by Connie Francisco

Created on: July 03, 2009

Batman vs. Superman; Bad Boy vs. Boy Scout. A tired old debate only fit for comic book addicted geeks who can't handle reality? Hardly. We are talking world famous heroic archetypes here, two very different embodiments of Western ideals. We can learn about ourselves as people through studying them.

It's not really about who has the greater powers, or who would win a mano-y-mano fight. The debate really starts with what we believe. Batman and Superman both uphold our longing for justice, our desire to live in safety from senseless crime. But whereas Superman appeals to those who believe we can get there by following the rules, Batman is more appealing to those who believe that our laws and court systems are just as likely to betray us as to help us. The relative popularity of these two archetypal heroes over the course of the Twentieth century reflected the evolution (or devolution) of public trust in the justice system. Superman won the day when ordinary folks still thought the system worked in their favor. As that trust eroded, Batman became the choice du jour.

Of course, there are still lots of folks out there who believe that the Boy Scout route is the way to go. More power to them... no wonder they stick to Superman. But to those who consider that attitude more a symptom of naivety than idealism, Bad Boy Batman's purely personal moral code, concerned less with "good and evil" than with simply dealing out justice on his own terms, makes more sense.

There are gender issues involved. Superman tends to be more popular with men, Batman with women. In a male-dominated market (such as existed in the first half of the 20th century), Superman's rather adolescent approach to relationships isn't much of a factor. His powers, and his comparatively thin personality development, are not big drawbacks. Men might be more likely to believe in the system their forefathers built, and to see Superman's up-front approach to upholding it as preferable.

But when more women are putting the money down to watch or read superhero stories, Batman has an edge. Women tend to insist on a relationship-capable hero who is not so rule-bound, even in the adventure genre. Just check the romance section of your local bookstore. Bad Boy heroes are everywhere, but the Boy Scout Next Door is pretty much reserved for romantic comedy. In other words, many of us ladies just don't take the "nice guys" as seriously these days as we do the dark, brooding, Byronic dudes. (Sorry, Nice Guys, but

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