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".
June Tarpé Mills
Tarpé Mills (25 February 1918 – 1988) was the pseudonym of comic book creator June Mills, one of the first major female comics artists. She is best known for her action comic strip, "Miss Fury", featuring the first female action hero created by a woman.