Superman has been the classic superhero since 1938. His first appearance was in the first Action Comic (Action Comics #1). He’s the Man of Steel (virtually indestructible), is often mistaken for a bird or a plane (on account of the flying), able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, travel faster than a speeding bullet (more specifically faster than the speed of sound), shoot fire out of his eyes, has x-ray vision, has breath that could reconstruct the polar ice caps, and can go without breathing for a very long time. Oh yes, did I mention that he’s an alien?

Face it, Superman has almost every super-ability known to man. You’d think with all of the things he’s packing, his story would be boring. Well, as history shows, it’s not. For crying out loud, he’s an alien, of course he’s got a good story. He came to Earth in a space ship as a baby, which pretty much guarantees drama. Not to mention a few outer-space foes.

Even though the idea of Superman is really cool, what I like best about the Epic of The Man of Steel  is Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent. Clark is a top reporter at the Daily Planet, one of the most popular publications in the fictional world. Clark is a farm-boy who travelled the world, only to end up in Metropolis (a made-up city meant to be like New York City) to work at his dream job. Not only is Clark a great journalist, but he uses his resources at the Planet to get to trouble to save the day as Superman, only to stop for a second to change into his “S” embroidered costume. Clark may be holding down a secret identity, but he’s still profoundly human.

Now for my Batman rant. I like Batman okay, but most of the time, he just bugs me. According to the Batman origin comic book, when a young Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed outside of a movie theater, he was left in the care of the butler, Alfred. Bruce was angry at the criminals who had committed the homicides but he was mostly scared of what was going to happen to him, how he was going to live his life. One night, while he was contemplating his future, he was surprised by a bat. Now, as it was the middle of the night and he was just a little kid, he freaked out, because he was really scared. However, it was the beginning of his reign as Batman. Using his resources as an heir to a multi-billion dollar fortune and an incredibly successful business, he uses the concept of fear to scare the wits out of criminals. That’s right, fear. As in, preying on people’s weaknesses to get what you want. Sure, there’s the whole “The end justifies the means,” but in reality, when does that ever work out?

Superman, on the other hand, knows that the only way he’ll ever be able to save the world for real is if he can teach humans how to save themselves, “to be their own heroes” (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman). In theory, he could spend all day, speeding around, making sure everything was okay, stopping every crime, saving every damsel and making sure all the eggshells he’s walking on don’t crack. However, if he did that, he couldn’t be there to inspire people, to make them realize that their lives could be better. His main job is to save humanity from its own flaws. Fighting aliens who try and interrupt that process are part of it too.

Another thing, there’s Batman’s lady troubles. Batman has a different girlfriend every week. There was Vicky Vale, but that didn’t work out, then there were a bunch of random supermodels and actresses, then that really awkward marriage to Talia al Ghul, and of course, my favorite, the semi-regular make-out sessions with Wonder Woman. Superman and Lois have been completely in love with each other since the very beginning, and you have to admit, the whole Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle rocks. Because it’s a love line that looks like a love triangle, and watching Clark dance around the nosiest woman in the world is fantastic! Then, even after she finds out about his alter ego and they get married, she still has him on his toes. They’re the foundation for a lot of modern love stories, whereas Batman doesn’t trust anyone, so he can’t nail down a girl.

Am I the only one who is really sick of Bruce Wayne’s trust issues?

Batman/Superman team-ups are really fun, however. Watching Batman sulk about not having superpowers in between action sequences is just funny. Clark is all nice to him, giving him a Kryptonite ring so they can be on equal footing, and all Batman can do is make fun of Clark for a god complex that he doesn’t even have. Batman seriously has no sense of humor. Who wants to hang out with a guy like that, anyway?

I’ll take Clark any day, thank you.