Who are the first Superhero and Supervillain with costume and dual identities?
We'll have to go back to the year 1936, where in the pulp magazine "The Phantom Detective," we meet the cloaked avenger himself, the Phantom.
Dressed in a purple suit and sporting a domino mask, the Phantom patrolled the streets with a dual identity as a wealthy playboy when he wasn't out fighting crime.
This spectral figure marks one of the earliest examples of a costumed hero with a secret identity.
But what's a hero without a villain to challenge them?
Enter Dr. Fu Manchu, the sinister mastermind created by Sax Rohmer.
Debuting in 1913's "The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu," this cunning and ruthless criminal donned elaborate disguises to conceal his true identity as he plotted to dominate the world.
While he might not have a flashy costume like later villains, his penchant for deception and hidden agendas solidify his place as an early prototype of the supervillain archetype.
Of course, the concept of masked adventurers and secret identities predates even these characters, with roots in folklore and literature.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, a swashbuckling hero of the French Revolution, used a secret identity to rescue aristocrats from the guillotine in Baroness Orczy's 1905 novel.
And let's not forget the masked vigilante Zorro, who first appeared in Johnston McCulley's 1919 story "The Curse of Capistrano," defending the oppressed with his sword and whip while maintaining his secret identity as the seemingly foppish Don Diego Vega.