Superman. People old and young know who Superman is. When you ask someone to describe how what a superhero is stereotypically, they come up with a guy in a cape, tight suit, a symbol on their chest, and big muscles.
Superman has done more for comicbooks than any hero ever; people all across the world recognize Superman. I have grandparents and great grandparents in Europe that have never read a comic book, but when I say something about a superhero, they go, "Oh? Oh! Like Superman!"
I like spiderman, much more than Superman in fact, but as far as an icon and what he has created, Superman takes this faster than a speeding bullet.
Draco just pwned all of you. 🙂
You can say Spider-man wins this battle simply because you like him more, but if you honestly say that he's more iconic all around the world, you're just lying to yourselves. NO OTHER comic character EVER will reach the status that Superman has. Spider-man, Batman, etc..... NO ONE. In a battle of iconisism, Superman trumps almost all (if not, ALL) literary characters in history. 😉 Superman ftw.
Originally posted by Draco69😆 That's not necessarily true. I didn't like those old Supes films @ all, but I still felt bad to know a human being had been paralyzed. The majority of this world(@ least the parts w/theatres 🙂 ) you speak of lined up in droves to see Spidey's movies, not Supes. Where were China & Thailand then? They got theatres in China right? Not sure about Thailand. I don't really remember anybody thinking about any superheroes around 9-11. The heroes were the firefighters & cops. I saw alot of NYFD hats around that time. Not Supes. You got some kinda news article or something 'bout this? Wizard did a "greatest of all time" feature. Guess who won? I'll tell you this, it's not some guy flying around w/an S on his chest. It's the guy who does whatever a Spider can. Supes didn't even get second. That went to DCs real #1 guy. Bravo did a Ultimate Superhero feature. Who won? Chalk up another 1 for the guy w/radioactive blood. Supes somehow managed to get #2. Good for him, but that's the best he can hope for nowadays. Hell, I've heard actual creators talking about how they'd kill him off because he's too powerful not to be boring. Spidey IS definately more popular in the U.S. & that's supposed to be Supes' territory isn't it? These statues & stuff Supes has were made long ago by the generation that grew up on Supes. Supes came out @ a time when there weren't many other comic characters around & people needed a hero. Thus the standards were reeeealy low back then. Nowadays, outside of the people who read his books, nobody really gives a damn 'bout Supes
Spider-Man does not give hope and confidence to the majority of the world.People just like him swinging around. He may give YOU hope and confidence. But he sure as hell doesn't give hope to the people suffering n the Dafur genocide which by the way Superman is very popular over there because HE inspires hope, freedom and justice for all the atrocities they've endured. He's an mythical angel to them.
Spidey? People won't think of him when they really need inspiration.
Like 9/11. Who did people turn to? SUPERMAN. Not some cartoon character who shoots webs.
Superman is so revered, the ACTOR who played him is treated with reverance. Everyone was up in arms when he got crippled. Noone would give a sh*t about Tobey Maguire....
Originally posted by Ultraman BaltanTruth.
Superman defined superhero. Spiderman redefined hero.
Ill add my 2 cents here.
Overall, Superman IS the # iconic superhero. I think Draco stated that hes used in metaphors and such in everyday life. EVERYONE knows who Superman is. Might not know the origin, powerset, secret identity or comic company, but people know the name Superman and that hes THE hero.
However, we have to all agree that within the last 15 years or so, Spiderman HAS been the most recognized hero out of the two. Mainly its because of the newer generation getting into the comics and catroons and most recently because of the movies that have been coming out. Same can be said with Wolverine and his rise of popularity.
With all that said, imo Superman is what a hero is and what people characterize as "The Hero". Hes the blueprint.
Edit: Hulk and Superman would have been a better match. Though Hulk would still lose.
I agree that Superman is a more important literary figure than Spiderman, but its another thing to say he's more popular than Spiderman and especially ludicrous to say that he's on par with Jesus and Buddha.
Superman is on par with the legend of Hercules at best in American literary history. Our generation and the baby boomer generation all know Superman. Do these people know who Superman is? Most likely not. They probably don't know he came from Krypton, although most of them will know the only thing that can hurt Superman is kryptonite. Do they know that kryptonite is a chunk of green rock? Most likely not. Most people might know that he is Clark Kent. Past that, he can fly and is strong and that's it. They know him like they know Bugs Bunny.
