SuperHero BookCovers
A superhero is a character who is noted for feats of Courage and nobility and who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings. A female superhero is sometimes called a Superheroine.
Since the 1938 debut of Superman, the character who inspired the term and did much to define it, the stories of superheroes ranging from episodic adventures to decades-long sagas have become an entire genre of fiction that has dominated American comic books and crossed over into several other media.
Although superheroes widely vary (see Divergent character examples), a number of characteristics have become associated with the typical superhero:
Extraordinary powers and abilities, relevant skills, and/or advanced equipment. Although superhero powers vary widely, superhuman strength, the ability to fly and enhancements of the five senses are all common. Some superheroes, such as Batman and Green Hornet, possess no superpowers but have mastered skills such as martial arts and forensic sciences. Others have special equipment, such as Iron Man's powered armor suits and Green Lantern's power ring. While some people see heroes without superpowers as not being superheroes, their existence in a superhero universe, a superhero format (e.g. comics) and sharing many of the traits listed below put place them firmly within the definition.
A strong moral code, including a willingness to risk one’s own safety in the service of good without expectation of reward. Such a code often includes a refusal to kill.
A motivation, such as a sense of responsibility (e.g. Spider-Man), a formal calling (e.g., Wonder Woman), a personal vendetta against criminals (e.g., The Punisher), a strong belief in justice and humanitarian service (e.g. Superman), or a family legacy of fighting crime (e.g. The Phantom.
A secret identity that protects the superhero's friends and family from becoming targets of his or her enemies. Most superheroes use a descriptive or metaphoric code name for their public deeds.
A flamboyant and distinctive costume, often used to conceal the secret identity (see Common costume features).
An underlying motif or theme that affects the hero's name, costume, personal effects, and other aspects of his or her character (e.g., Batman resembles a large bat, calls his specialized automobile, which also looks bat-like, the "Batmobile" and uses several devices given a "bat" prefix).
A trademark weapon, such as Wonder Woman's "Lasso of Truth" and Captain America's shield.
A supporting cast of recurring characters, including the hero's friends, co-workers and/or love interests, who may or may not know of the superhero's secret identity. Often the hero's personal relationships are complicated by this dual life, a common theme in Spider-Man stories in particular.
A number of enemies that he/she fights repeatedly, including an archenemy who is more troubling than the others. Often a nemesis is a superhero's opposite or foil (e.g., Sabretooth embraces his savage instincts while Wolverine tries to control his).
Independent wealth (e.g., Batman or the X-Men's benefactor Professor X or an occupation that allows for minimal supervision (e.g., Superman's civilian job as a reporter.
A headquarters or base of operations, usually kept hidden from the general public (e.g., Superman's Fortress of Solitude, Batman's Batcave.
An "origin story" that explains the circumstances by which the character acquired his or her abilities as well as his or her motivation for becoming a superhero. Many origin stories involve tragic elements and/or freak accidents that result in the development of the hero's abilities.
Most superheroes work usually independently. However, there are also many superhero teams. Some, such as the Fantastic Four and X-Men, have common origins and usually operate as a group. Others, such as DC Comics Justice League and Marvel Avengers, are "all-star" groups consisting of heroes of separate origins who also operate individually. The shared setting or universe of Marvel, DC and other publishers allow for individual superheroes to form a group and for regular superhero team-ups.
Some superheroes, especially those introduced in the 1940s, work with a young sidekick (e.g., Batman and Robin, Captain America and Bucky). This has become less common since more sophisticated writing and older audiences have made such obvious child endangerment seem implausible and lessened the need for characters who specifically appeal to child readers. Sidekicks are seen as a separate classification of superheroes.
Superheroes most often appear in comic books, and superhero stories are the dominant genre of American comic books, to the point synonymously in North America". Superheroes have also been featured in radio serials, prose novels, TV series, movies, and other media. Most of the superheroes who appear in other media are adapted from comics, but there are exceptions.
Marvel Characters, Inc. and DC Comics share ownership of the United States trademark for the phrases "Super Hero" and "Super Heroes" and these two companies own a majority of the world's most famous and influential superheroes. Of the "Significant Seven" chosen by The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History (1989), Marvel owns Spider-Man and Captain America and DC owns Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel and Plastic Man. Although, like many non-Marvel characters popular during the 1940s, the latter two were acquired by DC from defunct publishers. However, there have been significant heroes owned by others, especially since the 1990s when Image Comics and other companies that allowed creators to maintain trademark and editorial control over their characters developed. Spawn, Hellboy and Invincible are some of the most successful creator-owned heroes.
