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".
Supergirl (Linda Danvers)
Linda Danvers, formerly known as "Supergirl", is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Peter David and artist Gary Frank, she debuted in "Supergirl" vol.4 #1 (September 1996). She is not to be confused with Linda Lee Danvers, the secret identity used by the Kara Zor-El incarnation of Supergirl prior to the events of 1985's "Crisis on Infinite Earths".