In "When We First Met", we spotlight the various characters, phrases, objects or events that eventually became notable parts of comic lore, like the first time someone said, "Avengers Assemble!" or the first appearance of Batman's giant penny or the first appearance of Alfred Pennyworth or the first time Spider-Man's face was shown half-Spidey/half-Peter. Stuff like that.

Today, based on a suggestion from reader B. Serum, we take a look at the first comic book superhero to have "Captain" in their name.

For whatever reason, Captain has had a compelling ring to it right from the start of the comic book industry. The issue was, of course, that superheroes were not yet the dominant force in the comic book world, so the Captains were of a much different source (and it likely explains WHY the name was so popular, as pirates have always been popular in fiction and pirates are typically named Captain).

So you had lots of ship captains in the early comics from DC, like New Fun Comics...

and New Comics (which later became Adventure Comics)...

These various Captains continued for the next few years of the late 1930s. Finally, in late 1939, we got our first superhero captain with Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics...

Captain Future followed a few months later in Startling Comics #1...

And then, at the end of 1940, Captain America made his bow....

B. Serum specifically was wondering if anyone had come before Captain Marvel, and I'm afraid not! So the answer is a bit on the boring side, but hey, it's an answer!

Thanks for the suggestion, B. Serum!

If anyone has a suggestion for a notable comic book first that they'd like to learn, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!