When was the last time Superman was considered DC's lead character?

[The World]

As much as it pains me to say Bruce hasn't really been gifted anything by DC. He's been working like a mad man. In the modern world he's just been portrayed as a consummate hard worker and motivated man. He and Clark have similar amounts of exposure but Bruce has been the better man in the modern world.

Frankly can anyone actually sum up what Superman's goal in life is? Because it's pretty easy to understand what Bruce is trying to do with his.

[Vordan]

As much as it pains me to say Bruce hasn't really been gifted anything by DC. He's been working like a mad man. In the modern world he's just been portrayed as a consummate hard worker and motivated man. He and Clark have similar amounts of exposure but Bruce has been the better man in the modern world.

Frankly can anyone actually sum up what Superman's goal in life is? Because it's pretty easy to understand what Bruce is trying to do with his.

Protect Earth and clean up Metropolis.

[Kuwagaton]

Becoming Superman meant losing a world, being Superman means not losing another.

[Jim Kelly]

When was the first time Superman was considered DC's lead character? He's only irregularily featured on the cover of ACTION COMICS until with issue 19 he finally becomes the permanent cover featured character.

However, before that, in January of 1939, his newpaper strip began. In May of 1939, he got his own solo comic (but this might have been intended as a one-shot). On July 3rd, 1939, Ray Middleton appeared as Superman for Superman Day at the New York World's Fair.

Against this, reprints of MUTT & JEFF were a regular feature in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS and they got their own solo title at the same time as SUPERMAN. And those two were popular in the funnie for a long time before Superman appeared on the scene. Superman got a radio show in 1940. But ALL-AMERICAN's Hop Harrigan got his own radio show in 1942.

When did the publishers realize that their big star was Superman and Superman above all others?

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

When I was a kid, one of my first exposures to the dc universe came from the Mortal Kombat vs Dc Universe video game. Ah nostalgia....ok where was I. Anyway if you look at the cover you have Batman and Scorpion front and center. But if you play the actual story mode, Superman and Raiden are portrayed as the main protagonists. I don’t know much about Mortal Kombat lore but my limited understanding is Scorpion is pushed in marketing for those games a lot even though the story rarely revolves around him as much as Raiden, Johnny or Liu Kang. Probably because he’s more “toyetic” than the others. People like to dress as him for Halloween and whatnot. Anyway the point I’m making, is that I think Superman can still be sorta considered the dcu’s defacto lead even if Batman is the most marketable.

[Jon-El]

I remember in the early 80’s I had a bunch of friends in grade school who all collected comics. They however were all hardcore Marvel fans. I loved both brands. We were talking & one kid referenced something related to DC. Another guy says “hey I thought you didn’t like DC”. The kid then says “I don’t but Batman is cool”. I think at the time, Batman had more of what made Marvel characters popular. He appealed to a slightly older audience. He had an edgier backstory. To the young kids I knew who loved Chuck Norris movies & such, Superman seemed kind of corny. I loved him. He was my favorite. My tastes weren’t the same as my friends though.

I think as the audience for comics aged the appeal of Superman diminished. I started reading at 5 and loved Superman. By the time I was in my teens, my friends were much more into Daredevil, Iron Fist, Batman, or the X-Men.