Gender in speculative fiction
The first known female superhero is writer-artist Fletcher Hanks's minor character Fantomah, an ageless, ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in 1940 in Fiction Houses "Jungle Comics".
Shayera Hol
Shayera Hol is the name of a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books during the Silver Age of Comics published by DC Comics. Shayera Hol was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Joe Kubert, and first appeared in "The Brave and the Bold" #34 (March 1961). Depicted as the second Hawkgirl and first Hawkwoman.