Where did this Superhero concept begin?

Question

Where did this whole superhero concept begin? The flying super dudes who save people, and fight the super villians and the what not?

Best answer gets 10 points :D

Answer 1

Superheroes are actually an ancient concept - think of the earliest legends of Greek and Roman heroes and gods. The similarities with today's heroes are striking: seemingly heroic figures with superhuman powers (often very specific powers) and yet some very human weaknesses - like Achilles' heal or Clark Kent's stumbling into things and nervousness around pretty girls. The boom in comic book heroes, like Superman, started around war times (more or less) when people just plain needed someone to fly in, beat the bad guys, and save the planet. They often started as comic strips in newspapers before catching on and appearing in comic book series.

Answer 2

Although many aspects of the superhero motif are similar to stories found in the Bible (Samson), Greek Mythology (Hercules), and in pulp fiction of the 20's and 30's (The Shadow) the actual idea emerged with Superman. The character was an instant success in late 1938, although the creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel shopped the character around to all the comic publishers in New York City for nearly five years. Other publishers quickly realized the potential and needed cheap material to fill the 64 pages that made up the average comic and the superhero concept fit the bill. Therefore very quickly superman clones such as Wonderman (who DC successfully sued for copy-right infringement) appeared on the nations newsstands and drug stores from coast to coast.

The superhero comic experienced a flourish of activity in the early 1940 with scores of classic characters appearing, such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash before the comic book industry slowly shifted to publishing crime, war, western and even Romance comics instead of the once popular super hero.

The superhero would not reemerge until the late 1950's with new editorial direction from DC comics in such titles as DC Showcase.

Answer 3

Superman was the first caped flying superhero, I believe, he began in the 40s. Around that time, Bob Kane started the concept of Batman. And then, there weren't that many superheroes until the 60s where Kirby something and Stan Lee created the modern superhero with X-Men, Hulk, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, and such, that dealt with superheroes getting their powers by mutation or radioactive activity or science experiments. In a lot of ways, they invented the modern superhero. And after that, the others cropped up.

Answer 4

The concept of Heroes has started in ancient Greece, where certain altruist people were sacrificing their time and life, sometimes, solving problems, protecting and giving solutions!
Among the heroes were Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, Velerephontes, Jason, Achilles, etc.!
They were doing great things but not supernatural!
During the 20th century and through cinema, superheroes were being imagined!
Among the differences are that the superheroes are imaginary, while the heroes were real!
And the superheroes have abilities beyond nature!

Answer 5

In a SF novel, Gladiator by Phillip Wylie. In this classic tale of heroics, young Hugo Danner is treated in utero with various chemicals by his father. Upon birth, the boy displays super abilities; and upon manhood he goes out into the world; only to find glory, heartbreak, wrestles with pride, and ultimately meets a sad end. Referred to by Siegel and Shuster as an inspiration for Superman, this is my choice for where we get the concept of a super hero.

Answer 6

probalby with the written 'comic book' idea dating back to the 30's.

The word superhero originated with Superman, who debuted in 1938, and 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.

Answer 7

I went to my psychologist the different day and defined excellent the following difficulty to her. I spend six hours an afternoon on the information superhighway telling each and absolutely everyone that the boogey guy would not exist, that he changed into in ordinary words made as a lot as scare adults and children. maximum critically there is not any medical data to teach that he exists. I advised her that because that i ended believing in the boogey guy, it really is fairly more desirable my existence and freed me, although, I nevertheless spend 6 hours an afternoon speaking about him. She advised me that I wasn’t fairly free of the boogey guy, and that in the six hours I spent denouncing the boogey guy’s existence he nevertheless preoccupied my ideas and for this reason nevertheless had a carry on me. She reported that the real reason I spend a lot time speaking about the bogey guy is because SUBCONSCIOUSLY I do believe he exists! Who am I kidding, atheists are so stupid that they'd be unable to understand my analogy of them ROTFL

Answer 8

it's hard to say where it originated, but tales of superhuman feats have been with us ever since people recorded history and religion. So, most likely, it originated in the oral tradition. Figures like the gods in certain pantheons, demigods (like Hercules), and strong leaders (like Beowulf) who accomplish the seemingly impossible satisfy our desire to be omnipotent--to overcoem any situation no matter what. So, superheros, ideologically at least, fulfill our desire to triumph over adversity. So, I don't know where they originated, but they do serve an important function in how we construct--or would prefer to construct--our reality.

Answer 9

It started with me, actually. A comic book writer spotted me on the street and laughed with glee at how marvelous and heroic I was and started creating all the best female characters immediately based on me. Catwoman, Superwoman, Wonder Woman...all depicting me. ;)

Answer 10

Superman had his debut in the 1930's, but there were cartoon characters before then. Supervillans came later.