Super Hero

A superhero is a fictional character whose characteristics exceed those of the classic hero, generally with superhuman powers but not necessarily, and linked to science fiction. Generated at the end of the year 1936 in the American comic book industry, which contributed to raising it, they have enjoyed a multitude of adaptations to other media, especially in the cinema.

History

Superhero The Flame created by Will Eisner.

The word 'superhero' dates back to 1917. The archetype's background includes mythological characters such as Gilgamesh, Hanuman, Perseus, or Ulysses, and demigods such as Heracles, as well as folk heroes such as Robin Hood, who went on adventures dressed in distinctive clothing. Inspirations from life behind costumed superheroes can be traced back to groups of "masked vigilantes" from the American Old West, such as the vigilantist groups the San Diego Rangers or the Bald Knobbers who would confront and kill outlaws while wearing masks.

The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its derivatives popularized the idea of a masked avenger and the trope of superheroes having a secret identity. Soon after, characters began to appear in pulp fiction that went masked or disguised as Jimmie Dale (The Gray Seal) (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), or Flash Gordon (1934), as well as comic book heroes like The Phantom (1936), one of the first to wear an eye mask and hood. Characters without costumes but showing superhuman strength also began to appear, including characters from comic strips such as Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) or the character of Hugo Danner from Philip Wylie's novel Gladiator (1930). to refer to the protagonist of the comic strip Zarnak by Max Plaisted.

In the 1930s, all these tendencies began to converge in some of the first costumed and superpowered heroes, such as the Japanese Ōgon Bat (Fantasmagoric) (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early from the 1930s), which first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid medium combining images with live narration). Mandrake the Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of comics.

Golden Age (1938-1956)

Since the late 1920s, the concept was incubating in graphically realistic adventure series and pulp magazines. Lee Falk would be the screenwriter of The Phantom (1936), which can be considered an aesthetic precursor of the genre, if not its pioneer. The precise beginning of the Golden Age of comics is disputed, although the Most agree that it began with the release of Superman in 1938. Superman remains one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. DC Comics' Superman (1938) was a huge success and spawned countless imitations that sustained the comic book industry for years. But it is essential to note that, before the Americans The Phantom and Superman, in Japan Fantasmagórico (1930 or 1931) emerged, a character who anticipates obvious characteristics (spectral appearance as well as the ability to fly) that are later associated with The Phantom, Superman and Batman. It must be remembered that Fantasmagórico is the Castilian name of the Japanese hero; the original name of him is Ōgon Bat ; the Golden Bat.

After Spooky, The Phantom and Superman, superheroes such as Namor were born in April 1939 (Timely's first superhero, predecessor of Marvel Comics), Batman in May 1939, the Human Torch in October 1939 and the following year Flash or Green Lantern. As Oscar Masotta points out, "it is not by chance that the period from the "crack" from 1929, going through the years of the Spanish Civil War, until the beginning of the Second World War, coincides with the appearance of Superman, Batman or Captain Marvel".

The first superhero stories contained narrative schemes very similar to those of the most recent adventure strips:^{[citation needed]} story between reality and fiction, in in the form of a continuous series, based on a charismatic protagonist with a double identity, mask or disguise and other accessories. Well seen, the only thing that some superheroes added were superpowers, but from the industrial point of view they would end up revolutionizing the market.

Like contemporary Japanese comics, they soon became imbued with the warlike spirit of World War II, often featuring names or uniforms related to their national symbols and confronting the country's enemies. This is the case of MLJ Magazines' The Shield and Quality Comics' Uncle Sam, which appeared in 1940, and William Moulton Marston's Wonder Woman and Joe's Captain America Simon and Jack Kirby, both from 1941. Thanks to the historical context in which they were born, they achieved great commercial success, but at the end of the war they fell into oblivion. Very different is Will Eisner's innovative The Spirit (1940).

In Italy, Vincenzo Baggioli and Carlo Cossio created Dick Fulmine in 1938, a native superhero, although he lacked powers.

Superhero of a 1945 comic-book.

