When we think of superheroes, Superman, Spiderman, and Batman all come to mind. But there are a lot of other well-known superheroes, and here are five of their stories.
Wonder Woman
Most people know that Wonder Woman is an Amazonian princess, gifted by the Gods with her magic lasso, bullet-deflecting bracers, and generally all-around stunning good looks. The man (and women) behind the creation of Wonder Woman makes for a more interesting story., however. In the early 1940's, a psychology article by Dr. William Moulton Marston about the educational possibilities of comic books caught the eye of prolific comic publisher Max Gaines. Mr. Gaines, who owned National Periodicals and All-American Publications (the two later combined to form DC Comics), hired Dr. Marston as an educational consultant. William Marston was quite the feminist for a man: he championed women's causes of the day and, in fact, lived in a polyamorous relationship with two women, Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne.
William Marston and Elizabeth Marston conceived of a superheroine who employed pacifistic means to capture criminals. Originally the character was called "Suprema", but was changed by comics editor Sheldon Meyer to appear in All-Star Comics #8 (1941). Wonder Woman's looks were based loosely on Marston's "second wife", Olive Byrne.Another interesting thing to note is that Dr. William Marston was the inventor of the systolic blood-pressure test (again, with some help from Elizabeth Marston). This blood-pressure test became a component in the polygraph, or lie detector machine. Eventually Dr. Marston's work and interest on the science of lying and deception would find its way into the Wonder Woman comics as the "Lasso of Truth".The good Dr. Marston also apparently had a bit of a fetish (or possibly just scientific interest, of course) in bondage, which is why in the early Wonder Woman comics there is much tying-up and bondage "play"... all in the interest of catching the bad guys, of course.
Aquaman
Aquaman appeared in the pre-DC "More Fun Comics", issue 73 (November 1941), and was created by Paul Norris and comic book editor Mort Wiesinger. Mort also co-created Johnny Quick and Green Arrow. Paul Norris himself was a prolific comic artist, having started drawing at a young age and, as an adult, keeping the comic strip "Brick Bradford" running for 35 years.Aquaman originally starred in secondary stories in "More Fun" and other comic titles, eventually rising to popularity in his own title comics. His "first" origin story was actually scientific, in that Aquaman gained his powers by the research of his undersea explorer father in the lost city of Atlantis. Later origin stories would establish Aquaman's powers as stemming from his parents, his father still being an undersea explorer and his mother a member of the Atlantean race. Eventually he would become King of Atlantis.The
Mighty Thor
A Marvel superhero, Thor first appeared in the comic anthology "Journey Into Mystery", Number 83 (August 1962). Created by well-known comic editor/creator Stan Lee, along with Larry Lieber and the famous Jack Kirby.Thor was sent to Earth by Odin to inhabit a mortal's form to teach him humility. When his human personae Donald Blake found the mystical hammer Mjollnir, he could change back and forth from Thor to Donald. In later Thor comics, Odin removes the need for Thor to have a human counterpart, since Thor learnt much about character being a mortal.The Mighty Thor soon enough had its own comic title, and remains a popular superhero to this day.
The Green Lantern
The original Green Lantern appeared in "All-American Comics", number sixteen (July 1940), and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Marten Nodell. The first Green Lantern's ring was magical in nature, while subsequent rings were technology-based. Another interesting fact is that the original Green Lantern's ring could affect anything with the yellow color but not wood or plants, whereas other Green Lanterns through the years possessed rings with a weakness to the yellow color.The original Green Lantern derived his ring and his powers from a green flame within a magical lantern. Later on there would be a new Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and many others in the Green Lantern Squad, all of whom used technology-based rings.
The Flash
This superhero was fortunate enough to first appear in the comic sharing his name: "Flash Comics" (January 1941), published by All-American Publication which eventually formed into DC Comics with two other companies. As college studen Jay Garrick, his powers were originally derived from inhaling "hard water vapors".Quickly becoming popular with readers, the (original) Flash went on to appear in other titles, such as "All-Flash Quarterly" and "Comic Calvacade". In the Fifties the character and image of The Flash was changed dramatically into the speedster we know today.
