9 Heroes From Around the World

We’ll start our tour around the world in the U.S. with the amazing Afro-Puerto Rican superhero, La Borinqueña. Marisol Rios De La Luz lives in Brooklyn and decides to do a study abroad in Puerto Rico for her geology degree. In her studies and cave spelunking, she finds five crystals that make her into a superhero. She uses her newfound powers to help protect the people of Puerto Rico. It’s a wonderful comic that interweaves the political and cultural situation in Puerto Rico.

Next on our voyage, we’ve got a special superhero: El Santo was a real person before becoming a comic book and film superhero. Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta became a famous Mexican wrestler who fought under the name “El Santo” in a silver mask. While he had a successful wrestling career, he made about 50 movies from 1958-1982 (a few may have ended up on Mystery Science Theater 3000). Jose G. Cruz created the El Santo comic book series that combined drawings and photomontages that ran for 35 years. He even showed up in some Batman comics.

Fandom Wiki reported that his origin story was about protecting a little girl and her puppy from bullies. Instead of getting in trouble, his dad tells him that the family has a tradition of donning silver masks and fighting crime, while also continuing his career in Lucha Libre.

Written by Luciano Vecchio, who has worked with Marvel and DC, Sereno, which means both nightwatchman and serene, began as a webcomic in 2014 and made its English-language debut in 2023. In a CNN article, Vecchio explained that he was influenced by both Japanese and American superheroes “through the prism of my Latinoamerican sensibility.” Vecchio called Sereno “A spiritual warrior of light defending his utopian city, a queer lead character, a counteroffer of sensitive masculinity reclaiming what patriarchy denied us.”

While there are many superheroes to choose from, Sailor Moon takes the cake. She was the first character from manga I ever knew about, and so she holds a sweet spot in my heart. Written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi, this main character goes by Usagi Tsukino by day and Sailor Moon by night. With her trusty companion, Luna, and her Sailor Scouts, they take on the forces of evil to save the world. And like any good superhero series, her secret life causes all sorts of issues with her love life.

When I first thought of non-U.S.-based superheroes, I couldn’t help but think of Monkey King. Written by Wu Chengen in 1550, the line between trickster god and superhero may be thin, but he’s got a lot of cultural relevance, so I’m putting him on the list. Monkey has many superpowers, from shape-shifting to making clones of himself from his hair, jumping hundreds of thousands of miles, and much more. Like any good trickster, he gets himself into a lot of trouble over an Immortal Peach and he has to get penance for his sin by accompanying the monk Tripitaka on a 14-year voyage.

Set in 2025 Nigeria, Wale Williams has a difficult relationship with his scientist father, and after a life-changing event, Williams leaves Lagoon City for five years. When he returns after his father’s death, his hometown has become overrun by a criminal group called the Creed. Williams doesn’t want to get involved until he’s pulled in. He finds an exosuit that his father had made and starts defending the good citizens of Lagoon City with it. It’s not only crime that he has to vanquish, though, but also the demons of his family’s past.

While it predates the dawn of superhero comics, I think Emmuska Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel qualifies as a superhero. It’s the French Revolution, and Madame Guillotine (what a great supervillain name) is using her power to sentence the innocent to death. Much like Christopher Nolan’s Batman, the Scarlet Pimpernel’s secret identity is Percy Blackeney, a useless aristocrat who can’t stand violence. But when the Scarlet Pimpernel takes up his superhero mantel, he joins up with his fellow friends in the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel to bring justice and mercy to France.

Some of you may have seen the animated series: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Marinette Dupain-Cheng may seem like a typical Parisian schoolgirl by day, but she’s crime-fighting superhero Ladybug at night. Getting her powers from her tiny assistant Tikki and magical earrings, she teams up with Cat Noir to fight the terrible Hawk Moth. And Marinette has no idea that her school crush, Adriene Agreste, is her partner in fighting crime! Thomas Astruc is the director and writer of the animated series.

Okay, so this one is technically U.S., but it’s definitely not Marvel or DC. Also, Leila Leiz is French but now lives in Italy. You may know her from Game of Thrones, but Emilia Clarke is no mother of dragons here. This mini-comic series is about Maya Kuyper, who is a scientist and single mother (which is a superhero of its own). On top of that, she has superpowers attuned to her emotions, such as getting super strength from anger, and uses her superpowers to take on human traffickers.