page_title: Superhero
section_title: 1900-1939
hierarchical_section_title: Superhero / History / 1900-1939
caption_attribution_description: English: Comic page detail from Wonderworld Comics #3.
context_page_description: A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that possesses abilities beyond those of ordinary people, who typically uses their powers to help the world become a better place, or is dedicated to protecting the public, and stopping evil. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially in American comic books since the 1930s, as well as in Japanese media since the 1930s.
  Superheroes come from a wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes derive their status from advanced technology they create and use, while others possess non-human or superhuman biology or study and practice magic to achieve their abilities. While the Dictionary.com definition of "superhero" is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", the longstanding Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person."
context_section_description: The word superhero dates to at least 1917. Antecedents of the archetype include such mythologic characters like Gilgamesh, Hanuman, Perseus, Odysseus, David, and demigods like Heracles, as well as folkloric heroes as Robin Hood, who adventured in distinctive clothing. Real life inspirations behind costumed superheroes can be traced back to the "masked vigilantes" of the American Old West such as the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers who fought and killed outlaws while wearing masks.
  The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized the idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity. Shortly afterward, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/the Gray Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes, such as the Phantom (1936) began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength, including the comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie's character Hugo Danner (1930). In August 1937, in a letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories, the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak by Max Plaisted.
  In the 1930s, both trends came together in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s) who first appeared in kamishibai (street theater where oral storytellers visualize the story using painted panels), Mandrake the Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books. The precise era of the Golden Age of Comic Books is disputed, though most agree that it was started with the launch of Superman in 1938. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At the very end of the decade (1939), Batman was brought to fruition by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. In Italy, Vincenzo Baggioli and Carlo Cossio created in 1938 Dick Fulmine, a native hero who lacked powers.
caption: Fox Feature Syndicate's 1930s–1940s superhero the Flame.
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