The document discusses the various genres and media that featured popular superhuman heroes before the advent of the modern superhero genre, including movie serial heroes from the silent film and early sound eras, crime pulps, masked vigilantes in penny dreadfuls, dime novels and pulps, other hero pulps in science fiction and weird fantasy genres popularized in pulps, and newspaper comic strips like those of Roy Crane which inspired Joe Shuster's creation of Superman.

1. The Superhero’s
Antecedent Genres,
Or,
the popular superhuman hero
before the superhero became a
genre

2. SUPER CROOKS &
SUPER SLEUTHS

6. MOVIE SERIAL HEROES
of the silent & early
sound era

8. CRIME PULPS

12. MASKED VIGILANTES
in penny dreadfuls, dime
novels, pulps & film

20. OTHER HERO PULPS

26. SCIENCE FICTION &
WEIRD FANTASY,
as popularized and codified
by the pulps

32. NEWSPAPER COMIC
STRIPS,
especially continuity strips

38. Roy Crane is a
major inspiration
for Joe Shuster’s
work on
Superman.