# Books and films that inspired superhero comics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270 "2005-03-25T22:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270/1 "2005-03-25T22:35:04Z")
I found this link awhile ago and it started me going back and finding old novels and movies that pre-date superhero comics. Of course, pulp fiction and penny dreadfuls - **The Shadow** , **Doc Savage** and **Zorro** and as well as French classics - **The Count of Monte Cristo** and **The Scarlet Pimpernel** are forefathers of the modern superhero. But I’ve found a few other things of interest: **Gladiator** by Philip Wylie. An early novel about the strongest man in the world. **Judex**. a French serial from 1917. A missing link between **The Count of Monte Cristo** and **Batman**. **Memoirs of Vidocq: Master of Crime**. An autobiography of a 1830’s criminal mastermind turned police chief. An inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe and the modern detective genre. Various films of **Dr. Mabuse** , the original German mad scientist. Do you know of other films and books that helped shape the superhero genre? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270/2 "2005-03-25T23:02:44Z")
> [@bclouse](#): > > Do you know of other films and books that helped shape the superhero genre? Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes books certainly contributed to the climate. Most of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ _oeuvre_ can be described as “superhero-ey.” Robert E. Howard wrote numerous adventure serials, some of them influencing the genre more than others (Solomon Kane was sort of a dour, humorless Zorro in his way). What superhero team isn’t an extension of The Three Musketeers or the Knights of the Round Table? Superman was a product of the pulps, and was in fact originally intended to be a pulp series (although the titular character was originally more of a Nietzschean villain). Try to track down a copy of **The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1** for a peek at the Superman that almost was. As for movies: _The Man Who Laughs_ is acknowledged as the biggest inspiration for the Joker. Anything featuring Douglas Fairbanks or Erroll Flynn is worth considering. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270/3 "2005-03-25T23:19:38Z")
Robin Hood was a big inspiration, as the invention of Hawkeye & Green Arrow will easily attest. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270/4 "2005-03-25T23:30:07Z")
Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde inspired numourous characters - some directly referencing, others (like the Hulk) not. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-films-that-inspired-superhero-comics/296270/5 "2005-03-26T03:49:59Z")
The Joker was directly inspired by the silent movie **The Man Who Laughs**.