Surprisingly, the world of superheroes wasn’t always this intricate. Before the rise of Marvel and DC, the concept of a superhero was quite simple. Meet Hugo Hercules, the pioneering superhero of comics, whose unique selling point was his incredible strength. Artist Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev Körner introduced Hugo in the Chicago Tribune on September 7, 1902. For five months, the newspaper featured short comic strips depicting Hugo’s adventures.

In contrast to today’s superheroes, Hugo Hercules didn’t boast a dramatic backstory or fight formidable supervillains. Instead, his super strength was used to assist ordinary people with everyday problems, which in 1902, was a revolutionary idea. Though Hugo’s time was brief, his grounded heroics laid the foundation for the expansive comic book universes cherished by fans worldwide today.

During his comic strip tenure, Hugo Hercules showcased his strength by performing feats like rescuing derailed trains, catching families mid-fall, and helping firetrucks reach their destinations. His exploits initiated the superhero genre and introduced the tradition of catchphrases. Hugo’s signature line, “Just as easy,” and another slogan, reminiscent of Captain America’s famous words in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “I could do this forever,” became part of his charm.

In his handful of comic strip appearances, Hugo Hercules used his super strength to rescue derailed trains, catch families falling from buildings, and even aid firetrucks in getting to their destination. Hugo’s feats of strength kicked off the superhero tradition, and he also started another comic hero staple: catch phrases. “Just as easy” was one of Hugo’s go-to phrases, and another of his slogans sounds awfully like something Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe might say: “I could do this forever.”

Forever wasn’t in the cards for Hugo, though. His creator Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev Körner gave up on the hero after just five months. When The Saturday Evening Post commissioned drawings of the Western frontier, Körner’s artistic interests shifted. Körner stopped drawing Hugo and became famous for his frontier paintings, some of which have ended up in the White House. 

The uniqueness of Hugo as a character made a big impression in the comic strip world, however, and superheroes began popping up all over the place. Decades after Hugo debuted, “Detective Comics” began its legendary run, and modern-day superheroes began to make their first appearances. The year that Körner died was also the year that the very first issue of “Action Comics” was published. The rest is history.