The origin of Superheroes: Ma Hunkel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Hunkel

Abigail Mathilda "Ma" Hunkel is a fictional character, and occasionally a superheroine in the DC Comics Universe, debuting during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Created by Sheldon Mayer, she first appeared in her civilian identity as in All-American Publications' All-American Comics #3 (June 1939), and became the first character to be known as the Red Tornado in All-American Comics #20 (Nov. 1940). As the Red Tornado, she was one of the first superhero parodies, as well as one of the first female superheroes and (when occasionally disguised as a man) is the first cross-dressing heroine.[1][2]

She was commonly associated with humor title character, Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist, debuting as a supporting character of him, then sharing titles alongside Scribbly with the Red Tornado alias occasionally. She then was more recurringly affiliated with the Justice Society of America during the debut of the team and consistently still is in modern interpretation within DC Comics publications. She is also depicted as the grandmother of Maxine Hunkel.

Publication history
Initially introduced as simply Ma Hunkel, she originated in Sheldon Mayer's semi-autobiographical humor feature in All-American Comics #3 as a supporting character of Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist.[3]

With the skyrocketing popularity of the Superman comic in 1938, comic book publishers began featuring their own superhero characters. All-American Comics responded in 1939 with Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man, and followed in 1940 with Green Lantern and the Atom. The superhero trend was so powerful that in the Scribbly story in issue #20 (Nov 1940), Ma Hunkel became a superhero herself.[2] In the story, Scribbly's little brother Dinky and Ma Hunkel's daughter Sisty are kidnapped, and the police are unable to locate them. Scribbly tells Ma about the Green Lantern, and she's inspired to don a costume and fight crime, calling herself the Red Tornado.[3]

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