FIRST COSTUMED SUPERHERO

Back in the 1930s, when comic books were first published, they were essentially reprints of popular comic strips, put into magazine form. Since newspapers sold into the millions at that time, a popular comic strip meant a massive readership. Eventually, publishers ran out of newspaper strips to reprint, and that's when they turned to artists who had not yet broken into newspaper syndicates, prompting the creation of all-new original material—and thus, a brand new industry was born.

The First Phantom Comic Strip

Now, back to the question: Who is the first superhero? thAT title goes to Lee Falk’s The Phantom. This purple-clad jungle hero made his debut as a daily comic strip in 1936. Notably, he was the first character to sport tights and a mask, and his appearance was certainly striking.

The concept of The Phantom is that he is a generational hero, with each Phantom taking on the role from their father, who inherited it from his own father, and so on, all the way back to the 1500s. This unique aspect of the character gave The Phantom the appearance of being immortal—something that made his stories all the more intriguing.

The Phantom's popularity continued into the 1940s, where he was featured in a live-action movie serial from Columbia Pictures in 1943. The film stayed very faithful to the source material, and actor Tom Tyler (who had played Fawcett’s Captain Marvel in an earlier serial) looked like he had stepped right off the comic book pages.

Tom Tyler as The Phantom (Columbia Pictures, 1943)

The Phantom first appeared in ACE COMICS #11 (February 1938), where his comic strips were reprinted. This predates Action Comics #1 (June 1938), which featured the first appearance of Superman.

In 1958, Harvey Comics began publishing reprints of The Phantom strips in Harvey Hits. The series later moved to Gold Key Comics, then to King Comics, and eventually to Charlton Comics into the 1970s. The Phantom also has the distinction of having had series published by both Marvel Comics and DC Comics in two separate mini-series.

Currently, The Phantom continues to appear in comics through Moonstone Comics and Dynamite Entertainment—although curiously, his popularity in America is nowhere near as high as it is in other countries like Australia and across Europe.

So why the difference in popularity? Perhaps it's the purple costume, which seems out of place in the African jungle where The Phantom typically resides. In other countries, The Phantom is often depicted wearing grey or even red. But for true Phantom fans, the purple is a bold statement, and there’s no denying that he remains a beloved figure in the world of superheroes.