Famous Superheroes

Famous Superheroes

Many comic books characters have become household names. One such character is Batman, he also happens to be my favourite superhero. Due to the huge success of Superman, DC Comics were looking for a new superhero for the Detective Comics series. This is when comic book artist Bob Kane drew the first version of what he called "the Bat-man".

In May 1939 Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 and was an immediate hit. The early Batman was a dark, moody creature (and for several issues he even carried a gun. He was different from other characters at the time due to his complex personality and background, not having any actual superpowers but relying more on gadgets and intelligent detective work.

In Detective Comics #33, November 1939, his origin was ful 11511p1524l ly revealed. Bruce Wayne, a boy who saw his parents murdered and then set out to 'avenge' them under a secret identity, took hold of comic book readers and Batman's popularity soared higher. In spring of 1940 he became the star of a second comic title, "Batman". Detective Comics #38 gave us the first appearance of Robin. He was an immediate boost to the title, lightening up the series while giving it added weight among the younger readers.

An important factor to the success of Batman is the villains he fights against, while protecting Gotham City. Such recognisable villains are: The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin and Two-Face. The gadgets Batman uses are also am important factor. He also became the star of his own newspaper strip and in 1943 jumped onto the silver screen in the 15-part serial "Batman". It was here where Alfred the Butler first appeared. Soon he would make the transition into a comic book regular. Another comic book regular was Vicki Vale who appeared first in 1948. Vicki was Bruce Wayne's steady girlfriend up through 1963. On January 12, 1966 Batman appeared on ABC. Starring Adam West as Batman, the show opened on Wednesday and ended the half-hour with a "cliff-hanger". The very next night, the action resumed. The show was an immediate success. Comic book sales boomed as the show ran for 26 months before fading out as fast as it had started in 1968.

1986 was a pivotal year in the saga. First, Frank Miller created the limited series "The Dark Knight Returns". Set in the future, it told the story of an older Bruce Wayne and a Batman who had become a "God of Vengeance". It was a much-needed link from Batman's beginnings to his future. Later that year Batman and Robin fought the Joker in a 4-issues story at the end of which Robin was hurt badly. Readers were allowed to voice their opinion and decide if Robin should live or die. This led to his death. The audacity of the gimmick and the death of a major character pushed Batman back into the spotlight, a light that would grow even brighter with the 1989 movie "Batman", directed by Tim Burton, who is one of my favourite directors.

The adventures of Batman will continue for many years to come and hopefully his legacy would spread to the younger generations.

Perhaps the most famous comic book character is Superman, created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio. Superman has since become an American cultural icon, living under the alias of Clark Kent he fights for "Truth, Justice and the American Way". He arrived on Earth, while still a baby, from the planet Krypton that exploded as a result of a thermonuclear chain reaction deep within the planet's unstable Uranium core. As originally depicted, all the civilizations and races of Krypton perished in the explosion, except for one survivor: the baby Kal-L, later respelled as Kal-E, who was placed in an escape rocket by his father, Jor-El, and sent to the planet Earth, where he grew up to become Superman.

It was by accident that Superman ended up in the comics. Siegel and Shuster carried their creation all over but couldn't find a newspaper interested enough to publish it. Luckily publisher M.C. Gaines saw enough promise in the strip to recommend it to DC Comics Publisher Harry Donenfeld when he called looking for fresh ideas. Donenfeld wasn't enthusiastic about the strips but found them "colourful.different.and full of action" so he decided to use them as a part of a new title he was launching. Siegel and Shuster excitedly re-purposed their newspaper strips into comic book form and in June of 1938 Action Comics #1 was issued, introducing the world to Superman. Superman was not, as is often believed, the first costumed superhero. This distinction belongs to The Phantom who appeared a few months earlier in 1938. Superman was the first hero with such incredible superpowers.

In 1939 Superman was starring a self-titled comic book. In these early stories, Superman's acts included, saving a man from a lynch mob, rescuing people from a fire and stopping robbers. It wasn't until April 1940 that he met his first formidable foe, Lex Luthor. It was in the same year that Krytonite, Superman's only weakness appeared.

During the 50s many spin-offs of Superman started to appear. Examples of such spin-offs are Streaky the Super Cat and Comet the Super Horse. In 1958 a pilot of 'The Adventures of Superpup' starring midgets in costumes was filmed. Thankfully, the networks passed.

For a number of reasons, the 1960's saw Superman in a flux. Many things were attempted to keep the character moving including a Broadway musical "It's a Bird, it's a Plane, It's Superman" which opened, and closed, in 1966. In 1978 Superman found himself in a one-shot comic "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali". He would next conquer the silver screen with the movie "Superman" which starred Christopher Reeve.

In 1993 Superman would die in the special issue "The Death of Superman". The trade paper back version was reported to be the best selling graphic novel of all time. The plot is simple: Superman has to fight an unstoppable killing machine named Doomsday in the streets of Metropolis. At the fight's conclusion, both combatants die from their wounds. Thankfully, in October 1993 Superman was resurrected, better than ever. It also launched a rebirth of Superman's popularity, television cartoons and series, video games, books, toys and more all helped cement Superman's place in history.

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics in 1962, the character first appearing that year in Amazing Fantasy #15. Because the superhero was immediately popular, Amazing Fantasy was renamed "Amazing Spider-Man". A year later, Stan Lee was promoted and became the youngest editor in the comic book industry. It was primarily due to Spider-Man that Marvel Comics became one of the dominant comic-book publishers by the start of the next decade.

Peter Parker, a young student, was bitten by a radioactive spider thus giving him superpowers and resulting in the creation of his alter-ego, Spider-Man. The motivation to fight crime came from the murder of his uncle which he could have prevented if he had used his powers. His personality is very human compared to other superheroes.

A 1965 poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favourite revolutionary icons. In 1970 the Nixon administration's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to publish an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top-selling titles. Lee chose the top-selling The Amazing Spider-Man, issues #96-98, to feature a story arc depicting the negative effects of drug use.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the longest running comic book reaching 546 issues in February 2008. Marvel announced plans to release a series of educational comics the following year in partnership with the United Nations, depicting Spider-Man alongside UN Peacekeeping Forces to highlight UN peacekeeping missions. A BusinessWeek article listed Spider-Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.