Although superhero fiction is considered a subgenre of fantasy/science-fiction, it crosses into many other genres. Many superhero franchises resemble crime fiction (Batman, Daredevil), others horror fiction (Spawn, Spectre and others more standard science fiction (Green Lantern, X-Men). Many of the earliest superheroes, such as The Sandman and The Clock, were rooted in the pulp fiction of their predecessors.
Because the fantastic nature of the superhero milieu allows almost anything to happen, particular superhero series frequently cross over into a variety of vastly different genres. In the 1980s series The New Teen Titans, for example, the Titans battled a supernatural cult leader in one story, participated in an intergalactic space war in the following, and returned to Earth and became involved in an urban drama involving young runaways in the next. The content of each of these stories is quite different, yet the same principal characters are involved.
Although superheroes widely vary (see Divergent character examples), a number of characteristics have become associated with the typical superhero:
A superhero's costume helps make him or her recognizable to the general public, both in and outside of fiction. Costumes are often colorful to enhance the character's visual appeal. Costumes frequently incorporate the superhero's name and theme. Some examples include Batman's cowl having the ears of a bat, Daredevil resembles a red devil, the design of Captain America's costume echoes that of the American flag, and Spider-Man's costume features a web pattern. The convention of superheroes wearing masks (usually with white eyes underneath) and skin-tight The Phantom.
Many features of superhero costumes recur frequently, including the following:
Superheroes who maintain a secret identity often wear a mask, ranging from the domino masks of Green Lantern and Ms. Marvel to the full-face masks of Spider-Man and Black Panther. Most common, however, are masks covering the upper face, leaving the mouth and jaw exposed. This allows for both a believable disguise and recognizable facial expressions.
A symbol, such as a stylized letter or visual icon, usually on the chest. Perhaps the most recognizable are uppercase "S" of Superman and the bat emblem of Batman.
Form-fitting clothing, often referred to as tights or spandex, although the exact material is usually not identified. Such material displays a character's athletic build and heroic sex appeal and allows a simple design for illustrators to reproduce.
While a vast majority of superheroes do not wear capes, the garment is still closely associated with them, likely due to the fact that two of the most widely-recognized, Batman and Superman, wear capes. The comic book series Watchmen and the movie The Incredibles humorously commented on the sometimes-lethal impracticality of capes.
While most superhero costumes merely hide the hero's identity and present a recognizable image, parts of some costumes have functional uses. Batman's utility belt and Spawn's "necroplasmic armor" have both been of great assistance to the heroes. Iron Man's armor, in particular, protects him and provides technological advantages, as well as keeping him alive (due to internal life support functions).
When thematically appropriate, some superheroes dress like wizard-like powers, dresses like a magician, and Ghost Rider, who rides a superpowered motorcycle, dresses in the leather garb of a biker.
Several heroes of the 1990s, including Cable and many Image Comics characters, rejected the traditional superhero outfit for costumes that appeared more practical and militaristic. Shoulder pads, kevlar-like vests, metal-plated armor, knee and elbow pads, heavy-duty belts, and ammunition pouches were common features.
Superheroes originated in the U.S. and most internationally popular superheroes are American creations. However, there have been successful superheroes in other countries most of whom share the conventions of the American model. Examples include Captain Canuck from Canada and the heroes of AK Comics from Egypt.
Japan is the only country that nears the US in output of superheroes. The earlier of these wore scarves either in addition to or as a substitute for capes and many wear helmets instead of masks. Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, and Kikaider have become popular in Japanese tokusatsu live-action shows, and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Casshan, The Guyver, and Sailor Moon are staples of Japanese anime and manga. However, most Japanese superheroes are shorter-lived. While American entertainment companies update and reinvent superheroes, hoping to keep them popular for decades, Japanese companies retire and introduce superheroes more quickly, usually on an annual basis, in order to shorten merchandise lines. Japanese superhero franchises are also more closely connected to general Japanese science fiction/fantasy, containing more complex technological and mystical ideas than most American superhero stories. They also more often feature more lethal violence on the part of the hero.
British superheroes began appearing in the Golden Age shortly after the first American heroes became popular in the UK [2]. Most original British heroes were confined to anthology comics magazines such as Lion, Valiant, Warrior, and 2000AD. well known original British superhero (although he was based heavily on Captain Marvel. Popular in the 1960s, British readers grew fond of him and contemporary UK comics writers Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman have revived Marvelman in series that display a jaundiced and cynical slant on heroism, an attitude prevalent in newer British heroes, such as Zenith.
