Who was the original character in comics hero, villain or otherwise described as a “mutant”? Let’s see if you know the answer!
And I don’t mean a character described as a mutant today, but one who was called a “mutant” from the start.
I’m going to guess Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
How about Weird Woman from 1952?
I’ll go with Captain Comet, who first appeared in Strange Adventures #9 (June, 1951).
Namor, I believe, was made a mutant retroactively.
I’m gonna go with Gary Concorde Jr., the Ultra-Man, from November 1939. I recall him being described as a mutant in his DC Who’s Who listing, but have never seen his actual story.
If we’re going with the pulps, Isaac Asimov’s character “The Mule” first appeared in the November and December 1945 issues of Astounding Science Fiction.
Technically, Superman was originally just a super-advanced alien – essentially, everyone on Krypton had powers because they had evolved further than humans on Earth. However, this was dropped in favor of the “yellow sun” explanation.
Marvel’s first mutant, by the way, was ‘The Boy Who Could Fly’, from Amazing Fantasy 14. I was going to say Comet, but I was beaten to it… so… let’s see.
1911 - The Hampdenshire Wonder by J. D. Beresford is probably the first mutant in S/F.
Chuck -
Yes, but every Kryptonian was supposed to be like that - he wasn’t a mutant, just a typical example of his species, who happened to be ridiculously physically and mentally advanced, compared to humans.
Admittedly the term is used loosely, but it seems to me a “mutant” superhero ought to be one who is born with the condition, rather than acquiring it. Are Spider-Man and Flash generally considered mutants?
IIRC Spiderman and Flash were exposed to “mutagenic” compounds, but they are not true (inherent) mutants. In several DC stories the children and grand children etc. descended from the original Barry Allen Flash were born with super speed so the speed characteristic can be transmitted genetically.
Spider-Man is quite explicitly put into the group of non-Mutants.
Captain Comet is the only character at DC canonically referred to as a mutant (so far as I can remember, anyway), even though there are a bunch who obviously are.
Is it that strict? Is this because they don’t want to appear to be aping Marvels mutant-centric unverse?
In Marvel, wasn’t Apocalypse referred to as the first mutant, way back in Egyptian times? Since then we’ve also been told that mutants are one aspect of the Celestials mucking around with humans, so technically there could have been mutants way way back in human history.
By “first/original” I mean in the date of the comic book character creation by writers & artists not fictional character histories.
Back in the 80s, when I played the Marvel Super Heroes RPG, they made a clear distinction between mutants (born with their powers, though such powers usually did not manifest until puberty) and altered humans (born as normal people, and gained their powers later due to exposure to some sort of energy or substance). Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Hulk would all be examples of the latter type.
There’s a bunch of other categories as well in the Marvel Universe.
Hybrids between species, like Namor (part Atlantean, part human).
Aliens with native powers, like the Scrulls.
Artificial intelligent beings, like the original Human Torch and the Vision.
Enhanced artificial powers, like Iron Man.
Cosmic beings, like Eternity. (Galactus, his heralds like the Silver Surfer, and the Watcher, I believe all have some background in ordinary alien races, but that may have changed at any point).
Magical talents, like Dr. Strange.
Evolved animals, like one incarnation of Spider-Woman. (The High Evolutionary evolved her from a spider to a human. This didn’t last long.)
Mythological gods, like Thor, Hercules, and other pantheons.
Miscellaneous, like Ego, the Living Planet.
I’m leaving out the monsters they did after the Comics Code changed, like Dracula, Zombies, vampires, and all the rest.
It’s a fun game. I probably missed some, since I’m making a point to do this all by memory, no cheating. Hey, I started reading Marvel in 1962. Cut me some slack.
You’re correct–as a matter of fact, I’ve got an early issue of X-Men (maybe #10?) where, in the letter column, Stan The Man point blank said "No, Namor isn’t a mutant*, he’s a “non-mutant hybrid” (I remember that 'cause it was such a weird phrase)
Tengu
You’re incorrect on a minor point: Ferro-Lad from the Legion of Super-Heroes was described as a mutant in his first appearance. Granted he had like 6 appearances before he died, but…
I’m pretty sure the LoSH’s Kid Psycho was said to be a mutant as well–but with one appearance (not including group/background shots) before the Crisis, I’m not sure how relevant that is. 
*I think someone was asking why Subby didn’t show up on Cerebro