Is Spider-man greater than Superman now?

[Pharozonk]

If MoS is a nail in the coffin, then Superman needs more nails.

Well played DD!

Joking aside, MoS was another example of Dc/WB missing the point of the character and turning him dark and gritty just to cash in on the Batman craze.

[Pinsir]

That's because DC has been unable to manage the Superman property for almost two decades now and Man of Steel was the final nail in the coffin.

See this is what I mean when I said:

Can we just get over the "IF SUPERMAN IS NOT NUMBER ONE AT ERRYTHING DC IS FAILING!!!"

There were a bunch of late 90's and 2000's stories such as Birthright, All-Star, Kingdom Come, etc that have become major Superman stories. By all accounts DC was referring the damage they did during Crisis and Byrne's reboot.

Things fall out of fashion all the time though. I don't get mad that people don't listen to Britany Spears. The fact that the character is 76 years old now and still sell does mean something though

[lorec]

Well, if we look at in terms of who was here first, it's Superman. Spider-Man may be more popular now, but without Superman, do any of the other heroes have any level of popularity at all?

[blackbolt396]

Look around sometimes, Superman symbols pop up all the time Spider man gear not so much.Comic fans must learn the rest of the population doesn't think like us.

[Pinsir]

I believe Supes owns the '60s, too.

I really don't have the numbers and I am not saying Superman still wasn't #1 during the 60's, but I think of superman here he was clearly the undisputed champion

> Fawcett comics, DC's #1 competitor had folded as had most of its golden age competition
> the Adventures of Superman was airing
> there must have been 4 superman books a month
> large creative burst within the comics (new villians, mythos, etc)

By the 60's we had Marvel as well as the rise of Batman. It would be nice if I knew the numbers though. Eitherway my point is people have to stop saying "BUT HE'S SUPERMAN!" whenever someone else beats him in some match up.

[Pinsir]

Look around sometimes, Superman symbols pop up all the time Spider man gear not so much.Comic fans must learn the rest of the population doesn't think like us.

The thing is I've heard people say "BUT SUPERMAN HAS THE THIRD MOST RECOGNIZABLE SYMBOL EVAH!"

Okay sure, but that does not mean

> they like Superman. Most westerners can recognize a swastika so....
> they are willing to purchase 12 to see a ticket
> that if MoS doesn't make over a BIJILLION dollars its officially a failure.

Not that you were implying any of this.

Also comic fans do need to stop applying their outdated fandom logic to the real world. According to many here, its a mystery that movies like Frozen, E.T and avatar managed to do so well considering they lack any pre-existing fanbases and public knowledge...

[ShaggyB]

thread moved. DC comics board is not about discussing spider-man or about discussing superman.

I figure we can discuss this on the spider-board for a bit and then, if the topic stays alive, the superman board.

This gives each board a chance to weigh in.

[The Darknight Detective]

Well played DD!

Joking aside, MoS was another example of Dc/WB missing the point of the character and turning him dark and gritty just to cash in on the Batman craze.

I think you might have misunderstood me, !Pharozonk! I actually liked the movie. I know we agree on a lot of things, but this is one thing we won't.

[The Darknight Detective]

thread moved. DC comics board is not about discussing spider-man or about discussing superman.

I wasn't sure where this belonged myself, Shaggy.

[ShaggyB]

> they like Superman. Most westerners can recognize a swastika so....

I get what you were going for, but Godwins law states that you officially lost the argument by using the Nazi reference to make your point.

Again: WW2, Nazi symbolism, the swastika, Hitler and any other reference to said topic made outside of discussing the history of what happened.... only serves to weaken ones point and is disrespectful to the memory of all who served, those that gave their lives or those that had their lives taken in said conflict.

This is a comic book forum and the topic is on which hero is more popular, I dont think you meant to cause offense, but please consider what you are so casually throwing around when you use said argument.

[The Darknight Detective]

By the 60's we had Marvel as well as the rise of Batman. It would be nice if I knew the numbers though. Eitherway my point is people have to stop saying "BUT HE'S SUPERMAN!" whenever someone else beats him in some match up.

Marvel had distribution problems for most of the decade until it was straightened out during the late '60s, though. As for Batman, Superman owned him until circa 1966, but Bat's reign only lasted a few years.

[ShaggyB]

I think it would be hard to prove that either of the big 3 is more popular.

Superman, Batman and Spider-man are the biggest and most easily recognizable characters in comicbook history. Id say their popularity rises with movie releases at this point.

So Spider-man went up but not sure he takes one or both or even stays more popular for the first few weeks of the movie release.

[Shadow]

*puts Kryptonite in Spidey's suit*
Yes, yes he is.

[CrimsonEchidna]

Are you also telling me that Superman is more influential than Batman?

Superman is very much more influential than Batman.

[AJBopp]

The gist of the question seems to be, in the OP, whether Spider-man generates more revenue (movies, tshirts, comics, cartoons, whatever) than Superman. In that sense, yes, Spider-man is almost certainly "greater."

Many of the respondents seem to be interpreting the question as "Who has the greater influence?" In that sense, Superman has the ultimate influence because every superhero is in some sense derived from him. However, in the sense of current, rather than historical influence, Spider-man has been the more influential since at least issue 98. By current, of course, I mean current at the time of publication. Superman never took back the "current influence" lead from that.