Superman/Batman theory

[Permanus]

i meant (jonathan) kent and (alfred) pennyworth...... silly   :wink:

i'm sorry about your parents.  do you think it makes you more understanding of others?

Oh, well, I completely missed the point on that one. But what the hey, at least I got to develop my own theory about it, which in the cold light of day still holds up.

I don't know that losing my parents makes me a more understanding person,  though. Perhaps I'm more understanding of other people who lost theirs, but even I can't quite imagine what it must feel like when your parents get vaporised as your home planet blows up.

[laurel]

But what the hey, at least I got to develop my own theory about it, which in the cold light of day still holds up.

right on.  

superman as prodigal son and batman as the brother?  

childhood is sunny and normal for clark and bruce gets raised by sifus and detectives.  

supes has power to throw around wastefully while the bat carefully musters and tediously allocates even tiny bits of hard won advantage and still often gets beat up.

but at the end of the day we more honor supes.  and clark is so cute in a dorky kinda way while bruce is just a profligrate waste..... :cry:

[Just a fan]

I always thought the attraction was that they completed each other, Bruce/Batman was the dark side denying most people were good by nature, KAL/Superman was the always shining light, refusing to believe anyone was beyond saving even Luthor. As Clark he would fall for Lois' stunts because he couldn't believe she was up to not good, or was trying to scoop him on the next big by-line, Bruce on the other hand trusted no one but Alfred, Dick and maybe Commish Gordon. One abnormally sour the other abnormally sweet, together they were just normal. Together they kept each other blanced.

[JulianPerez]

If Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne like each other, it's because both have a sense of social justice, with Bruce Wayne as the anti-Wal Mart responsible employer and Clark Kent as a crusading journalist fighting political corruption for the little guy.

The idea that Clark Kent got where he is in the reporting world by Colombo-esque innocuous questions is a brilliant idea for characterization, I'll admit. To be perfectly honest, I never found "Who Took the Super Out of Superman" as fantastic as other people seem to, because the only reason Clark Kent was able to achieve and get what he wants was by adopting Superman's more assertive personality characteristics, when it ought to be the other way: Clark Kent should succeed and have his worth proven by having him be Clark Kent.

Though as for the source of the attraction between the two characters in their hero identities, it may be because of how much they have in COMMON as heroes. The differences between the two characters have really been overplayed in recent times.

Batman, as shown by his leaving the JLA to form the Outsiders, is much more of a rebel than Superman is. Superman obeys the law, not because he thinks all laws are right, but because he has faith in the system and believes it will correct itself. Batman on the other hand, is someone that has much less faith in the system.

This is not to cast Batman in the light of a motorcycle riding badass that answers to nobody. Batman is very disciplined and has respect for how justice works. Note for instance, that Batman always insists on collecting proper evidence before doing a job.

But my POINT here is this: both superheroes have more things in common than differences. Both have a "serve and protect" mentality, a strong sense of right and wrong, a desire to protect the weak and powerless, and so forth.