Batman
Superman may have been the first "Superhero"
But Batman was the first character to show that with enough determination, an ordinary man could stand beside a god as an equal.
As a normal human being bound to the disadvantages of being human, Batman still makes as much, if not more, of a difference in his cause of upholding justice as Superman does.
He's every bit the hero Clark is, but he's human. That's far more relatable and inspiring.
CFE
I was trying to get at something like that with Spider-Man, but I think what it all comes down to is what you consider a super-hero.
It all depends on what you think a super-hero is, what your definition of super-hero is. So by that rationale there really is no "greatest super-hero ever." Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. all have different qualities that make them great super-heroes, and it's those different qualities that make them appealing as super-heroes I guess. And because they each have different qualities, and we each have different perceptions of what a super-hero is - we can say "Batman's a super-hero because he proved that with enough determination, an ordinary man could stand beside a god as an equal," or "Superman's a super-hero because he embodies the most generally accepted definition of a super-hero, he stands for what's right," or "Spider-Man's a super-hero because he faces the same thing ordinary people face everyday and has to put on a mask at the same time," or "Captain America's a super-hero because he stands for truth, justice, and the American way" - because of that, there really is no "greatest," because each of those characteristics are part of being a super-hero in my opinion, and the forementioned super-heroes don't all share those same characteristics, so they're not the whole package. See what I'm saying? It's hard to explain this.
Each of them has their own faults - and I'm not just talking about faults that make them human, I'm talking about faults that make them less of a super-hero (but not necessarily more human....).
Take Batman for example. You could call him a super-hero. But many people can argue that he's more vigilante that hero. Same with Spider-Man. Spider-Man is vigilante, just like Batman - he takes the law into his own hands. He's not necessarily as dark as Batman. And now you might argue that every super-hero is a vigilante, because every super-hero does a cop's job, they take the law into their own hands, they do the police's job for them.
But with Captain America, that's not the case (at least, it didn't used to....forget the Civil War here, I'm talking about the pure Cap, the Cap we all know and love). Cap work(ed)
for the law. He worked under the government/army. Cap's a soldier. Batman and Spider-Man, they don't answer to nobody. Again, vigilantes. Cap = hero, Spidey and Bats = vigilante. But there's something that makes Cap
not a hero (lol). The only thing I can think of right now, cuz I'm really tired (it's 1:42 AM), is that the same thing that makes him a hero also makes him not a hero - he doesn't always do what's right. He does what the government says (actually, I'm mostly talking about Ultimate Cap right now, up until the end of Ultimates 2 #13). And, as well all know, what the government says ain't always what's right, and if you're not always doing what's right, then what kind of super-hero are you?
Which brings me to Superman. Which I'll get to later, cuz I'm about to fall asleep.
Hunter RiderRonin