In France, where comics are known as Bande Dessin, literally drawn strip, and regarded as a proper art form, Editions Lug began translating and publishing Marvel comic books in in anthology magazines in 1969. Soon Lug started presenting its own heroes alongside Marvel stories. Some closely modeled their U.S. counterparts, while others indulged in weirder attributes, such as the shape-changing alien Wampus. Many were short-lived, while others rivaled their inspirations in longevity and are now the subject of reprints and revivals.
In India, Raj Comics, founded in 1984, owns a number of superheroes, such as Nagraj, Doga and Super Commando Dhruva, that, while somewhat akin to Western superheroes, carry Hindu ideas of morality and incorporate Indian myths.
See also: Manga, History of the British comic
In superhero, particularly Champions, superheroes are informally organized into categories based on their skills and abilities. Since comic book and role-playing fandom overlap, these labels have carried over into discussions of superheroes outside the context of games:
Martial Artist: A hero usually whose physical abilities are mostly human rather than superhuman but whose combat skills are phenomenal. Some of these characters are actually superhuman (Daredevil, Iron Fist), while others are normal human beings who are extremely skilled and athletic (Batman and related characters, Black Widow).
"Brick/Tank": A character with a superhuman degree of strength and endurance and usually an oversized, muscular body, e.g., The Thing, The Hulk, Colossus, Savage Dragon.
"Blaster": A hero whose main power is a distance attack, usually an "energy blast" e.g., Cyclops, Starfire, Static.
"Elementalist": A hero who controls some natural element or part of the natural world, e.g., Storm, Polaris, Firestorm.
"Mage": A hero who is trained in the use of magic e.g., Doctor Strange, Zatanna.
"Marksman": A hero who uses projectile weapons, typically guns, bows and arrows or throwing blades, e.g., Punisher, Rose Tattoo, Green Arrow, Hawkeye.
"Gadgeteer": A hero who invents special equipment that often imitates superpowers, e.g., Forge, Nite Owl.
"Armored Hero": A gadgeteer whose powers are derived from a suit of powered armor, e.g. Iron Man, Steel.
"Dominus": A hero who controls a giant robot, a subtype common in Japanese superhero and science fiction media, e.g. Megas XLR, Big Guy, the Power Rangers.
"Speedster": A hero possessing superhuman speed and reflexes, e.g., The Flash, Quicksilver.
"Mentalist": A hero who possesses psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and extra-sensory perception, e.g., Professor X, Jean Grey, Saturn Girl. Sometimes called "Egoist", in a direct reference to the character Attribute in Champions most associated with such abilities; since many such characters are physically unimpressive or outright fragile (vis. Professor X's wheelchair), they are sometimes denigrated as "Ego Wimps".
"Shapeshifter": A hero who can manipulate his/her own body to suit his/her needs, such as stretching (Mister Fantastic, Plastic Man) or disguise (Changeling, Chameleon Boy).
"Size changer": A shapeshifter who can alter his/her size, e.g., the Atom (shrinking only), Colossal Boy (growth only), Hank Pym (both).
These categories often overlap. For instance, Batman is a both a skilled martial artist and gadgeteer and Hellboy has the strength and durability of a brick and the mystic arts abilities of a mage. Very powerful characters, such as Superman, Captain Marvel, Dr. Manhattan and the Silver Surfer can be listed in many categories.
See also: List of comic book superpowers
While the typical superhero is described above, a vast array of superhero characters have been created and many break the usual pattern:
Wolverine has shown a willingness, even an eagerness, to kill and behave anti-socially. Wolverine belongs to an entire underclass of anti-heroes who are grittier and more violent than classic superheroes, which often puts the two groups at odds. Others include Rorschach, Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Punisher, Blade, and, in some incarnations, Batman.
Some superheroes have been created and employed by national governments to serve their interests and defend the nation. Captain America was outfitted by and worked for the United States Army during World War II and Alpha Flight is a superhero team formed and usually managed by an arm Canadian Department of National Defence.
Many superheroes have never had a secret identity, such as Luke Cage or the members of The Fantastic Four. Others who once had secret identities, such as Captain America and Steel, later made their identities public. The modern Flash is a rare example of a "public" superhero who regained his secret identity. Daredevil is clearly trying to be another.
