Why Batman is better than Superman…

When you think of super heroes, you think really of two main characters: Batman and Superman.  Both of these mythic characters have deeply impacted the face of popular culture and provided the world with an ideal of what the composite nature of what a super hero. 

Interestingly enough, these two figures who are the symbols of super heroism, these ideals of all that is heroic, these two figures can not be any more different. 

Superman, although alien, is really the symbol of all that is morally ideal about humanity.  Superman is red state.  He is God, home, and country.  This is why often Superman is shown with the American flag flowing behind him.  Superman is about the majority.  I find it interesting that in order to disguise himself, Superman, puts on his glasses and becomes Clark Kent.  I suppose the people inhabiting Superman’s world are either extremely moronic or severely near sighted because he never fooled me, nor I suspect anyone else.

Batman, on the other hand, is a human and is the symbol of the human need for justice.  Superman is blue state.  He is anti-nationalistic; rather, he is intercontinental.  Batman has traveled all over the world to capture super villains.  Batman disguises himself with an actual hood.

Frank Miller wrote the Dark Knight Returns which features an all out fight between Superman and Batman.  Frank Miller does a great job of playing on the real differences between Superman and Batman.  In true Frank Miller style, Batman wins the battle royale.  Every since I read the Dark Knight Returns, I have always been a fan of Batman.

I also find it interesting that “gangsters,” “thugs,” and “pimps” display the Superman symbol on the back window of their trucks or as large gold medallions around their necks, or as huge images on plastered on their T-shirts and hats.  It seems that the moralistic nature of Superman is antithetical to the “gangster"/”thug”/”pimp” life style.  Ultimately, the symbol Superman represents is really hollow.

Batman is not idealistic.  He is practical.  He is not about the ideal.  He is about what is fair.  He is about the minority.  He is about protecting the weak.  As I write this, I am reminded of an ongoing dispute between the two Mikes on ESPN Radio in the mornings of whether or not Batman is in fact a “super” hero.  Regardless, I think Batman is more of a hero than Superman.

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