Superhero fiction
Encyclopedia
Superhero fiction is a form originating in and most common to American comic book
s, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.
The form is a type of speculative fiction
examining the adventures of costumed crime fighters known as superhero
es, who often possess superhuman power
s and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillain
s. Occasionally, this type of fiction is referred to as superhuman or super-powered fiction rather than superhero fiction in order to reflect that broader scope of both heroes and villains, as well as cover those characters with enhanced abilities that fall outside the classic superhero/supervillain dichotomy.
is most often the protagonist
of superhero fiction, although some titles, such as Marvels
by Kurt Busiek
and Alex Ross
, use superheroes as secondary characters.
from their enemies and the public.
s or other reasons. Fans have termed the practice of bringing back dead characters "comic book death
."
Another common trait of superhero fiction is the killing off of a superhero's significant other by a supervillain to advance the plot. Comic book writer Gail Simone
has coined the term "Women in Refrigerators
" (named after an incident in Green Lantern
#54 where Kyle Rayner
's girlfriend Alex DeWitt is murdered by the supervillain Major Force
and stuffed into Rayner's refrigerator
) to refer to this practice.
fictional universe
, sometimes (as in the cases of the DC
and Marvel Universe
s) establishing a fictional continuity
of thousands of works spread over many decades.
Changes to continuity are also common, ranging from small changes to established continuity, commonly called retcons, to full reboots, erasing all previous continuity.
It is also common for stories works of superhero fiction to contain established characters and setting while occurring outside of the main canon
for those characters.
often occur between characters of different works of superhero fiction. In comic books, highly publicized "events" are published featuring crossovers between many characters.
Intercompany crossover
s, between characters of different continuity, are also common.
The mythologies of many ancient civilizations feature pantheons of gods and goddesses with superhuman powers, as well as demigods like Heracles
and heroes such as Gilgamesh
and Perseus
. Later, folkloric
heroes such as Robin Hood
and the 19th century protagonist
s of Victorian literature
, such as the masked adventurer The Scarlet Pimpernel
, featured what became such superhero conventions as secret identities. Penny dreadfuls, dime novel
s, radio programs and other popular fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries featured mysterious, swashbuckling heroes with distinct costumes, secret identities, unusual abilities and altruistic missions. These include Zorro
, The Green Hornet
, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and Spring Heeled Jack
, the last of whom first emerged as an urban legend
. Likewise, the science-fiction hero John Carter of Mars, with his futuristic weapons and gadgets; Tarzan
, with his high degree of athleticism and strength, and his ability to communicate with animals; and the biologically modified Hugo Danner
of the novel Gladiator were heroes with unusual abilities who fought sometimes larger-than-life foes.
The most direct antecedents are pulp magazine
crime fighters — such as the masked & caped Zorro
(1919) with his trademark "Z", the preternaturally mesmeric The Shadow
(1930), the "peak human" Doc Savage
(1933), and The Spider
(1933) — and comic strip
characters such as Hugo Hercules
, Popeye
and The Phantom
. The first masked crime-fighter created for comic books was writer-artist George Brenner
's non-superpowered detective the Clock, who debuted in Centaur Publications
' Funny Pages #6 (Nov. 1936). Historians point to the first appearance of Superman
in Action Comics
#1 (June 1938) as the debut of the comic-book archetype the superhero. Outside the American industry of comics, the first full-fledged superhero is considered to be the Nyctalope
, written by French writer Jean de La Hire
in 1911.
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
as well as DC's Wonder Woman
.
Like other pop-culture figures of the time, Superheroes were used to promote domestic propaganda during wartime, ranging from the purchasing of war bondshttp://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/HeroesInSociety/galleries/?g=23&i=782 to racist caricature
s of the Japanese
.
Following superheroes' popularity during this time, those characters' appeal began to dwindle in the post-war era. Comic-book publishers, casting about for new subjects and genres, found success in, particularly, crime fiction
, the most prominent comic of which was Lev Gleason Publications
' Crime Does Not Pay
, and horror
. The lurid nature of these genres sparked a moral crusade in which comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency
and the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency began. 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
.
, 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
, Steve Ditko
and Bill Everett
launched a new line of superhero comic books, beginning with The Fantastic Four in 1961 and continuing with the Incredible Hulk
, Spider-Man
, Iron Man
, Thor
, the X-Men
, and Daredevil
. 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. For example, the Fantastic Four were a superhero family of sorts, who squabbled and even held some unresolved acrimony towards one another, and Spider-Man was a teenager who struggled to earn money and maintain his social life in addition to his costumed exploits.
paired Green Arrow
with Green Lantern
in a team-up 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 antiheroes, including The Punisher
, Wolverine
, and writer/artist Frank Miller
's dark version of the longtime hero Daredevil
. Batman
, The Punisher, and Daredevil were driven by the crime-related deaths of family members and continual exposure to slum life, while X-Men
's Wolverine was tormented by barely controllable savage instincts and Iron Man struggled with debilitating alcoholism
. The trend was also seen in the 1986 miniseries
Watchmen
by writer Alan Moore
and artist Dave Gibbons
, which was published by DC but took place outside the "DC Universe
" with new characters. Some of the superheroes of Watchmen were emotionally unsatisfied, psychologically withdrawn, sexually confused, and even sociopathic
. Watchmen also examined perceived flaws in the superhero mythos such as the inculpability of vigilantism, and the supposed ultimate irrelevance of fighting crime in a world threatened by nuclear holocaust
.
Another story, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
(1985–1986), continued Batman
’s renovation/reinterpretation. This miniseries, written and illustrated by Frank Miller, featured a Batman
from an alternate/non-continuity future returning from retirement. The series portrayed the hero as an obsessed vigilante, necessarily at odds with official social authority figures, illustrated both by the relationship between Batman
and retiring police commissioner James Gordon, and by the symbolic slugfest between the Dark Knight and Superman
, now an agent/secret weapon of the U.S government.
Miller continued his treatment of the Batman
character with 1987's Batman: Year One
(Batman issues #404-407) and 2001's The Dark Knight Strikes Again (also known as DK2). DK2, the long-awaited follow-up to The Dark Knight Returns, contrasts the traditional superhero-crimefighter character with the politicized characters that evolved during the 1990s (perhaps epitomized by The Authority and Planetary
, both written by British author Warren Ellis). In DK2, Superman
's nemesis Lex Luthor is the power behind the throne, controlling a tyrannical American government, as well as Superman
himself. Superman
's submission to Luthor's twisted power structure, in the name of saving lives is contrasted with Batman
's determined attack against corrupted institutions of government; the message perhaps that crime can occur at all levels of society, and that heroes are responsible for fighting both symptoms and causes of societal dysfunction and corruption.
, 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 Gen¹³
, and Liefeld’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.
