The debate about which one of the two will win a battle between them has been a debate that has raged among Batman and Superman fans for a long time before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was made. They are two of the most iconic superheroes with their own legions of fans, each of whom has strong facts to support their choice as the ultimate winner among the two.
All said and done, if we look back at their journey of more than last seventy years, then there is only one guy who has repeatedly emerged victorious whenever these two have fought and he is an Earthling. Yes, it is none other than the Dark Knight who might be running a side business of beating the crap out of the alien. In this article, we bring to you ten of the best thrashings that the Gotham vigilante has given to the Man of Steel.
10. “Tower Of Babel”
The highly acclaimed “Tower of Babel” from Mark Wald showed that Batman had a plan ready to take down all the Justice League members individually in case they all or any of them went rogue. This is something they were not happy to discover in the wake of Ra’s Al Ghul laying his hands on the weapons that Batman prepared for their demise.
He eventually got thrown out of the Justice League, however, let’s see what Bruce Wayne had prepared for the Superman. He had created red Kryptonite which greatly weakened Superman without killing him directly and the outcome was damaging. In effect, it made Superman a sitting duck who was fortunate not to receive the final blow from the Batman.
9. The Dark Knight Returns
These two had their most iconic comic book fight in The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. This is the one which Zack Snyder used as a source for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
It shows Bruce Wayne benefitting from the fact that Superman was weakened by a nuclear explosion and he used his excellent combat skills and technical knowledge to give a severe thrashing to the Superman. He also had a handy back in Green Arrow, who shot Kryptonite into Superman’s body to further eliminate any chances of a fightback by the superhero. This fight never really finished and we saw Superman survive only because Batman let him.
8. Batman/Superman Annual #1
This one-shot comic wasn’t about anything else, but, the only interesting aspect is the fight between Batman and Superman. They had a battle similar to gladiators and Batman is once again seen equipped with Kryptonite. The future of planet Earth is based on this fight and Batman goes all out to leave a battered and bloodied Superman behind.
7. “The Trust”
This was a very short story of no more than seven or eight pages, yet, Chip Kidd’s story “The Trust” was amazingly designed by legendary comic book artist Alex Ross.
It showed Superman being made uncontrollable by Brainiac and Batman stepping in to prevent him from destroying the world. A flashback showed Superman giving Batman a piece of Kryptonite to prevent any such eventuality. Batman uses his grappling gun around the legs of an airborne Superman and after attaching himself to the blue hero, he then proceeds to shoot him with a gun loaded with Kryptonite. Being the compassionate guy that he is, Batman only shoots a dart rather than a bullet of Kryptonite. Thus, he doesn’t kill his friend, but, just gets enough time to take out the device that controlled the Superman. Thus, once again Batman let Superman live despite having the chance of finishing him off for good.
6. Red Son
The Red Son from Mark Millar is an alternate world take on the possible scenario of Superman having been raised in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas.
This alternate take features Batman with a cool hat which is the only novel thing about the guy whom we all love and follow. This battle didn’t use Kryptonite, but, this time Dark Knight used solar lamps to render Superman powerless and then knocking him out unconscious with a well-aimedBatarang shot to the head. Just then Wonder Woman intervenes and ultimately Batman choses to commit a suicide instead of going back to KGB as a defeated person and suffer a terrible fate.
5. Batman: The Animated Series
Warner Bros. are ruling the TV right now with live-action hit shows such as Arrow, Gotham and The Flash, however, they are lagging when it comes to animation and have no competition to Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. These shows aired at the same time which created several crossover episodes and twice we saw Batman shame the Superman without physically hitting him.
The first time was when Superman found out the Dark Knight’s true identity by using his X-Ray vision to look beneath the cowl. Later when Superman returns home, he is terrified to see that a tracking device was attached to his cape. He turns around to see the Batman standing on a rooftop in the distance with his eyes fixed on the apartment of Clark Kent.
Once he began to date Lois Lane just because he knew that there was nothing that Superman could do about it and it would piss him off big time. Thus, it is not only his combat superiority, but, the Gotham vigilante gets to beat Superman on the basis of his superior intelligence as well.
4. “Handful of Dust”
Emboldened and enhanced by a new batch of The Scarecrow’s fear toxin, Batman resembled The Hulk in the Batman: The Dark Knight #5 illustrated by David Finch.
Batman went on to repeatedly hammer the Superman before the latter returned the favors with a devastating punch which almost took the life out of the Caped Crusader. However, it ended up knocking out the toxin’s effects and eventually saving Bruce Wayne from death. Though, it was a technical win for Superman, but, the beating that he received from the Batman before that knockout punch was legendary and we don’t think he would have survived if only Batman had the same physical strength as him.
3. “Hush.”
“Hush” by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee showed Poison Ivy kissing Superman, and under her influence, he went after the Batman. Batman was ready, and skilfully he managed to keep the Superman grounded. He used the surroundings to his advantage and electrocuted the Superman, in process blacking out the city. However, all these were Batman’s tactics to bid time as he had sent Catwoman to kidnap Lois Lane who then dropped Lane from a building. This helped Superman break free of Ivy’s influence and then it didn’t take long for Batman to overpower his friend.
2. The Dark Knight Strikes Again
The Dark Knight Strikes Again is a terrible follow up to the much appreciated The Dark Knight Returns and in this edition, Frank Miller’s writing and illustrations are way below expectations.
Still, it was a great fight between Batman and Superman. The government had forced Superman to tackle Batman and this fight didn’t have any armor, but, we saw Bruce use couple of huge Kryptonite gauntlets which help him beat the crap out of Superman with a little bit of support from his fellow heroes like The Atom. Seems like the only way that the Superman can ever prevail over Batman is for him to get over his Kryptonite weakness first.
1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This one had to be here. The highly anticipated battle between the two superheroes finally appeared on the screen, and we all saw how Batman once again beat the Superman and as is the norm, yet again Superman was not able to stand tall against The Dark Knight in this extremely dark and gritty blockbuster.
