Ask a random person on the street to name the first DC character, and nine times out of ten, they’ll say Superman. It makes sense. He’s the blueprint. The guy in the blue suit and red cape basically invented the idea of a superhero when Action Comics #1 hit the stands in 1938.
But here’s the thing: he wasn’t the first. Not by a long shot.
If you really want to know who was the first DC character, you have to go back three years before the Man of Steel ever took flight. You have to go back to a time when "DC Comics" wasn't even called DC Comics yet. It was 1935, and a guy named Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was trying to do something crazy: publish a comic book filled with entirely new material instead of just reprinting old Sunday newspaper strips.
The Forgotten Pioneer of February 1935
The very first comic book published by National Allied Publications (the company that eventually became DC) was New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1. This thing was huge—literally tabloid-sized—and it was packed with different stories.
So, who was the first DC character to actually appear? That honor goes to a Texan lawman named Jack Woods.
Jack Woods wasn't a superhero. He didn't have heat vision or a magic ring. He was a frontier-era lawman who dressed like a traditional cowboy. His story was the very first thing readers saw because it was printed right there on the cover. Basically, if you were a kid in February 1935 and you looked at a newsstand, Jack Woods was the face of the brand.
He was based on a character from an old Universal Pictures serial called Rustlers of the Red Gap. Honestly, he’s pretty obscure today. His stories were serialized in tiny installments, and his career ended on a massive cliffhanger in Adventure Comics #42 where he was arrested for murder. DC never finished the story. He’s just been sitting in a jail cell in comic book limbo for nearly ninety years.
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Sandra of the Secret Service
Right behind Jack Woods in that same first issue was Sandra of the Secret Service. Her name was Sandra McLane, and she’s a huge deal for history buffs. She was the first female character to star in her own DC story.
Sandra was a society woman who got pulled into the world of international espionage. While most women in 1930s media were damsels waiting to be rescued, Sandra was out there fighting dictators and mad scientists. She predates Wonder Woman by six years.
The Mystery of Doctor Occult
While Jack Woods was technically the first character published, many historians look at Doctor Occult as the true "first" in terms of the DC Universe we recognize today.
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—yes, the same duo who created Superman—Doctor Occult debuted in New Fun Comics #6 in October 1935. He’s a "Ghost Detective" who handles supernatural threats.
What makes him fascinating is that he’s the earliest DC character who is still actually used in modern comics. While Jack Woods faded into nothingness, Doctor Occult has appeared in major events like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic.
There’s a wild bit of trivia here, too. In 1936, in the pages of More Fun Comics, Doctor Occult actually put on a costume with a blue tunic, a red cape, and a triangular symbol on his chest. He even flew. This was two years before Superman.
If you want to get technical about who was the first DC character with "super" traits, it’s Richard Occult. He’s the bridge between the old-school pulp detectives and the caped wonders that were about to take over the world.
Why Does This Matter?
Most people think DC started with the "Big Three" (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman). But the early days were a chaotic mess of genres. You had:
- Barry O'Neill: A wealthy adventurer fighting a Chinese warlord named Fang Gow.
- Wing Brady: A soldier in the French Foreign Legion.
- Henri Duval: A French swashbuckler from the 17th century (also created by Siegel and Shuster).
The reason these characters don't get the spotlight is that they were "one-note." They were reflections of the pulp magazines that were popular at the time. They didn't have the staying power or the "mythic" quality that Superman brought to the table.
National Allied Publications was just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck. It turns out, cowboys and secret agents were okay, but people wanted something more. They wanted icons.
The Shift to Detective Comics
By 1937, the company launched Detective Comics. This is where the "DC" name actually comes from. Even then, the first issue didn't have Batman. It featured characters like Slam Bradley, a hard-boiled P.I. who loved a good fistfight.
Slam Bradley is another Siegel and Shuster creation. He’s significant because he represents the transition into the "tough guy" era of comics that eventually birthed the Dark Knight. He’s still around today, too—mostly as a supporting character in Catwoman stories.
Your DC History Cheat Sheet
If you’re ever at a trivia night and someone asks who was the first DC character, here is how you win:
- The Technical Answer: Jack Woods (New Fun #1, February 1935).
- The First Female Lead: Sandra of the Secret Service (New Fun #1, February 1935).
- The First "Superhero" Archetype: Doctor Occult (New Fun #6, October 1935).
- The First Modern Icon: Superman (Action Comics #1, June 1938).
It’s easy to forget that the comic book industry was basically a startup in the 30s. There were no rules. Creators were just trying to fill pages with anything that would sell for a dime.
If you want to explore this history yourself, look for the Famous First Edition reprints or digital archives of New Fun. Seeing the rough, unpolished art of Jack Woods compared to the polished heroics of the modern Justice League gives you a real appreciation for how far this medium has come.
Go check out the digital back-catalog on DC Universe Infinite. Most people skip the "Golden Age" section because the art looks dated, but reading those first few issues of New Fun is like looking at a blueprint for the next century of pop culture. You can see the DNA of Superman and Batman starting to form in characters like Doctor Occult and Slam Bradley. It's well worth the deep dive if you're a real nerd for the history of the medium.