Who is the #1 Most Popular DC Superhero of All Time?

[TheRay]

I think Superman loses a lot of potential support because some people believe he’s too OP to be compelling.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Nope. In fact, in the other countries Batman is even more popular because most people only know superheroes from films, animation and video games and Batman has been having a barrage of quality content across all mediums.

The only people who care about Superman in other countries are just fans of the Henry Cavill version.

I'm in Brazil. Your first sentence is spot on, but the second is dead wrong.

Most people in countries outside of USA have no real nostalgia for Christopher Reeve movies. And tv shows like Lois and Clark or Smallville didn't get popular either.

Cavill is the only Superman that a vast majority of people would be aware of and even he is only popular on the internet.

Yeah, you're really wrong on that one. Speaking for my country, the one that made less of an impact was Lois and Clark, and it still was on prime time on our biggest tv station in a pre-cable era (cable took a while to get here). Smallville was huge, so were the Reeves movies. And I know a few people for around the globe with similar experiences. The Cavill thing, OTOH, not so much.

[Rightoya]

Batman and it sadly isn't even close, which is why DC in their short-term mindset and general incompetence has put most of their efforts into him and his world and increased the gap more and more, the last somewhat plausible case you could have made for Superman was more than 30 years ago as The Death of Superman managed to make very big waves in the US.

This map is just bullshit though.

The part about them being the most popular superheroes in these respective countries is definitively pure bullshit, but i am somewhat inclined to believe that Wonder Woman for example could have had the most monthly google searches in some countries where DC specifically had more searches than Marvel, and that people might underestimate what impact in Wonder Woman's case the box-office and critics reaction surprise hit movie in 2017 and the controversial follow-up movies as well as the announced videogame on the general interest of especially young people had. Because seeing Wonder Woman dominating Asia and specifically Japan on that map reminded me on that i last year wasn't very surprised to find a lot of Iron Man merchandise between Astro Boy and other such merchandise in several stores in Tokyo, but very surprised to find tons of Wonder Woman merchandise between Sailor Moon and other such merchandise in the same stores, with quite a few of the goods being sold out and i wouldn't know why these stores would stock up on Wonder Woman merchandise in 2023 if it don't sells quite well anyway.

[Captain Nostalgia]

Batman.

Bruce Wayne has been the only thing holding up DC comic sales the past few decades.

Superman 's popularity has been dead for a few decades now.

His popularity peak was when family sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver were all the rage...culturally we live in a different America now.

[Lightning Rider]

Nope. In fact, in the other countries Batman is even more popular because most people only know superheroes from films, animation and video games and Batman has been having a barrage of quality content across all mediums.

The only people who care about Superman in other countries are just fans of the Henry Cavill version.

I can't measure it, but I don't think that's the case. I think that because superheroes are an American import, they are somewhat filtered, and so the big longstanding names are what resonate and stay with people over time. I see kids with S's on their t-shirts everywhere I've been. Can't say the same for most other heroes.

I did find this poll which has Superman leading as the most recognizable superhero worldwide, tied with Spiderman. I can't view the source though.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...superheros-us/

[TheKryptonMan]

I think that if you're talking just DC comics and all time it's Superman .
But since just about the time of KnightFall in early 90's it's definitely Batman . So for the last 30 years DC has relied on Batman to keep itself profitable . So many Batman related Events and spin off books .
Only now we're starting to see a crack in Batman's armor due to Zdarsky's run . But that may change depending what direction the book goes .

[Android 17]

Without question it's Batman.

Supes' ship has sailed.

[Sandy Hausler]

I don't know. Was there a Superman phenomenon akin to 90's Batmania at some point? I think Bats has been number one since Adam West's day if I'm honest, just with a few rough few years here and there.

Superman was hugely popular in the 1940s (and remember, comics sold a lot better in the 40s -- by a lot) and while I'm not sure if his TV show in the 1950s had the same effect on sales that the 1960s Batman show did, I'm sure it had a similar effect. And he appears to be as popular with the general public as he ever was, at least in my opinion.

[Stanlos]

For me, it's Wonder Woman. It is not spoken of much in comics circles and in media, but she was a beacon and changed the world.