So I was thinking about the difference between Superman and Batman. Not like, the Frank Miller political differences, or the fact that one of them is human and one of them is from outer space. Well, actually sort of the latter. I was thinking about how the two are so removed from one another on an almost cosmic level. (WARNING: loong and unspellchecked.)


The classic fanboy question: who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman? Of course, the question is ridiculous, because... well, Superman. How could someone virutally indestructible, someone in all practical senses immortal, lose to a mere human. Hell, if nothing else Superman could just go to alpha centauri and back and Batman's body would be dust. But the question gets asked again and again, and (maybe surprisingly) Batman always wins. (I'm thinking of Hush, DKR, and DKSA AND ASBAR here, so feel free to provide counter-examples).

Superman is born on the planet Krypton, gets sent to Earth by his father to better them as a race blah Christ imagery blah. So yeah. Godlike powers under our yellow sun, and never uses them for the forces of Evil. If Clark is tempted by the Dark Side, he certainly isn't tempted often, and I can't think of a time in which he ultimately gave in. He's the boy scout, he's Big Blue, he stands for truth, justice, and the American way. But the best of America, the best of all humankind. He can speak any human language if you just give him a day or two to learn it, he's a published author of a National Book Award-winning thriller, he's won a Pulitzer for his investigations on human slavery, and he's happily married to a powerful, self-empowering woman who wouldn't need anyone to save her if she weren't so darned curious and driven. In fact, he's still around and kicking in the 853rd century,having become Superman Prime with fancy new solid gold skin and the ability to resurrect the entire Kryptonian race. Seriously. Not kidding about the solid gold thing. 

Plus, again, the godlike powers, which include: heat vision, telescopic vision, microscopic vision, x-ray vision, freeze breath, super-speed, super-strength, super-invulnerability, super-hotness, super-smartness, super-weaving, basically you can name the power and he has it. Oh, and don't forget flight and super-hearing.

So, basically? Superman is a god. A flat-out, no-holds-barred, the New Gods got nothing on this guy GOD. What with the god-like powers and the impossible virtue and the impossible beauty, he could easily stand in for a Greek god, or even the Christian son of god come-again, and people would buy it.

Batman, on the other hand, is a rich son of a well-respected man and woman. Who, oh that's right, were shot to death right in front of him when he was like, nine. So he's kind of fucked-up in the head, and despite his veneer of charm as Brucie and his unyielding dedication as Batman, the guy has some issues. He's as human as any (DC) superhero can get, which is why so many people connect to him, I think. Because he's so flawed, and so paranoid and especially in the Millerverse so out-of-his-goddam-Batman mind. He's nothing but flaws wrapped up in a super-competent and attractive exterior.

Bruce's mission dominates his life, but he still participates in many of the roles that we as humans are expected to perform - he has a job (CEO of a company), he has a social life (both with the JLA and as Brucie), and he forms intimate social connections with others. Bruce has many close friends (though Alfred is probably more like a father) and heck, he's even raised kids! Like, several! And forget about the father-figure role, he's actually the biological sire of a boy too. So despite the fact that Batman is batshit, he's actually got his bases pretty well covered in what we as humans are supposed to do in life. Using these criteria, Bruce is a pretty good representation of the human race.

Okay, so after all this horrifically long rambling... when Batman fights in DKR, he represents the common man fighting against the all-powerful oppresive government, sure, but he also represents the lowly fighting the strong, man fighting god. And winning. Kinda. Using the god's (superman's) own confidence in his powers against him, and amping his own body up through technology, Batman is able to tear down the god, though it almost kills him in the process. It took blowing Superman up in a massive EMP explosion and then fighting him in a battle that Superman really didn't want to fight in, but Batman did it.

And what did it get him? At the end of the DKR, Superman winks at girl!robin. Winks! Bruce kicked Clark's ass, and Superman is still condescending to Bruce, humoring him, letting him continue on in his crazypants quest. In the end, at least in DKR, it seems that the god of the story is inescapable, always forgiving and loving, always in a position of superiority and condescension. And in DKSA, even after Bruce kicks his ass a second time in a horribly similar way (it really makes me facepalm every time) Superman becomes... what? Supreme Ruler of the entire planet?

In the millerverse, it seems, god/superman's rule is inescapable, and humans can never be equal. Of course, that could just be the by-product of batman's super-sekrit gay crush on superman.

 

Tags: meta: dcu, pairing:superman/batman