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Batman

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In a straight fist fight, there's no question it's Superman who takes down the mere mortal. However in the kind of fight Batman would fight, it's the mere mortal all the way. Batman in reality is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire with vast resources at his command. Batman has access to all of Superman's weaknesses because of this.

Superman posesses invulnerabilty, but he is not unstoppable. He has his share of weaknesses. Kryptonite, the radioactive chunks of his home planet can affect him in a variety of ways. Kryptonite comes in a plethora of flavors. Green, the well known and lethal kind. Red, a wild card that has at different times turned him into an eggplant and made his skin transperant. Gold strips him of his powers, making him no more super than Batman. Blue which can only harm Superman's backwards clone Bizarro. White kills plant life and Black turns Superman evil. Besides the Kryptonite weakness, Superman is also vulnerable to magic and under a red sun he is completely unpowered.

There are various incarnations of the Batman as well as Superman to deal with in this debate. If we are talking today's Batman in comics, then he has a good ammount of kryptonite at his disposal as well as various devices that can produce red solar energy. There's no doubt the modern Batman is prepared to fight Superman. This Batman built a red solar energy lamp inside a watch after all. He's a prepared for anything Batman, he carries a sliver of green kryptonite with him and is prepared to utilize red solar light and even foray into magic if he has to.

If it was the classic Batman, he wouldn't be prepared. The Batman at his creation was not in the mindset to have to fight other heroes, especially Superman. The Batman of the 1970's era of stories may have been prepared to use red solar energy if he had to, but the idea of using the deadly kryptonite wouldn't have crossed his mind. The concept of Batman vs Superman didn't really come to fruition until the 1980's with the graphic novel the Dark Knight Returns.

In this book, an aged Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement and dons his cape and cowl again to fight crime in a crime ridden future. At the end of the story Superman is under orders of the President sent in to Gotham City to re-retire Batman. In this fight, Batman is wearing special body armor that requires the entire power supply of the city to run and give him a slight edge at beating Superman. The elderly Batman also has a little supply of kryptonite to weaken the still young Kryptonian and give him a good beating. In the end, Batman has Superman on the ground ready to be given the final blow when he has a heart attack from the stress of the fight. In an epilogue it turns out he faked the whole ordeal to go into hiding, and more than likely could have beaten Superman to death right there.

In most incarnations, Batman is prepared both physically and mentally to take on Superman. Superman is an all around good hero. He's not the world's greatest strategist, he's not thinking of how to defeat anyone because he just assumes he can, after all he's Superman. Batman is just a guy in a mask, he needs to be better to survive amongst a world where alien superhumans exist. He wouldn't just win in a fight with Superman, he would make an example out of him.

Learn more about this author, Ben Erdrich.
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