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A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility, who usually has colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings.
Since the definitive superhero, Superman, debuted in 1938, the stories of superheroes - ranging from episodic adventures to decades-long sagas - have become an entire genre of fiction that has dominated American comic books and crossed over into several other media.
Common traits
There is a range of attributes that are commonly part of a superhero's make up, although they are by no means definitive (see Divergent character examples). Most superheroes have a few of the following features:
- Extraordinary powers and abilities, mastery of relevant skills and/or advanced equipment. Although superhero powers vary greatly, superhuman strength, the ability to fly, enhancements of the senses and the ability to project energy of some kind are all common. Some superheroes, such as Batman and Green Hornet, possess no superpowers but have mastered skills such as martial arts and forensic sciences. Others have special equipment, such as Iron Man’s powered armor and Green Lantern’s power ring.
- A strong moral code, including a willingness to risk one's own safety in the service of good without expectation of reward.
- A refusal to kill an opponent, even at the expense of one’s own safety. Since the late 1970s, there have been many exceptions to this standard (e.g., Wolverine, The Punisher).
- A special motivation, such as a sense of responsibility (e.g. Spider-Man), a formal calling (e.g., Captain Marvel) or a personal vendetta against criminals (e.g., Batman)
- A secret identity that protects the superhero’s friends and family from becoming targets of his or her enemies. Most superheroes use a descriptive or metaphoric codename for their public deeds.
- A flamboyant and distinctive costume (see Common costume features).
- A trademark weapon (e.g., Wonder Woman’s “Lasso of Truth,” Captain America’s shield)
- A supporting cast of recurring characters including the hero's friends, co-workers and/or love interests, who may or may not know of the superhero's secret identity. Often the hero's personal relationships are complicated by his/her dual life.
- An archenemy or a number of enemies that s/he fights repeatedly.
- Either independent wealth (e.g., Batman or Iron Man) or an occupation that allows for minimal supervision (e.g., Superman's civilian job as a reporter).
- A secret headquarters or base of operations (e.g., Batman's Batcave).
- A backstory, called an "origin story", which explains the circumstances by which the character acquired his/her abilities, as well as his/her motivation for fighting evil. Many back stories involve tragic elements and/or freak accidents that result in the development of the hero's abilities.
Most superheroes work independently. However, there are also many superhero teams. Some, such as The Fantastic Four and X-Men, have common origins and usually operate as a group. Others, such as Marvel Comics’s Avengers and DC’s Justice League are "all-star" groups consisting of heroes of separate origins who also operate individually.
Many superheroes, especially those introduced in the 1940s, work with a child or teenaged sidekick (e.g., Batman and Robin). This has become less common since more sophisticated writing and older audiences have lessened the need for characters that specifically appeal to young readers and made such obvious child endangerment seem implausible.
Common costume features
A superhero’s costume helps make him or her recognizable to the general public (both in and outside of fiction). Costumes frequently incorporate the superhero's name and theme. For example Daredevil resembles a red devil, the design of Captain America's costume echoes that of the American flag and Spider-Man’s costume features a web pattern.
Many features of superhero costumes recur frequently, including:
- Superheroes who maintain a secret identity often wear a mask, ranging from the small bands of Green Lantern and Ms. Marvel to the full facemasks of Spider-Man and Rorschach. Most common, however, are masks covering the upper face, leaving the more indistinguishable jaw and neck areas exposed. These include the masks of Captain America, Batman and The Flash.
- Form-fitting clothing, often referred to as tights or spandex, although the exact material is usually not identified. Such material displays a character’s muscular build.
- A symbol, such as a stylized letter or visual icon, usually on the chest. Examples include Superman’s “S” and Green Lantern's lantern symbol.
- While a vast majority of superheroes do not wear capes, the garment is still closely associated with them, likely due to the fact that two of the most widely-recognized superheroes, Batman and Superman, wear capes.
- While most superhero costumes merely hide the hero’s identity and/or present a recognizable image, parts of some costumes have functional uses as well. Batman’s utility belt and Spawn’s “necroplasmic armor” have both been of great assistance to the heroes.
- When thematically appropriate, some superheroes dress like people from certain professions or subcultures. Zatanna, who possesses wizard-like powers, dresses like a magician and Ghost Rider, who rides a super powered motorcycle, dresses in the garb of a biker.
- Several heroes of the 1990s, including Cable and many Image Comics characters, rejected the traditional superhero outfit for costumes that appeared more practical and militaristic. Shoulder pads, kevlar-like vests, metal plated armor, knee and elbow pads, and heavy duty belts were all common features. Iron Man, in particular, wears a variety of armored suits giving him increased endurance against damage and providing him with technological advantages.
