The era was capped by Frederick Wertham’s attack on comics in his book Seduction of the Innocent, and the creation of the Comics Code. From there he moves on to Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and others.

He begins with a chapter on Superman and Batman, the first great superhero creations, the embodiment of light and dark. Part 1: The Golden Age describes the first appearance of superheroes in 1938, which Morrison attributes to feelings of powerlessness brought on by the Great Depression and World War II. The book is organized into four main parts. But he frequently speculates on the social relationship between superheroes and their times: why they were created as they were, and how their evolution reflects changes in society. He also largely fails to deliver on the book’s subtitle. His treatment of Watchmen is a prime example: he states at the outset that he did not like it when it came out, but he gives it it’s due as an influential work, and spends considerable space on an appreciation of its technical virtues. While very personal at times, Morrison also makes an effort to maintain objectivity. The main focus is on comics–the medium where the characters were created–but film and television also receive a lot of attention. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human presents his history of superheroes. That fact is sometimes obscured by the difficult, even willfully over-complicated way he often writes them (at least in the eyes of some readers).

Supergods by grant morrison