History OlderThanTheyThink / Comicbooks

** In 1939 Superman gained a bald arch-villain. His name? The Ultra-Humanite. Lex Luthor was created in 1940, and his signature BaldOfEvil look didn't appear until later. (In fact, the change in Luthor's design is believed to have been an accident.) The Ultra-Humanite himself may be based off a short story made by Superman's creators in 1933, titled "The Reign of the Superman".
** If you ask someone who the first superhero to die and come back to life is, many will cite ComicBook/JeanGrey in the ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. However, it was a whole ''19 years'' earlier in ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLightningLad'' that Lightning Lad first died and came back to life.

** "ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow" is a classic for many reasons, but it wasn't actually the first time that Mr. Mxyzptlk was portrayed as a deadly threat. "The Doom of the Super Heroes", first published in 1963, set the Legion of Super Heroes (including Superboy) against the godlike powers of the mysterious "Mask Man", who after picking off everyone except Superboy unmasked himself as Mxyzptlk V, descendant of the Boy of Steel's future adversary. That time, the future imp's actions were [[NoOntologicalInertia undone]] with his banishment, with Superboy being the only one to remember.

** "ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow" is a classic for many reasons, but it wasn't actually the first time that Mr. Mxyzptlk was portrayed as a deadly threat. The Doom of the Super Heroes", first published in 1963, set the Legion of Super HEroes (including Superboy) against the godlike powers of the mysterious "Mask Man", who after picking off everyone except Superboy unmasked himself as Mxyzptlk V, descendent of the Boy of Steel's future adversary. That time, the future imp's actions were [[NoOntologicalInertia undone]] with his banishment, with Superboy being the only one to remember.

** A juvenile delinquent is adopted by Bruce Wayne, becomes a second Robin and is killed in the line of duty. Are we talking about PostCrisis Jason Todd? Actually, we are talking about Lance Bruner who debuted in ''The Brave and The Bold'', ''fourteen years'' before Jason Todd was created.

* Ever heard of that superhero who has mechanical bracelets full of web fluid and uses them to shoot web lines to swing around on and catch bad guys? Of course I'm referring to Fox Features' [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Spider_Queen The Spider Queen]], first appearing in September, 1941. And a month later, DC published their own web-spinning hero, the Tarantula, though he actually used web ''guns'' (itself HilariousInHindsight, as there are now two alternate versions of Spider-Man that had web guns - the Amalgam Universe's Spider-Boy and What If's Punishing Spider).

* Ever heard of that superhero who has mechanical bracelets full of web fluid and uses them to shoot web lines to swing around on and catch bad guys? Of course I'm referring to Fox Features' [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Spider_Queen The Spider Queen]], first appearing in September, 1941.