Off My Mind: Birth of Superheroes in the 20th Century

Galactic alignment.

  Nuclear testing, radiation poisoning and mutations jumped started the entire superhero explosion, right?     

back in the day before print and tv it was a LOT easier to stay incognito. They were there though I'm sure. Hiding as rumors and legends passed along much more quietly.

I think Superheroes appeared with the development of "the city". It's as you always say, G-Man, there are no heroes outside of the cities.

It's all tied to the development and popularity of science fiction stories. The concept of alien invaders, the atomic age, an exponential growth of technology sparked the imaginations of many of the time.  

Because they didn't have good storylines to leave them with.

If its question about why didn't the notion of superheroes come about earlier then I think its because the twentieth-century saw a great change in how mankind looked at the world and itself. Our better understanding of science, technology and the human body paved the way for writers to speculate more on the fantastic and the incredible, thus we have super soldiers, flying men and whatnot.  
Not sure if this makes sense. I'm hyped up on a few kinds of cough medicine and some other medication that probably shouldn't be mixed but meh, what's the worst that can happen?

"

If its question about why didn't the notion of superheroes come about earlier then I think its because the twentieth-century saw a great change in how mankind looked at the world and itself. Our better understanding of science, technology and the human body paved the way for writers to speculate more on the fantastic and the incredible, thus we have super soldiers, flying men and whatnot.  
Not sure if this makes sense. I'm hyped up on a few kinds of cough medicine and some other medication that probably shouldn't be mixed but meh, what's the worst that can happen?

"

Not sure, but that is alot to think about.

He has lived many roles, used many names, since tribal magic granted him super-speed in the early 1800s, but his time-hopping landed this mysterious veteran speedster and former acrobat in present-day Alabama, acting as guardian and mentor for Impulse.

Detailed History

The young messenger for a fort in the American West discovered an ambush being set for the local Blackfoot clan. The shaman, with his last breath, used tribal magic to imbue the scout with superhuman speed. The scout found the Indians and the US Army detachment, and disarmed them all, preventing the massacre. From that day forth he became known as  Ahwehota—“He who runs beyond the wind” (Flash v.2 #97: Terminal Velocity, 1995).

Years later, Windrunner felt the call of what has since been called the speed force. He ran faster than he had ever run before, but hesitated at the last moment... and caromed off the edge of the field, landing several decades in the future.  He periodically attempted to reach the field again, each time jumping forward to a new era, where he adapted and used a series of names: Whip Whirlwindin the 1890s, Lightning in the 1920s, Quicksilver in the early 1940s. By 1948, he had settled on Max Mercury. 

Nuclear power, baby! Because if comics have ever taught us anything, it's that rolling around in radioactive waste gives you superpowers.
 
(on a more serious note, they had heroes in the past. They just didn't all them "super". But I think guys like Hercules, Beowulf, Gilgamesh qualify. And then there was costumed ones like Spring Heeled Jack.)

Everybody knows that Superhero parents need to be dead.... 
Thats a good start to all origins!

I'm confused. Are you saying why aren't there any superheroes in comics that supposedly take place before the 20th century, or why weren't superheroes invented until the 20th century?
If it's the latter, I'd argue Western culture is chock full of colorful and powerful people who could easily be called superheroes.

I think he means "in continuity", which makes it an EXCELLENT question. I guess because of the lack of radioactivity (seriously, how many superheroes are "science" heroes?) and as for aliens: what we need to remember is that they didn't just pop into creation with knowledge of stellar travel any more than we did, so it took them awhile to develop it. Why they got it so much faster than us is up for debate, but it's probably the same reason why all alien races look basically the same while humans look diverse (writing convenience).

All Heroics in modern stories start with Hercules, Now do to the influence of the christian church on Media I was seen that any character having super powers had in fact made a pack with the devil. So literature of the 1st-19th century  tends to stay away from "super heroes" due to censorship. The fact that science in the 16th-19th centuries becomes more of a dominateing force in human society and widely excepted as the norm created an avenue where no authors could create characters based loosely of scientific theories which did not blasphmise the church authority. Where the original Superheros of Greek,Roman, Hindu, Norse and Asian myth have exisxted for centuries it is only in the 20th and 21st century do we understand the impact they have had on Human culture.

