Shadow Boxing,
In your analysis you made some interesting points. But I don't quite agree. Batman was created like a year or so after Superman and he has also had had long history in other media besides comics too.
There was a movie serial series in the 40s I believe. And he has had a long history in comic strips and cartoons similar to Superman.
However, I think he really began to inch Superman or compete with him for topdog status with the 1960s Adam West show, and when Neal Adams helped contemporized the character.
That was later followed by Frank Miller's Dark Knights Returns which made Batman a more 'serious, literary' type character and perhaps more importantly, helped make him more relevant.
Superman's update came a little later, post-Crisis and with the Byrne Man of Steel reboot. The more modern Batman was already on the scene by that time and going strong.
So, I can't say that Superman is more popular or has totally dominated Batman, at least with American audiences. Just like other posters have pointed out, Batman and Superman have been used as overseas ambassadors.
The mega-event of the 1989 Batman movie also impressed Bats deeply into the public consciousness. Followed by four Bat-movies that all gained some notoriety, good or bad. I think now that a lot of people know at least a few things about Batman. And they probably know maybe about several more with Superman which isn't that much of a difference.
For Bats, I guessing most people might think: Robin, Gotham City, Batmobile, Joker, and maybe Bruce Wayne or Alfred.
For Superman: Krypton, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Metropolis, He can fly, kryptonite, and maybe "Truth, Justice, and the American Way," or the "faster than a bullet" spiel.
And even though Superman has proven to be a more attractive choice for live-action TV shows, Batman has done well with cartoons-being on one animated series or other since the early 1990s.
I would posit that Batman and his rogue's gallery has proven just as attractive or more so in the animated field. Superman got back into the animated field a couple years after Batman, but they have both been seen as equals whenever they teamed together or on the JL/JLU. I would say the same for the Superfriends and Super Powers cartoons too. Both got roughly an equal amount of attention which signaled to me that they were pretty much equal in importance.
Also remember that while Superman was in live-action series in the 90s, Batman was on the silver screen. There was the aborted TV show that I think morphed into Smallville, and the Batman-related Birds of Prey series.
Today I think they are about equal in popularity, or should I say notoriety. Superman might be slightly more well known or heard of, but Batman perhaps relates or resonates more with people/fans-movies or comics.
In your analysis you made some interesting points. But I don't quite agree. Batman was created like a year or so after Superman and he has also had had long history in other media besides comics too.
There was a movie serial series in the 40s I believe. And he has had a long history in comic strips and cartoons similar to Superman.
However, I think he really began to inch Superman or compete with him for topdog status with the 1960s Adam West show, and when Neal Adams helped contemporized the character.
That was later followed by Frank Miller's Dark Knights Returns which made Batman a more 'serious, literary' type character and perhaps more importantly, helped make him more relevant.
Superman's update came a little later, post-Crisis and with the Byrne Man of Steel reboot. The more modern Batman was already on the scene by that time and going strong.
So, I can't say that Superman is more popular or has totally dominated Batman, at least with American audiences. Just like other posters have pointed out, Batman and Superman have been used as overseas ambassadors.
The mega-event of the 1989 Batman movie also impressed Bats deeply into the public consciousness. Followed by four Bat-movies that all gained some notoriety, good or bad. I think now that a lot of people know at least a few things about Batman. And they probably know maybe about several more with Superman which isn't that much of a difference.
For Bats, I guessing most people might think: Robin, Gotham City, Batmobile, Joker, and maybe Bruce Wayne or Alfred.
For Superman: Krypton, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Metropolis, He can fly, kryptonite, and maybe "Truth, Justice, and the American Way," or the "faster than a bullet" spiel.
And even though Superman has proven to be a more attractive choice for live-action TV shows, Batman has done well with cartoons-being on one animated series or other since the early 1990s.
I would posit that Batman and his rogue's gallery has proven just as attractive or more so in the animated field. Superman got back into the animated field a couple years after Batman, but they have both been seen as equals whenever they teamed together or on the JL/JLU. I would say the same for the Superfriends and Super Powers cartoons too. Both got roughly an equal amount of attention which signaled to me that they were pretty much equal in importance.
Also remember that while Superman was in live-action series in the 90s, Batman was on the silver screen. There was the aborted TV show that I think morphed into Smallville, and the Batman-related Birds of Prey series.
Today I think they are about equal in popularity, or should I say notoriety. Superman might be slightly more well known or heard of, but Batman perhaps relates or resonates more with people/fans-movies or comics.
)