In this decade, Marvel and DC made drastic temporary changes to iconic characters. DC's "Death of Superman" story arc across numerous Superman
titles found the hero killed and resurrected, while Batman
was physically crippled in the "KnightFall" storyline. At Marvel, a clone of Spider-Man
vied with the original for over a year of stories across several series. All eventually returned to the status quo.
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 form. Acclaimed titles such as Busiek's, Ross' and Brent Anderson
's Astro City
and Moore's Tom 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 antiheroes. Magog
, Superman
’s rival in Kingdom Come, was partially modeled after Cable.
aimed at children during the 1940s. The decline of these serials meant the death of superhero films until the release of 1978's Superman, a critical and commercial success. Several sequel
s followed in the 1980s. 1989's Batman
was also highly successful and followed by several sequels in the 1990s. Yet while both franchises were initially successful, later sequels in both series fared poorly both artistically and financially, stunting the growth of superhero films for a time.
In the early 2000s, hit films such as 1998's Blade
, X-Men
(2000), Spider-Man
(2002) and the reboot Batman Begins
(2005) have led to many more superhero films, both successful (such as 2008's Iron Man
) and less so (such as 2003's Daredevil
). Other superhero films in the decade have included sequels as well as The Hulk
(2003), Catwoman
(2004), Elektra
(2005), Watchmen
(2009), and the reboots Superman Returns
(2006) and The Incredible Hulk
(2008).
starring George Reeves
, the campy
Batman
series of the 1960s starring Adam West
and Burt Ward
and CBS
' Wonder Woman
series of the 1970s starring Lynda Carter
. The Incredible Hulk of the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, had a more somber tone.
In the 1990s, the syndicated Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
, adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai
, became popular. Other shows targeting teenage and young adult audiences that decade included Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In 2001, Smallville
retooled Superman
's origin as a teen drama. The 2006 NBC
series Heroes
tells the story of several ordinary people who each suddenly find themselves with a superpower.
/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 1970s, US broadcasting restrictions on violence in children’s entertainment led to series that were extremely tame, a trend exemplified by the series Super Friends
. Meanwhile, Japan's anime industry successfully contributed its own style of superhero series, such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
In the 1980s, the Saturday morning cartoon
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
brought together Spider-Man
, Iceman, and Firestar
. The following decade, Batman: The Animated Series
and X-Men, aimed at somewhat older audiences, found critical success in mainstream publications. Series that followed included Superman: The Animated Series
(1996) and Cartoon Network
's adaptation of DC's Justice League (2001) and Teen Titans
.
Comics' superhero mythos itself received a nostalgic treatment in the 2004 Disney
/Pixar
release The Incredibles
, which utilized computer animation
. Original superheroes with basis in older trends have also been made for television, such as Cartoon Network
's Ben 10
and Nickelodeon
's Danny Phantom
.
The new animated show The Super Hero Squad Show
premiered September 14, 2009. This show has all of Marvel’s favorite characters such as Captain America
, Falcon
, Hulk
, Reptil
, Silver Surfer
, Thor
, and Wolverine
. They are the protectors of Super Hero City, where Stan Lee
just happens to be the Mayor. They must protect the city from the likes of Dr. Doom and his hoard of villains live in Villainville. The season-long plot involves pieces of the Infinity Sword being scattered across the globe during Iron Man
's fight with Doctor Doom
. The show is based on Marvel Super Hero Squad
action figure
line marketed by Hasbro
beginning in 2006.
serial Superman starred Bud Collyer
as the titular hero. Fellow DC Comics stars Batman
and Robin made occasional guest appearances. Other superhero radio programs starred characters including the costumed but not superpowered Blue Beetle
, and the non-costumed, superpowered Popeye
. Also appearing on radio were such characters as the Green Hornet
, the Green Lama
, Doc Savage
, and the Lone Ranger, a Western
hero who relied on many conventions of the superhero archetype.
's 1942 novel
The Adventures of Superman by George Lowther
. In the 1970s, Elliot S! Maggin
wrote the Superman
novels, Last Son of Krypton
(1978) and Miracle Monday
, coinciding with but not adapting the movie Superman. Other early adaptations include novels starring the comic-strip hero The Phantom
, starting with 1943's Son of the Phantom. The character likewise returned in 1970s books, with a 15-installment series from Avon Books beginning in 1972, written by Phantom creator Lee Falk
, Ron Goulart
, and others.
Also during the 1970s, Pocket Books
published 11 novels based on Marvel Comics
characters. Juvenile novels featuring Marvel Comics
and DC Comics
characters including Batman
, Spider-Man
, the X-Men
, and the Justice League
, have been published, often marketed in association with TV series, as have Big Little Books
starring the Fantastic Four
and others.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Marvel and DC released novels adapting such story arcs as "The Death of Superman
" and Batman
's "No Man’s Land".
and short-story print forms unrelated to adaptations from the major comic-book companies. It has also appeared in poetry.
Print magazines devoted to such stories include A Thousand Faces: A Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, published since 2007 in print and electronic form, and online only as of 2011 and This Mutant Life: Superhero Fiction, a bimonthly print publication from Australia
, published since 2010. The latter magazine was one of the few to also publish superhero poetry, ceasing to do so as of 2011. Superhero poems there included Philip L. Tite's "Brittle Lives", Mark Floyd's "Nemeses", and Jay Macleod's "All Our Children".
Novels with original superhuman stories include Robert Mayer's Superfolks (St. Martin's Griffin, March 9, 2005); James Maxey's Nobody Gets the Girl (Phobos Books, 2003); Rob Rogers's Devil's Cape (Wizards of the Coast
Discoveries imprint, 2008); Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible
(Pantheon Books
, 2007); David J. Schwartz's Superpowers: A Novel (Three Rivers Press
, 2008); Matthew Cody's Powerless (Knopf, 2009); and Van Allen Plexico
's Sentinels
series of superhero novels (Swarm/Permuted Press, beginning in 2008). Collections of superhuman short stories include Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories, edited by Owen King and John McNally (Free Press, 2008), and Masked, edited by Lou Anders (Gallery, 2010).
Mur Lafferty
's Parsec Award
-winning novel, Playing For Keeps, features characters with less-than-heroic capabilities, showing that the idea of the superhero is established enough in popular culture for such developments of the theme to be possible. Published in 2008 by Swarm Press, it predates the recent SyFy show, Three Inches (which explores a similar theme) by two years. Playing For Keeps is also available for free in audio, podcast, and PDF formats.
-inspired Freedom Force
(2002) , City of Heroes
(2004), and Champions Online
(2009) a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
(or MMORPG), all of which allow players to create their own superheroes and/or villains.
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.
Magazine-style websites that publish superhero fiction include Metahuman Press, active since 2005, and Freedom Fiction Journal. Superhuman fiction has also appeared in general science fiction
/speculative fiction
web publications, such as the weekly Strange Horizons, a publication that pays its contributors. Two examples there are Paul Melko's "Doctor Mighty and the Case of Ennui" and Saladin Ahmed's "Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions".
