This really has nothing to do with the upcoming Kung Fu rabbit book, but I thought I'd put it out there since it concerns the sequential art form in general, and two iconoclastic DC characters in particular.
I have a theory about Superman and Batman. I'm sure this theory doesn't originate with me, but this is my own particular take on it. I think the reason these two characters have become the mutual flagship characters of the DC universe are manifold. For one thing, they exist at different extremes of the same spectrum and , among comic fans, you are generally either a Superman guy or a Batman guy. I'm a Batman guy myself. It seems everybody has a preference, but why these two?
Well, for starters, Batman has always been, to me, the more accessible of the two figures. I could be Batman if I put my mind to it. To be Superman I would have had to have been born on a distant doomed world and arrive here with super powers given to me by earth's yellow sun. Frankly, it's too late for that. In fact, by the time I was born it was too late for most of that. But Batman is different. He has no powers. In theory, if I were to get an early enough start on things, and inherit a billion dollars ( plus a mansion with a cave and a penchant for inventing) and dedicate my entire life to exercising and training, I could still be Batman. It's unlikely, but not impossible. It's way more plausible than the Last Son of Krypton.
Batman also exists in a dark, gritty underworld full of corrupt police and corrupt officials and lots of abandoned warehouses. There is never a sunny day in Gotham. In Gotham, the powerful and the corrupt preside over the decay of a once great city and their descent into depravity is mostly held in check by one man armed with gloved fists and his brain. That seems a lot more realistic than the eternal sun shininess and gleaming skyscrapers of Metropolis. It seems more believable to me that the heroes would have to labor in the dark alleys and seedy underbellies rather than zipping across the city skyline in red and blue, waving to their adoring fans before stopping to rescue a kitten.
Keep in mind that I think it's silly to try to 'darken' Superman. His inherent nobility and perfect hair have their own appeal and make perfect sense. Of course he's in a good mood; he's invulnerable! Meanwhile, Batman is driving back to the Batcave with a broken leg he got from falling off a roof. He'll grit his teeth while Alfred sets his broken bones and he'll come up with a lame excuse as to why Bruce Wayne has a broken leg. The Batman will heal, and the work will go on. Life's hard, and Batman knows this on a level that the Big Blue Boyscout will never understand, because frankly, when you're Superman, life is easy.
There is also something pretty significant about the two of them; the masks. Batman wears a mask, and Superman doesn't. I've always found that odd. Superman grew up as Clark Kent and obviously doesn't need glasses. He was Clark long before he was Superman, and when the character is accurately portrayed, I think what you have is this big dumb, clumsy farm kid from Kansas who has the power of a god. When he thinks, he doesn't think like Superman, he thinks like Clark. His morality isn't from Krypton; it's from Kansas. If that space craft had crashed landed anyplace else, the DC universe would be in real trouble. Superman is a force for good not because he's powerful, but because he was raised by good stock. Of the two halves of his persona, the guy in the red and blue tights is the fake; Clark Kent is who he really is.
Batman is the exact opposite. He really is Batman all the time. The wheels are always turning in his head. He never rests, he never takes a day off. Bruce Wayne has no hobbies, because Bruce Wayne died in the alley alongside his parents. On that day, Bruce Wayne became the shell, and his real persona of the Dark Knight was born. The money, the parties, the lavish playboy routine, it's all part of a carefully calculated deception to make people believe in Bruce Wayne.
It's interesting to me that Clark, when he decided to put on the persona of Superman, didn't put a disguise on Superman; he put a disguise on Clark. He hid who he really was so that he could pretend to be somebody that he isn't. Why not wear glasses and a tie as Superman? Why wear, in your fake persona, your real face?
Batman on the other hand, puts on a mask so that you can see who he really is. Crouching on a rooftop in the pouring rain is true nature, and to do that, he puts on an elaborate disguise.
I suppose you could make the case that since Superman is the fake half, and Bruce Wayne is the fake half, that both men present their fake halves to the world with a maskless face. Both men put a mask over who they really are. One guy wears a tie and glasses when he's being himself, and the other one wears a cowl. Maybe they aren't as different as I thought. That is sort of brilliant in its own way, don't you think?
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