Created in 1945

1945 saw a small crop of new characters — but two of them would echo across decades. Fawcett delivered one of comics’ greatest nemeses, DC quietly launched a “next generation” experiment, and jungle-adventure pulp took its final bow before superheroes fully reclaimed the field. This page lists the 1945 creations entering the U.S. public domain in 2041 — and any already there.

Entering the Public Domain in 2041 (Created in 1945)

Superboy
Superboy (teenage Clark Kent/Kal-El), created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, debuted in More Fun Comics #101 in January 1945. Superboy will enter the public domain on January 1, 2041.

Turtle
Turtle, created by Gardner Fox and Martin Naydel, debuted in All-Flash Quarterly #21 in December 1945. Turtle will enter the public domain on January 1, 2041.

Monacle
Monacle (Jonathan Cheval), created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, debuted in Flash Comics #64 in April 1945. Monacle will enter the public domain on January 1, 2041.

Already in the Public Domain (Created in 1945)

Black Adam
Black Adam (Teth-Adam), created by Otto Binder and C.C.Beck, debuted in The Marvel Family #1 in December 1945. Black Adam is in the public domain.

1945: Context & Fun Facts

• Black Adam: The Villain So Good They Used Him Once… Then Waited 30 Years.
  Black Adam debuted in 1945, appeared in a single story, and then vanished until DC revived him in the 1970s. That one appearance was powerful enough that he would later become one of the defining Shazam villains — morally complex, iconic, and instantly marketable.
• Superboy and the First “Legacy Hero” Experiment.
  Before Robin got his own city, before Kid Flash, before Supergirl — DC tried something radical:
  What if we told stories of a hero before they became iconic?
  Superboy’s debut kicked off the “young version of a hero” sub-genre that later exploded with teen sidekicks, legacy characters, and eventually entire lines like Young Justice.
• Nyoka Closes the Pulp Era.
  Nyoka the Jungle Girl represents the last gasp of the classic “jungle adventure heroine” archetype. By 1945 the war effort and rising superhero dominance were squeezing this subgenre out, but Nyoka’s mix of serial action and pulp adventure kept it alive just long enough to hand the torch to the post-war boom in comics and TV serials.