Question: Who was the first superhero to make the transition from comic books to the screen?   It was Captain Marvel, the one now called -stupidly- Shazam.

The 12 part serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel was released in 1941 and featured the imposing Tim Tyler in the role of the good Captain, a man who made Zach Snyder’s Batman look like Ghandi (I kid, I kid, but you should check out some of the stuff he does to the bad guys!).  Anyway, Mr. Tyler as Captain Marvel!

Curious about Mr. Tyler, I looked his bio up on IMDB and was saddened to find that he passed away in 1954, only 13 years after the release of Captain Marvel, and at the too young age of 50 due to rheumatoid arthritis. Another bit of trivia: Mr. Tyler would also be the first person to portray The Phantom in the 1943 serial, as well.