While most superheroes gain their abilities through accidents of science, magical means or rigorous training, the X-Men and related characters are genetic mutants whose abilities naturally manifest at puberty. Mutants more often have difficulty controlling their powers than other superheroes and are persecuted as a group.
The Incredible Hulk is usually defined as a superhero, but he has little self-control and his actions have often either inadvertently or deliberately caused great destruction. As a result, he has been hunted by the military and other superheroes.
Superman, the Silver Surfer, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel (the Marvel Comics character) are extraterrestrials who have, either permanently or provisionally, taken it upon themselves to protect the planet Earth.
Adam Strange, on the other hand, is a human being who protects the planet Rann.
Some superhero identities have been used by more than one person. A character takes on another's name and mission after the original dies, retires or takes on a new identity. The Flash, Blue Beetle and Robin are notable mantles that have passed from one character to another. Green Lantern is a standard title for all the thousands of members of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps and several different characters have been the Green Lantern of Earth.
Thor and Hercules are mythological gods reinterpreted as superheroes. Wonder Woman, while not a goddess in her current incarnation, is a member of the Amazon tribe of Greek mythology.
Spawn, The Demon and Ghost Rider are actual demons, who have been manipulated by circumstance into being forces of good. Hellboy, however, is a demon who is heroic on his own accord.
Some characters tread the line between superhero and villain because of a permanent or temporary change in character or because of a permanent or temporary change in character or because of a complex, individualistic moral code. These include Juggernaut, Emma Frost, Catwoman, Elektra, and Venom. This change often coincides with a spin-off series in which the character must be a likable protagonist.
Because the superhero is such an outlandish and recognizable character type, several comedic heroes have been introduced, including The Tick, The Flaming Carrot, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, The Great Lakes Avengers, and The Simpsons Radioactive Man.
The terms "Super Hero," "Super Heroes," and by association, "superhero" have been jointly trademarked by DC Comics and Marvel Comics to describe entertainment on television, film, and printed media (U.S. Trademark Serial Nos. 72243225 and 73222079.
According to former Mego Toys CEO Marty Abrams, the company owned toy licenses for both Marvel and DC characters in the early 1970s and released dolls of both company's heroes in a series called World's Greatest Superheroes, the packaging of which stated Superhero is a trademark of Mego. Both Marvel and DC objected, as they had used the term for decades. Mego agreed to sell its alleged trademark of the phrase to both companies for one dollar apiece.
Marvel and DC have maintained the trademark since. Others have sometimes used "super-hero," with a hyphen, as a spelling covering all such heroes. In March 2006, DC and Marvel attempted to register "super-hero" as well. Some bloggers have suggested using the term "underwear pervert" to describe the characters of Marvel and DC in protest.
The origins of superheroes can be found in several prior forms of fiction. Many share traits with protagonists of later Victorian literature, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel and Sherlock Holmes.
Penny dreadfuls, dime novels and other popular fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries featured mysterious, swashbuckling heroes with distinct costumes, secret identities and altruistic missions. These include Zorro, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and Spring Heeled Jack, who first emerged as an urban legend. Likewise, John Carter of Mars and Tarzan were heroes with unusual abilities who fought larger-than-life foes.
Philip Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator has recently gained attention as a prototype not only of the "classic" superhero, but also of its deconstruction.
Pulp magazine crime fighters, such as Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Spider, and comic strip characters, such as Dick Tracy and The Phantom, were probably the most direct influences.
By modern standards, characters like Doc Savage and The Phantom”colorfully named, valiant adventurers at or near peak physical abilities”could be considered superheroes in their own right, but the first appearance of Superman is widely considered the point at which the superhero genre truly began.
In 1938, writer Jerry Siegel and illustrator Joe Shuster, who had previously worked in pulp science fiction magazines, introduced Superman. The character possessed many of the traits that have come to define the superhero: a secret identity, superhuman powers and a colorful costume including a symbol and cape. His name is also the source of the term "superhero," although early comic book heroes were sometimes also called "mystery men" or "masked heroes".
DC Comics, which published under the names National and All-American at the time, received an overwhelming response to Superman and, in the years that followed, introduced Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkman, Aquaman and Green Arrow. The first team of superheroes was DC's Justice Society of America, featuring most of the aforementioned characters.
