25 things you didn’t know about Wonder Woman

5. She was the first big-name female superhero

Quick, can you name some other female superheroes? There’s Batgirl and Supergirl, though of course many of you might prefer to see them as independent superheroes, rather than ones based off an already-existing one. There’s Black Canary. Zatanna. Captain Marvel. Storm. Ms. Marvel.

And yet, Wonder Woman was the first of any major female superhero to make her debut. She first appeared in Sensation Comics #1, published in January 1942. Superman made his appearance only three years earlier, while Batman had come on the scene a mere two years before her. At this point in time, “superheroes” weren’t even their own genre.

This particular branch of comics was only just starting to distinguish itself from the pulp fiction and private eyes around them. Popular human characters such as the Lone Ranger and the hybrid detective-vigilante, the Shadow, dominated pop culture of the early 20th century. In contrast, the strange and new figures of superpowered human-like beings were only just beginning to make their mark.

What of the other female superheroes? Black Canary showed up five years after Diana Prince, debuting in August 1947, in Flash Comics #87. Supergirl debuted in August 1958, and Batgirl hit the scene in April 1961.