Contest of Champions

Gene brought an interesting message board thread to my attention. The basic debate, which goes on for 13 pages, centers around who would win a battle between Batman and Superman. While I tend to lean toward Supes, there are circumstances under which Batman would emerge victorious. Clearly, Superman has Batman outclassed in virtually every important category. He's stronger, faster, more durable, and possesses virtually inexhaustable endurance. Batman, on the other hand, is smarter, more ruthless, and has tons of cool toys at his disposal. Batman definitely has the edge in the "cheat to win" category--Supes isn't called a "Boy Scout" for nothing. If Superman has no idea Batman is coming (an ambush), Bats wins. Any kind of sneak attack involving kryptonite and Batman finishes Superman in less than a round.* If Superman knows Batman is coming at him, he devises a plan to separate Batman from his kryptonite and then pummels Bats into submission with a finger flick. If Superman knows something is up, how could anyone get with miles of him? Super hearing and telescopic vision make it difficult to sneak up on someone.

There you have it. In a straight up confrontation, Superman wins easily. If he has an opportunity to devise an ambush, Batman takes home the Goblet of Fire. If I analyze the heroes according to their respective bases, Superman wins again. The Fortress of Solitude is WAY cooler than the Batcave. I bet Alfred gets tired of cleaning up all the guano.

*Novices to the DC mythos should be aware that Superman is also susceptible to magic. In recent years the kryptonite/magic vulnerabilities have become less important. Superman's power levels have been scaled back from the Can-Survive-Nuclear-Blast levels of the Golden & Silver Ages of comics to something much more reasonable. For example, Thor recently went toe-to-toe with Superman in the JLA/Avengers crossover.