Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Who was the first female superhero?
The first known female superhero is writer-artist Fletcher Hanks's minor character Fantomah, an ageless, ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in 1940 in Fiction Houses "Jungle Comics".
Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' "Triumph-Adventure Comics" #1 (Aug. 1941). She is also one of the first female superheroes, debuting before Wonder Woman but after Fantomah, the Golden Age Black Widow, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and others introduced in 1940. Nelvana of the Northern Lights is Canada’s first distinctly Canadian female superhero.
Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 1961 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff as Bat-Girl, she was replaced by Barbara Gordon in 1967, who later came to be identified as the iconic Batgirl. The character debuted in "Detective Comics" #359, titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" (January 1967) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino, introduced as the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon.
Schwartz stated that he had been asked to develop a new female character in order to attract a female viewership to the "Batman" television series of the 1960s. Executive producer William Dozier suggested that the new character would be the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon, and that she would adopt the identity of Batgirl. When Dozier and producer Howie Horowitz saw rough concept artwork of the new Batgirl by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to the ABC television network. Infantino reflected on the creation of Batgirl, stating "Bob Kane had had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the ’50s but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her own TV show." Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the show's third season. Barbara Gordon and alter ego Batgirl debuted in "Detective Comics" #359, "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl" (1967). In the debut story, while driving to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara Gordon intervenes in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the super villain Killer Moth, attracting Batman's attention and leading to a crime-fighting career. Although Batman insists she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregards his objections.
Generally speaking, exceptional-but-not-superhuman fictional characters like Batman, Iron Man, Green Arrow, and the Punisher may be classified as superheroes even though they do not have any actual superhuman abilities. Similarly, characters with superhuman abilities derived from artificial, external sources, like the Six Million Dollar Man's bionic limbs, Green Lantern's power ring, and Tony Stark's Iron Man armor, may be described as having superpowers, but are not necessarily superhuman.
Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister company, All-American Publications, introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, the Atom, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Aquaman. Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. Although DC and Timely characters are well-remembered today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era was Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel with sales of about 1.4 million copies per issue. The comic was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity.
By September 2014, Warner Bros. Television was looking to create a television series centered around Supergirl. Executive producers for the series include Greg Berlanti (also a creator/producer for "Arrow" and "The Flash"), Ali Adler, who are both writing the script, and Berlanti Productions' Sarah Schechter. DC Comics’ Geoff Johns is also expected to be part of the project. Titles under consideration for the series included "Super" and "Girl". Berlanti confirmed the show shortly after, and stated it was in development and had yet to be pitched to networks. On September 19, it was announced that CBS had landed the series "Supergirl" with a series commitment. The series will see a 24-year-old Kara Zor-El embracing her powers, after previously hiding them. The series follows Kara Zor-El, who is taken in by the Danvers family when she was 12, after being sent away from Krypton. The Danvers teach her to be careful with her powers, until she has to reveal them during an unexpected disaster, setting her on her journey of heroism. In November 2014, Berlanti stated that the series could also exist in the same universe as "Arrow" and "The Flash". In January 2015, it was announced that Melissa Benoist was cast as Supergirl.
Dick found out Cheyenne was a fashion designer from a friend of his from Bludhaven. She ran into Dick again after he accidentally became a model for her. After seeing newspaper clippings of Nightwing (Jason Todd) she started creating superhero themed designs. Cheyenne wore a Nightwing costume to help Dick and Jason from a metahuman monster named Jakob. He ate her, but she used her powers to blow him up from the inside. Due to recent events she was left broke and soon left New York City.
In "Supergirl" #6, Power Girl and Supergirl assume the identities of Nightwing and Flamebird in a story set in Kandor, just as in the original pre-Crisis stories featuring Superman.
