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".
Fantomah
Fantomah is an American comics character, best known as the first comic-book superheroine. Created by Fletcher Hanks, the character first appeared in "Jungle Comics" #2 (cover-dated Feb. 1940), published by Fiction House.