There have been successful superhero works in other countries most of whom share the conventions of the American model. Examples include Cybersix
from Argentina
, 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 helmet
s instead of mask
s.
Moonlight Mask
, Ultraman
, Kamen Rider
, Super Sentai
(the basis for Power Rangers
), Metal Hero Series and Kikaider have become popular in Japanese tokusatsu
live-action shows, and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
, Dragon Ball
, Casshern
, Devilman
, The Guyver
, and Sailor Moon
are staples of Japanese anime
and manga
. However, most Japanese superhero series 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. In addition, Japanese manga often targets female readers, unlike U.S. comics, and has created such varieties as "magical girl
" (e.g. Cardcaptor Sakura) for this audience. .
In 1947, Filipino
writer/cartoonist Mars Ravelo
introduced the first Asian
superheroine, Darna
, a young Filipina country girl who found a mystic talisman-pebble from another planet that allows her to transform into an adult warrior-woman. She was the first solo superheroine in the world to get her own feature-length motion picture in 1951 and has become a cultural institution in the Philippines.
British superheroes began appearing in the Golden Age
shortly after the first American heroes became popular in the UK. Most original British heroes were confined to anthology
comics magazines such as Lion
, Valiant
, Warrior, and 2000AD
. Marvelman
, known as Miracleman in North America, is probably the most 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
revived Marvelman in series that reinvented the characters in a more serious vein, an attitude prevalent in newer British heroes, such as Zenith.
In France, where comics are known as bande dessinée (literally "drawn strip") and regarded as a proper art form, Editions Lug
began translating and publishing Marvel comic books in anthology magazines in 1969. Soon, Lug started presenting its own heroes alongside Marvel stories. Some closely modeled their U.S. counterparts (such as the trio of Harvard entomologists-Olympic athletes — Mikros, Saltarella and Crabb — of the S.H.I.E.L.D.
-esque saga of C.L.A.S.H.
), while others included the shape-changing
alien
Wampus
. Many were short-lived, while others rivaled their inspirations in longevity and have been the subject of reprints and revivals, such as Photonik.
In India, Raj Comics
, founded in 1984, owns a number of superheroes, such as Nagraj, Doga
and Super Commando Dhruva
, that carry Hindu
ideas of morality and incorporate Indian myths
. Some of the Indian / Hindi superhero movies include Mr. India, Shiva
, Shehenshah, Ajooba, Toofaan, and Krrish
.
Cat Claw is a superheroine co-created by a pair of Serbian comic artists and writers.
Malaysia also create several recognized superheroes such as Kapten Malaysia (which resembles Superman
and appeared in kids magazines), Keluang Man
(which resembles Batman
and appeared in his own animation series), & Cicak-Man (which had appear in his two successful comedic superhero films).
In Australia, the print magazine This Mutant Life: Superhero Fiction was launched by editor Ben Langdon as a bi-monthly to publish prose and some poetry (discontinued accepting poetry in 2011) of original superhuman fiction.
’s Seduction of the Innocent
(1954) alleged that sexual subtext existed in superhero comics, and included accusations that Batman
and Robin
were gay
and Wonder Woman
encouraged female dominance
fetishes and lesbian
ism.
Writer Ariel Dorfman
has criticized alleged class biases in many superhero narratives in several of his books, including The Empire's Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Mind (1980), and is not alone in doing so. Marxist critics, such as Matthew Wolf-Meyer ("The World Ozymandias Made") and Jason Dittmer ("The Tyranny of the Serial") often point out that not only do the superheroes arguably constitute a ruling class, but by simply defending the world as-is, they effectively keep it from changing, and thus lock it into status quo. Some contemporary critics are more focused on the history and evolving nature of the superhero concept, as in Peter Coogan
's Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre (2006).
American comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
s, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.
The form is a type of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
examining the adventures of costumed crime fighters known as superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es, who often possess superhuman power
Superpower (ability)
Superpower is a popular culture term for a fictional superhuman ability. When a character possesses multiple such abilities, the terms super powers or simply powers are used...
s and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s. Occasionally, this type of fiction is referred to as superhuman or super-powered fiction rather than superhero fiction in order to reflect that broader scope of both heroes and villains, as well as cover those characters with enhanced abilities that fall outside the classic superhero/supervillain dichotomy.
Superheroes
A superheroSuperhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
is most often the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of superhero fiction, although some titles, such as Marvels
Marvels
Marvels is a four-issue comic book limited series written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross and edited by Marcus McLaurin, and published by Marvel Comics in 1994....
by Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
and Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
, use superheroes as secondary characters.
Secret identities
Both superheroes and supervillains often use alter egos while in action. While sometimes the character's true name is known, alter egos are most often used to hide the character's secret identitySecret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
from their enemies and the public.
Death
Death in superhero fiction is rarely permanent, as characters who die are often brought back to life through supernatural means, retconRetcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
s or other reasons. Fans have termed the practice of bringing back dead characters "comic book death
Comic book death
In the comic book fan community, the apparent death and subsequent return of a long-running character is often called a comic book death. While death is a serious subject, a comic book death is generally not taken seriously and is rarely permanent or meaningful...
."
Another common trait of superhero fiction is the killing off of a superhero's significant other by a supervillain to advance the plot. Comic book writer Gail Simone
Gail Simone
Gail Simone is an American writer of comic books. Best known for penning DC's Birds of Prey, her other notable works include Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, and Deadpool. In 2007, she took over Wonder Woman...
has coined the term "Women in Refrigerators
Women in Refrigerators
Women in Refrigerators is a website that was created in 1999 by a group of comic book fans. The website features a list of female comic book characters that had been injured, killed, or depowered as a plot device within various superhero comic books...
" (named after an incident in Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
#54 where Kyle Rayner
Kyle Rayner
Kyle Rayner is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually in those starring the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which Rayner is a member. Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks, Rayner first appeared in Green Lantern vol...
's girlfriend Alex DeWitt is murdered by the supervillain Major Force
Major Force
Major Force is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is a supervillain that first appeared in Captain Atom vol. 3, #12 .-Early life:...
and stuffed into Rayner's refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
) to refer to this practice.
Continuity
Often times, many works superhero fiction occur in the a sharedShared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, sometimes (as in the cases of the DC
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
and Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
s) establishing a fictional continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
of thousands of works spread over many decades.
Changes to continuity are also common, ranging from small changes to established continuity, commonly called retcons, to full reboots, erasing all previous continuity.
It is also common for stories works of superhero fiction to contain established characters and setting while occurring outside of the main canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
for those characters.
Crossovers
CrossoversFictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
often occur between characters of different works of superhero fiction. In comic books, highly publicized "events" are published featuring crossovers between many characters.