Other general characteristics
- Superheroes most often appear in comic books, and superhero stories are the dominant genre of American comic books, to the point that the terms "superhero" and "comic book character" are often used synonymously. Superheroes have also been featured in radio serials, prose novels, TV series, movies, and other media. Most of the superheroes that appear in other media are adapted from comics, but there are exceptions.
- Marvel Comics Group and DC Comics, Inc., share ownership of the United States trademark for the phrase "Super Heroes" as it applies to comics, and these two companies own a majority of the world’s most famous superheroes. However, throughout comic book history, there have been significant heroes owned by others, such as Captain Marvel, owned by Fawcett Comics (but later acquired by DC) and Spawn, owned by creator Todd McFarlane.
Gatchaman, one of Japan’s most popular superheroes
Superheroes are largely an American creation but there have been successful superheroes in other countries, most of which share many conventions of the American model. Japan is the only country whose entertainment industry nears that of the United States in output of superheroes. Ultraman and Kamen Rider have become popular in Japanese tokusatsu live-action shows and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Sailor Moon are staples of Japanese anime and manga. Examples from other countries include Cybersix from Argentina, Captain Canuck from Canada, Marvelman (known as Miracleman in North America) from the United Kingdom, and the heroes of AK Comics from Egypt.
- But because the fantastic nature of the superhero milieu allows almost anything to happen, some superhero series cross over into a variety of vastly different genres. In the 1980s series, The New Teen Titans, the Titans battled a cult leader in one story, went off to another galaxy to participate in a space war in the following story, and then returned to Earth and became involved in a gritty urban drama involving young runaways. The content of each of these stories is quite different, yet the same principal characters are involved.
Character subtypes
In superhero role-playing games (particularly Champions), superheroes are informally organized into categories based on their skills and abilities:
- "Brick/Tanker": A character with a superhuman degree of strength and endurance and usually an oversized, muscular body, e.g., The Thing, The Incredible Hulk, Colossus, Savage Dragon
- "Blaster": A hero whose main power is a distance attack, e.g., Cyclops, Starfire, Static
- "Archer": A subvariant of this type who uses bow and arrow-like weapons that have a variety of specialized functions like explosives, glue, nets, rotary drill, etc., e.g., Green Arrow, Hawkeye
- "Mage": A subvariant of this type that is trained in the use of magic, which partially or wholly involves ranged attacks., e.g., Doctor Strange, Doctor Fate
- "Martial Artist": A hero whose physical abilities are mostly human rather than superhuman but whose combat skills are phenomenal. Some of these characters are actually superhuman (Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Fist) while others are normal human beings who are extremely skilled and athletic (Batman, Black Widow)
- "Gadgeteer": A hero who invents special equipment that often imitates superpowers, e.g., Forge, Nite Owl
- "Speedster": A hero possessing superhuman speed and reflexes, e.g., The Flash, Quicksilver.
- "Mentalist": A hero who possesses psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and extra-sensory perception, e.g., Professor X and Jean Grey of the X-Men, Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
- "Shapeshifter": A hero who can manipulate his/her own body to suit his/her needs, such as stretching (Mister Fantastic, Plastic Man) or disguise (Changeling, Chameleon)
- "Substance oriented Bodychanger - A shapeshifter who can change his/her body into the equivalent of a mass of a substance that can have variable density such as sand or water. e.g., Sand, Husk.
- "Sizechanger": A shapeshifter who can alter his/her size, e.g., the Atom (shrinking only), Colossal Boy (growth only), Hank Pym (both).
These categories often overlap. For instance, Batman is a martial artist and a gadgeteer, and Superman is extremely strong and damage resistant and also has ranged attacks (heat vision, superbreath) like an energy blaster and can move quickly like a speedster. The Martian Manhunter excels in every category except martial arts and gadgetry.
Divergent character examples
While the typical superhero is described above, many break the mold:
- Spider-Man has been portrayed as an everyman hero, showing poor judgment and being overwhelmed by the combined responsibilities of his personal life and mission as a superhero.
- The Incredible Hulk is usually defined as a superhero, but he has little self-control and his actions have often either inadvertently or deliberately caused great destruction. As a result, he has been hunted by the military and other superheroes.
- Alternatively, Spawn, The Demon and Ghost Rider are actual demons, who find themselves manipulated by circumstance to be allies for the forces of good. Hellboy, on the other hand, is a demon who is heroic on his own accord.
- The Gargoyles are ancient, almost mythological creatures who, despite their monstrous appearance, are a largely benign, intelligent species dedicated to protecting their territories.