After the Second World War, the success of superhero comics began to decline, they were replaced by all kinds of genres such as black series, children's comics, romance, monsters, westerns, etc. As if this were not enough, the psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (in his work The Seduction of the Innocent ) stated in the late 1950s that superheroes created a distortion of reality. He cited, among other examples, that the fact that Superman could fly gave rise to false hopes, that Batman and Robin had a pedophile relationship, and that Wonder Woman could not be an equal in a group of men like the Justice League. He also claimed that all these examples were a volatile mix that resulted in aggressive behavior as well as the triggering of youth/adult violence.

Silver Age (1956-1970)

That all changed in 1961 when, following DC's Justice League, publisher Marvel Comics decided to create its own group of superheroes and entrusted it to editor and writer Stan Lee, who worked with various cartoonists.

The first issue of The Fantastic Four, the work of Lee and cartoonist Jack Kirby, appeared in November 1961, and the humanity of the characters, added to the combination of elements from other, much more commercial genres of the time, catapulted to the series on the sales charts. Fueled by this success, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko launched into the creation of a host of characters: "Hulk", "Thor", "Spider-Man& #34;, "Daredevil" or "X-Men", all of them superheroes with different kinds of problems (health, social acceptance, economics, etc.).

One of Stan Lee's merits is the humanization of the characters, as well as the fact of turning people with problems into heroes. Spider-Man is a young man who is bullied by his classmates, partly because he is unpopular; Daredevil is blind; Thor, when he is human, is lame; Iron Man is a heart patient; the X-Men were originally young outcasts, etc. To a certain extent, this universe of superheroes is a reflection of the profound changes that the US was beginning to experience with the struggles for civil rights".

Human-type relationships between superheroes became more important, with the possibility of clashes, or at least challenges, between the good guys, such as between the Human Torch and Spider-Man. It should also be noted that these superheroes try not to kill when they act and that their motivations are abstract principles of justice, not personal vendettas.

Mr. A and The Question (1967) appeared in other American publishers. Steel Paw had emerged in the UK five years earlier. Finally, in Franco's Spain these American series were banned in 1964 "because the powers of these characters brought them closer to gods than heroes."

Bronze Age (1970-1984)

Superhero comics not only presented the personal anxieties of their protagonists, but also began to reflect the burning issues of the day. This is the case of the Green Lantern and Green Arrow reunion that Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams carried out in 1970. Jack Kirby, on the other hand, opted for the opposite, and created the 'The Fourth World' series. #3. 4;.

Modern or Dark Ages (1985-Present)

The British magazine "2000 AD" (1977) will be the breeding ground for a whole batch of new British authors who, starting in 1982, would come to revitalize the American superhero comic-book with works such as "Watchmen" (1986), by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons, alongside natives like Frank Miller. The first depicted a darker, more realistic future of how normal citizens would interact with regards to the consequences of the actions of the heroes that were supposed to protect them. It highlighted the humanity in them as imperfections and social problems of their alter egos, which allowed them to be seen as people with normal difficulties. Works like The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller, in the case of Batman, denoted a more adult environment for superhero comics. We must also highlight events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, which were the prelude to an evolutionary process within the superhero comic.

The artists who founded Image Comics in 1992 created new series like Spawn or The Maxx.

Today, the genre has been revitalized, appearing new authors (Mark Millar, Brian Bendis, Michael Straczynski) and recovering others (Chris Claremont, Kurt Busiek, Alan Davis). Thus, superheroes make up the majority of the comic book industry in the United States.

In addition, superheroes have been the subject of countless film and television adaptations, facilitated of late by the enhancement of special effects due to digital technology. We can highlight classic movies like "Superman" (1978), by Richard Donner, "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992), both by Tim Burton. The success of films like Blade (1998), X-Men (2000) or Spider-Man (2002) has led to the appearance of a multitude of film and television projects starring superheroes as diverse as Daredevil, Catwoman, Hellboy or the Hulk.

