Zorro and The Lone Ranger (Part Two)

I don't think that the influence these two characters had on superheroes and comic books in general can be underestimated.  Heroic characters have been around since the dawn of literature, but here were a couple that played up a dual identity angle complete with a masked alias.  That added an extra element of mystery and tension to their exploits that was integrated into the heroes of the Golden and Silver Age of comics.