Philosopher's pipes to the ready ladies and gentlemen.
DC arguably have not one but of the two of the most iconic symbols in entertainment but which of the two symbols is on your chest? What colour's your cape? Do you prefer to bask in the sun or dwell in the shadows? In order to travel backwards in time, do you have to get shot by an evil god or does it take a few laps of the sun?
I jest but when it comes down to it, I think most people have a preference between the two. Out of fairness, I must say I definitley prefer ol' Bat. Not slight on Supes but this is probably due to the animated series when I was growing up and my first DC comic was Batman's Hush.
However that said I don't think I'll be joining a Barbatos cult, shunning the sun alien any time soon because I find the relationship itself as fascinating as the characters themselves. Credit to DC, over the decades they have cultivated these two characters into harmony with one another.
Here are two beings seperated from their parents at tragically young ages. One adopts a planet, the other seeks to adapt to his new world. A child is plucked from a ship and it's at this point I believe Clark Kent is born. However with Batman, the gun rings out and a child is left kneeling by his parents. Just as I believe Clark Kent came into existence when adopted by the Kents, I think Bruce Wayne died with his parents in that alley.
Whereas Clark dresses up as a symbol, Superman, Batman dresses up as Bruce as a disguise. I always come back to Jim Lee's great pictures of each of them looking over their cities, it sums it all up for me. On a side note, when The Dark Knight was nearing release in the UK I heard one comparison. Superman is how America sees itself, Batman is how the world sees America.
Anyway, what I want is a nice area to just simply discuss. What are your thoughts on their relationship? When have you seen / read it being summed up really well? What likes/dislikes about these two together do you have?
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