Goddamn

[cmdr_zoom]

Katie V, on the CoH boards: "That's the superhero way, after all: Batman vs. Superman is never going to be a fair fight."

Me: "True. 9 times out of 10, it ends with Batman standing over a beaten and humbled Kryptonian, shard of green K in his hand."

Comments

[seawasp]

Mainly because Superman is written as an idiot and Batman as an Arisian.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Alas, the same is true of the Arisians' direct analogues in the DCU.

"Let's do the same thing that nearly ended in disaster at least twice before. I'm sure that nothing will go wrong this time!"

(Of course, it does, and the Corps has to pick up the mess. Again.)

As I believe I've said before, I'm most fond of the DCAU take on Superman. He's not infallible - he can be caught off-guard by things he hasn't seen before - but if you try to pull the same trick on him more than once, he will already have figured out a counter and will proceed to hand you your ass.

[seawasp]

Do NOT get me started on the Oans. Those incompetent, self-justifying, overpowered wisdom-deficient...

Yes, Superman should be straightforward but not dumb, tremendously powerful but not utterly godlike, etc.

Though one thing you should NEVER see is someone outSTRENGTHing Superman, because that's, like, his defining super characteristic.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I am constantly amazed that anyone reads Superman. He isn't a superhero, he's a God. Invulnerable, Unstoppable. Here's a guy who can move planets survive just about anything. How do you write for him? The only way, and it's a trick DC has been using over and over for fifty years, is to depower him somehow. Luthor makes Kryptonite Ray Gun. Shoots Superman. Kicks Superman's weakened butt. Superman somehow restores his powers, kicks Luthor's butt. Issue after issue.

Batman wins because Superman is a meathead. 99% of his foes come right at him. 99% of his problems are solved by pummeling them. Batman? Batman has to outthink most of his rogue's gallery. So when it comes down to the Dark Knight v. the Big Blue Boy Scout, Batman will win every time because he plans to win.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

See above. :)

I like the Superman who, on his first attempt to catch a plane, accidentally rips the tail off and takes a moment to berate himself ("Nice one, Clark") before diving back in.

[seawasp]

Depends on the version of Superman. Silver-Age Supes fits your description, but a lot of the others don't.

Heck, I was watching some of the more recent animated JLA stuff, and there's sequences in there where he actually is just being physically pounded down. Admittedly, by DARKSEID, but still.

[sptrashcan.livejournal.com]

Superman's chief foes include the evil genius Lex Luthor, the evil genius supercomputer Brainiac, the evil genius god Darkseid, and the flat-out omnipotent Mr. Mxyzptlk who can only be defeated by tricking him into saying his name backwards. The Superman foes who just come after Superman head on don't get to be Superman foes more than once.

Writing challenges for Superman isn't actually that hard. He can do nearly anything, but he can't do everything. He isn't omniscient, he isn't omnipresent, and, most importantly, he isn't omnimoral.

As for the reason why Batman tends to beat Superman, the answer is simple. Superman doesn't think about how to beat Batman, because Batman is his friend and ally. Batman thinks about how to beat Superman, because Batman thinks about how to beat everyone he meets, and the harder it is, the more he thinks about it.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Well said.