[Superman's] popular appeal is due to the fact that America is a land of hero worshippers. Superman is the ultimate in heroes. He outdoes everybody in everything, even to bursting through steel doors and catching bullets between his teeth.

Superman is for the right and against the wrong. With two-thirds of the world at war people take delight in following the adventures of a fictional being who can dictate to dictators and make tyrants say "uncle." He's a comforting fellow to have around—even if he is an imaginary character—for the stimulus to our morale. (pp. 235-36)

Martin Sheridan, "Superman," in his Comics and Their Creators: Life Stories of American Cartoonists (copyright © 1944, copyright renewed © 1972, by Martin Sheridan; reprinted by permission of the author), revised edition, R. T. Hale & Company, 1944 (and reprinted by Hyperion Press, Inc., 1977), pp. 233-36.