National Superhero Day

The superhero comic book begins in June 1938, when Action Comics #1 introduced Superman, a Jewish-immigrant-by-allegory from Krypton, created by two Cleveland teenagers named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. A year later, Batman debuted. Captain America, Wonder Woman, and the Human Torch followed by 1941. The genre was pure American optimism in a specifically troubled era: World War II was about to begin, and America wanted stories about people strong enough to beat it.

The Marvel Age began in 1961 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four, the first superheroes who had jobs, anxieties, personal problems, and famously argued with each other. Spider-Man (1962) was a nerdy teenager. The X-Men (1963) were hated by the people they protected. Superheroes became messy, human, morally complicated, and the genre exploded.

National Superhero Day was founded in 1995 by Marvel Comics employees as an internal office celebration that leaked out into the culture. Early on, the day leaned toward the fictional; today, it's about fictional and real heroes equally. Parades, costume contests, comic-store signings, and a lot of "thank you, teacher" cards.

The superhero genre now dominates global box office: Marvel films have grossed over $30 billion in 25 years. But the quiet half of National Superhero Day, the part about the real ones, is the half that lasts. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops, EMTs, military, neighbors who showed up when it mattered. Today's a day for them, too.

Four reasons superheroes stuck in our cultural imagination:

Six legendary heroes and why each one matters. If you only read six runs, start with these: