Superheroes That Debuted In Other Genres

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wicky1489

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#1  Edited By wicky1489

I've noticed that when certain characters made their first appearance, they were not only not superheroes, but weren't even in the superhero genre. I've been trying to make a list of all of them, but I'm having trouble. Here's what I have so far:

1) Patsy Walker (Hellcat) - original genre: teen romance

2) Hank Pym - original genre: sci-fi horror

3) J'Onn J'onzz - original genre: weird detective

4) Nick Fury - original genre: war, and then spy

Honorable mentions:

1) Blackhawks - their time as superheroes was short lived, it's not what they're known for, and most people pretend they never were

2) Night Nurse - not a superhero, but active in the superhero world (original genre: medical soap)

I'm sure I'm missing some, but what are they?

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DarthShap

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#2  Edited By DarthShap

Zatara

The Challengers of the Unknown

Adam Strange

Swamp Thing

Rip Hunter

Captain Comet

Richard Dragon

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Enosisik

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#3  Edited By Enosisik

It's all the Same . They just were not called superheros yet. I mean Detective Comics was mystery and crime and a lot of the old original comics are just retcons of old scifi and horror characters that Marvel and Dc bought out. The Specter was a cop who was murdered and came back to fight crime like the crow but now he's like a god in dc.

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wicky1489

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#4  Edited By wicky1489

I suppose I should be more specific. I'm looking for characters that a) debuted in a non-superhero book, and b) did not have a code name or costume until later. (And in this case, the Blackhawks are a bad example.)

So Renee Montoya doesn't count because she debuted in a Batman book and The Spectre doesn't count because he had a name and uniform and powers, but J'onn J'onzz counts because he was just a detective who happened to be an alien for years before becoming an actual superhero.

But I understand that the waters can get murky. Is Zatara a superhero or a pulp hero? I'd say the latter, but Young Justice would disagree. Are the Challengers of the Unknown superheroes? They don't have code names, but they do have uniforms; either way, though, the types of stories they take part in have never really changed. But Rip Hunter, on the other hand, used to just have adventures in time and now he's a protector of the timestream...but he doesn't really have a code name or costume, either. I guess sometimes it just comes down to a judgment call.

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Enosisik

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#5  Edited By Enosisik

Ah... There's probably not many big names left but I'm sure Dc has loads of obscure ones in their catalog. Maybe look up some comic history sites.