Chapter 3 Under the Hood by Hollis Mason Summary

Chapter 3 concludes with a few more pages, which are presented as extracts from Hollis Mason's tell-all autobiography. Hollis describes how nearly all costumed heroes were forced to testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee during the 1950s. The Comedian, alone, became ever more famous after the testimonies. Mothman had trouble because of some acquaintances and, after he was finally cleared, began to drink heavily and descended into alcoholism. Hooded Justice, alone, refused to testify and simply removed his costume and vanished for good.

After the 1950s, costumed villains dwindled in supply, most turned to more mundane but more profitable criminal activities. Without the costumed villains to fight, the costumed heroes gradually vanished from the front pages of newspapers. In 1958, however, Ozymandias performed his first vigilante arrests. In 1960, Dr. Manhattan was publicly...