His powers came naturally, though. And The Shadow had superpowers as well.

[SensorBoy]

IIRC, at one point the continuity was thus:

Superman was not the first costumed hero.
However, the actual (chronological) "first hero" (one of the Scarlet Avengers?) was inspired by a vision he recieved of Superman fighting the Good Fight in the future.

Don't know if that is the current continuity.

[karasu]

Yeah, but the Shadow didn't get his powers until the radio show. Before that, he was a crafty illusionist. He was around a long time before his comic came out.

[Jack Zodiac]

He had a comic strip for a while months before Action Comics, and he had his "mind clouding" powers then. Then in the Forties he got an actual comic book.

[karasu]

Oh, well that's cool. I still don't really think of him as a "superhero" though.

[Jack Zodiac]

Eh, he's as "superhero" as Batman, who's as "superhero" as Zorro or The Phantom. Superman can't even claim the title of first spandex-clad hero. Doc Occult beat him to the punch in that front as well. What he has over the rest is being the biggest, most memorable hero.

[Apathy Boy]

Superman obviously had been influenced by pulp characters like Doc Savage and the Shadow. But Superman's abilities were far more fantastic than those of the pulp characters, as was his costume (because the Shadow's "costume," for example, was just regular clothes with his scarf pulled up). So I would be confident in saying that Superman was one of the first true superheroes in comics.

The only other character I can think of who'd have a legitimate claim to the title is the Phantom.

[Apathy Boy]

IIRC, at one point the continuity was thus:

Superman was not the first costumed hero.
However, the actual (chronological) "first hero" (one of the Scarlet Avengers?) was inspired by a vision he recieved of Superman fighting the Good Fight in the future.

Don't know if that is the current continuity.In the real world, Superman appeared first, then the Crimson Avenger, then Batman. In Post-Crisis continuity, the Crimson Avenger was indeed the first-ever superhero. According to AZTEK, the JLA uses his costume for some creepy initiation rite for new members.

That story about the Crimson Avenger seeing a vision of Superman sounds familiar; he saw Doomsday kill Superman and decided to avenge him or something, right? Anyone remember what story that was?

[SensorBoy]

One of the Planetary story arcs has the "Pulp" heroes (Doc Savage, The Shadow, Tarzan and Fu Manchu analogues) fighting to the death against the "JLA"-type superheroes (who, in real life, replaced them).

[Jack Zodiac]

Golden Age Secret Files & Origins #1.

[SensorBoy]

. According to AZTEK, the JLA uses his costume for some creepy initiation rite for new members.


Heh.

There's a Garth Ennis story in there, somewhere...

Robin: What do you mean, I have to get dressed up in this and then get spanked by Black Lightning?

Batman: Tradition, old chum.

Robin: Knew I should have tried out for the Outsiders....

[J. Robb]

Superman was responsible for the jump from the more realistic (in comparison) pulp era to the over-the-top heroics of the "super" era. Pulp books and comics had some fantastic ideas, but they were generally based on legends and superstitions that some people felt could maybe, just maybe, exist somewhere. With Superman, they threw out those ideas and went for the impossible. He created a genre and so it was named after him- "superhero".

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Whereas there are several other costumed heroes that predate Superman, none of them had the pop cultural impact that Superman did. People can quibble over what exactly qualifies as a super-hero all they want, but there's a reason they're called super-heroes.

[Chris N]

Nope. He isn't even the first comic book superhero. Nor is he the first "costumed" comic book superhero. He's definitely the most popular throughout the decades, though.

Is he not the first comic book superhero? Aren't the rest from comic strips/pulp magazines/radio?

My impression was that Shadow was an illusionist first. Did he have honest-to-god powers befor Superman debuted?

I don't know much about Doc Occult. Was he a costumed crimefighter with powers? If so, Superman loses. But I think Supes is the first something. And I think it's in being a comic book (at least an original comic book that's not a collection of strips)

Batman I've never understood (I understand the popularity but not why he's claimed to be the first anything). He is clearly non-original with Zorro, Phantom, Shadow, etc.

[Jack Zodiac]

Is he not the first comic book superhero? Aren't the rest from comic strips/pulp magazines/radio?

My impression was that Shadow was an illusionist first. Did he have honest-to-god powers befor Superman debuted?

In his strip, I believe so. He had his "power to cloud the minds of men" that he "learned while exploring The Orient." Gotta' love the Thirties. :p


I don't know much about Doc Occult. Was he a costumed crimefighter with powers? If so, Superman loses. But I think Supes is the first something. And I think it's in being a comic book (at least an original comic book that's not a collection of strips)

Dr. Occult was a natural magician trained by Tibetan monks or something. Anyway, yeah, he had powers, and he had a special armor he used to wear, which means he was a "costumed" hero before Superman.

Not that it matters. Superman was the first hero to have, as Bored said, super powers. Before him, most heroes and vigilantes were in the realm of possibility or minor suspension of disbelief, while Superman was the first flying, superhumanly powerful, eyebeam firin', planet jugglin', God-honest superhero. And even if he was the first in print, or the first costumed hero, he's still the standard that all other creations are held to.


