Why Can't We Be Friends? (Or, The Glorification of Batman at Superman's Expense)
The recent “Man of Steel” movie and news about an upcoming sequel where Batman meets Superman got me thinking about an issue that I have with certain comic fans and comic writers. Specifically, those fans and writers who insist that Superman and Batman shouldn’t be friends, that Batman is way more awesome and realistic than Superman is, that Batman should always win any fights that he has with Superman, and that Superman should basically grovel to Batman at every opportunity and kiss his feet.
I like Batman. I like Superman. I do not like the idea that Batman and Superman always have to fight each other and can never get along. Because to me? Batman and Superman aren’t enemies and they aren’t just allies. They’re friends.
I read an excellent article by Chris Sims (here at http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-66-superman-batman-and-the-worlds-finest-friendshi/ ) about this very topic. I’ll probably end up echoing a lot of his points in this post, but I thought that I should give a shout-out to him. Because right at the beginning of the article, he points out that for most of comic history, Batman and Superman were best friends. And why shouldn’t they be? They’re two of the most famous superheroes in comic history. They’re both fighting for the same goal and they’re both on the same side. Sure, their methods are different, as are their personalities, weaknesses, and the types of villains that they encounter. They're opposites in many ways, yes. But they're opposites in a way that complements the other. Fundamentally, they’re the same. At the very least, they should respect each other for that.
But no. Frank Miller (whose work bothers me on many levels) and his ilk insist that Batman is just so much more amazing than Superman and thus Batman doesn’t owe Superman any respect or friendship at all. As a matter of fact, their Batman is frequently contemptuous and spiteful towards Superman. And not in the “grouchy friend” way where the readers can tell that Batman doesn’t really mean it and Superman takes it all with a good-natured grin. No, in a way where readers are supposed to agree with him and sneer at Superman along with him. Whereas Superman - poor, dumb, naïve Superman - praises Batman to the skies and begs for his forgiveness and favor like an abused spouse suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
I don’t understand why, in some comics, the relationship between Batman and Superman always has to be so one-sided. Yes, I know that Superman is more cheerful, trusting, and open than Batman is and thus would naturally be more open and honest about his feelings. But it bothers when Superman gushes about his friendship with Batman and compliments the man even when he doesn’t feature in the comic, whereas Batman can never admit that Superman is his best friend too. It becomes one-sided to the point of becoming sad and creepy, like Superman is a poor, deluded sap who’s desperate for affection from an aloof and heartless creep who doesn’t care. Is that really the image of these characters that writers want to present?
Sometimes it comes to the point where, quite honestly, I’d rather read Bruce/Clark slash than those kinds of comics, even though I don’t seriously ship them (I have read some fanfics that were quite good, though). You know why? Because at least in those fanfics, Bruce does admit that he cares about Clark (even if it’s in a romantic way). He does appreciate Clark’s good qualities and the relationship is reciprocal, not one-sided. But no, apparently, he has to be in love with Clark in order to say all of that. According to Batman fans who loathe Superman, Bruce couldn't say any of that if he and Clark were just friends. Because God forbid that Batman say that he’s grateful that Superman is his friend, admit that Superman is his equal, or acknowledge that there’s anything about Superman that’s worth respecting.
(Of course, the comics that do celebrate Bruce and Clark's friendship are often held up by Bruce/Clark fans as proof of their undying romantic love for each other. *sighs* It's one extreme after the other.)
Now I may like Superman, but I understand that some people don’t. Which is fine, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. But it gets on my nerves when people claim that they prefer Batman because he’s so much more “realistic” and more “human” and more “relatable.” After all, Batman, like readers, doesn’t have superpowers. Batman, like readers, was born and raised on Earth. Batman didn’t just magically become super-strong from the sun; he had to train for years to become the strong and brilliant superhero and detective that many people know and love. Which is all true.
But do you know how he had the time to train? How he got the money to pay for all of those trips around the world? How he got the money to pay for all of those gadgets and costumes and vehicles? How he has a butler who cleans up after him? How he lives in a gigantic mansion with its own underground cave with state-of-the art equipment?
By inheriting his money from his billionaire parents. Money that the Kent family can only dream of having, that Clark Kent can only dream of earning as a reporter. Bruce Wayne didn’t have to lift a finger to be rich. His wealth, his status, and his position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises were all handed to him. Oh, yeah, I’m sure that most comic fans can so relate to Batman on that score. Much more than they can relate to boring old Clark Kent, who grew up on a farm, got his job through merit, and actually has to work to make a living.
The reason why it irritates me is that it’s one thing for the fans to claim that Bruce Wayne is just like everyone else (which, again, is true in some ways), but it’s quite another when paid writers make Batman say this. When they have Batman rant about how Superman has it easy because he didn't have to work to be a superhero. Oh, poor Bruce Wayne. You had to work for the one area of your life that wasn’t handed to you on a silver platter. That sound that I hear must be the world’s smallest violin, dutifully playing in your honor.
