Zachary ODonnal Professor Salamone College Writing I 2/6/14 Batman vs.

Superman Not often in any form of known comic history do two characters contrast and match each other in the smallest of details. Batman and Superman are DC comics most well-known characters. It is natural that the characters, both sixty plus years in print, have acquired a massive fan base. The fan base of the two big shot characters have been known to attack one another with claims on who is the better hero or who is the most interesting. With all of the fan arguments several traits of the two have been the basis of most claims on who is truly the best comic book character. These traits are, but not limited to, the origins of the characters, their secret identities, and the style of justice they deliver. First we will discuss the Man of Steel himself, more commonly known as Superman. His comic book origin, oddly enough, has gone through many changes during his time of creation. The different stories of where Superman has come from all have him flying from his home planet of Krypton in a rocket, barely escaping the destruction of his home world; he was sent to planet Earth. Where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, an older family from Smallvile wishing for a child, they raised him as if he was their own child. In some story lines, Clark began using his powers very young as a superhero, known as Superboy, but was taken out out of anyu story line as it didn't make sense in the time line of his character. Clark soon leaves Smallvile in

search of his metropolis, as we know comes to be New York City.This is where he becomes the super hero known as Superman and starts defending the world from the likes of Lex Luthor, Braniac, and various other enemies. Superman's secret identity is probably the biggest topic of discussion when the nerd community gathers at such places, as comi-con and other big events. Probably the biggest argument is that Superman is who he really is and Clark Kent is his secret identity; being that he gains his powers from our sun instead of gaining them through ways of a spider bite or money. Others disagree and say that he is Clark Kent and just happens to be superman; since he was raised to be a normal person and later discovers he has powers. Either or both sides of this argument agree that Superman made his mild mannered ego act different to Superman in every way as to hide who he really is. Clark has gone so far out of his way to fool those closest to him and the ones that he spends so much time around such as Lois Lane. She is more well known to be Clark's love interest, yet she has never figured out the identity of Superman despite being the one plain human being to be around Superman the most. I guess it just goes to show, love is blind. Superman has his own form of what he will call justice. Instead of searching for the bad guys, Superman waits for something to happen such as threat or emergency. Then he will spring into action, and is always protecting the lives of the innocent civilians in New York and sometimes evil doers from immediate danger. After all are safe he will fight the main problem. Batman is a blatant contrast to Superman; to say the least and most obvious of things, Batman's origins are pretty different from those of Superman. Batman is born into a family of wealth and is known as Bruce Wayne. He lived a normal life until, as a little boy, his parents

were shot during a robbery in a back alley. This moment is what developed Wayne's life as he was raised by his loyal butler Alfred until he turned eighteen. When Wayne turns eighteen he begins to travel the globe learning different forms of martial arts and weapons training. After approximately seven years of traveling, he returns to Gotham City and finds it tainted beyond all what he could comprehend. With crime bosses governing the streets and government offices, he decides to try and solve this issue on his own. Using the bat, an image that strikes fear into the eyes of villains and evil doers of the city, he develops the act of Batman. Gathering all his recently developed skills and equipment, consideration of his own business Wayne Enterprises, he starts a war against all crime in Gotham City With all of his crime fighting, Bruce was as necessary to use a secret identity in order to remain safe. He did so, like Superman, by making Batman and Bruce Wayne vitally different. Bruce was seen mainly during daytime and only out at night for needed public arrangements, such as interviews, to distract any wandering ideas of him being Batman. In blatant contrast, Batman is never seen during the day, unless fighting with the Justice League, and has never made any public appearances, once again unless he was with the Justice League. Bruce is fun and outgoing; meaning he will try and at his best will do anything put in front of him. And because of this Bruce Wayne becomes a billionaire himself and spends outrages amounts of money on anything his heart so sees it desires. Batman on the other hand, is dark and often very impolite to those he is around, including even the Justice League. Batman will always play it safe making sure nobody figures him out, A question that is asked frequently is, "Is Batman the alter ego or is it Bruce Wayne?" Much like the Superman, this is also disputed very often in the nerd community.

With his secret identity Batman can do his own brand of justice. His form, of what he calls justice, is like that of a cowboy from old western movies. He shows up in Gotham City and fights, not kill, the crime that has engulfed what he remembers to be such a great city. Even though he is one to jump at the moment and fight, unlike superman, Batman is more of a detective and leaves the real work to the police Batman tends to use his great intelligence to hunt down his villains, such as the Joker. While smarter than most people, Batman is still just a person, unlike superman which can be considered a super-human, and makes many errors, as one person may, in his judgment. Ultimately messing up his future. All in all Batman and Superman are two completely different entities. Comparing the two is like trying to compare apples to oranges. Both are great heroes, in their own aspects, and are very different, to be compared to one another to see which the better superhero is. Sure there may have different roots, similar styles of their secret identities and of course there big difference in styles of what they call justice justice. Most supporters that want to argue this point, should just relax and ultimately it all just comes down to their own opinions.