Could Batman eventually surpass Superman?

[jamespup]

I recall reading somewhere that a poll was conducted which showed that the average person not only knew Superman was Clark Kent, but also knew Krypton, (and kryptonite ),the Daily Planet, and who Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White were.

There was no mention of Batman in this story, but I would imagine that Robin, Alfred, the Batcave, and the Batmobile would be equally recognizable.

It's all in the telling (and re-telling) of the story.

Will The Beatles music continue to be popular, and continue to have a large audience twenty years from now?  Yes, if it is still being played and a younger audience is exposed to it.

Captain Marvel outsold Superman in the fifties, yet when I was growing up in the 60's, people associated Shazam more with  Gomer Pyle.  Cap's story wasn't told and retold over and over.  I barely knew who he was until the line was revived in the 70's.

[Super Monkey]

Out of curiosity, how would you reconcile with this pattern, the fact that for a while in the fifties and sixties, Green Lantern was the top-selling DC hero?

Can you please post the source for that one?

[magill]

Could Batman eventually surpass Superman?

No.

[Aldous]

Out of curiosity, how would you reconcile with this pattern, the fact that for a while in the fifties and sixties, Green Lantern was the top-selling DC hero?

Can you please post the source for that one?

The Green Lantern comic didn't start till the 1960s, and even the Showcase one came out late in 1959....

So it would seem like a stretch to include the 50s.

[Composite Superman]

I agree that world-wide, Batman will likely never be as recognizable as Superman. He has outsold Superman, and I know of other comics/sf/fantasy sites where Batman always comes out ahead in popularity polls. Many young fans consider dark characters as cooler. Batman is also considered to be smarter and hipper. Given enough time to prepare, he could defeat anyone, even Superman, they say. Maybe, but I think the idealism of Superman ultimately endures beyond the "coolness" of tortured figures like Batman, Wolverine, et al. At least I hope so.

[Aldous]

I don't get that idea. Superman can destroy Batman with a glance. He can stamp his foot and destroy the Batcave. We're talking about a galaxy-shaking super-being here. He can think faster and move faster than Batman can see or hear. It's nonsense.

Together, they only work for me as colleagues, or allies. Superman versus Batman is ridiculous. Superman is in a different league as an enemy -- but they are complementary as partners, or at least in being on the same side.

[nightwing]

The whole "who can beat who" (whom?) mentality is beyond pathetic.  This is the enduring legacy of Marvel comics (and DC is now not much more than Marvel Lite).  Somehow Marvel gets a free pass as the company with more "mature" and "sophisticated" characters and stories, but ultimately they just cater to this juvenile obsession with schoolyard scraps.  Is it any wonder nobody outside fandom takes the medium seriously?  It's been reduced to the level of professional wrestling.

Anyway, so what?  Mighty Mouse could beat up Mickey Mouse, but Mickey's still the winner, isn't he?  

Frankly, turning Batman into an invincible warrior makes him a weaker character, not a stronger one.

[JulianPerez]

The whole "who can beat who" (whom?) mentality is beyond pathetic.

Ahhhh, so I see you've never gotten into lengthy, loud-voiced shouting matches with your friends about whether the Thing could beat the Hulk? I always assumed that kind of thing is part of the fun of being a comics fan: the obsession with minutiae, and stomping downstairs to whip out a copy of MARVEL TEAM-UP to prove a point, or writing lengthy essays for fanzines wondering if the Vision's "desolidification" or "other-dimensional mass-shunting" power was somehow connected to the other dimension of the Golden Age alien "Vision," or wondering if Abin Sur ever met Superboy.

Part of the reason that this sort of thing has such appeal is that it is successful in getting across characterization. This is important if you read comics to read about interesting people.

For instance, the Busiek/Perez JLA/AVENGERS had the members of the JLA "beat" the Avengers when they individually broke up to go after power objects AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR style, because individually they are the best and are skilled at working independently. But if I remember  when the two teams had a battle royale itself, it was the Avengers that won: because the Avengers are much more about teamwork, group power, group identity and with strategy they can be greater than the sum of their parts.

(Plus, that business about Captain Marvel duplicating Green Lantern's emerald energy was way cool, as was Green Lantern "recharging" the ring from the Cosmic Cube.)