Should Superman Be The First Superhero?

[Timothy Hunter]

There seems to be two conflicting narratives that have dominated DC Continuity in regards to this issue

The first one that was prevalent during Pre Crisis (Earth One) and Post Flashpoint continuity was Superman being the 'one who started it all' so to speak. He was the first superhero, and inspired all who come after him.

The second narrative that dominated Post Crisis continuity, was that Superman was not the first superhero, the JSA were, more or less, but Superman was the torchbearer of a new age of superheroism (the Silver Age, essentially.)

Now that I have laid the aforementioned out, which status quo do you prefer?

I have chosen not to post this thread in the Superman section of this forum as it is obvious the posters there have a bias in favor of a certain big, blue boy scout.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

While Superman is my favorite hero, and I’m not particularly attached to the JSA, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest if he’s not the first in-universe. I like there being a prior generation of heroes, it creates storytelling opportunities and adds a sense of history to the dcu.
The idea that Superman should be the first seems to hinge on the notion that he started it all and everyone else was inspired by him...which doesn’t hold up to me at all. Bruce would still be Batman if he never heard news reports of a heroic alien in Metropolis. All Green Lanterns becoming heroes obviously has nothing to do with Superman. Barry would almost certainly still become the Flash with or without Superman. Would Oliver coming back from the island just go back to his old ways if he never heard of Superman? No he’d probably still be shooting bad guys with Arrows. And I like the idea of Wonder Woman predating Clark and Bruce, and fighting in one or both of the world wars. Even b listers like Firestorm or Black Lightning would probably still be heroes without Supes. I mean don’t get me wrong, Clark inspired a few heroes like John Henry Irons being an obvious example, but no more than most of the rest of his fellow A listers. So him being the first means very little to me when it’s obvious the age of heroes would have happened with or without Clark.

[Lightning Rider]

For me the important thing is that his coming is uniquely significant. Him being the first is cool, but him being the beacon that unites a new age of heroes isn't diminished by the existence of an older, perhaps less broadly recognized JSA.

[Lightning Rider]

While Superman is my favorite hero, and I’m not particularly attached to the JSA, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest if he’s not the first in-universe. I like there being a prior generation of heroes, it creates storytelling opportunities and adds a sense of history to the dcu.
The idea that Superman should be the first seems to hinge on the notion that he started it all and everyone else was inspired by him...which doesn’t hold up to me at all. Bruce would still be Batman if he never heard news reports of a heroic alien in Metropolis. All Green Lanterns becoming heroes obviously has nothing to do with Superman. Barry would almost certainly still become the Flash with or without Superman. Would Oliver coming back from the island just go back to his old ways if he never heard of Superman? No he’d probably still be shooting bad guys with Arrows. And I like the idea of Wonder Woman predating Clark and Bruce, and fighting in one or both of the world wars. Even b listers like Firestorm or Black Lightning would probably still be heroes without Supes. I mean don’t get me wrong, Clark inspired a few heroes like John Henry Irons being an obvious example, but no more than most of the rest of his fellow A listers. So him being the first means very little to me when it’s obvious the age of heroes would have happened with or without Clark.

That's an interesting notion. I wonder what it would look like for a story to reveal all of them taking some kind of cue from his arrival. I suppose it would undermine their individual stories, although in the abstract, the saying that Superman inspired a generation of heroes sounds nice.

[Frontier]

For me the important thing is that his coming is uniquely significant. Him being the first is cool, but him being the beacon that unites a new age of heroes isn't diminished by the existence of an older, perhaps less broadly recognized JSA.

This is my stance on it.

Superman is special because he's Superman, and that's true whether he's the original Superhero or the hallmark of a new heroic age.

[Ascended]

My preference is for him to be the first (and for the JSA to be on their own earth). But it doesn't bother me if the JSA pre-dates him. It's not how I'd like to see it but Superman is Superman because of who he is, not because he was there first.

As someone else said, Superman's arrival should be a big deal. It's a paradigm shift for the entire human race and his influence goes on to play a big part in the 31st century. Superman helps shape a thousand years of galactic history, so Superman's arrival should shake the foundations of earth. But if there were other heroes or mystery men out there before him? It's not a deal breaker.

