World Superman vs. Dracula... who's the bigger icon?

[larryfilmmaker]

Sorry, but I had to share this topic. It's going on on our Bullcrank forums and I wanted to see what the Hype peeps think. I think it's about 50/50 and have a hard time saying one is bigger than the other in terms of influence.

Superman's "S" logo is the most recognizable fictional symbol ever. Batman doesn't come close. Neither does Spider-man. Superman was responsible for the creations of superheroes (the term SUPERhero is actually based off of SUPERman... as are the phrases super-duper, super-mom, etc). The real world knows that Superman is Clark Kent. They can even name his girlfriend and co-workers' names. It's absolutely insane... and kryptonite has been used to symbolise weakness an infinite nubmer of times. The Superman mythos is embedded into our culture whether you like him in comic book land or you don't.

Dracula isn't as recognizable due to not really having one particular look. Still, like Superman with superheroes... Dracula inspired the entire vampire mythos. His catchphrases, accent, and weakness are all well known. His story and origin aren't quite as commonly known as Superman's, but that's made up for by the fact that the Dracula character is in the public domain... which means he's been in hundreds (it not thousands) of movies.

Both are in countless songs, pop culture references, etc. What do you guys think? Please keep in mind that it doesn't matter whether you're a Superman fan or not... it doesn't matter if you find him cheesy or if his movies are your favorites so you vote Superman. Same goes for Dracula... being a vampire nut doesn't mean the answer is Dracula. Hating vampire movies doesn't mean Dracula isn't the winner here. What I'm saying is keep your PREFERENCES out of the debate...

So... Superman or Dracula?


also, here's the topic being debated on our own forums but it's not necessary to check it out: http://www.bullcrank.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=40#358&sid=60f8bff0a26f855d6e63e9a72218682e

 

[Andy C.]

That's a really tough question, actually. I'd say Dracula, though, if only because he's been around a good while longer than Superman.

 

[matrix_ghost]

Easy , Dracula.
I originally come from a south american country named suriname. My grandma who's never read a comic in her life , has been a farmer all her life and who's grandparents came from an indian village in 1840 , knows who dracula is.


It's just something that is so ingrained into various cultures , that it's far better known then Superman. Not to mention the fact that there are countless stories about vampires in several cultures. ANy kid who's gone to school in any part of the world will instantly know the word Dracula.
They'll probably know superman too , but only thru comics , tv series , movies


Edit :
I also wouldn;t go so far as to say that Dracula inspired the whole vampire mythos.
The opposite is true , that the vampire mythos is responsible for the creation of Dracula.
There are several old Hindu stories ( some as old as Before Christ) that deal with the Hindu versions of a vampire.
Indonesian culture also has their own versions of vampires.

 

[larryfilmmaker]

Matrix, are you sure your grandma wouldn't know who Superman was if she saw a picture of him? I mean... I think the whole world does, regardless of whether or not they've read comics.

I didn't know that the vampire mythology was around before Dracula... that's interesting. This is a tough one.

 

[Mike5555]

Its a tie.

 

[SuperFerret]

I didn't know that the vampire mythology was around before Dracula... that's interesting. This is a tough one.

Dracula was also a real person, or at the very least based on a real person.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_Tepes

And nearly every ancient culture had it's vampire myth, all of which (eerily enough) share many of the "classic" vampire qualities in nearly identical ways. Mind you, this is even among cultures that had absolutely NO way to contact each other to spread these myths.

 

[Killgore]

The head of my department is from Transylvania. When she came to the states, she had no idea that the Dracula that was a local hero was known outside Romania. Upon arrival in the states, she went to see a movie about Dracula and was very shocked that he was portrayed as a vampire. She likened it to an American going to Kenya and seeing a Kenyan movie about George Washington where he is a demonic bloodsucker that turns into a bat.

 

[Killgore]

Superman was baised on various myths also, Hercules, Christ, Sampson.

 

[Andy C.]

Not to mention blatantly taking elements from Doc Savage, Flash Gordon, and a few other pulp entertainment characters of the time.

Also, I'd say Superman takes more after Moses than Christ (sent away by his real family from a horrible event, found and brought up by a loving family, grows up to realize his true destiny, etc etc)

 

[matrix_ghost]

Matrix, are you sure your grandma wouldn't know who Superman was if she saw a picture of him? I mean... I think the whole world does, regardless of whether or not they've read comics.

I didn't know that the vampire mythology was around before Dracula... that's interesting. This is a tough one.

Yep , i can definately say that t:
I mean i could show her just a rough sketch of some dude with fangs and she'll instantly recognise him as DRAKULA ( as we like to pronounce it ).

I think ( but don't quote me on this) that SUperman really is something that can only be recognized if , 1) people have watched and remembered the movies , 2)when you go to school and/or read comics *think lunchboxes* , 3) have been someone who has lived in the more richer western countries like america , england .

You know. Especially in America Superman has been known for quite a while so you're (great)grandparents would know him . They probably read Supes comics or saw lunchboxes with superman when they were little kids and went to school.
That really doesn't apply to other countries like for instance India or China or Japan where superman probably got famous in the 60's/70's when things started to get better. And that's if parents actively sent their kids to school etc.

 

[matrix_ghost]

The head of my department is from Transylvania. When she came to the states, she had no idea that the Dracula that was a local hero was known outside Romania. Upon arrival in the states, she went to see a movie about Dracula and was very shocked that he was portrayed as a vampire. She likened it to an American going to Kenya and seeing a Kenyan movie about George Washington where he is a demonic bloodsucker that turns into a bat.

hahahahaha t: t: t: t:

 

[Fantasyartist]

Oh, definitely Dracula- he's been around a lot longer than the Man Of Steel( full dislcosure: I never much liked him, being an avowed member of a "super race" and all- even though I admit he's no racist)

Terry

 

[larryfilmmaker]

The head of my department is from Transylvania. When she came to the states, she had no idea that the Dracula that was a local hero was known outside Romania. Upon arrival in the states, she went to see a movie about Dracula and was very shocked that he was portrayed as a vampire. She likened it to an American going to Kenya and seeing a Kenyan movie about George Washington where he is a demonic bloodsucker that turns into a bat.

lol that's not entirely true. My foreman at work is Romanian and while he said the vampire mythology is silly when it comes to the REAL Vlad the Impaler, that some parts of the story are true. He really was betrayed by the church in some way and he really did enjoy torturing his enemies. He impaled some and displayed them around his property and he murdered a **** load of people in a lot of disgusting and cruel ways... and my foreman told me that afterward he would walk or prance around on the blood and that the people close to him thought he was screwed up. I don't remember many George Washington stories like those...

 

[larryfilmmaker]

Its a tie.

I agree... it's too hard to tell. Anyways, this all started when I posted VH1's list of the top 200 pop icons on our Bullcrank.com forums and Oprah beat out Superman for number 1. That sparked this huge thread with people calling each other sexist, some saying that Batman had stolen a bit of Dracula's identity and mythos with the cape and the bat as his symbols, etc. It eventually boiled down to Superman vs. Dracula debates, with everybody wondering why Dracula wasn't even on the top 10. Maybe they were only talking inspirational figures? I dunno.