Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane.  No, it's Superman--back in theaters for the first time since 1987.  Superman Returns, the latest installment in the Man of Steel's saga, hit silver screens worldwide. 

For generations, Superman and his superheroic counterparts have been donning masks, capes, and skin-tight costumes to bring their unique form of vigilante justice to the streets.  And in recent years, Hollywood has been quick to capitalize on their theater-packing power.  How did superheroes become such a potent part of popular culture and comic book art?  Here's a quick review.

1936 - America sees its first costumed hero in the Phantom, who deals out two-fisted justice to evildoers throughout the world.  Almost from the beginning, the Phantom would be pushed to the margins by masked heroes with sexier powers, but he fights on to this day in the comics.

1938 - The first true superhero makes his appearance when Superman, an extraterrestrial refugee from the planet Krypton, debuts in Action Comics.  Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's artistic creation comes complete with an alter ego named Clark Kent, whose mild-mannered persona encourages millions of readers to fantasize they too hide a hero within.

1939 - Eager readers of Detective Comics catch the first glimpse of a new hero called Batman.  Millionaire Bruce Wayne, orphaned by a murderous criminal, counters Superman's clean-cut image with a grim and angry exterior.  It proves crucial to his survival, as readers grown too cynical for Superman embrace the Dark Knight.  Robin shows up in 1940.

1941 - With the winds of war rising, comic-book creators unveil the first 100 percent American superhero: Captain America.  Other superheroes soon fight Nazis, too, but Captain America was the first successful character designed specifically to kick butt in the name of apple pie.

1941 - Wonder Woman makes her debut in All Star Comics and sets new standards for comic-book fetishism.  Raised in an all-female society, this heroine masters her adversaries by tying them up with her golden lasso.  Bondage cuts both ways, though.  If Wonder Woman ever meets a man strong enough to tie her up with her lasso, she will lose her powers.

1952 - Superman hits the small screen, with barrel-chested George Reeves playing the Man of Steel for six seasons.  Sadly, Reeves was not as invincible as the character he played.  His death in 1959, from a single gunshot to the head, was ruled a suicide, but many still suspect foul play.

1962-63 - Marvel develops a series of comic art based on reluctant superheroes, who acquire powers by accident and face public scorn.  First comes "The Incredible Hulk," about scientist Bruce Banner, who, because of exposure to radiation, transforms into a violent green monster whenever he gets angry.  Next up: "Spider-Man," in which nerdy high school student Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gains super powers, but finds himself chronically short on cash and hounded by the press nonetheless.  Finally: the "X-Men," super mutants despised by normal humans.

1966 - Adam West brings Batman to television, for three seasons.  The series is evidently embarrassed by its subject matter and tries to make up in campy humor for what it lacks in dramatic conviction.

1976 - Wonder Woman comes to the small screen in the person of former Miss USA Lynda Carter.  The following season sees the premiere of "The Incredible Hulk," starring Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk.

1978 - Warner Brothers releases Superman: The Movie, starring Christopher Reeve.  Box-office numbers are spectacular, but an America still jaded by Vietnam and Watergate greets Superman's ethic--to fight for truth, justice, and the American way--as quaint.

1989 - Batman arrives on the silver screen and couldn't be more different from the idealistic Man of Steel.  Director Tim Burton envisions Batman as violent, inarticulate, and psychologically troubled.

2000 - The X-Men hit the theaters for the first time.  The movie was delayed for years because of concerns about cost.  Director Bryan Singer bypasses the problem by means of a radical innovation, focusing on character rather than special effects.

2002 - Marvel's heroic nerd swings onto the silver screen in Spider-Man. Director Sam Raimi focuses more on the trials and tribulations of Peter Parker than on the Webslinger himself.  The 2004 sequel goes even further, with Spidey spending much of the movie unmasked.

By...Mark Diller

Want to learn more?
See Duke University's exhibit on comic book cultures