Pin:Injustice: Gods Among Us - Pin

In June 1938, a new comic book hit newsstands and dime stores, capturing the imagination of American children nearly instantaneously. What merited such attention? The first issue of Action Comics established the superhero genre with the creation of Superman--an archetypal comic hero for the ages. The brainchild of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, the Man of Steel quickly became a cultural icon. The flood of Superman merchandise that followed the success of Action Comics included everything from brightly colored miniature statues to superhero rings. Seemingly overnight, the powerful superhero had become cultural phenomenon.

Between 1938 and 1945, Superman was joined by a multitude of other heroes: Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, and the first super heroine, Wonder Woman. While there's been an ebb and flow in the popularity of superheroes over the years-including a severe decline in readership during the 1950s following publication of Dr. Frederic Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent (1954) which accused comic books of promoting juvenile delinquency-our fascination with costumed characters who battle the forces of evil has endured.

For decades, superhero cartoons have been a Saturday morning staple, superhero toys have been perpetual favorites, and chances are at least a few children dressed as superheroes showed up at your door on Halloween. And the comics themselves, where it all started for the superheroes, have remained entertaining and in touch with American culture. In January 2009, Marvel Comics released Amazing Spider-Man #583, which pairs the web-slinging superhero with newly inaugurated President Barack Obama who collected Spider-Man comics as a child.