History of superheroes in comic books
Predecessors
The origins of superheroes can be found in several prior forms of fiction. Many share traits with protagonists of later Victorian literature, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel and Sherlock Holmes. The dime novel stories of Zorro and Tarzan also influenced superheroes. Pulp magazine crime fighters, such as Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Spider and comic strip characters, such as Dick Tracy and The Phantom, were probably the most direct influences.
By modern standards, characters like Doc Savage and The Phantom could be considered superheroes in their own right, but the first appearance of Superman is widely considered the point at which the superhero genre truly began. Philip Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator has recently gained attention as an earlier example not only of the "classic" superhero type, but also of its deconstruction. [1]
Golden Age
In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced Superman, who possessed many of the characteristics that have come to define the superhero, including a secret identity, superhuman powers and a colorful costume including a symbol and cape. His name is also the source of the term "superhero."
DC Comics (which published under the names National and All-American at the time) received an overwhelming response to Superman and, in the months that followed, introduced such superheroes as Batman and his sidekick Robin, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman 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. Marvel Comics’ the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, Quality Comics’ Plastic Man and Phantom Lady, and Will Eisner's The Spirit (featured in a newspaper insert) were also hits. The era's most popular superhero, however, was Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, who outsold 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 introduction of patriotically themed superheroes, most notably Marvel's Captain America.
After the war, superheroes lost popularity. This led to the rise of other genres, especially horror and crime. The lurid nature of these comic books sparked a moral crusade in which comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency. The movement was spearheaded by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, who argued, among other things, that "deviant" sexual undertones ran rampant in superhero comics. [2]
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, despite (or perhaps because of) an effort towards complete inoffensiveness that made their stories absurd by modern standards. This ended what historians have called the Golden Age of comic books.
Showcase #4, first appearance of the Silver Age Flash. Art by Joe Kubert.
Silver Age
In the 1950s, DC Comics, under the editorship of Julius Schwartz, recreated many popular 1940s heroes, launching an era later deemed the Silver Age of comic books. The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and several others were revived with new origin stories. While past superheroes resembled mythological heroes in their origins and abilities, these heroes were inspired by contemporary science fiction. In 1960, DC banded its most popular heroes together in the Justice League of America, which became a sales phenomenon.
Empowered by the return of the superhero at DC, Marvel Comics editor/writer Stan Lee and the artists/co-writers Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko launched a new line of superhero comic books, beginning with The Fantastic Four in 1961. These comics continued DC’s emphasis on 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 greatly from their predecessors with more dramatic potential. Some examples:
Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man. Art by Jack Kirby.
- The Thing, a member of The Fantastic Four, was a super strong, but monstrous creature with rock-like skin, whose appearance filled him with self-pity.
- Spider-Man was a teenager who struggled to earn money and maintain his social life in addition to his costumed exploits.
- The Incredible Hulk shared a Jekyll/Hyde-like relationship with his alter ego and was driven by rage.
- The X-Men were "mutants" who gained their powers through genetic mutation and who were hated and feared by the society they sought to protect.
By the early 1970s, the return of the superhero genre, the rise of television as the top medium for light entertainment and the Comics Code Authority’s effect on grittier genres obliterated western, romance, horror, war and crime comics. In the coming decades, non-superhero comic book series would occasionally rise to popularity but superheroes and comic books would be forever intertwined in the eyes of the American public.
Deconstruction of the superhero
In the 1970s, DC returned Batman to his roots as a dubious vigilante and Marvel introduced several popular anti-heroes, including The Punisher, Wolverine and writer/artist Frank Miller's darker version of Daredevil. These characters were deeply troubled from within. Batman, The Punisher and Daredevil were driven by the crime-related deaths of family members and were continually exposed to slum life. The X-Men’s Wolverine, on the other hand, was a mysterious character who was at odds with his own savage nature.
The dysfunctional superheroes of Watchmen. Art by Dave Gibbons.
The trend was taken to a new extreme in the successful 1986 mini-series Watchmen by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, which was published by DC but took place outside the "DC Universe", with new characters. The superheroes of Watchmen were emotionally unsatisfied, psychologically withdrawn and even sociopathic.
Another story, The Dark Knight Returns (1985-1986) continued Batman’s renovation. This mini-series, written and illustrated by Frank Miller, featured a future Batman returning from retirement. The series portrayed the hero as a madman on a brutal quest to mold society to his will.
Some critics believe that this trend is tied to the cynicism of the 1980s, when the idea of a person selflessly using his extraordinary abilities on a quest for good was no longer believable, but a person with a deep psychological impulse to destroy criminals was. Regardless, both series were acclaimed for their artistic ambitiousness and psychological depth and led to numerous imitations.
