5 Superhero (and Supervillain) Origins

We've read their comics, watched their movies, TV shows and cartoons, and dressed like them for Halloween. But where did our favorite superheroes come from?

1. Superman

Arguably America's first superhero, the Son of Krypton made his debut in June of 1938 in Action Comics. Being, as he was: faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive (we're confused by that metaphor, too) and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Superman represented an entirely new kind of American hero. No longer satisfied with idolizing self-made men, pioneers, and various and sundry presidents, American kids suddenly seemed to need a hero who was incredibly powerful and, with his easy sense of right and wrong, deeply not human.

2. Lex Luthor

In the 1960s, the story of Superman and Lex's relationship was stretched back in time to have them meeting up and, naturally, fighting during their teenage years. During this re-writing of history, it was revealed that Lex lost his hair as a child in a freak chemical plant explosion, which, inexplicably, he blamed on Superboy. Filled with the sort of animosity only a member of the Hair Club for Men could truly appreciate, Lex vowed to destroy the man who caused his baldness. In fact, in a November 1962 issue, the now-grown Superman intimates that Lex might have been the world's "greatest benefactor" were it not for the explosion that turned him into a bitter criminal.

3. Batman

4. The Joker

5. Wonder Woman

In a 1943 issue of

The American Scholar

magazine, he explained Wonder Woman as an attempt to show little girls that women could have fun adventures while still being "tender, submissive, and peace-loving." The character was actually inspired by two real women: Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their polyamorous lover, Olive Byrne—which puts quite a twist on Wonder Woman's original catch phrase, "Suffering Sappho!" Then there's all the bondage. Early Wonder Woman books were chock-full of women tying up men, men tying up women, and lots of women tying up each other. Wonder Woman even told stories about how much the Amazons liked to play bondage games. Spanking, for the record, was also rather prevalent (the Amazons apparently had a whole penal system

based around it) and Marston made it clear in interviews that this was intentional"¦a love of light S & M just being one more trait of his ideal woman.

This piece was written by Maggie Koerth-Baker and excerpted from the mental_floss book In the Beginning: The Origins of Everything. You can pick up a copy in our store.