Although DC dominated the superhero market at this time, companies large and small created hundreds of superheroes. The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner from Marvel Comics (then called Timely Comics) and Plastic Man and Phantom Lady from Quality Comics were also hits. Will Eisner's The Spirit, featured in a comic strip, would become a considerable artistic inspiration to later comic book creators. The era's most popular superhero, however, was Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, whose exploits regularly outsold those of Superman during the 1940s.
During World War II, superheroes grew in popularity, surviving paper rationing and the loss of many writers and illustrators to service in the armed forces. The need for simple tales of good triumphing over evil may explain the wartime popularity of superheroes. Publishers responded with stories in which superheroes battled the Axis Powers and the patriotically themed superheroes, most notably Marvel's Captain America.
After the war, superheroes lost popularity. This led to the rise of other genres, especially horror and crime. The lurid nature of these genres sparked a moral crusade in which comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency. The movement was spearheaded by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, who famously argued that "deviant" sexual undertones ran rampant in superhero comics.
In response, the comic book industry adopted the stringent Comics Code. By the mid-1950s, only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman retained a sliver of their prior popularity, although effort towards complete inoffensiveness led to stories that many consider silly, especially by modern standards. This ended what historians have called the Golden Age of comic books.
In the 1950s, DC Comics, under the editorship of Julius Schwartz, recreated many popular 1940s heroes, launching an era later deemed the Silver Age of comic books. The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and several others were recreated with new origin stories. While past superheroes resembled mythological heroes in their origins and abilities, these heroes were inspired by contemporary science fiction. In 1960, DC banded its most popular heroes together in the Justice League of America, which became a sales phenomenon.
Empowered by the return of the superhero at DC, Marvel Comics editor/writer Stan Lee and the artists/co-writers Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko launched a new line of superhero comic books, beginning with The Fantastic Four in 1961. These comics continued DC’s use of science fiction concepts (radiation was a common source of superpowers) but placed greater emphasis on personal conflict and character development. This led to many superheroes that differed from predecessors with more dramatic potential. Some examples:
Spider-Man was a teenager who struggled to earn money and maintain his social life in addition to his costumed exploits.
The Incredible Hulk shared a Jekyll/Hyde-like relationship with his alter ego and was driven by rage.
The Fantastic Four was a superhero family of sorts, who squabbled and even held some unresolved acrimony towards one another.
TheX-Men were " mutants" who gained their powers through genetic mutation and who were hated and feared by the society they sought to protect.
While the superhero genre underwent a revival, the rise of television as the top medium for light entertainment and the effects of Comics Code Authority obliterated genres such as westerns, romance, horror, war and crime . In the coming decades, non-superhero comics series would occasionally rise to popularity but superheroes and comic books would be forever intertwined in the eyes of the American public.
In the 1970s, DC Comics paired Green Arrow with Green Lantern in a ground-breaking socially-conscious series. Writer Dennis O'Neil portrayed Green Arrow as an angry, street-smart populist and Green Lantern as good-natured but short-sighted authority figure. This is the first instance in which superheroes were classified into two distinct groups, the "classic" superhero and the more brazen anti-hero.
In the 1970s, DC returned Batman to his roots as a dubious vigilante and Marvel introduced several popular anti-heroes, including The Punisher, Wolverine and writer/artist Frank Miller's darker version of Daredevil. These characters were deeply troubled from within. Batman, The Punisher and Daredevil were driven by the crime-related deaths of family members and continual exposure to slum life. The X-Men's Wolverine, on the other hand, was tormented by his own uncontrollable savagery.
The trend was taken to a new extreme in the 1986 mini-series Watchmen by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, which was published by DC but took place outside the "DC Universe", with new characters. The superheroes of Watchmen were emotionally unsatisfied, psychologically withdrawn, sexually confused, and even sociopathic.
Another story, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1985-1986) continued Batman's renovation. This mini-series, written and illustrated by Frank Miller, featured a future Batman returning from retirement. The series portrayed the hero as an obsessed fanatic on a brutal quest to mold society to his will and concluded with a symbolic slugfest against Superman, now an agent/secret weapon of the U.S government.
Some critics believe that this trend is tied to the cynicism of the 1980s, when the idea of a person selflessly using his extraordinary abilities on a quest for good was no longer considered believable, but a person with a deep psychological impulse to destroy criminals was. Regardless, both Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns were acclaimed for their artistic ambitiousness and psychological depth and became watershed series, leading to numerous imitations.
