Darna is the very first superhero from Asia, specifically The Philippines. Her creator, Mars ravelo, was a huge fan of Superman way back in the late 1930s, and decided to create a Filipino version of Superman, but a female one because he believed that the USA was the "man" and The Philippines was the "woman" in the pre-World War II Philippine colonization of the USA. Another reason for this decision to create a female version of Superman is his mother. She raised the young Ravelo as a single mother and she had always been his very own hero.

Ravelo made sketches of the very first version of the character in 1939, but Darna's first printed form (she was known initially as Varga) in comics did not materialize until 1947.