The gun-toting Cable, an archetypical 1990s anti-hero. Art by Rob Liefeld
In addition, cartoonists have begun creating characters mocking the clichés of the superhero genre. Gotlib's Super Dupont, for instance, is a super hero version of a caricatural Frenchman aiming at saving France from the mysterious organization "the anti-France".
Struggles of the 1990s
By the early 1990s, anti-heroes had become the rule rather than the exception. (This was partly the result of attempts to imitate Watchmen and the Dark Knight Rerturns, as the grimmer Batman and Watchmens Rorsasch became very popular in the wake of these releases.) The X-Men’s Bishop, X-Force’s Cable, Spider-Man adversary Venom, and Todd McFarlane's Spawn became some of the most popular and imitated new characters of the early 1990s.
In 1992, Marvel illustrators Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld - all of whom helped popularize anti-heroes in the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises - left the company and founded Image Comics. Image became a haven for creator-owned characters and the biggest challenger ever to Marvel and DC's 30 years of co-dominance. Image heroes, such as Lee’s WildC.A.Ts and Gen 13, Leifeld’s Youngblood and McFarlane’s Spawn were wildly popular but were criticized as over-muscled, excessively violent and lacking in unique personality. A boom in the comic book industry lead to a glut of new titles, from companies large and small, and many followed the trend of gritty anti-heroes.
To keep ahead of new competitors, Marvel and DC made drastic changes to beloved characters. The hugely successful "Death of Superman" found the hero killed and resurrected, Batman was physically crippled in the "KnightSaga" storyline, and a clone of Spider-Man vied with the original for the title. In X-Men, Magneto became less of an outright villain and more of a tragic anti hero, and the series became darker in tone with the events of the Fatal Attractions storyline. While these stories drummed up publicity, often in the mainstream media, fans complained that the essential elements of the franchises had been diluted and they ultimately lost interest.
Throughout the 1990s, several creators deviated from the trends of violent anti-heroes and sensational, large-scale storylines. Notable talents like Kurt Busiek and Alan Moore, himself, tried to reconstruct the superhero genre with acclaimed titles like Busiek’s Astro City and Moore's Tom Strong, which combined artistic sophistication and idealism into a superheroic version of retro-futurism. Painter Alex Ross became wildly popular for his photorealistic work on mini-series, such as Marvel Comics’ Marvels (written by Busiek) and DC’s Kingdom Come, which examined the classic superhero in a more literary context, as well as satirizing the anti-heroes that had grown so much in popularity. (One of the main antagonists in Kingdom Come, Magog, is an obvious Cable parody.)
By the beginning of the 2000s, a majority of classic superheroes had returned to their roots. However, the comic book industry’s most acclaimed writers could make drastic changes and gain general fan approval, as was the case with Grant Morrison’s New X-Men series and Brian Michael Bendis’s “Avengers Disassembled” story arc.
As of 2005, a decline in the comic book industry has cut the surplus of anti-heroes, but a revival of superhero films and a rise in the sale of trade paperbacks have kept the superhero genre healthy.
Growth in diversity
Female characters
From their birth until the early 1960s, superheroes largely conformed to the model of lead characters in American popular fiction in the first half of the 20th century. Hence, the typical superhero was a white, middle to upper class, heterosexual, professional, young-to-middle-aged man. An important exception was DC Comics’s Wonder Woman. Introduced in 1941, she was the first female superhero and is arguably still the most famous.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, DC debuted female versions of their most prominent male superheroes, such as Supergirl, Batgirl and Hawkgirl, as well as female supporting characters that were successful professionals, such as Superman’s love interest, Lois Lane, who starred in a spin-off series aimed at young female readers.
Meanwhile, Marvel Comics introduced The Fantastic Four's Invisible Girl and the X-Men's Marvel Girl, but these characters were physically weak and were portrayed primarily as romantic interests of their teammates. The 1970s saw these characters become more confident and assertive and the launch of several series starring female heroes, including Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel. Initially, some characters were preachy feminist stereotypes, like Ms. Marvel and DC's Power Girl, until writers grew more accustomed with society's changing attitudes. In subsequent decades, Elektra, Catwoman, Witchblade and Spider-Girl became stars of popular series.
Non-caucasian characters
In the late 1960s, superheroes of other racial groups began to appear in Marvel Comics. In 1966, the company introduced the Black Panther, the first serious black superhero. In 1972, Luke Cage, an African-American "hero-for-hire," became the first black superhero to star in his own series and, in 1974, Shang Chi, a martial arts hero, became the first Asian. Comic book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes; Cage often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films and Asians were often portrayed as martial artists. Subsequent minority heroes, such as DC's Cyborg, would be created with an effort to avoid the patronizing nature of the earlier characters, as the comics industry became more mature and diverse.
