Originally posted by ghostman
who is better, in terms of..
1.intelligence
2.tactics
3.hth skill
1. I'm not sure who would, say, score higher on an IQ test, but Superman has historically shown great *creativity* with his (compared to Surfer's) limited powerset; whereas Surfer OTOH -- probably because he has such a huge/varied powerset, and thus writing stories could be tougher -- is typically PISed/CISed down to simply zipping around hurling cosmic bolts or raising forcefields. Occasionally he does something *exotic*, but I don't see this necessarily as an *intelligence* thing (tactical?).
I suppose one could argue that something like molecular rearrangement requires great intelligence (ie, knowing how to place all those molecules), but generally such a power is not seen this way.
2. Tactics IMO is related to intelligence, and again I give Superman the edge here because of his limited powerset. Generally, what seems to occur in comics is that, those with less use it better; those with more use it worse, this dynamic largely determined by story circumstances or apparent writer intent.
3. C'mon. H2H is Superman's thing, especially compared to Surfer. Soarin' Norrin has had his surprisingly great moments, but H2H proficiency, between these two, belongs to Superman.
In conclusion -- and I'm not saying this was necessarily done deliberately -- but it seems these 3 traits, from the onset, were picked to favor Superman. How about, Who's better at pacifistic monologuing?
((Sorry I didn't post any scans, but 1) my comments were broad brushstrokes, and 2) I'm too lazy.))