Superheroes (tm): Men in pants

Apologies. I have been remiss. During my blogging absence I’ve thought quite a few times of posting a very short entry – ‘Foxtons are a bunch of mimsies. Fact.’ – but couldn’t find the time in between increasingly irate phone calls to said estate agent.

So superheroes, right? Somehow or another I got to thinking about the fact that superheroes all wear tights and masks, and I wondered: What’s that all about, then?

The first superhero to wear the skintight ‘unitard’, as it is known, was Lee Falk’s 1936 creation The Phantom, the ‘Gray Ghost’ who became purple when colour was invented in 1939. Since that time, pretty much every single superhero has copied The Phantom’s enviable style. The Phantom was also ‘on-trend’ where pants on the outside and a mask through which no eyeballs are visible were concerned. He truly was the Coco Chanel of the superhero world.

But he was not the first superhero. No. Indeed, the word ‘superhero’ was coined in 1917 and subsequently trademarked jointly by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Who knew? He was also not the first masked crime-fighter: that honour is bestowed upon a dinner-jacket-wearing character named The Clock – a nonsensical name until you learn that he left calling cards that said: The Clock Has Struck. (Really, that’s as tenuous a joke as Bond girl Dr Christmas Jones, so named for the sole reason that Pierce Brosnan can shag her and quip ‘And I thought Christmas only comes once a year…’)

In the course of my research, I’ve seen the Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), Zorro (1919), Greek and Roman gods (Olden Days) and Robin Hood (1400s) described as early superheroes, which makes sense. Robin did also wear tights… but I suspect it was simply the fashion of the day. I also discovered that Batwoman is officially a Jewish lesbian, which was quite a revelation.



Also: Foxtons are a bunch of mimsies. Fact.