I've always thought a nice way to (in DC tradition!) try to have it both ways would be to say the JSA were mystery men and urban myths, and no one was ever totally sure if they were real or just part of some kind of propaganda strategy or what (not unlike how Batman is often written). That way you can have the JSA in the main continuity (dont know why you'd want that when earth-2 is such a fun place, but whatever!) but still have Superman be the first public superhero; the first guy to stick around and wave to the camera and give an interview.

[Lee Stone]

First? No.
Most influential? Yes. With Wonder Woman being the second most influential.

I think it's important that regular 'mystery men' type characters exist first.
Superman should be the one that inspires them to look beyond their own city limits or beyond their own bubble into the greater world view and give them a reason to come together.

Wonder Woman, meanwhile, should be the hero that inspires women (and maybe even minorities) that they, too, can make a difference.

If Superman comes first, then there's the risk that many non-powered heroes simply wouldn't exist because they'd feel that to be a hero you'd need powers like him.
It would also drastically change a lot of the other heroes' origins because his existence would be a key element in most, in that they'd want to either emulate him or prove that they didn't need to be Superman to fight crime.
And without any precursors, Superman would also be tempted to dissuade people from becoming heroes because without powers like his it would be unsafe.
So, it's possible there would be no Batman, as Superman would convince him to either become a lawyer or use his wealth to fight crime or improve his city instead.

[Jcogginsa]

It's a tough decision, but I think he should be the first as far as the public knows.

[stargazer01]

For sure the first public superhero and the most influential. Like the movies.

[Killerbee911]

No he shouldn't be the first hero and he doesn't need to be first to accomplish what people want from Superman. It can be explain with a basketball analogy/example the NBA existed before Michael Jordan heck other superstars existed before Michael Jordan. But Michael Jordan changed the sport like no one has before him. That is the best approach with Superman his importance doesn't need to come from being the first ever imo,His importance can from being so good and amazing at what he does while being the first Global star in the era mass media. And still playing on his Jordan example people had never seen athleticism like his before and Superman can be they might have other heroes before the world has never seen a superhero with his powerset and at his level.Even without the JSA they should have been super heroes before Superman. Superman should be one usher in the era of Metahumans where people realize that people with amazing powers and that there is one so is powerful around that his existence is scary and exciting at the same time.

Does existence of Jabbar,Magic, Bird, Dr J make Jordan arrival to scene and impact less special? The answer is no

[Bored at 3:00AM]

My feeling is that Superman has always been the first superhero. Deep down, everyone in the DCU knows instinctually that it all started with him, even if they don't remember it anymore because of various time shenanigans.

[BatmanJones]

Trick question. Kal-L should be what he was pre-Crisis which was the first superhero on what was later called Earth-Two where the JSA were the first superhero team. Kal-El should be the first superhero on Earth-One.

[Jon Clark]

Trick question. Kal-L should be what he was pre-Crisis which was the first superhero on what was later called Earth-Two where the JSA were the first superhero team. Kal-El should be the first superhero on Earth-One.

This is my take as well.

Although, now that time has passed since the loss of the original Earth-2, I could accept the JSA preceding Superman if it was treated like the Old West was to the JSA. Basically the JSA exist in history books but outside of a few very elderly people the JSA isn't part of living memory by the time Superman debuts.

[Jody Garland]

I don't mind Superman being a later generation hero. I quite like the dynamic that was developed in the Post-Crisis era with a very well developed Golden Age lacking the familiar faces. Frankly, as we get further and further from the actual '40s, I'd like to see them fill out the void between the JSA's retirement and the eternal 15 Years Ago that the Modern Age of Heroes surfaced. Had DC actually been able to purchase THUNDER Agents, it would have been a perfect place for them, for instance.

[The Darknight Detective]

Superman doesn't have to be the first, but I prefer it to be that way. Of course, how you feel about this almost certainly depends on what you grew up with and not based on any objective reason.