What about Spiderman? He is much more a contemporary pop culture figure than Superman is. Yet, the baby boomer generation does know of Spiderman. My parents are second generation immigrants who read no comics whatsoever and they still know who Spidey is and can recognize him. They do not know his origin, powers other than swinging nor his alterego. But by that same token, they also do not know who Clark Kent is.
I studied abroad in Korea and met with a lot of Korean, Japanese and Chinese nationals and European and Eastern European nationals at a Jesuit institution. They knew a lot more about Spiderman then Superman. Then again, Spiderman was fugging huge overseas despite what other people might say.
Superman is a part of the American consciousness as much as Lowman from Death of a Salesman is. Maybe moreso because he is a part of pop culture and not just literary culture. But to even mention him in the same sentence as Jesus is about as stupid as the Beatles' own 'Jesus' comment. Yes, Americans will think of kryptonite first when thinking of a metaphor for one's sole weakness, but Achilles' heel and Tao sayings are much more prevalent around the world. The symbol of Superman is iconic and easily recognizable, but if you asked somebody to draw it, they'd probably have no idea how to start or what colors there are in other parts of the world.
Superman is more deeply ingrained in American pop culture because he's had more exposure for a longer time. He's had a 20 year headstart in comic publications, movies and tv shows for years ahead of Spiderman. But lets not kid ourselves, the only reason people outside of the US know about Superman is because of the original Donner Superman film in '78. We didn't grow up at that time, but that was a huge big budget flick with state of the art special effects and a marquis cast. People shouldn't kid themsleves into thinking that Superman's popularity outside of the US has its source in his literary merit. Its all about that movie. The same will be said of Spiderman twenty years from now. You ask small five yr old kids on the street right now who they like better, Spidey or Superman and I guarantee they will say Spiderman because they're growing up with him as a big movie figure.
Spidey is more popular throughout the world. Superman is more recognized throughout the world. Its almost analagous to say that Spongebob is more popular in the US, but Bugs Bunny is more recognized in the US. Its all about media exposure and nothing to do with literary merit. Superman is a derivation of legendary Greek heroes and nothing more. Spiderman is a derivation of legendary Greek heroes, Greek tragedy and modern teen angst. I'd say Spidey's got more of a chance to last through the ages if media exposure continues. Otherwise, he'll fade like Superman has.
Just an interesting note.
Anybody watch the movie Hollywoodland? I dunno if this has been mentioned, but, in the movie, the guy playing Superman in the T.V. show killed himself in real life. Back then, only kids in America had a chance to see him. And they were devastated. In the movie, a kid nearly starts a house fire because he wants to burn his old SM costume.
Whether it's the same today? No, of course not. But then again, I don't think there would be that many firetrucks going out because Toby Maguire commited suicide. But, I could be wrong.
Originally posted by batdude123
Draco just pwned all of you. 🙂You can say Spider-man wins this battle simply because you like him more, but if you honestly say that he's more iconic all around the world, you're just lying to yourselves. NO OTHER comic character EVER will reach the status that Superman has. Spider-man, Batman, etc..... NO ONE. In a battle of iconisism, Superman trumps almost all (if not, ALL) literary characters in history. 😉 Superman ftw.
however while superman laid the foundation spider-man played a huge role in building heroes up to what they are now and days without him super heros would be shallow and 2 dimentional, he has consistantly proven to be the most progressive of all comic charaters, and also while superman is mearly recongnized as an idea about the same as micky mouse spiderman is someone we can all look to as an example. Why spidy over sups? superman is always portaided as being perfect and as such there are a lot of people in the world he cant relate to however spider-man is a flawed man just the same as us he's been popular and well beloved ever since his creation in 1962 for that very reason when we read his comics it became us in that costume something superman cant do to know that superheroes are just people too that's what spider-man brought to us risking his life every single day for the most part sups never has to worry about anything i'm pretty confident if the 2 would have been created at the same time spider-man would edgeout ahead of superman