Intercompany crossover
Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...
s, between characters of different continuity, are also common.
Prototypes
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
and heroes such as Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk, modern day Iraq , placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. According to the Sumerian king list he reigned for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of...
and Perseus
Perseus
Perseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...
. Later, folkloric
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
heroes such as Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
and the 19th century protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s of Victorian literature
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, such as the masked adventurer The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
, featured what became such superhero conventions as secret identities. Penny dreadfuls, dime novel
Dime novel
Dime novel, though it has a specific meaning, has also become a catch-all term for several different forms of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S...
s, radio programs and other popular fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries featured mysterious, swashbuckling heroes with distinct costumes, secret identities, unusual abilities and altruistic missions. These include Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
, The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is an American radio and television masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell, in 1936. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the Green Hornet has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media...
, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and Spring Heeled Jack
Spring Heeled Jack
Spring-heeled Jack is a character in English folklore of the Victorian era who was known for his startling jumps. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over England and were especially prevalent in suburban London, the Midlands and...
, the last of whom first emerged as an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
. Likewise, the science-fiction hero John Carter of Mars, with his futuristic weapons and gadgets; Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
, with his high degree of athleticism and strength, and his ability to communicate with animals; and the biologically modified Hugo Danner
Hugo Danner
Hugo Danner is a fictional character, the protagonist of the 1930 American novel Gladiator, by Philip Gordon Wylie. Born in the late 19th century with superhuman abilities via prenatal chemical experimentation, Danner tries to use his powers for good, making him a precursor of the superhero...
of the novel Gladiator were heroes with unusual abilities who fought sometimes larger-than-life foes.
The most direct antecedents are pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
crime fighters — such as the masked & caped Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
(1919) with his trademark "Z", the preternaturally mesmeric The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
(1930), the "peak human" Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
(1933), and The Spider
The Spider
The Spider was one of the major pulp magazine heroes of the 1930s and 1940s.- Background :The Spider was created by Harry Steeger at Popular Publications in 1933 as competition to Street and Smith Publications' vigilante hero, The Shadow...
(1933) — and comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
characters such as Hugo Hercules
Hugo Hercules
The creation of cartoonist William H.D. Koerner, Hugo Hercules was the titular hero of a comic strip that ran from September 1902 to January 1903 for the Chicago Tribune.-Characters and story:...
, Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
and The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
. The first masked crime-fighter created for comic books was writer-artist George Brenner
George Brenner
George Brenner was an American cartoonist in the mid 1900s. He created comics such as The Clock, Bozo the Iron Man, and 711.He also had a small part as a guest in the 1946 movie The Razor's Edge....
's non-superpowered detective the Clock, who debuted in Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing Man....
' Funny Pages #6 (Nov. 1936). Historians point to the first appearance of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#1 (June 1938) as the debut of the comic-book archetype the superhero. Outside the American industry of comics, the first full-fledged superhero is considered to be the Nyctalope
Nyctalope
The Nyctalope is the name of a lesser-known fictional superhero who appears in a book series of novels written by French writer Jean de La Hire, a prolific author of popular adventure series, many of which include science fiction elements...
, written by French writer Jean de La Hire
Jean de la Hire
Jean de La Hire was a prolific French author of numerous popular adventure, science fiction and romance novels.Adolphe d'Espie was born on 28 January 1878 in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Pyrénées-Orientales...
in 1911.
Golden Age
In 1938, writer Jerry SiegelJerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and illustrator Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, who had previously worked in pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
magazines, introduced Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
.
The character possessed many of the traits that have come to define the superhero: a secret identity
Secret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
, 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
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, which published under the names National and All-American at the time, received an overwhelming response to Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
and, in the years that followed, introduced Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, The Flash, Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
, Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
and Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
. The first team of superheroes was DC's Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
, 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
Human Torch (Golden Age)
The Human Torch, also known as Jim Hammond, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics-owned superhero. Created by writer-artist Carl Burgos, he first appeared in Marvel Comics #1 , published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics....
and Sub-Mariner from Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
(then called Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
) and Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
and Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first female superhero characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book companies, and a new version of the...
from Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
were also hits. Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
's The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
, featured in a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, would become a considerable artistic inspiration to later comic book creators. The era's most popular superhero, however, was Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
' Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, whose exploits regularly outsold those of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
during the 1940s.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 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
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
and the patriotically themed superheroes, most notably Marvel's Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
as well as DC's Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
.
Like other pop-culture figures of the time, Superheroes were used to promote domestic propaganda during wartime, ranging from the purchasing of war bondshttp://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/HeroesInSociety/galleries/?g=23&i=782 to racist caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s of the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
.
Following superheroes' popularity during this time, those characters' appeal began to dwindle in the post-war era. Comic-book publishers, casting about for new subjects and genres, found success in, particularly, crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
, the most prominent comic of which was Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
' Crime Does Not Pay
Crime Does Not Pay (comics)
Crime Does Not Pay is the title of an American comic book series published between 1942 and 1955 by Lev Gleason Publications. Edited and chiefly written by Charles Biro, the title launched the crime comics genre and was the first "true crime" comic book series. At the height of its popularity,...
, and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
. The lurid nature of these genres sparked a moral crusade in which comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
and the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency began. The movement was spearheaded by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham was a Jewish German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent , which purported that comic books are...
, 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
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
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
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
.
Silver Age
In the 1950s, DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, under the editorship of Julius Schwartz
Julius Schwartz
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was a comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in the Bronx, New York...
, recreated many popular 1940s heroes, launching an era later deemed the Silver Age of comic books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
. The Flash, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
and several others were recreated
Reboot (continuity)
The verb reboot, in media dealing with serial fiction, means to discard much or even all previous continuity in the series and start anew with fresh ideas...
with new origin stories. While past superheroes resembled mythological
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
heroes in their origins and abilities, these heroes were inspired by contemporary science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. In 1960, DC banded its most popular heroes together in the Justice League of America
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
, which became a sales phenomenon.
Empowered by the return of the superhero at DC, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
editor/writer Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and the artists/co-writers Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
and Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
launched a new line of superhero comic books, beginning with The Fantastic Four in 1961 and continuing with the Incredible Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
, Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
, the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, and Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
. These comics continued DC’s use of science fiction concepts (radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
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. For example, the Fantastic Four were a superhero family of sorts, who squabbled and even held some unresolved acrimony towards one another, and Spider-Man was a teenager who struggled to earn money and maintain his social life in addition to his costumed exploits.
