Most people think that Wonder Woman is the world’s first superheroine, and while it’s true that Wonder Woman is the most important and one of the easiest female superheroes, she actually wasn’t the first. Whereas Wonder Woman made her comic book debut in All Star Comics #8 on October 21, 1941, the real first comic book superheroine debuted in Amazing-Man Comics #7, which was released in November of 1939. This superheroine blasted onto the scene nearly a whole two years before Wonder Woman, just over a year and a half after the Man of Steel created the genre, and her name is the Magician from Mars.
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Much like the comic she appeared in, the Magician from Mars was not long for this world, only appearing in five issues, but that should not diminish her importance. Real name Jane 6ᴇᴍ35, renamed Jane Q-X3 in later installments, the Magician from Mars broke the door open for female-led comics where the ladies had all the power and had to save men, instead of being damsels in distress. Jane is actually a very interesting character, and since she was the first to ever wear the superherione title, she definitely deserves to be celebrated by taking a look at her adventures.
Half-Human, Half-Martian, All Extraordinary
Jane was born in the distant future to a human and Martian couple. Unbeknownst to anyone, she was exposed to cathode rays as a baby, which awakened special powers due to her dual heritage. When Jane was six, she discovered that she could make practically anything she imagined reality, from fixing a broken pot to making ice cream appear out of thin air. As she grew, she developed a whole suite of powers. She had telekinesis, gravity manipulation, illusion creation, immortality, and could actually alter reality to a small degree. After her parents died, Jane was taken in by her cruel aunt Kanza, who kept her locked in a windowless cell of a room.
One day, Jane decided she had had enough and broke out, beelining it for a ship to Earth. Jane rechristened herself the Magician from Mars, intent on making a new life for herself on the blue planet. A day into her journey, a meteor struck the ship and tore a massive hole in the hull. Jane used the confusion to steal three million dollars’ worth of gold that the ship was transporting, then fixed the ship up like nothing had happened. Not exactly a heroic move, but she did donate half of it to a doctor striving to cure childhood paralysis. The good deed inspired her to help more people, and she dedicated the rest of her fortune to funding efforts to help Earth as the Magician from Mars.
The rest of Jane’s adventures would enter classic Golden Age hero territory. No more grand gold theft in sight. Her very next appearance saw her save a man from jumping off a bridge, beat up his corrupt business partner, stop a stampede at a rodeo, and fix a sabotaged train. Despite her strange origins, the Magician from Mars was definitely the first ever female comic book hero, and her attitude alongside her incredible powers are actually super interesting, especially for the time. We owe the Magician from Mars a lot for setting the stage for other heroines down the line, and personally, I would love to see more of her one day. That’s definitely possible, given she’s long since entered the public domain.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
