Yesterday, your humble MS-QOTD posed a query about the 1940s, today we slip forward in time to the decade of Eisenhower and Elvis. Comic books as we know them were a very different beast in these heady days, with a near-collapse of the superhero genre (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and a tiny handful of others were still in play, but not many others) with science fiction and horror books making a big splash in the first half of the decade. The kickoff of the Silver Age is usually pegged in this decade as well (though there is much debate the whens, whys and wherefores of it all, much of which delves into which superhero debut was the most important), which brings us to today’s kookie query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) reminds Faithful Spoilerites to check carefully the debut dates before voting for your fave-raves, asking: Who is the coolest superhero to debut in the 1950s?
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My all-time favourite, most-beloved alien character, who has been and, to me, will always be a founding member of the:
Justice League of America,
Justice League of Detroit,
Justice League International,
Justice League Task Force,
JLA,
Stormwatch,
Justice League (who is this Cyborg you speak of?),
Justice League of America,
Justice League United.
J’onn J’onzz aka John Jones aka The Martian Manhunter!!
Despite my love of Green Lantern, I cannot honestly say Hal Jordan (debut: October 1959) as I just can’t really stand most incarnations of Hal.
I’m torn between Martian Manhunter (Debut: November 1955), Barry Allen (Debut: October 1956) and, while not a single character, the Legion of Superheroes (Debut: April 1958).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superhero_debuts#1950s
Tough one:
I was originally going to go with Supergirl or Martian Manhunter, but I’m going to break the rules a little here and go with The Phantom Stranger.
He debut in the 1950s as a story host, but didn’t really take on the “Superhero” mantle until the ’60s and 70s (and even then he was less of a superhero and more of a mysterious force), so it might technically be cheating to call him a 1950’s superhero, but I don’t care, I’m going to go with him anyway.
The Phantom Stranger is my cannoli today.
Adam Strange.
Martian Manhunter, hands down, for me. The Phantom Stranger only comes at a distant second.