Deconstructionism
In the 1970s, DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
paired Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
with Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
in a team-up series. Writer Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
portrayed Green Arrow as an angry, street-smart populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
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
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
to his roots as a dubious vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
, and Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
introduced several popular antiheroes, including The Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
, and writer/artist Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's dark version of the longtime hero Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
. Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, The Punisher, and Daredevil were driven by the crime-related deaths of family members and continual exposure to slum life, while X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
's Wolverine was tormented by barely controllable savage instincts and Iron Man struggled with debilitating alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. The trend was also seen in the 1986 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
by writer Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and artist Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, which was published by DC but took place outside the "DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
" with new characters. Some of the superheroes of Watchmen were emotionally unsatisfied, psychologically withdrawn, sexually confused, and even sociopathic
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
. Watchmen also examined perceived flaws in the superhero mythos such as the inculpability of vigilantism, and the supposed ultimate irrelevance of fighting crime in a world threatened by nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
.
Another story, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a four-issue comic book limited series written and drawn by Frank Miller, originally published by DC Comics under the title Batman: The Dark Knight in 1986. When the issues were released in a collected edition later that year, the story title for the first issue...
(1985–1986), continued Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
’s renovation/reinterpretation. This miniseries, written and illustrated by Frank Miller, featured a Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
from an alternate/non-continuity future returning from retirement. The series portrayed the hero as an obsessed vigilante, necessarily at odds with official social authority figures, illustrated both by the relationship between Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and retiring police commissioner James Gordon, and by the symbolic slugfest between the Dark Knight and Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, now an agent/secret weapon of the U.S government.
Miller continued his treatment of the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
character with 1987's Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
(Batman issues #404-407) and 2001's The Dark Knight Strikes Again (also known as DK2). DK2, the long-awaited follow-up to The Dark Knight Returns, contrasts the traditional superhero-crimefighter character with the politicized characters that evolved during the 1990s (perhaps epitomized by The Authority and Planetary
Planetary
Planetary means relating to a planet or planets. It can also refer to:* Planetary , a comic book series by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday* Planetary habitability, the measure of an astronomical body's potential to develop and sustain life...
, both written by British author Warren Ellis). In DK2, Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's nemesis Lex Luthor is the power behind the throne, controlling a tyrannical American government, as well as Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
himself. Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's submission to Luthor's twisted power structure, in the name of saving lives is contrasted with Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
's determined attack against corrupted institutions of government; the message perhaps that crime can occur at all levels of society, and that heroes are responsible for fighting both symptoms and causes of societal dysfunction and corruption.
Struggles of the 1990s
By the early 1990s, anti-heroes had become the rule rather than the exception, as The PunisherPunisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
and the grimmer Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
became popular and marketable characters. Anti-heroes such as the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
’s Gambit
Gambit (comics)
Gambit is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero that has been a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared briefly in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 , weeks before a more comprehensive appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266...
and Bishop
Bishop (comics)
Bishop is a fictional comic book superhero, appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular the X-Men family of books...
, X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
's Cable
Cable (comics)
Cable is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared as an infant in Uncanny X-Men #201...
and the Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
adversary Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as 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
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
, Jim Lee
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
and Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
— all of whom helped popularize anti-heroes in the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises — left Marvel to form Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
. 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 Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
, and Liefeld’s Youngblood
Youngblood (comics)
Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
, were instant hits but were criticized as over-muscled, over-sexualized, excessively violent, and lacking in unique personality. McFarlane's occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
hero Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
fared somewhat better in critical respect and long-term sales.
In this decade, Marvel and DC made drastic temporary changes to iconic characters. DC's "Death of Superman" story arc across numerous Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
titles found the hero killed and resurrected, while Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
was physically crippled in the "KnightFall" storyline. At Marvel, a clone of Spider-Man
Clone Saga
The Clone Saga or Spider-Clone Saga was a major story arc in Marvel Comics which ran from 1994 to 1996 involving many clones of Spider-Man.The story is considered to be one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories ever told...
vied with the original for over a year of stories across several series. All eventually returned to the status quo.
Throughout the 1990s, several creators deviated from the trends of violent anti-heroes and sensational, large-scale storylines. Painter Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
, writer Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
and Alan Moore himself tried to "reconstruct" the superhero form. Acclaimed titles such as Busiek's, Ross' and Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...
's Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
and Moore's Tom Strong
Tom Strong
Tom Strong is a comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' Wildstorm division.-Background:Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero"...
combined artistic sophistication and idealism into a super heroic version of retro-futurism
Retro-futurism
Retro-futurism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced prior to about 1960...
. Ross also painted two widely acclaimed mini-series, Marvels
Marvels
Marvels is a four-issue comic book limited series written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross and edited by Marcus McLaurin, and published by Marvel Comics in 1994....
(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 antiheroes. Magog
Magog (comics)
Magog is a fictional character in the comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Kingdom Come #1 , and was created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. In 2009, Magog was ranked as IGN's 75th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time....
, Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
’s rival in Kingdom Come, was partially modeled after Cable.
Film
Superhero films began as Saturday movie serialsSerial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
aimed at children during the 1940s. The decline of these serials meant the death of superhero films until the release of 1978's Superman, a critical and commercial success. Several sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s followed in the 1980s. 1989's Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
was also highly successful and followed by several sequels in the 1990s. Yet while both franchises were initially successful, later sequels in both series fared poorly both artistically and financially, stunting the growth of superhero films for a time.
In the early 2000s, hit films such as 1998's Blade
Blade (film)
Blade is a 1998 vampire superhero action horror starring Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Blade grossed $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide...
, X-Men
X-Men (film)
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
(2000), Spider-Man
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
(2002) and the reboot Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
(2005) have led to many more superhero films, both successful (such as 2008's Iron Man
Iron Man (film)
Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...
) and less so (such as 2003's Daredevil
Daredevil (film)
Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
). Other superhero films in the decade have included sequels as well as The Hulk
Hulk (film)
Hulk is a 2003 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name. Ang Lee directed the film, which stars Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner, as well as Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte...
(2003), Catwoman
Catwoman (film)
Catwoman is a 2004 American superhero film and quasi-spinoff of the Batman film series directed by Pitof and released by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures on July 23, 2004....
(2004), Elektra
Elektra (2005 film)
Elektra is a 2005 superhero film directed by Rob Bowman. It is a spin-off from the 2003 film Daredevil, starring the Marvel comics character Elektra Natchios . The story follows Elektra, an international assassin whose weapon of choice is a pair of sai.For the screenplay, Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman...
(2005), Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
(2009), and the reboots Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
(2006) and The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk (film)
The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero action film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner. It is the second film to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
(2008).
Live-action television series
Several live-action superhero programs aired from the early 1950s until the late 1970s. These included Adventures of SupermanAdventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
starring George Reeves
George Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
, the campy
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
series of the 1960s starring Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
and Burt Ward
Burt Ward
Burt Ward is an American television actor and activist. He is best known for his portrayal of Robin in the television series Batman and its theatrical film spin-off.-Early life:...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
series of the 1970s starring Lynda Carter
Lynda Carter
Lynda Jean Carter is an American actress and singer, best known for being Miss World USA and as the star of the 1970s television series The New Original Wonder Woman and The New Adventures of Wonder Woman ....
. The Incredible Hulk of the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, had a more somber tone.
In the 1990s, the syndicated Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
, adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai
Super Sentai
The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
, became popular. Other shows targeting teenage and young adult audiences that decade included Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In 2001, Smallville
Smallville (TV series)
Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...
retooled Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's origin as a teen drama. The 2006 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
tells the story of several ordinary people who each suddenly find themselves with a superpower.
Animation
In the 1940s, FleischerFleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
/Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
produced a number of groundbreaking Superman
Superman (1940s cartoons)
The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman....
cartoons, which became the first examples of superheroes in animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
.
Since the 1960s, superhero cartoons have been a staple of children’s television, particularly in the U.S.. However, by the early 1970s, US broadcasting restrictions on violence in children’s entertainment led to series that were extremely tame, a trend exemplified by the series Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
. Meanwhile, Japan's anime industry successfully contributed its own style of superhero series, such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
In the 1980s, the Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...
brought together Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, Iceman, and Firestar
Firestar
Firestar is a fictional mutant superhero in the . Debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she has the ability to generate and manipulate microwave radiation, which allows her to generate intense heat and flames, and to fly...
. The following decade, Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...
and X-Men, aimed at somewhat older audiences, found critical success in mainstream publications. Series that followed included Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
(1996) and Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's adaptation of DC's Justice League (2001) and Teen Titans
Teen Titans (TV series)
Teen Titans is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. The show was created by Glen Murakami, developed by David Slack, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and the final episode "Things Change"...
.
Comics' superhero mythos itself received a nostalgic treatment in the 2004 Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
/Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
release The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
, which utilized computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
. Original superheroes with basis in older trends have also been made for television, such as Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's Ben 10
Ben 10
The Omnitrix was originally created by a Galvan named Azmuth. The Omnitrix was intended to allow beings to experience life as other species in order to bring understanding and foster peace in the universe....
and Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
's Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show was about a teenage half-ghost boy, who frequently saves his town and the world from ghost attacks, while attempting to keep his ghost half a secret...
.
The new animated show The Super Hero Squad Show
The Super Hero Squad Show
The Super Hero Squad Show is an American cartoon series by Marvel Animation. It is based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad action figure line from Hasbro, which portray the characters of the Marvel Universe in a cartoonish super-deformed-style...
premiered September 14, 2009. This show has all of Marvel’s favorite characters such as Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Falcon
Falcon (comics)
The Falcon is a fictional comic book superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics.Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, and introduced in Captain America #117 , the character is mainstream comics' first African-American superhero...
, Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, Reptil
Reptil
Reptil is a character from Marvel Comics. He is best known as a supporting member on The Super Hero Squad Show and a member of Avengers Academy in the comics.-Fictional character biography:...
, Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
, Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
, and Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
. They are the protectors of Super Hero City, where Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
just happens to be the Mayor. They must protect the city from the likes of Dr. Doom and his hoard of villains live in Villainville. The season-long plot involves pieces of the Infinity Sword being scattered across the globe during Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
's fight with Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom
Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
. The show is based on Marvel Super Hero Squad
Marvel Super Hero Squad
Marvel Super Hero Squad is an action figure line marketed by Hasbro beginning in 2006. The line features scale replicas of comic book heroes from the Marvel Comics universe. Each figure is portrayed in a cartoonish super-deformed-style. The line was designed for younger collectors but has become a...
action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
line marketed by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
beginning in 2006.
Radio
Beginning 1940s, the radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
serial Superman starred Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer was an American radio actor/announcer who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars...
as the titular hero. Fellow DC Comics stars Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Robin made occasional guest appearances. Other superhero radio programs starred characters including the costumed but not superpowered Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
, and the non-costumed, superpowered Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
. Also appearing on radio were such characters as the Green Hornet
Green Hornet
Green Hornet may refer to:* The Green Hornet, a fictional character created by Fran Striker for the 1930s radio program and adapted into several media versions...
, the Green Lama
Green Lama
The Green Lama was an American pulp magazine hero of the 1940s. In many respects a typical costumed crime-fighter of the period, the Green Lama's most unusual feature was the fact that he was a practicing Buddhist...
, Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
, and the Lone Ranger, a Western
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
hero who relied on many conventions of the superhero archetype.
Adaptations
Superheroes occasionally have been adapted into prose fiction, starting with Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
's 1942 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Adventures of Superman by George Lowther
George Lowther
George Lowther may refer to:*George Lowther *George Lowther...
. In the 1970s, Elliot S! Maggin
Elliot S! Maggin
Elliot S. Maggin, also spelled Elliot S! Maggin , is an American writer of comic books, film, television and novels. He was a main writer for DC Comics during the Bronze and early Modern ages of comics in the 1970s and 1980s...
wrote the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
novels, Last Son of Krypton
Last Son of Krypton
Superman: Last Son of Krypton is a novel written by Elliot S! Maggin and based on the DC Comics character Superman. It was published in 1978.-Plot summary:Last Son of Krypton is Elliot S! Maggin's first Superman novel...
(1978) and Miracle Monday
Miracle Monday
Miracle Monday is a novel written by Elliot S! Maggin and based on the DC Comics character Superman. It was published in 1981.Miracle Monday tells the story of Superman trying to stop an entity of pure evil from causing universal chaos. This is Elliot S! Maggin's second Superman novel and is just...
, coinciding with but not adapting the movie Superman. Other early adaptations include novels starring the comic-strip hero The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
, starting with 1943's Son of the Phantom. The character likewise returned in 1970s books, with a 15-installment series from Avon Books beginning in 1972, written by Phantom creator Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
, Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.The prolific Goulart wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson , Con Steffanson , Chad Calhoun, R.T...
, and others.
Also during the 1970s, Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
published 11 novels based on Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
characters. Juvenile novels featuring Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
characters including Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, and the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
, have been published, often marketed in association with TV series, as have Big Little Books
Big Little Books
The Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text...
starring the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
and others.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Marvel and DC released novels adapting such story arcs as "The Death of Superman
The Death of Superman
"The Death of Superman" is a 1992 comic book storyline that occurred in DC Comics' Superman titles. The completed multi-issue story arc was given the title The Death and Return of Superman....
" and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
's "No Man’s Land".
Original
Original superhero or superhuman fiction has appeared in both novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
and short-story print forms unrelated to adaptations from the major comic-book companies. It has also appeared in poetry.
Print magazines devoted to such stories include A Thousand Faces: A Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, published since 2007 in print and electronic form, and online only as of 2011 and This Mutant Life: Superhero Fiction, a bimonthly print publication from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, published since 2010. The latter magazine was one of the few to also publish superhero poetry, ceasing to do so as of 2011. Superhero poems there included Philip L. Tite's "Brittle Lives", Mark Floyd's "Nemeses", and Jay Macleod's "All Our Children".