Another great Off My Mind G-Man. I find all of them really interesting, particularly this one since I'm doing history as an A Level.

the advance of nuclear technology

MODERNISM

I thought they were called gods back then.

Potential

Manifesting Powers

I'd chock it up to an increasingly literate youth and cheap pulp publishing; essentially supply + demand = fad!
 
The genre was just a product of its time.

There were plenty of heroes before the comic heroes of the 20th century. What would you call greek and roman mythology? Persians who read about Rostam? King Arthur? All those old wild west and frontiersman stories of the incredible?  
 
The heroes of our time reflect an age of space exploration, nuclear energy, and the digital age. Their basis though is very much in line with the ancient heroes of yesteryear.

The Justice Society of America were heroes of War World 2. They are currently old today in comics.
They didn't really get a remake in their origin.

I will agree with doctor chimp about the heroes of Greek and Roman Mythology. You can also talk about Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Samson from the Bible.  Beyond that there were mentions in 19th century literature about super powered beings like Edward Hyde(super strength) Dorian Gray (Immortality) Frankenstien's Monster, The invisible man, and a few others.  Not all the heroes we read about in today's comics have superpowers(batman and many others come to mind) Why not Robin Hood?  You could also include the many myths and legends of various cultures around the world.  Many Native American legends have people with super powers.  The stories have existed for many years and many times are the foundation on which the 20th century superheroes are built on.

Superhero Evolution:
0.Biblical/Mythical Heroes (Bible/Word of Mouth)
1.Knights (Song/Legend/written word)
3.Cowboys (Penny Dreadfuls)
4.Mysterymen (Pulps)
5.Superheroes (Comics)

There have always been heroes in throughout history. Consider HAWKMAN:

" Superhero Evolution: 0.Biblical/Mythical Heroes (Bible/Word of Mouth)1.Knights (Song/Legend/written word) 3.Cowboys & Smugglers (Penny Dreadfuls and Dime Novels) 4.Mysterymen (Pulps) 5.Superheroes (Comics) "
 
Fixed.

" @turoksonofstone said:

" Superhero Evolution: 0.Biblical/Mythical Heroes (Bible/Word of Mouth)1.Knights (Song/Legend/written word) 3.Cowboys & Smugglers (Penny Dreadfuls and Dime Novels) 4.Mysterymen (Pulps) 5.Superheroes (Comics) "
 
Fixed.

"

Samson was a biblical hero who had super-strength.

"I will agree with doctor chimp about the heroes of Greek and Roman Mythology. You can also talk about Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Samson from the Bible.  Beyond that there were mentions in 19th century literature about super powered beings like Edward Hyde(super strength) Dorian Gray (Immortality) Frankenstien's Monster, The invisible man, and a few others.  Not all the heroes we read about in today's comics have superpowers(batman and many others come to mind) Why not Robin Hood?  You could also include the many myths and legends of various cultures around the world.  Many Native American legends have people with super powers.  The stories have existed for many years and many times are the foundation on which the 20th century superheroes are built on. "

<In comic universes>
heroes had always existed be they super powered or not, i mean we've had some great examples already such as ancient gods or figures of myth and legend. Of course then there were the witch hunts during the early half of the 1000's ( milenium ) where anyone who seemed to have sime sort of paranormal ability was decreed a witch or a worshiper of satan and thus excecuted. This fear of the paranormal probably made people with super human abilityis keep quiet and hide them out of fear, and the stigma of that fear probably stayed with them untill the 20th century when superman ( golden ) turned up onto the scene and showed the super powered comunity that they were not alone, and could come out and do good.  
Masked vigilanties had existed ( we've had many described already ) but they oparated in the shaddows or within secretive comunities so that no body knew about their activites, then like the super humans Superman turned up and allowed these shaddowy figure to step into the public light. In short heroes and people with super poweres did exist, they just needed an example to step into the public lime light and pave the way for them, which just happened to be during the early 20th century.  
 
