# Superheroes sometimes called "The . . ." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [August 18, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894 "2022-08-18T14:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/41 "2022-08-19T22:44:14Z")
Don’t forget Streaky! [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/bd/d0/33/bdd0337cd36c9aa1cffd8b567984e9a7--supergirl-comic-books.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/bd/d0/33/bdd0337cd36c9aa1cffd8b567984e9a7--supergirl-comic-books.jpg) And Biron! [![](https://townsquare.media/site/622/files/2016/08/AC301a.jpg?w=630&q=75) ](https://townsquare.media/site/622/files/2016/08/AC301a.jpg?w=630&q=75) And Krypto! [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2EwOWYzOTYtZTZjNy00MzViLTkwYTEtYzgwMmJkZDZjZDE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,47,500,281_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2EwOWYzOTYtZTZjNy00MzViLTkwYTEtYzgwMmJkZDZjZDE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,47,500,281_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/42 "2022-08-19T22:53:17Z")
Yeah, there must have been at least 500 superheroes in the first decade of comics (1936-1946). About a dozen may be in people’s heads today, because they lasted or were part of the Silver Age revival. A few more got picked up later, when the writers went crazy about bringing back oldtimers. I went through hundreds of comics from that era when I was writing my book on robots and for other stuff like [ray guns](https://www.flyingcarsandfoodpills.com/ray-guns-in-early-comic-books). People don’t remember that the average comic from the 1940s was either 52- or 64-pages and had at least eight strips in it. The several dozen publishers needed thousands of strips a year to fill space. Most of them didn’t last long, of course, and new strips blossomed like weeds. Almost all of them are deservedly forgotten. I don’t think there are any Great Lost Heroes. Fans and writers have brought back and republished everything worthwhile. Of course, like old rock groups, people will always have favorites that they champion, but there can’t be many left undiscovered. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/43 "2022-08-19T23:05:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Almost all of them are deservedly forgotten. I don’t think there are any Great Lost Heroes. Fans and writers have brought back and republished everything worthwhile. So I should stop holding out for _Tough Kid Squad: the Mition Picture_? [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/t/toughkidsquad.htm](http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/t/toughkidsquad.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/44 "2022-08-19T23:37:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Most of them didn’t last long, of course, and new strips blossomed like weeds. Almost all of them are deservedly forgotten. I don’t think there are any Great Lost Heroes. [This article](https://www.looper.com/131493/best-golden-age-superheroes-never-heard-of/) concurs with you. > By and large, and I say this as someone who’s read quite a few of them, the Golden Age stories that were actually consistently good were the ones that you’ve heard of. Characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Captain America, and the original Captain Marvel — known today as Shazam, whose stories were so popular that he was appearing in about ten comics a month and outselling Superman by a margin that can only be described as massive — stuck around for a good reason. The thing is, they only represent a fraction of what was actually happening on newsstands around the country back in that late '30s, early '40s boom period. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/45 "2022-08-19T23:39:01Z")
Wow. I was going to say that looked like a ripoff of Simon/Kirby’s Boy Commandos. Sorry. The Boy Commandos. But Tough Kids appeared three months earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/46 "2022-08-19T23:45:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But Tough Kids appeared three months earlier. The Native American character was, of course, super racist. He spoke like Tonto, if Tonto had been dropped on his head as a child. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/47 "2022-08-19T23:59:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Maybe Dr. Fate counts, but he’s still fairly obscure (certainly not a household name). That might change when Pierce Brosnan plays him in the upcoming Black Adam movie. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/48 "2022-08-20T00:31:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Capes were mostly a nuisance. There are a couple of scenes in the first _Superman_ movie serial, from 1948, where it’s obvious that Kirk Alyn is finding the cape to be a huge pain in the ass to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/49 "2022-08-20T00:41:04Z")
Kirk Alyn wrote an autobiography called _A Job for Superman_ in 1971. It’s one of the few books in which it is literally true than an unsigned copy would be worth more than a signed copy if you could find one. He self-published the book and signed each one. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/50 "2022-08-20T00:47:13Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s one of the few books in which it is literally true than an unsigned copy would be worth more than a signed copy if you could find one. One of the others being **The Stand**. At least according to King. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/51 "2022-08-20T00:57:30Z")
Of course the bestest superhero remains The Dude ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894/52 "2022-08-20T01:51:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > One of the others being **The Stand**. Which of course gives us The Dark Man aka The Walkin’ Dude/The Good Man/The Man in Black, his lieutenant The Rat Man, and hanger-on The Trashcan Man, and by extension into the Dark Tower EU his master The Crimson King. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-sometimes-called-the/969894.md?page=2)