By the early 1990s, anti-heroes had become the rule rather than the exception, as The Punisher, Wolverine and the grimmer Batman became popular and marketable characters. Anti-heroes such as the X-Men's Gambit and Bishop, X-Force's Cable and the Spider-Man adversary Venom became some of the most popular new characters of the early 1990s. This was a financial boom time for the industry when a new character could become well-known quickly and, according to many fans,stylistic flair eclipsed character development.
In 1992, Marvel illustrators Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, all of whom helped popularize anti-heroes in the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises, left Marvel to form Image Comics. Image changed the comic book industry as a haven for creator-owned characters and the first significant challenger to Marvel and DC in thirty years. Image superhero teams, such as Lee's WildC.A.Ts and Gen¹Â, and Leifeld's Youngblood, were instant hits but were criticized as over-muscled, over-sexualized, excessively violent, and lacking in unique personality. McFarlane's occult hero Spawn fared somewhat better in critical respect and long-term sales.
To keep ahead of new competitors and continue to the financial boom, Marvel and DC launched headline-grabbing, large-scale storylines that made drastic changes to iconic characters. The "Death of Superman" found the hero killed and resurrected, Batman was physically crippled in the "KnightFall" storyline, and a clone of Spider-Man vied with the original for the title. Company-wide crossovers, such as DC's "Zero Hour" and Marvel's "Onslaught", were also financial successes. While these stories drummed up publicity, fans complained that the essential elements of the franchises had been diluted and they ultimately lost interest.
Throughout the 1990s, several creators deviated from the trends of violent anti-heroes and sensational, large-scale storylines. Painter Alex Ross, writer Kurt Busiek and Alan Moore himself tried to "reconstruct" the superhero genre. Acclaimed titles such as Busiek's, Ross' and Brent Anderson's Astro City and Moore's om Strong combined artistic sophistication and idealism into a super heroic version of retro-futurism. Ross also painted two widely acclaimed mini-series, Marvels (written by Busiek) for Marvel Comics and Kingdom Come for DC, which examined the classic superhero in a more literary context, as well as satirizing anti-heroes. Magog, Superman's rival in Kingdom Come was partially modeled after Cable.
By the beginning of the 2000s, most classic superheroes had returned to their roots. However, the comic book industry's most acclaimed writers could make drastic changes and gain general fan approval, as was the case with Grant Morrison's New X-Men series and Brian Michael Bendis's "Avengers Disassembled" story arc.
As of 2006, a decline in the comic book industry has cut the surplus of anti-heroes, but a revival of superhero films and a rise in the sale of trade paperbacks have kept the superhero genre healthy.
Until the 1960s, superheroes largely conformed to the model of lead characters in American popular fiction in the first half of the 20th century. Hence, the typical superhero was a white, middle- to upper- class, heterosexual, professional, 20-to-30-year-old man. A majority of superheroes still fit this description but, in subsequent decades, many characters have broken the mold.
The first female superhero was the Canadian-created Nelvana of the Northern Lights, debuting in August 1941. However, the first significant female superhero was Wonder Woman. Debuting in December 1941, Wonder Woman was co-created by psychologist William Moulton Marston and his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and is considered "America's foremost superheroine".
Starting in the late 1950s, DC introduced female versions of prominent male superheroes, such as Hawkgirl, Supergirl, Batwoman and later Batgirl. In addition, there were female supporting characters that were successful professionals, such as the Atom's lawyer Jean Loring and longtime Superman character journalist Lois Lane.
Marvel Comics' teams initially developed during the early 1960s usually included at least one female member. Examples include the Invisible Girl, the Marvel Girl, and the Avengers' Wasp and later Scarlet Witch.
In the wake of second-wave feminism, the Invisible Girl became the Invisible Woman and new, distinctly feminist characters, were introduced such as DC's Power Girl and Marvel's Ms. Marvel.
In subsequent decades, Elektra, Catwoman, Witchblade, and Spider-Girl became stars of popular series. Also,Chris Claremont, writer of the hugely popular Uncanny X-Men included as many females on the team as males and gave them vital roles. Storm, Shadowcat, and Rogue became prominent "X-Women" during his run and superhero teams in general featured a closer-to-even male to female ratio.
The representation of women in comic book fiction is controversial. In pre-1970s storylines, Lois Lane was portrayed primarily as Superman's love interest and as a damsel in distress. This was also true for female members of superhero teams during the early 1960s, such as the Invisible Girl and Wasp, although this lessened in later years as they became well-respected members of their respective teams.
Although male superheroes are usually muscular and wear form-fitting clothing, the exaggerated physiques and sometimes scanty costumes of female superheroes has led to accusations of sexism.