In the United States, pulp magazines such as Harry Donenfeld's "Spicy Detective" featured comics on heroines who lose their clothing, such as Adolphe Barreaux's "Sally the Sleuth" which debuted in 1934. Many of the early comic publishers got their start in the pulps with Donenfeld for instance going on to found DC Comics. Fiction House similarly started as a pulp magazine publisher, but in 1938, released "Jumbo Comics" featuring Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, the first of many scantily clad jungle girls. Fiction House comics routinely featured attractive women on the covers, a trend which later became referred to as 'good girl art.' In 1941, Quality Comics put out "Police Comics" featuring Phantom Lady, a scantily clad crime fighter. Fox Feature Syndicate eventually began publishing Phantom Lady where she was drawn by Matt Baker, one of the most famous 'good girl' artists. Milton Caniff started producing the comic strip "Male Call" in 1943, and Bill Ward came out with "Torchy" in 1944 featuring sexy heroines.
She-Hulk was created by Stan Lee, who wrote only the first issue, and was the last character he created for Marvel Comics until his return to comics with "Ravage 2099" in 1992. The reason behind the character's creation had to do with the success of "The Incredible Hulk" (1977–82) and "The Bionic Woman" TV series. Marvel was afraid that the show's executives might suddenly introduce a female version of the Hulk, as had been done with "The Six Million Dollar Man", so Marvel decided to publish their own version of such a character to make sure that if a similar one showed up in the TV series, Marvel would own the rights.
Samus was one of the first major female protagonists in a video game. Although Toby Masuyo ("Kissy") from Namco's "Alien Sector" ("Baraduke") predates her by one year as a female protagonist, 2013's "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" declared Samus as "the first playable human female character in a mainstream videogame", and as being "enduringly" popular, noting that sales of the "Metroid" series has exceeded 17.44 million copies as of September 2012. As a woman in a male-dominated role, Samus has been widely considered a breakthrough for female characters in video games.
Most of Charlton's superhero characters were acquired in 1983 by DC Comics, where former Charlton editor Dick Giordano was then managing editor. These "Action Hero" characters were originally to be used in the landmark "Watchmen" miniseries written by Alan Moore, but DC then chose to save the characters for other uses. Moore instead developed new characters loosely based on them. The Charlton characters were incorporated into DC's main superhero line, starting in the epic "Crisis on Infinite Earths" miniseries of 1985.
Madelyne Pryor was introduced during the acclaimed 1983 "Uncanny X-Men" run that saw long-time writer Chris Claremont pair with artist Paul Smith for a series of issues that would see the Jean Grey look-alike marry the retired X-Men leader Scott Summers (Cyclops).
Group C
In 2011, UGO Networks featured Lady Shiva on their list of 25 Hot Ninja Girls: "She's the type of woman who makes it obvious why Bruce Wayne never really found love - his type is all too capable of kicking his ass." She was ranked #8 on the list of Top 10 Fictional Ninjas by Fandomania for being "one of the deadliest martial artists in the DC Comics universe".
Due to changing editorial policy at DC, Supergirl was initially killed off in the 1985 limited series "Crisis on Infinite Earths". DC Comics subsequently rebooted the continuity of the DC Comics Universe, re-establishing Superman's character as the sole survivor of Krypton's destruction. Following the conclusion of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", several different characters written as having no familial relationship to Superman have assumed the role of Supergirl, including Matrix, Linda Danvers, and Cir-El. Following the cancellation of the third, 1996–2003 "Supergirl" comic book series which starred the Matrix/Linda Danvers version of the character, a modern version of Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into the DC Comics continuity in issue #8 of the "Superman/Batman" comic book series titled "The Supergirl from Krypton" (February 2004). The modern Kara Zor-El stars as Supergirl in an eponymous comic book series, in addition to playing a supporting role in various other DC Comics publications.
