Captain.Marvel flew before Superman
But the first to fly was
NAMOR THE SUBMARINER
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@ralphsix Fun factoid that I heard somewhere: in the comics Superman was able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He was originally not the near invincible god he is now. Max Fleischer tried to animate him leaping, but it looked silly, so he changed it to flying. Quick Internet search finds the article @TurokSonOfStone1950 posted above confirming my factoid. Thanks Turok!
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@harley.333 Hey, Iâm one of those losers / deviants! 
Harley, you are very correct that cinema (movies to us regular folks) was the artistic medium. Superman â78 was a major breakthrough by getting Mario Puzo (author of The Godfather) and Marlon Brando (Oscar winning actor) to participate in a comic book movie. So for that, the movies helped move us out of the ghetto. You bring up many good points. Good debate!
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True, but the CBR link that @TurokSonOfStone1950 posted earlier also points out that he flew in the radio beforehand.
Thatâs neat stuff about Namor! Who knew! (Well, okay, Turok did, obviously 
).
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This was a great debate.
Movies and TV are why these characters are known today.
I watched Adventures of Superman on TV before ever reading a comic. George Reeves was a model to me, so confident even when wearing glasses I was shy but wore glasses.
All those links I found after the poll started. I knew Cap flew before Supes but didnât know when.
And looking at Namor (and Human Torch) retrospectively it was clear that both would be able to fly. Torch was lighter than air and Namor has wings on his feet, like Mercury.
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My vote is for television. Looking at my own experiences, I would have had no exposure to DC without BTAS at a young age. Thatâs what started it at all. However, my obsession was only for Batman and the Batfam. Then as I got older Arrow really plunged me into the depths of the DC Universe. I think movies focus too much on the Trinity and big name characters. The Arrowverse provided people with countless unknown characters that the only way for people to learn more about them was to read comics! Whereas with Batman or Superman, they could watch another movie about that character. I feel like more people entered the DC universe from television because people were exposed to new characters which interested them. Those new characters were only accessible through comics which spurred interest in other characters. Itâs a domino effect that keeps people around longer because theyâre invested in more than just one character, and I think thatâs a huge impact on the DC Universe!
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Dozens of Superman characters and situations were born on the radio waves-- but how many people know that? But SUPERMAN THE MOVIE and SUPERMAN II are burned by Zod into the planetary consciousness.
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True, but I donât think people have to know where the impacts came from to call them the most influential.
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I think in this case I politely disagree-- if you tell them about the radio show, you are the influence. But if you jokingly tell someone, "Kneelbefore Zod!â the movie itself still holds sway.
Itâs all⌠circumstantial.
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I guess it depends again in how weâre interpreting âimpact.â The characters and additions to the mythos that came from the radio and TV are still there today. I donât know of any lasting effects to the storylines that the movies have had.
But if youâre interpreting the question as what media had the biggest impact on the comic industry, I can definitely see your point. Although, I would argue that comics have had a bigger influence on the movie industry than the other way around.
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Oh yes, comics have become the influence again, absolutely
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@MisfitH @ralphsix @msgtv Isnât this exactly why msgtv created the DC History Club? Itâs great that we are debating AND informing each other where some of the basic building blocks of the DC Comics Universe came from outside of comics. People know kryptonite, which has come into the mainstream, as âitâs his kryptoniteâ but few know it came from radio.
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The âThe More You Knowâ music just played in my head.
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I answered televison because characters have came from that medium as well, such as Harley. I also think television has had a lasting impact on how we view these characters, like BTAS. I do not see this with the movie side as much. I donât know past how a character is presented on page, such as many artists looking at Christopher Reeves for inspiration, that movies have impacted hardly at all. I can see and be somewhat convinced to the radio side of the equation though. I donât see even Batman by Burton have any truly lingering aspects on the comic side, personally. It is awesome to get to debate and discuss with others about this!
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Even though Superman literally helped expose the KKK via radio, it is my opinion that George Reeves and the 90s animated TV series have done more to assist in bolstering fandom for DC characters.
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Awesome thanks for the link
I believe wireless radio made one of the single most important contributions to DC Comics lore. It was on the Superman radio show that the first Batman/Superman team up happened. âThe Mystery of the Waxmen" in 1945 was their first actual team up. they had been on comic book covers but never teamed up until that episode of the radio show. Bud Collyer was Superman, Matt Crowley was Batman.
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Welcome to the Community and to the DC History Club @thomaspjenkins7.61206.
Great link there @tuxnut. Thanks for sharing it.
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