The website Women in Refrigerators, named for the grisly demise of a Green Lantern love interest, argues that female characters are often killed, injured or meet with some other misfortune as a plot device in storylines showcasing male heroes.
In the late 1960s, superheroes of other racial groups began to appear. In 1966, Marvel Comics introduced the Black Panther, caricatured black superhero. In 1972, Luke Cage, an African-American "hero-for-hire," became the first black superhero to star in his own series while Red Wolf became the first Native American (16]. In 1974, Shang Chi, a martial artist, became the first Asian hero to star in an American comic book series.
Comic book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes; Cage often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with wild animals and Asians were often portrayed as martial artists. The Hanna-Barbera-created heroes meant to add ethnic diversity to the DC all-star cartoon series Super Friends are considered especially awkward, if not offensive.
Subsequent minority heroes, such as the X-Men's Storm (the first black superheroine) and The Teen Titans Cyborg avoided the patronizing nature of the earlier characters as the comics industrybecame more mature and diverse.
Storm and Cyborg were both part of superhero teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in the particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters culled from several different nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler, Russian Colossus and Canadian Wolverine. Diversity in both ethnicity and national origin would be an important part of subsequent X-Men-related groups, as well as series that attempted to mimic the X-Men's success. In the modern age, minority headliners are still rare but almost all teams feature at least a few minority characters.
In 1993, Milestone Comics, an African-American-owned imprint of DC, introduced a line of series that included characters of many ethnic minorities, including several black headliners. The imprint lasted four years, during which it introduced Static, a character adapted into the WB Network animated series StaticShock.
In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the roles of once-Caucasian heroes with minorities. The best known example is perhaps John Stewart who debuted in 1971 in the socially conscious series Green Lantern/Green Arrow. Stewart was a black and somewhat belligerent architect who Green Lantern's alien benefactors chose as Hal Jordan's standby, an idea that initially discomforted Jordan and was meant to discomfort some readers. In the 1980s, Stewart became the Green Lantern permanently, making him the first black person to take the mantle of a classic superhero. The creators of the 2000s-era i>Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern, boosting his profile.
DC has recently passed some other long-established superhero mantles to ethnic minorities. These include the new Firestorm (an African-American), Atom (an Asian) and Blue Beetle (Latino). Alternatively, an acclaimed 2003 limited series revealed that the "super soldier serum" that empowered Captain America was first tested on an African American.
Perhaps to prevent alienating readers of any faith, the religious attitudes of superheroes are rarely discussed. Generally characters religious backgrounds are common to their regional origins, e.g. the Midwestern Superman is a Methodist, the English Captain Britain is an Anglican and the Kenyan Storm practices a vaguely defined African religion although, like a majority of superheroes, they are rarely seen practicing.
A few superheroes, however, proudly show themselves as members of minority faiths in their nations of origin. The X-Men's Shadowcat was one of the first recognizably Jewish superheroes, followed by the Justice League's Atom Smasher. The Fantastic Four's Thing was raised Jewish as well. Daredevil, Nightcrawler, Punisher and Hellboy are all practicing Catholics, contrasting the demonic attributes or appearances of each. The first Captain Canuck was a Mormon and Wolverine practices Buddhist meditation.
In 1992, Marvel revealed that Northstar, a member of Alpha Flight, was homosexual, after years of implication. This ended a long-standing editorial mandate that there would be no gay characters in Marvel comics. Although some secondary characters in Watchmen were gay, Northstar was the first openly gay superhero to have a permanent presence in a continuing series. Since then, a few other semi-prominent gay superheroes have emerged, such as GenÂ's Rainmaker, the New Mutants, Karma, and The Authority's gay couple Apollo and Midnighter.
Recently, a few characters were revealed gay in two Marvel titles, the Ultimate incarnation of Colossus in Ultimate X-Men and Wiccan and Hulkling of the Young Avengers.
Superhero films began as Saturday movie aimed at children during the 1940s. The decline of these serials meant the death of superhero films until the release of 1978‘s Superman which was a tremendous success. Several sequels followed in the 1980s. A popular Batman series lasted from 1989 until 1997. These franchises were initially successful but later sequels in both series fared poorly, stunting the growth of superhero films for a time.
In the early 2000s, blockbusters such as 2000 X-Men, 2002 Spider-Man, and 2005's Batman Begins have led to dozens of superhero films. The improvements in special effects technology and more sophisticated writing that both respects and emulates the spirit of the comic books has drawn in mainstream audiences and caused critics to take superhero films more seriously.
