April 18, 1938: Action Comics #1 hits newsstands, with a date of June 1938. It features the debut of Superman. List price: 10 cents. With inflation, in 2022 money: $2.08. If you can find one in good condition, good luck: In 2014, one sold on eBay for $3.2 million.
Superman wasn't the first "superhero," as we now understand that term. People have been imagining beings with what we would now call "super-powers" from the beginning. The Mesopotamians had Gilgamesh, a king of great strength, and were writing stories exaggerating his adventures as early as 2700 BC. The ancient Israelites had Samson, whose story appears in the Bible's book of Judges, his story probably taking place around 1100 BC. That may also have been around the time of ancient Greece's super-strong hero, Hercules.
Even in the few years preceding Superman, comic books, comic strips, and film serials showed characters with characteristics of what would be called "superheroes." Tarzan debuted in 1911, and Zorro in 1919. Doc Savage was very strong and bulletproof, but he was also a scientific genius on the level of later heroes like DC's Batman and the Flash, and Marvel's Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man.
Like Zorro, The Shadow was an obvious inspiration for Batman, although unlike the Caped Crusader, he had no problem with using guns and killing his opponents. There were science fiction heroes Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, although they didn't have powers. The creators of the Western hero the Lone Ranger spun off a descendant (the grandson of the Ranger's martyred brother) as the Green Hornet: Like Batman, by day, he was wealthy businessman with a playboy image; by night, he fought his city's underworld with a trusty sidekick and a cool car.
Action #1 had Superman as its feature story, written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster, the character's creators. His 1st story ran 13 pages, briefly mentioned that he had been sent to Earth as a baby from a dying planet, was raised by humans, and developed powers.
Those powers were less than what they would become: "He could hurdle skyscrapers, leap an eighth of a mile, raise tremendous weights, run faster than a streamline train, and nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!" As with the cover, the panel demonstrating that he could "raise tremendous weights" showed him lifting one of those big bastard things that passed for cars in the late 1930s. But he wasn't yet flying. Even the first cartoons, produced by Fleischer Studios in 1941, showed him jumping from building to building, but not "flying."
By the early 1940s, Superman was flying, and scenes that put him in a war setting showed that "a bursting shell" was no match for him. When The Adventures of Superman premiered on TV in 1952, starring George Reeves, the opening sequence declared him to be "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" And called him, "Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way!"
That first issue wasn't all Superman, though. Comic books then tended to be anthologies, and early Action Comics issues were was no exception. Often included were historical adventures, and this one had "The Adventures of Marco Polo." Also often included were Western stories, and this one had "Tex Thompson." Sometimes, there were high-seas stories, including pirate stories, and this one included a story called "South Sea Strategy."
Superman's alter ego Clark Kent -- he chose journalism as a profession because it would enable him to be among the first people to hear about a disaster, thus making him the ultimate "first responder" -- wasn't even the only journalist in Action #1. There were 6 pages about "Scoop Scanlon the Five Star Reporter."
And there was also the introduction of "Zatara, Master Magician." John Zatara's daughter, Zatanna, would debut in 1964, and become one of the most popular female heroes in DC Comics -- due as much to her skimpy outfits as to her feats of magic.
The initial print of Action Comics #1 was 200,000 copies. It sold out very fast, and National Allied Publications, the company that would become DC, decided that Superman was the reason, and ordered more prints. By the end of the year, Action Comics was selling 1 million copies a month. A separate comic book just for Superman was ordered, and Superman #1 appeared in September 1939.
By that point, the company had printed Detective Comics #27, introducing Batman. (DC took its eventual name from "Detective Comics.") The original versions of the Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom, and Batman's sidekick Robin appeared in 1940; while Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Arrow arrived in 1941. (Aquaman and Green Arrow debuted in the same issue: More Fun Comics #73.)
Timely Comics issued Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, later taking the name for their company. That 1st issue introduced Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the original version of the Human Torch, a character that would be revamped in 1961 for the Fantastic Four. Late in 1940, Timely introduced Captain America.
Earlier in 1940, Fawcett Comics introduced Captain Marvel, the character that a legal dispute would later lead to being called by the magic word that changed teenage Billy Batson into a superhero whose powers rivaled Superman's: "Shazam!"
Suddenly, heroes weren't just for sports anymore.
In a 2014 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Superman, his chest crest reading "ERB" because they didn't have the rights to use the "S" logo. His opponent was Goku, the lead character of Dragon Ball Z, played by Ray William Johnson.
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Speaking of sports: April 18, 1938 was a Monday. It was also Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season, but only 2 games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 8-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Bagby Jr. outpitched Red Ruffing, who gave up a home run to former Yankee All-Star outfielder -- and future Philadelphia Phillies manager known for his racist outburst toward Jackie Robinson -- Ben Chapman. Joe DiMaggio did not play, as he was holding out.
* And the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 12-8 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Flanked by Senators owner Clark Griffith and manager Bucky Harris, and A's owner-manager Connie Mack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt threw out the ceremonial first ball. Buddy Lewis and Zeke Bonura hit home runs for the home team.
It was the off-season for the NFL. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season had just ended on April 12, with the Chicago Black Hawks beating the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Stanley Cup.
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