Spring-Heeled Jack: the first superhero?

kev67 · 13 November, 2020, 06:12:37 PM

I learnt something today off YouTube. There was a character called Spring-Heeled Jack from a Victorian penny-dreadful, who had about a fifty year run. I have wondered before whether penny-dreadfuls were more like comics than books. However, would he really be the first? What about all those ancient Greek gods and demi-gods? I mean, Thor already has a comic strip written about him. But supposing you were to stick to regularly published printed characters, who would be the first?

Richard · 13 November, 2020, 10:33:37 PM

I think Jack was a rather than a hero. But the answer to who was first will almost certainly be somewhere on the Rusty Staples blog.

TordelBack · 13 November, 2020, 10:53:45 PM

He's had versions appear in at least 3 2000AD strips too (Zenith Phase III, London Falling and Absalom), as well as David Hitchcock's excellent eponymous comic reprinted in the Meg.

Richard · 13 November, 2020, 11:50:09 PM

I don't remember that in the Meg, and it's not listed on Barney. Are you sure it wasn't somewhere else?

TordelBack · 14 November, 2020, 12:07:30 AM

Quote from: Richard on 13 November, 2020, 11:50:09 PM
I don't remember that in the Meg, and it's not listed on Barney. Are you sure it wasn't somewhere else?

Entirely possible!

EDIT: Just checked, it's there alright, 6 pages in Meg 245. I did think there was more than a few pages, though, remember enjoying it - I may be confusing it with a collection?

The Mind of Wolfie Smith · 14 November, 2020, 12:13:07 AM

It was definitely in the Megazine. And absolutely moodily brilliant it was too.

The Mind of Wolfie Smith · 14 November, 2020, 12:20:24 AM

Meanwhile, Tom Sparke's entirely different and wholly fun take on the matter is currently kickstarting its second issue:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/springheeledjack/a-sting-in-the-tail-spring-heeled-jack-issue-2?ref=project_build#

M.I.K. · 14 November, 2020, 02:56:48 AM

One of the Penny Dreadful versions was a Count of Monte Cristo type with a secret lair, a variety of gadgets, (funded using what remained of his vast fortune), batwings, a tendency to lurk in shadows and fog, and an overwhelming desire to right wrongs and defend the innocent. He also liked carving the letter "S" into people/things a couple of decades before Zorro demonstrated a similar habit. His secret identity was Bertram Wraydon.