That’s why Batman not only comes off as supremely hypocritical when he says things like that, as Chris Sims rightly points out in his article, he also comes off as a supremely spoiled brat. “Sure, I live in a mansion with a butler, and I have a lot of cool gadgets and cars and jets, and I’ve got hundreds of women throwing themselves at me, and I have enough money to buy all of Gotham, but where are my superpowers? I want superpowers too, Alfred! It’s not fair!”
But the root of all of this animosity between the two characters is, I think, the writers’ hidden desire to explore the question that thirteen-year-olds have been asking each other since the dawn of time: “Who would win?” And I suspect that the thought process goes like this:
“Batman would so totally own Superman! Sure, Superman’s got powers and stuff (which makes him totally lame and boring), but Batman’s smarter! And he’s cooler! And he’s darker (which automatically makes him cooler)! And he’s got martial arts training! So, he’d totally kick Superman’s butt, even though Superman is a lot stronger and faster than he is and should logically be able to snap his spine like a twig in two seconds! Batman must always win because he’s the underdog. Even though he’s a billionaire with gadgets and martial arts training, he’s an underdog. Because he wasn’t born with superpowers. So, he’ll totally trash Superman again and again because he's Batman, and that will still make him the underdog! And Superman will have to mope about how Batman is the one man who beat him (even though Brainiac, Doomsday, and a bunch of other villains did too at one time)! God, Superman's such a loser. The Goddamn Batman rocks!”
Thus, Superman and Batman are enemies or rivals just to prove that Batman is better. That’s why you get everything from comics to even animated TV shows shoving this idea down our throats that Batman is so much cooler than Superman. That Batman has the right to be an extremely arrogant and rude jerk to Superman because Superman always needs to be taken down a peg (but don’t you dare bring up the idea that Batman needs to taken down a peg, least of all by Superman!). That the two will work together only for the greater good, only with gritted teeth (at least on Batman’s part) and resentment and rivalry on each other’s part, and that because they’re so different, they can never get along.
This. Is. Nonsense.
As Chris Sims pointed out, the two of them have known each other for years. It’s one thing if they’re wary of each other when first meeting each other, but after they’ve come to know each other, it becomes tiresome. They know each other’s secret identities. They’ve saved each other’s lives hundreds of times (something that Frank Miller and his crew conveniently forget: yes, Superman has had to save their precious Batman more than once). Why would they fight each other? They're on the same side. Why would they hate each other? Batman may be annoyed by Superman's constant cheeriness, but I think that the World's Greatest Detective would be intelligent enough to realize that Superman is earnest and genuine and that he's not secretly plotting to rule the earth with an iron fist once all of the villains have been taken care of. He knows Superman. And Superman knows him, so he knows that beneath the Batman's ominous and gruff exterior is the heart of a warrior who tries his best to help people and set things right.
And, most importantly, why would they care which one of them would beat the other in a fight? Why would they care which one is the better superhero? Why would they feel the need to prove which one of them was stronger?
Again, it’s one thing for fans or even writers to argue this, but you’re telling me that two grown men who’ve saved the world a billion times and have gone up against so many deadly threats and enemies would care about this type of thing? That they would honestly toss and turn in their sleep over this? That they’d hold a grudge against each other over this? Why?
As I said before, they’re on the same side. They work towards the same thing. They both put their lives on the line to help people. Why would they care about competing with each other when there are lives at risk? It’s one thing to enter a friendly competition with each other just to joke around, but when they’re brooding and angsting and snarling at each other over this? Apparently, according to these fans and writers, Superman and Batman are teenage boys trapped in the bodies of grown men. Which, again, does not present the most flattering picture of either of them.
And now there's talk that in the planned sequel to "Man of Steel," Superman and Batman will fight each other. While the two will undoubtedly be unfamiliar to each other and thus be distrustful of one another, it still annoys me that they're still going to fight, just to prove to everybody which one of them is superior. I know that "The Avengers" did something similar, with each of the members getting into fights with each other in order to thrill fans. But at least in that movie, Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America don't have to constantly praise each other for being so much better than they themselves are. At least the narrative isn't slamming Captain America for being just as much (if not more) of a Boy Scout as Superman is and saying, "Yes, Iron Man is amazing and so much better than you. You should be honored that he even deigns to be in the same room as you. He will always beat you because he's the goddamn Iron Man. Whatever he says or does is fine just because he's the goddamn Iron Man. And he will never be your friend, despite your long history of working together in the comics, because he's too cool for you."
One of these days (if it hasn’t already happened), I hope that somebody - it doesn’t matter who, a fan artist or a paid comic artist - draws a comic that shows Superman and Batman watching two kids argue with each other about which superhero would beat the other in a fight. They’d watch the kids for a time and hear all of their arguments about why Batman or Superman is so much more awesome and then look at each other in bewilderment. Then they’d shrug, maybe make a joke, and then just get on with their business. Because they wouldn’t care. Because they are grown adults and they are friends.