Oh and aliens did come to earth, e.g. in DC Yalan Gar    was the green lantern of sector 2814 two thousand years ago, and came to earth.

simple answer;
Humans are too self-absorbed in their own self-importance in-the-now.  Let's pretend the human race survives, and at least semi-flourishes, and is around in the year 2400....-IF- comics are still being read you can BET that if ANY of "today's" heroes/villains survive to that time......ALL OF THEM will have been re-written for that time period.  Superman wouldn't have crash-landed on Earth till 2380's or some such...etc etc etc. 
 
very few (and certainly not enough to sustain the cost of such a series/book) would be interested in reading about Captain Musketman.  end of discussion.
 
 (not gonna elaborate because it's too long of a conversation that should be had at another time)

I'm not so sure that superheroes are a 20th-century phenomenon, especially if we consider an expanded view on superhero origins. What about King Arthur? He hung out with the wizard Merlin and was given Excalibur, an item of power, by the Lady of the Lake. Could that be considered a superheroic origin story? What about the Greek gods, Icarus, Samson, or Hercules?

There have always been "superheroes" and superhero stories. You might have heard of a book called The Epic of Gligamesh  one of the oldest surviving stories in human culture from early Mesopotamian civilizations. That story chronicled a King who lived for over a hundred years, survived a worldwide flood, and performed superhuman feats. Another story one could point to is Beowulf. Beowulf is an ancient Celtic piece of literature that depicts a man ripping the arm of a monster or single handedly defeating a dragon. Let's also not forget the many depictions of Gods throughout history. Although we may take it for granted in modern comics because Gods are such a staple in comics today and have established character histories within comic universes, but the stories of Gods were some of the original superhero stories: people with extraordinary powers doing extraordinary things. Our modern superheroes are just a modern representation of an ancient need for storytelling, and the flashy costumes and names are merely a reflection of our own personal American culture. 

What if there were such but they weren't called "supheros"? Demigods like Hercules, Castor, Theseus, Apollo and others roamed the world for uite some time and some of them even found their day into the new nowaday "hero-pantheon". Even Jesus might have been a "superhero".  Some saints and their wonders qualify for the later time. We might see them as myths but in fact all thos legends around the world of brave heros fighting wondrous threats of many sorts might be the first superheros.

We need more heroes crossbreeding and getting the next generation of heroes. I say the top notch human would be the son of Batman and Wonder Woman. 
 
WHOA! Could you imagine a new Amalgam universe where they are all children of DC/Marvel crossbreeding? Not just mixing the characters but like imagine a kid between Superman and She-Hulk, Batman and Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman and Captain America, Spider-Man and Black Canary, etc.

What about all the heroes and myths throughout time? Hercules must count surely.

Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November

" We need more heroes crossbreeding and getting the next generation of heroes. I say the top notch human would be the son of Batman and Wonder Woman.      

 WHOA! Could you imagine a new Amalgam universe where they are all children of DC/Marvel crossbreeding? Not just mixing the characters but like imagine a kid between Superman and She-Hulk, Batman and Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman and Captain America, Spider-Man and Black Canary, etc. "

 Because of science. Most heroes get their powers through some kind of scientific discovery and the means just were not available back then. 
 
 The cosmic heroes simply never came about because the universe is a big place and we only got the attention of cosmic beings because our technology finally put us on their radar of attention. In cosmic time a few thousand years is nothing, and humans simply have not exsisted long enough. For mutants you could argue that it simply took until this point for humans to evolve enough to have genetic anomalies that cause powers.
 
As for magic and natural talent, well they did exist and made up the fables of years gone by. Alexander the Great, Hercules, Jason, and Odysseus. Hell, you could argue that Achilles was the original Super Man. Invincible except for the one weakness of his ankle.

To be facetious? Comic book superheroes all turned up in the 20th century because that's when people started writing comic books about superheroes. The genre is rooted in the pulp mystery men of the 1930s and so it's apropos that the "big bang" of superhero mythology begins there as much in-universe as it did out-of-universe.

This has been one of the better "Off My Minds" in a while nice one G-man. 
I think if you look at how the heroes came to be super its because of modern (or fake in most cases) science like Cap and the other more common way they become super is finding old artifacts.