Several popular but, by modern standards, campy live action superhero programs aired from the early 1950s until the late 1970s. These included The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, the psychedelic-colored Batman series of the 1960s starring a portly Adam West and Burt Ward and CBS's Wonder Woman series of the 1970s starring Lynda Carter. The popular Incredible Hulk of the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, had a more somber tone.
In the 1990s, networks attempted several unconventional uses of the superhero genre in live action shows, including the exceptionally popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai. Other shows targeting teenaged and young adult audiences, included Lois and Clark, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alias and Smallville, which retooled Superman's origin as a teen drama.
In the1940s, Fleischer Famous Studios produced a number of groundbreaking Superman cartoons, which became the first examples of superheroes in animation.
Since the <1960s, superhero cartoons have been a staple of children's television, particularly in the U.S.. However, by the early 1980s, US broadcasting restrictions on violence in children's entertainment led to series that were extremely tame, a trend exemplified by the series Super Friends.
In the 1990s, Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men led the way for series that displayed advanced animation, mature writing and respect for the comic books on which they were based. This trend continues with Cartoon Networkâs successful adaptation of DC's Justice League.
In the 21st century, superheroes made for television began, such as Cartoon Network's Ben 10, and Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom.
The comics superheroes mythos itself received a nostalgic treatment in the acclaimed 2004 Disney/Pixar release The Incredibles, which utilized computer animation.
In the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, Superman was one of the most popular radio serials in the United States. Along with The Green Hornet and The Shadow, the series helped popularize superheroes during their earliest years. By the early 1950s, the rise of television ended radio serials, including superhero shows.
Popular superheroes have occasionally been adapted into prose fiction, starting with the 1942 novel Superman by George Lowthe. Elliot S! Maggin also wrote two popular Superman novels, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, in the 1970s.
The Phantom was one of the first superheroes to be published in the novel format, starting with 1943's "Son of the Phantom". In 1972, Avon Books started a series of Phantom novels, written by people like creator Lee Falk and Ron Goulart. 15 books were published, starting with The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks, which re-told the story of how young Kit Walker grew up to be the 21st Phantom. In 2006, Moonstone Books, the current publsher of US Phantom comics, announced their intentions on releasing two collections of Phantom short stories.
Juvenile novels featuring Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Justice League have also been published, often marketed in association with popular TV series.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Marvel and DC released novels based on important stories from their comics, such as The Death of Superman and the year-long Batman: No Man's Land.
The 1930 novel Gladiator, by Philip Gordon Wylie featured a man granted super-strength and durability through prenatal chemical experimentation. He tries to use his abilities for good but soon becomes disillusioned, making him an early example of both the superhero and its latter day deconstruction. DC Comics' Superman is commonly thought to be based partially on the novel.
The Wild Cards books, edited by George R. R. Martin launched in 1987, were a non-comic book-based science fiction series that dealt with super-powered heroes.
Science fiction author Michael Bishop parodied superheroes in his 1992 novel Count Geiger's Blues in which a pop culture-hating art critic plunges into a pool of toxic waste and transforms into a costumed superhero and gains an allergy to high art.
While many popular superheroes have been featured in licensed computer games, up until recently there have been few that have revolved around heroes created specifically for the game. This has changed due to two popular franchises: The Silver Age-inspired Freedom Force (2002) and City of Heroes (2004), a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, both of which allow players to create their own superheroes.
In the 80s and 90s, the Internet allowed a worldwide community of fans and amateur writers to bring their own superhero creations to a global audience. The first original major shared superhero universe to develop on the Internet was Superguy, which first appeared on a UMNEWS mailing list in 1989. In 1992, a cascade on the USENET newsgroup rec.arts.comics would give birth to the The Legion of Net.Heroes shared universe. In 1994, LNH writers contributed to the creation of the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative, which spawned a number of original superhero shared universes. The Internet has also helped with distributing superhero fan fiction to a massive audience.
The World Wide Web has also given writers and artists the ability to display webcomics and webanimation of their superhero creations. Because of this ability to post original works of superhero prose, comics, or animation cheaply on the Internet it has given traditional superhero works in other media competition and challenges in the marketplace. The Internet also has given artists and writers a vast canvas in which to chart new possibilities and opportunities for the superhero genre that other traditional mediums cannot or will not take advantage of.
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