Novels with original superhuman stories include Robert Mayer's Superfolks (St. Martin's Griffin, March 9, 2005); James Maxey's Nobody Gets the Girl (Phobos Books, 2003); Rob Rogers's Devil's Cape (Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
Discoveries imprint, 2008); Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Soon I Will Be Invincible is a novel by Austin Grossman. It was published by Pantheon Books and released on June 5, 2007. The novel is uses two alternating first person narratives. One narrative is told from the point-of-view of Fatale, a female cyborg who is recruited by the superhero group The...
(Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
, 2007); David J. Schwartz's Superpowers: A Novel (Three Rivers Press
Three Rivers Press
Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints.- History :...
, 2008); Matthew Cody's Powerless (Knopf, 2009); and Van Allen Plexico
Van Allen Plexico
Van Allen Plexico is an American professor of Political Science and History and a science fiction and fantasy author.-Biography:...
's Sentinels
Sentinels novels
The Sentinels novels by Van Allen Plexico comprise a sequence of superhero fiction works in prose format with occasional interior illustrations. They are set primarily in the present-day United States...
series of superhero novels (Swarm/Permuted Press, beginning in 2008). Collections of superhuman short stories include Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories, edited by Owen King and John McNally (Free Press, 2008), and Masked, edited by Lou Anders (Gallery, 2010).
Audio / podcast
Increasingly, authors turn to new media to help distribute and promote their work. Several examples of superhero fiction can be found in these formsMur Lafferty
Mur Lafferty
Mur Lafferty is an American podcaster and writer based in Durham, North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. She is the editor and host of Escape Pod since 2010, when she took over from Steve Eley...
's Parsec Award
Parsec Awards
The Parsec Awards are a set of annual awards created to recognize excellence in science fiction podcasts and podcast novels. The awards were created by Mur Lafferty, Tracy Hickman and Michael R. Mennenga and awarded by FarPoint Media...
-winning novel, Playing For Keeps, features characters with less-than-heroic capabilities, showing that the idea of the superhero is established enough in popular culture for such developments of the theme to be possible. Published in 2008 by Swarm Press, it predates the recent SyFy show, Three Inches (which explores a similar theme) by two years. Playing For Keeps is also available for free in audio, podcast, and PDF formats.
Video games
While many popular superheroes have been featured in licensed video 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 AgeSilver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
-inspired Freedom Force
Freedom Force (computer game)
Freedom Force is a real-time tactical role-playing game developed by Irrational Games and published by Electronic Arts and Crave Entertainment in 2002. The player guides a team of superheroes as they defend Patriot City from a variety of villains, monsters, and other menaces. A sequel, Freedom...
(2002) , City of Heroes
City of Heroes
City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe on February 4, 2005 with English, German and French language...
(2004), and Champions Online
Champions Online
Champions Online is a free-to-play superhero-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game by former City of Heroes/Villains developer Cryptic Studios based on the Champions license. The game's rules and setting are loosely based on the HERO System ruleset...
(2009) a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
(or MMORPG), all of which allow players to create their own superheroes and/or villains.
Internet
In the 1980s and 1990s, the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
allowed a worldwide community of fans and amateur writers to bring their own superhero creations to a global audience. The first original major shared
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
superhero universe to develop on the Internet was Superguy
Superguy
Superguy was originally a creative fiction writing group on the now-defunct UMNEWS mailing list service. After UMNEWS collapsed, the mailing list became internet-based....
, which first appeared on a UMNEWS mailing list in 1989. In 1992, a cascade on the USENET
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
rec.arts.comics would give birth to the The Legion of Net.Heroes
Legion of Net. Heroes
The Legion of Net.Heroes, or LNH, is the oldest USENET-based shared universe still in existence, and the name of the premiere "net.hero" team in that universe. Birthed from a rec.arts.comics cascade thread in April 1992 , it began as parody of the Legion of Super-Heroes , and other comic book...
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.
Magazine-style websites that publish superhero fiction include Metahuman Press, active since 2005, and Freedom Fiction Journal. Superhuman fiction has also appeared in general science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
web publications, such as the weekly Strange Horizons, a publication that pays its contributors. Two examples there are Paul Melko's "Doctor Mighty and the Case of Ennui" and Saladin Ahmed's "Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions".
Superhero fiction outside the United States
Cybersix
Cybersix is a series of Argentine comic books created by writers Carlos Meglia and Carlos Trillo. The series first appeared in Spanish in November 1993....
from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Captain Canuck
Captain Canuck
Captain Canuck is a fictional Canadian comic book superhero. Created by writer Ron Leishman and artist/co-writer Richard Comely, the original Captain Canuck first appeared in Captain Canuck #1 ....
from Canada, and the heroes of AK Comics
AK Comics
AK Comics is an Egyptian-based superhero comic publishing venture, and the first large scale production of the genre in the Middle East. The company was founded by Dr...
from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Japan is the only country that nears the US in output of superheroes. The earlier of these wore scarves
Scarf
A scarf is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, or near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. They can come in a variety of different colours.-History:...
either in addition to or as a substitute for capes and many wear helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
s instead of mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
s.
Moonlight Mask
Moonlight Mask
is a fictional superhero that has appeared in Japanese tokusatsu and anime television shows and movies since his TV debut in 1958. Created by writer Kōhan Kawauchi, Moonlight Mask is best described as Japan's answer to The Lone Ranger and Batman....
, Ultraman
Ultra Series
The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters. The Ultra Series is one of the prominent tokusatsu superhero genre productions from Japan, along with Toei produced series Kamen Rider, Super...
, Kamen Rider
Kamen Rider Series
The is a metaseries of manga and tokusatsu television programs and films created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. The various Kamen Rider media generally feature a motorcycle-riding superhero with an insect motif who fights supervillains often referred to as...
, Super Sentai
Super Sentai
The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
(the basis for Power Rangers
Power Rangers
Power Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
), Metal Hero Series and Kikaider have become popular in Japanese tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
live-action shows, and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
is a 5-member superhero team that is composed of the main characters in several Japanese anime created by Tatsuo Yoshida and originally produced in Japan by Tatsunoko Productions and later adapted into several English-language versions...
, Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
, Casshern
Casshern
is a 2004 Japanese tokusatsu film adaptation of the anime series of the same name. It was written and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya. It stars Yusuke Iseya as Tetsuya Azuma/Casshern, Kumiko Aso as Luna Kozuki, Toshiaki Karasawa as Burai, Mayumi Sada as Saguree, and Jun Kaname as Barashin.-Plot:A...
, Devilman
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
, The Guyver
Guyver
is a manga series written by Yoshiki Takaya. The Guyver itself is a symbiotic techno-organic device that enhances the capabilities of its host....
, and Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
are staples of Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. However, most Japanese superhero series 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. In addition, Japanese manga often targets female readers, unlike U.S. comics, and has created such varieties as "magical girl
Magical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
" (e.g. Cardcaptor Sakura) for this audience. .