Batman I've never understood (I understand the popularity but not why he's claimed to be the first anything). He is clearly non-original with Zorro, Phantom, Shadow, etc.

I honestly couldn't tell you why Batman took off as a character. Marketing, probably. Since he was the first mainstream comic book vigilante, he's lasted the longest with the most success. Zorro's still an easily recognizable name because of the ridiculous number of movies and stories about him, and The Phantom and The Shadow have held onto their pulp status just as long, but with nowhere near the accessibility and popularity as Batman. He was just right there, in the right place, at the right time, with the right kind of marketing.

[Choppa]

Superman is DC's first character though right? Hence why every Earth revolved around him?

[sgt pepper]

I'm gonna go with Gilgamesh. His stories were literally carved in stone.

I'm not up on history, though. There're probably some older.

[Aaron King]

Superman didn't fly or juggle planets at first, though. He jumped really high and bent metal bars.

[Jack Zodiac]

Superman is DC's first character though right? Hence why every Earth revolved around him?

No. DC was printing comic for a couple of years before Action. And Dr. Occult first appeared in 1935 in New Fun Comics. Note, every Earth does not revolve around Dr. Occult. Most Earth's don't even acknowledge his existence.

The reason every Earth revolves around Superman (or so Infinite Crisis would tell you) is because Superman was the original, iconic, superhero.

Pepper, awesome call with Gilgamesh. Honestly, I don't think any mythological character with entire bibles filled with epic events predates Gilgamesh.

[Jmacq1]

Yeah, IIRC the Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest known "mythological" tale, which you could argue makes Gilgamesh the "first known superhero" in spirit if not in concept.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

In his strip, I believe so. He had his "power to cloud the minds of men" that he "learned while exploring The Orient." Gotta' love the Thirties. :p



Dr. Occult was a natural magician trained by Tibetan monks or something. Anyway, yeah, he had powers, and he had a special armor he used to wear, which means he was a "costumed" hero before Superman.

Are those two's adventures collected somewhere?

And that Gilgamesh comes from...

[Bat-Mite]

Siegel and Shuster were also influenced (or "ripped off" if you prefer) a lot by a novel called 'Gladiator' by Phillip Wylie.

You can read about that here. (http://superman.ugo.com/books/gladiator/default.asp)

[Jack Zodiac]

Are those two's adventures collected somewhere?

And that Gilgamesh comes from...

The Shadow strips might be collected, somewhere, but I very highly doubt there's any collection of Dr. Occult stories.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/), which I'm not even sure I need to italicize, is an ancient Sumerian mythical account of the historical King Gilgamesh of Uruk. You can read it online in that link.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

The Shadow strips might be collected, somewhere, but I very highly doubt there's any collection of Dr. Occult stories.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/), which I'm not even sure I need to italicize, is an ancient Sumerian mythical account of the historical King Gilgamesh of Uruk. You can read it online in that link.

Thanx a lot for the info (link bookmarked to read later). It's a pity that the Dr. Occult stories aren't collected. But who knows, maybe someday they will...

[Goldenbane]

It sort of depends on the individual's definition of "superhero." A lot of (IMO) first superheroes were religeous figures...Gilgamesh, Biowulf (not sure if he was a religeous figure as much though),Thor, Hercules, Sampson, ect. Those types might not count for some folks as they weren't "fighting crime" or anything like that...though they certainly had "recognizable costumes" "super powers" and "fought to defend humanity" as so many modern super heroes do.

Superman is certainly a great hero. He's certainly had awesome marketing and has inspired countless "clones" but really, he isn't the first.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

I tend to agree with this. It really depends on the definition each one of us gives to the term "Superhero". I've found myself pondering about the truth behind the allegation of Big Blue being the first Superhero, given the existence of mythological characters and stories (greek gods and the twelve jobs of Heracles/ Hercules, for example).

But then again, the first guy with "powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men" who appeared in comics was Big Blue. It was thanks to him (thanks to Siegel and Shuster, in fact) that the whole genre was created, the term "Superhero" was coined, and the Golden Age of comics began.

So yes, Superman is the first, but in a specific way. My 0.02 anyway.

[Devil_LeonX]

Its been a while sense I last read some of the material of Gilgamesh but what exactly makes him a the first superhero exactly?? From what I remember he really didnt do much but beat that bull and that didnt happen unill a whole bunch of people died at whihc he didnt do anything till way later. And as for Hercules as much as I like him while he did do many great deeds the main reason he did them wasnt for justice or anything of that sort but for undo the wrongs he had done. He he didnt kill his wife (she might have lived) and kids he wouldnt have done anything of his good deeds and also that little incident with the amazons wasnt anything very superhero like.

[Jack Zodiac]

What made Gilgamesh a "superhero" was that he was more than human and did several "heroic" feats, among then killing a demon in the Cedar Forest and fighting the Heavenly Bull. What makes him "first" is that his story is over four thousand years old, and is historically the oldest story ever written.

[Ontir]

If you go with the definition that a super-hero is someone who puts on a disguise, either in their daily life, or to create their crime-fighting persona, then I'd have to go with the character whom I've so often heard listed as the FIRST super-hero: the Scarlet Pimpernel.