In January 2015, it was announced by "The Hollywood Reporter" that Melissa Benoist would star as Supergirl. Benoist later revealed that auditioning for the part "was a long, drawn-out, three-month process"; she was the first actress looked at for the role, although Claire Holt and Gemma Atkinson were also considered. In March 2015, Blake Neely, composer for "Arrow" and "The Flash", revealed he would be composing for "Supergirl". The show was officially picked up to series on May 6, 2015. It was originally set to premiere in November 2015, before being moved up to October 26, 2015. The pilot episode was screened at San Diego Comic-Con International 2015 on July 8 and 11, 2015. In July 2015, Adler spoke on how much influence Superman would have on the show, saying, "Our prototype is the way the president is seen on "Veep". It's certainly [inspired by] so much of what Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character goes through. Ultimately, this is a show about Supergirl and we really want to see it through her lens." On November 30, 2015, CBS ordered an additional seven episodes of "Supergirl", for a full season of 20 episodes.
Group D
Supergirl is an American superhero action-adventure television series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created "Arrow" and "The Flash") that originally aired on CBS and premiered on October 26, 2015. It is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl, created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, and stars Melissa Benoist in the title role. Supergirl is a costumed superheroine who is Superman's cousin and one of the last surviving Kryptonians. The series is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe.
In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Lady Shiva appears in "Nightwing" #0. After she defeats Batman, Dick Grayson fights her in his debut as Robin with a costume composed of spare Bat costume parts. Lady Shiva easily defeats him and encourages him to stop living in Batman's shadow. In issue #13, she returns to Gotham City several years later to kill another target and Dick Grayson as Nightwing sets out to stop her.
Daniella "Dani" Anastasia Baptiste is a fictional, comic book superheroine in the series "Witchblade", published by Top Cow. The character was introduced in the one-hundredth issue, becoming the series' co-lead. An athletic young dancer, Dani becomes the new host of the Witchblade, a mystical gauntlet that grants its host an assortment of powers. The series' story arc then shows the character losing the gauntlet to its original host, but later taking hold of the Angelus, one of the two primal forces of the universe.
The first black superhero in mainstream American comic books is Marvel's the Black Panther, an African who first appeared in "Fantastic Four" #52 (July 1966). He was originally conceived by Jack Kirby as a character named "Coal Tiger". This was followed by the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics, the Falcon, introduced in "Captain America" #117 (Sept. 1969). DC's first African-American superhero was Mal Duncan from Teen Titans #26 in 1970. He would later go on to be a member of the teen titans. The first African American female DC character is Karen Beecher aka Bumblebee from Teen Titans #46 as Karen and Teen titans #48 as Bumblebee
During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash, Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of first known female superhero, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks's character Fantomah, an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House's "Jungle Comic" #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940.
One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine, a rarity for its time: the Black Widow, a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell—debuted in "Mystic Comics" #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. Most of the other female costumed crime-fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red, introduced in Standard Comics' "Thrilling Comics" #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck, debuting in the Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert "The Spirit Section" June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado, debuting in "All-American Comics" #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury, debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady, introduced in Quality Comics "Police Comics" #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat, introduced in Harvey Comics' "Pocket Comics" #1 (also Aug. 1941); and the Black Canary, introduced in "Flash Comics" #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman. Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology, she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston, with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance was in "All Star Comics" #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications, one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944.
The first known Black superhero in mainstream American comic books is Marvel's the Black Panther, an African who first appeared in "Fantastic Four" #52 (July 1966). This was followed by the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics, the Falcon, introduced in "Captain America" #117 (Sept. 1969). DC's first African-American superhero was Sgt. Willie Walker, a.k.a. Black Racer of the New Gods, introduced in writer-artist Jack Kirby's "New Gods" #3 (July 1971). Marvel's first major African female character was the superhero Storm.
Mapui Kawlim (alias Wingstar) is a superhero appearing in the Indian comic book "Tinkle". It was created by Sean D′mello and Artist Vineet Nair. It made a debut on the 35th anniversary issue of the comic book, issue number 639 released in November 2015. It is the first superhero from Mizoram. The name "Mapui" is a popular pet name among the Mizo people. The character originates from Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram. She is the first female superhero from northeast India in the series of "Tinkle". The editor Rajani Thindiath described it as a "reluctant superhero" but "has the potential to be the most iconic female superhero characters in Indian comic history." She acquires super flight and super strength from gadgets developed by her inventor-father.