This year is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the debut of Batman and DC Comics is pulling out all the stops in celebration.
All year long they’ll be releasing shorts like Bruce Timm’s “Strange Days” to celebrate the milestone as well as giving away free Batman masks and Bat-related goodies on Wednesday, July 23rd, or what DC Comics has deemed “Batman Day.” All this comes over a year after the seventy-fifth anniversary of Superman’s debut, which was quiet by comparison.
This begs the question – Why does the man in black get all the love while the World’s Biggest Boy Scout struggles to find an audience?
Because Batman regularly loses and Superman is unbeatable.
While on the surface it sounds stupid, Ma Kent’s little boy is almost god-like. The only thing he has to fear is an equally god-like bad guy, the rare magic spell, or the odd meteor from Krypton. Born on another planet and raised by good, wholesome folk, Superman’s toughest battles are usually internal, and being the good guy that he is, his inner demons are regularly kept in check.
Batman’s story, on the other hand, is a story of losing to those very demons. A small child who lost his parents in an act of violence, he overcomes those hardships and not only carries on but thrives. In short, Batman loses all the time while Superman constantly wins.
That’s why we continue to root for Batman and have an ambivalent view of Superman. Batman loses and fails. When he rises and overcomes those losses, we feel we can also.
A few years I wrote about a “Batman Moment,” when people overcome their hurdles and beat the odds. Most of us won’t have to overcome death, danger, and the Joker in our daily lives, but when you need a little inspiration, look to the man who cleaned up Crime Alley and have a little sympathy for the kid from Krypton.
After all, he is the product of his upbringing.