In 1947, Filipino
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
writer/cartoonist Mars Ravelo
Mars Ravelo
Mars Ravelo was a Filipino graphic novelist who created the characters Darna, Dyesebel, Captain Barbell, Lastikman, Bondying, Varga, Wanted: Perfect Mother, Hiwaga, Maruja, Mariposa, Roberta, Rita, Buhay Pilipino, Jack and Jill, Flash Bomba, Tiny Tony, and Dragonna among others.-Biography:Mars...
introduced the first Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
superheroine, Darna
Darna
Darna is a fictional character and Filipino comics superheroine created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. In her more popular incarnations, she is a deceased warrior from another planet manifesting herself through a girl from Earth, named Narda...
, a young Filipina country girl who found a mystic talisman-pebble from another planet that allows her to transform into an adult warrior-woman. She was the first solo superheroine in the world to get her own feature-length motion picture in 1951 and has become a cultural institution in the Philippines.
British superheroes began appearing in the Golden Age
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
shortly after the first American heroes became popular in the UK. Most original British heroes were confined to anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
comics magazines such as Lion
Lion (comic)
Lion was a weekly comic published by Fleetway from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. It lasted for 1,156 issues.-Publishing history:...
, Valiant
Valiant (comic)
Valiant was the title of a British boys adventure comics anthology which ran from 1962 to 1976. It was published by IPC Magazines and was one of their major adventure titles throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.-Publication history:...
, Warrior, and 2000AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
. Marvelman
Marvelman
Marvelman, also known as Miracleman for trademark reasons in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American...
, known as Miracleman in North America, is probably the most well known original British superhero (although he was based heavily on Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
). Popular in the 1960s, British readers grew fond of him and contemporary UK comics writers Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
revived Marvelman in series that reinvented the characters in a more serious vein, an attitude prevalent in newer British heroes, such as Zenith.
In France, where comics are known as bande dessinée (literally "drawn strip") and regarded as a proper art form, Editions Lug
Editions Lug
Editions Lug was a French comic book publisher created in 1950 by writer/editor Marcel Navarro and businessman Auguste Vistel.-History:When it started, Editions Lug only reprinted old French and Italian comics in digest-sized magazines....
began translating and publishing Marvel comic books in anthology magazines in 1969. Soon, Lug started presenting its own heroes alongside Marvel stories. Some closely modeled their U.S. counterparts (such as the trio of Harvard entomologists-Olympic athletes — Mikros, Saltarella and Crabb — of the S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
-esque saga of C.L.A.S.H.
C.L.A.S.H.
C.L.A.S.H. is a comic book series published in France but realized by Italian artists Franco Frescura and Giorgio Trevisan for Editions Lug in 1969.Headquartered in Aspen, Colorado, C.L.A.S.H...
), while others included the shape-changing
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
alien
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
Wampus
Wampus
Wampus is a French comic book character written by Franco Frescura and illustrated by Luciano Bernasconi for French publisher Editions Lug in 1969....
. Many were short-lived, while others rivaled their inspirations in longevity and have been the subject of reprints and revivals, such as Photonik.
In India, Raj Comics
Raj Comics
Raj Comics is an Indian comic book line published by a division of Raja Pocket Books.Raj Comics' best-known characters include Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruva, Doga, Parmanu, Shakti, Bhokal and Super Indian.-History:...
, founded in 1984, owns a number of superheroes, such as Nagraj, Doga
Doga (comics)
Doga is a hero character appearing in Raj Comics, published and distributed across India. Created by Tarun kumar Wahi, Sanjay Gupta & artist Manu in the year 1992, Doga is the first and the only antihero character in Raj Comics...
and Super Commando Dhruva
Super Commando Dhruva
Super Commando Dhruva is a fictional superhero in comic books published by Raj Comics. The character first appeared in "Pratishodh Ki Jwala" and was created by writer and artist Anupam Sinha...
, that carry Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
ideas of morality and incorporate Indian myths
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
. Some of the Indian / Hindi superhero movies include Mr. India, Shiva
Shiva (film)
Shiva is a 1989 Telugu-language film. The 1989 Indian film starring Akkineni Nagarjuna and Amala which deals with violence and student politics inside the college campus. The film was written by Tanikella Bharani and directed by film-maker Ram Gopal Verma who made his debut with this film. The...
, Shehenshah, Ajooba, Toofaan, and Krrish
Krrish
Krrish is a 2006 Indian superhero science-fiction film The film was directed, produced, and written by Rakesh Roshan, while the screenplay was written by Robin Bhatt, Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, Akarsh Khurana, and Sanjay Masoom. The film is a sequel to Koi.....
.
Cat Claw is a superheroine co-created by a pair of Serbian comic artists and writers.
Malaysia also create several recognized superheroes such as Kapten Malaysia (which resembles Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
and appeared in kids magazines), Keluang Man
Keluang Man
Keluang Man is a Malaysian comedy superhero who is based on the fruit bat . His costume and appearance is based on the ever popular Batman. The Keluang Man cartoon series was very popular since his first appearance back in 1999 through Malaysian local TV channel, TV1 , however production stopped...
(which resembles Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and appeared in his own animation series), & Cicak-Man (which had appear in his two successful comedic superhero films).
In Australia, the print magazine This Mutant Life: Superhero Fiction was launched by editor Ben Langdon as a bi-monthly to publish prose and some poetry (discontinued accepting poetry in 2011) of original superhuman fiction.
Criticism
Almost since the inception of the superhero in comic books, the concept has come under fire from critics. Most famously, the psychiatrist Fredric WerthamFredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham was a Jewish German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent , which purported that comic books are...
’s Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent is a book by German-American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was a minor bestseller that created alarm in parents and galvanized...
(1954) alleged that sexual subtext existed in superhero comics, and included accusations that Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
were gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
encouraged female dominance
Female dominance
Female dominance is those BDSM relationships and BDSM scenes in which the dominant partner is female. Often a dominant woman, she may prefer to be called a Domme , Femdomme, Domina, or Dominatrix, depending on context or personal preference...
fetishes and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
ism.
Writer Ariel Dorfman
Ariel Dorfman
Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
has criticized alleged class biases in many superhero narratives in several of his books, including The Empire's Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Mind (1980), and is not alone in doing so. Marxist critics, such as Matthew Wolf-Meyer ("The World Ozymandias Made") and Jason Dittmer ("The Tyranny of the Serial") often point out that not only do the superheroes arguably constitute a ruling class, but by simply defending the world as-is, they effectively keep it from changing, and thus lock it into status quo. Some contemporary critics are more focused on the history and evolving nature of the superhero concept, as in Peter Coogan
Peter Coogan
Dr. Peter M. Coogan is the director of the Institute for Comics Studies and co-founder and co-chair of the Comic Arts Conference, which runs during the San Diego Comic-Con International and San Francisco WonderCon.-Biography:...
's Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre (2006).