Many years ago, I was an avid reader of D. C. comic books.  In particular, I enjoyed Batman.  A person with no innate superpowers, Batman was nonetheless amazingly effective at fighting crime. With his innate intelligence, technology, and ability to think quickly, Batman vanquished every foe that came before him.  Sometimes he struggled, other times he cruised.  But he always won.
     The world of D.C. comics is surprisingly materialistic, namely, that there is, at least when I read them, no discussion about metaphysical issues.  We live and act on this earth and nothing more.  There is a measure of eternity in some of the punishments meted out to enemies of Superman, and there are inklings of justice beyond the grave in some of the various superheroes' words.  But on the whole, there is little talk of anything other than this existence.  We are what we are, superhero or not, and that is all.
     Justice, then, was how the winners defined it.  And because the winners were always, after a fashion, good, that was enough.  A powerful natural theology prevailed, really, making what was good the logical outcome of a conflict between good and evil.  Good had to win, well, because it was good.  And the values of what was good usually resonated with readers:  who would not want for an evil criminal to be apprehended and brought to justice?
     I wonder, however, and I in no way intend for this to be a criticism of D.C. comic books, as I loved them as much as anyone, what our world would really be like if superheroes were our saviors, saviors even more powerful than the forces of our sundry military forces, saviors more powerful than those of the world's religions.  In the absence of a transcendent God, the superheroes would be it!
     Yet we're still on square one, stuck on the question of origin:  where did the superheroes come from?!