One of the most recent creations is the universe of "Graphene Man” (2015). A story that only exists in paper format, in the purest style of the 90s. The book "Graphene Man Genesis", is the number one and only one to date. It narrates the origin of the superhero (Gregorio García) and his antagonist MauriCIO. The universe of the Hopers to which 'Graphene Man' belongs, has connections to the popular universe of Iron Man and the Avengers.

Features

Picture of the comic Captain Future

As a genre, it can be considered the modern transcript of "various ancestrally popular styles: mythological tales, warrior tales and family sagas" with the difference that the religious element has been replaced by science fiction.

Other typical characteristics of superheroes are:

• A origin or when it becomes superhero, either because it was the way he got his special abilities or the moment of the trauma he forced him to do it. The most frequent are:
  • Nonhuman origin: aliens, mythological gods, semi-gods, fictitious races separated from humanity, robots, ghosts, demons, etc. Examples: Superman, Thor, Inhumans, Vision and Ghost Rider.
  • Natural origin: mutants. Examples: Wolverine and Cyclops.
  • Scientific experiments: The origin of the superhero may be an accidental consequence of an experiment. Examples: Spider-Man, Flash, Deadpool, Hulk or The 4 Fantastic. They can also be included experiments with a deliberately sought purpose (such as Captain America).
  • Obtaining advanced technology or mystical artifacts: like the Green Lantern ring, the armor of Iron Man or the adamantium from which the claws and the Wolverine skeleton are made.
  • Traumas: For example, those superheroes whose families were killed. They often lack superpowers but have sophisticated weapons, tools and skills that allow them to do justice: Batman, The Punisher, Daredevil, etc.
• One or more special capacities:
  • Superpowers: capacities superior to those of ordinary humans, such as energy, flying, superhuman force, invulnerability, telepathy, telekinesis, etc.
  • Costumes with technology far ahead of their time: like Iron Man or Ant-Man.
  • Mystical powers: like Dr. Strange, Zatanna or Dr. Fate. They usually do not appear as "proper" powers of the character, but as hidden techniques of invocation of supernatural powers or entities that could be learned and dominated by anyone who also studied them.
  • Knowledge of martial arts: scientists, or other, such as Iron Fist.
  • Athletic skills: like Captain America or Green Arrow.
  • Great intelligence: like Mr. Fantastic and Batman.
• Your disinterested struggle defense of the innocenteither fighting crime, catastrophes, alien invasions or any other threat, often outside the law. You can thus speak of its structure of moral values: generosity, sacrifice, self-control, piety, etc., that make superheroes true modern "savers" ("savers of the world" within the most authentic Christian tradition), in a world that lacks faith in the ancients. In any case, they do not significantly modify life on Earth, dedicating themselves to matters of little significance (they do not end war or hunger, for example). It can also relate to the triumph of individualism, tempered with the idea of community service and teamwork.
• His anatomical perfection They usually follow canons close to the Greeks, although they can follow other aesthetics, such as the sleeve.
• One secret identity (double identity or alter ego); they have an identity of "civil", appearing to be an ordinary person, and another one under which they act as superheroes, such as Clark Kent (Superman) or Peter Parker (Spider-Man), although there are exceptions like The Fantastic Four.
• A uniform, usually very tight (to wear under civilian clothing) and eye-catching colors, which usually hides his secret identity, while identifying him as superhero. For some theorists, this "fit suit that looks like an underwear display"is the real trait that distinguishes them from other characters with superhuman powers, such as Doc Savage or The Shadow.
• A gallery of villains, characters with characteristics similar to those of superheroes except in those related to their motivation and methods, usually opposed to those of it. The stories about superheroes almost always involve in some degree a conflict of the hero with a villain or group of villains: the Green Duende (of Spider-Man), the Joker (of Batman), the Mandarin (of Iron Man), Lex Luthor (of Superman) or Red Skull (of Captain America).

Superhero Parodies

By 1940 there were already parodies of the genre such as Super Mouse (a comic book character called Super Mouse, and a cartoon character called Mighty Mouse).

