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I was looking for an old email tonight and happened upon a chain of messages from 2004 debating who is the greatest superhero of all time. I would like to note that both the instigator of the conversation and one of the loudest voices were at the time attending Harvard Law and getting an PhD at MIT respectively. It was a lively discourse. I read my entry into the discussion and thought it was too funny not to post. This was pre-Christian Bale Batman movies but I think that makes my case even stronger. I guess this is what I did before I blogged ; )

I would like to make a case for Batman vs.Superman by bringing us all
back to high school.

Superman is the easy crush. He is the captain of the football team, he
is the Student Body President. He looks good in a tux, he will take
you to the Prom in a limousine (and probably drink too much and try to
get you to stay in a hotel room but that is neither here nor there).
He is six pack abs and straight white teeth. All the girls have a
thing for Superman. He is a good guy, your mom will love him, your
friends will be jealous of you, your life will be predictably
protected. He'll have a good job, the kids will go to summer camp and
get braces and scholarships to the U. Superman is not hard to figure
out. Sure his beginnings were a little sketchy but then he was raised
in a loving home by good people. Superman is cool, and it's easy for
him.

Batman however. You aren't sure what to make of him. He's probably in
your art class. Or he has a band. Or he hangs out in the South Hall
and doesn't make it to class very often. But he's smart. And he's
creative. And he'll draw a picture of you that doesn't just look like
you, it figures you out. And your friends will say "Gross! you can't
like him!!!". And your parents will probably ban him from your house.
But he'll figure out how to get to you. He'll give you your first
copy of Franny and Zooey. He is dark, intense, brooding. He witnessed
his parent's murder for crying out loud. So you are taking a chance
with this guy. He's an underdog to say the least. But you think that
somehow, you will be able to figure him out, solve his puzzle, heal
him. And that is very, very attractive.

I guess I'll let you decide who I'm leaning towards here but I think
I'd rather be Kim Basinger than Margot Kidder.