In 1993, Milestone Comics, an African-American-owned imprint of DC, introduced a line of series that included characters of many ethnic minorities, including several black headliners. Although the comics survived for only four years, they introduced Static, a character adapted into the popular Cartoon Network series Static Shock.
Sexual orientation minorities
Newspaper headline from Alpha Flight #106. Art by Mark Pacella.
In 1992, Marvel braved a fair amount of controversy by revealing that Northstar, a member of Alpha Flight, was homosexual after years of implication. Although some secondary characters in Watchmen were gay, Northstar was the first gay superhero to have a permanent presence in a continuing, mainstream series. Since then, a few other semi-prominent gay superheroes have emerged, such as Gen13's Rainmaker, The New Mutants’ Karma and The Authority's gay couple Apollo and Midnighter.
Diversified team compositions
In 1975, Marvel revived the X-Men, introducing a new team with members culled from several different nations, including the German Nightcrawler, the Russian Colossus, the Canadian Wolverine and the Kenyan Storm (the first black, female superhero). The X-Men, which became comic books’ most successful franchise in the coming decade, continued to have a radically diverse roster and an underlining message of tolerance and unity. Ethnic diversity would be an important part of subsequent X-Men-related groups, as well as series that attempted to mimic the X-Men’s success, such as DC’s Legion of Superheroes and Teen Titans.
Treatment in other media
Film
- Main article: Superhero films
Superhero films began as Saturday movie serials aimed at children during the 1940s. The decline of these serials meant the death of superhero films until the release of 1978‘s Superman. Several sequels followed in the 1980s and a popular Batman franchise lasted from 1989 until 1997.
In the early 2000s, blockbusters such as 2000’s X-Men and 2002’s Spider-Man have lead to dozens of superhero films. The improvements in special effects technology and more sophisticated writing that emulates the spirit of the comic books has drawn in mainstream audiences and caused critics to take superhero films more seriously.
Live-action television series
Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman in the 1960s' Batman
- Main article: Superhero live-action television series
Several popular but, by modern standards, campy live action superhero programs aired from the early 1950s until the late 1970s. These included The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, the psychedelic-colored Batman series of the 1960s starring Adam West and Burt Ward and CBS’s Wonder Woman series of the 1970s starring Lynda Carter.
In the 1990s, networks attempted several unconventional uses of the superhero genre in live action shows, including the exceptionally popular Smallville, which reinvents Superman’s origins as teen drama. Other examples include Lois and Clark, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias.
Since the 1960s, Japanese, “tokusatsu” action/science fiction/superhero shows, including Ultraman, Spectreman and Kamen Rider, have displayed another culture’s distinct take on the superhero genre.
Animation
This image of Superman appeared at the beginning of each of the Fleischer cartoons.
- Main article: Superheroes in Animation
In the 1940s, Fleischer/Famous Studios produced a number of groundbreaking Superman cartoons which became the first examples of superheroes in animation.
Since the 1960s, superhero cartoons have been a staple of children’s television. However, by the early 1980s, broadcasting restrictions on violence in children’s entertainment lead to series that were extremely tame, a trend perhaps best exemplified by the series Super Friends.
In the 1990s, Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men lead the way for series that displayed advanced animation, mature writing and respect for the comic books on which they were based. This trend continues with Cartoon Network’s successful adaptations of DC's Justice League and Teen Titans.
Radio
In the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, Superman was one of the most popular radio serials in the United States. Along with Green Hornet, the series helped popularize superheroes during their earliest years. By the early 1950s, the rise of television ended radio serials, including Superman, Green Hornet and their imitators.
Prose
Popular superheroes have occasionally been adapted into prose fiction, starting with the 1942 novel Superman by George Lowther. Elliot S! Maggin also wrote two popular Superman novels, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, in the 1970s.
Juvenile novels featuring Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Justice League have also been published from time to time, often marketed in association with popular TV series.
George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards novels, launched in 1987, were a non-comic book-based science fiction series that dealt with super-powered heroes.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Marvel and DC released novels based on important stories from their comics, such as The Death of Superman and the year-long Batman: No Man’s Land.
Computer Games
While many popular superheroes have been featured in licensed computer games, up until recently there have been few that have revolved around heroes created specifically for the game. This has changed due to two popular franchises: The Silver Age-inspired Freedom Force (2002) and City of Heroes (2004), a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, both of which allow players to create their own superheroes.
See also
External links
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