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".
Liberty Belle (comics)
The first Liberty Belle was Libby Lawrence. Her powers of enhanced speed, strength, and stamina were linked to the ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Early in her mystery-woman career, she had an arrangement with Tom Revere, a guard at the Liberty Bell. When she signaled him, he would ring the bell for her and trigger her powers. In her later years, after decades of super-strength many began to theorize about the nature of her powers. Some believed the sonic vibrations of the bell triggered a metahuman gene, some believed that it was mystical because Libby is connected to the power of the "Spirit of America", like the heroes Uncle Sam and General Glory. Most of Liberty Belle's heroic exploits took place during the Second World War, and she was one of the founding members (and later chairwoman) of the All-Star Squadron. In her public identity, she was the famous radio columnist Libby Lawrence, and therefore well-known both in and out of costume. During the war, she married speedster Johnny Quick. After the war, they had a daughter, Jesse, who shared both their powers and took the codename Jesse Quick. Libby Lawrence is a descendant of Bess Lynn, alias Miss Liberty.