As superhero stereotypes became established, creators from many fields took elements of this subgenre and combined it with their own work. For example, in 1969, the Mondadori publishing house, responsible for the comics with Disney characters, gave Donald Duck another identity as Paperinik (in Spanish Patomas or Superpato), influenced by superheroes such as Batman and other fictional characters. Patomas sometimes acted like a superhero and other times like a supervillain. Goofy has also been endowed with an identity as a superhero (Supergoofy or Supertribi), acquiring superpowers similar to those of Superman or Marvelman by eating a special type of peanuts.

In Spain, Antonio Ayné created "The Atomic Bunny" in 1953 for the children's magazine "Yumbo" and six years later, José Sanchis' Pumby became the superhero of Villa Rabitos in his own magazine, & # 34; Super Pumby & # 34;. In this case, the powers appeared thanks to the consumption of orange juice (Sanchis is from Valencia). We could say that sooner or later, many characters have paid their tribute to this subgenre of comics, acquiring superpowers for a time (as in the Mortadelo and Filemón comic Los superpoderes). Following the same line of reasoning, it is possible to affirm that such a conversion (even if it is momentary) is the result of a character's maturation: the author tries this scenario as one more.

In 1966, the Batman television series appeared, which was both an entertainment series and a parody (in the theater of the absurd style) of the superhero genre. After the success of this series (a success known as batmanía) the parodies were definitively massified in different media segments.

An example of this succession of superheroic parodies in animation was the Batfink series from the late 1960s, and one of the most famous with actors was the one made at the beginning of the decade from 1970 by the Mexican Roberto Gómez Bolaños Chespirito, called El Chapulín Colorado; clumsy, cowardly and boastful hero whose greatest characteristic was his big heart and kindness. In the same Mexican series, a secondary character called "SuperSam" also stood out, played by actor Ramón Valdés, who parodied a hero based on the ideal of American life.

The same publishers that have developed the superhero comic have also noticed the absurdities and recurring clichés and have published comics that ridicule the conventions of the genre. For example, Marvel published What the...?, a series that featured in each issue several short parodic comics created by the same authors who created the "serious" of superheroes. Sergio Aragonés has done work of this type for both Marvel and DC.

In 1973, cartoonist Jan created Superlópez, which is essentially a parody of Superman, for Editorial Bruguera, which included him in its line of comic strips. Superlópez is the most read Spanish superhero and more than 40 albums have already been published. In the 1990s, Jan created Superioribus, for Comics Forum, the publisher that published Marvel translations in Spain. Superioribus parodies were one-page comics that were included in "serious" superhero magazines.

Cels Piñol also saw his short parodic comics of Lethal Fan published in Forum comics, as a complement to the "serious" comics. He has since released other superhero and sci-fi parodies, such as Fanhunter, in full albums.

Lastly, since the 1990s and up to the present, superheroic parodies with old characters have become frequent and very popular on private animation television channels such as Cartoon Network, such as Coast to Coast Space Ghost , Radioactive Man (in The Simpsons) or Capitanazo (in The House of Drawings) and The Powerpuff Girls (Captain Just and Right Hand).

In the 2000s, with the popularity of the superhero genre soaring, movies like Deadpool, anime series like One Punch-Man, My Hero Academia, and Fanboy & Chum Chum and cartoons like Teen Titans Go! They have been in charge of paying homage or parodying it.

Trademark

In the United States, the word "Super Hero" ("superhero", in English) is a jointly registered trademark of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, so only they can legally use it in their products and commercial campaigns. [1] (broken link available at Internet Archive; see the history, the first version and the last one)..

Apparently, both publishers requested the granting of the registered trademark in 1979, which was granted in 1981 as there were no claims in this regard. According to the original application itself, the word had been in commercial use since at least 1966.

Since it is a registered trademark, and not a copyright, this would not prevent it from qualifying as a "superhero" a character from another publisher inside their stories. But, in practice, many other publishers both in the US and around the world avoid using the word, using instead terms like "metahuman", "mutant" or simply "hero" as is the case with the manga series Boku no Hero Academia.

DC and Marvel have in the past sued or threatened to sue other companies for using the word "super hero" in their products; some examples are the "Gunstar Super Heroes" from Sega [2] or the comic "Super Hero Happy Hour" by Dan Taylor.