Comic Book Resources

Come on, Marvel Zombies! Vote Spidey!

Spider-Man all the way.

Batman for the win!

i am conflicted. these two are my favorite characters howerver recently i am disapointed with both their comics. Batman rip and battle for the cowl left me cold anddont get me started on OMD. quite the problem.

Am I the only one who got an animorphs flashback? "One word: armor. Spiderman's webs won't stick to Batman's armor.

oh boy... this is going to be good.

Go Peter!

I understand Spider-Man's popularity, but I'm not a huge fan.

Also, Batman. If you don't like Batman, you're a terrorist.

These two losers are only finalists because neither MAN-THING nor ROM were in the tourney.

What?

~P~

One took out Guy Gardner with one punch, the other let his Aunt May date, live with, and marry, Doctor Octopus. One has dedicated his life and fortune to the selfless pursuit of criminals despite a lack of super powers, the other made a deal with the devil to dump his magnificent wife and use his super powers to explore greener fields.

Just think: Bat-Mobile vs. Spider-Mobile.

Batman should win this hands down!

Ugh. I've got to hold my nose and vote for one of them...

Oh, I forgot about the Spider-Mobile.
Can I vote again?

BATMAN!

Spider-Man all the way. Stronger, faster, and a better all around story.

While Spider-man's Spidey sense would keep Batman moving for a while, I think Bats' knowledge of quick take down technigues wins the day. For all of his strength and stamina, Peter hasn't had any formal training. The more interesting battle would be their respective rogues in a round robin: Joker vs. Green Goblin, Penguin vs. the Vulture, Catwoman vs. Black Cat . . .

Say what you will about OMD, but BND has been fun comics from the start.

Gotta be Spidey. He got me into comics in the first place and is still my favourite!

based solely on the writer's room debate in my mind (my common sense representing batman, my hopes and dreams similarly representing spiderman) the winner would have to be batman. Spidey is strong and quick and has the powers, but due to resourcefulness and brain power the child molestor, i mean cave dwelling rapist, i mean...

Spider-Man.
Batman is great, but is only loved because he's, like, well dark, innit.

Seriously, though.
If you can have a character involved in literally everything that goes on ... everywhere ... have his life ripped apart all the time ... all.the.bloody.time. (only daredevil gets more poop from on high)... and still be an attractive read?? That's something strong.
I don't know if this poll is based on how we think they'd fight, or comparing the various tomes of history dedicated to them. So I went with the history.
Bats has had some amazing stories, but (from my conscience of wayne) this has only been relatively recently. They darked him up ... I think (story-wise) spidey has benefitted from being born of a different time, and thus coming through with a stronger story and an great backing cast.
The way it's currently being played is brilliant, we are basically getting a soap .. and it's sometimes being directed(drawn) by hitchcock (romita!) ...

Batman would totally pwn Spider-Man in a fight, but Spidey would make it interesting.

Spiderman after OMD ?
Noo.

Bats!

Bats it is

Adam West vs. Nicholas Hammond.

Nicholas who?

Exactly.

Batman for the win.

Mark Millar wrote two moments that really sum up how much people underestimate Spider-Man, the first being in Marvel Knights Spider-Man when he throws a whole mob of cops around, and the second in Civil War when he takes on half the pro-reg heroes by himself.

BATMAN

Yeah, cause all those quick down techniques really work on the Joker let alone someone like Spider-Man. Sheeeesh!!

I voted Spider-Man. Better character. But Batman did have the better movie (TDK).

Batman: he's the Goddamn Batman!

Plus Spider-Man is dragged down by the travesty of OMD and the boring sameness of Bland New Day (I only read the first few issues because they felt like retreads of what I'd read twenty or thirty years ago).

Hey I LOVE the Spidermobile. I also love Marvel.
But Batman rules, at least he did until DC's bizarre decisions about his character this year.

In the lack of Ambush Bug or G'Nort, I'll have the Bat.

Spectacular Spider-Man is very good.

However, it's about 1/100th the show BTAS was. Therefore, Batman wins.

Not a single mention of the Goddam Batman or Batman and Robin?

No matter who's writing him, Spider-Man is always Spider-Man.

Spidey FTW.

i'm sorry but i find it alot easier to relate to a guy with superpowers than a guy who has an inexhaustable supply of wealth. Batman is cool, (hes the only thing dc even has going for it) But spiderman is the comicfan turned superhero. IF dc didn't suck so much at writing for batman perhaps this would be different, But they suck, and they don't

BATMAN IS NOT THAT GREAT!!!!!!!!
spidey would have the upper hand by sheer intelligence!
bats is a loner he won't accept help he's stubborn he's a good character but really shouldn't be THAT popular
where spidey is an average guy with not that much money who got bitten via radioactive spider.....
i love spidey he's amazing.....or spectacular...or ultimate...your choice.....plus gwen, MJ,firestar and even black cat (felicia hardy) are MUCH hotter then catwoman......THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE BATMAN IS A ADAM WEST BATMAN!

Man-Bat all the way, baby!

Batman's theme song is better.

And he's just a lot cooler, though Spidey does have a better new cartoon show (but lousier old ones)

Batman, Batman, Batman.

NanananananananananaNOT! Batman!

But Spider-Man does whatever a spider can!
But seriously, Batman. Spider-Man has had a long history of crap comics, from the Hobgoblin crapfest and the Spider-Clone to marrying a super model to using Mephisto to get a divorce. And not to mention the Spider-Armor, unmasking himself in Civil War...Marvel hasn't had an idea of what to do with Spidey in ages.

Batman.

Way more interesting.

Spider-man is the funnier one of the two.

That is all he needs to win.

I voted Spidey, but it's not an easy call.

Batman has how many graphic novels and trade collections? Many of them quite good. 7 movies, many of them very good. He and Spidey have had about the same number of cartoons, and while the classic Spidey is way more classic, the "good" Batman (TAS) was amazing, revolutionary, and paved the way for the great JLU stuff.

Batman as a character has spawned amazing things in all sorts of media.

But Spidey is Spidey, and he's everything cool about Marvel (when Marvel was cool). And even though he's the underdog (as usual) that's where my vote's going.

Mind you if Swamp Thing had made it to the finals, Spidey would be compost.

I'M FREAKIN AMAZED AT HOW MANY PEOPLE DON'T READ THE ONE SENTENCE AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE THAT CLEARLY STATES THAT THIS POLL IS NOT ABOUT WHO YOU THINK WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT, BUT WHO YOU GENERALLY LIKE BETTER. FOR WHATEVER PERSONAL REASONS YOU MAY HAVE. SIMPLY CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE!!! HERE IT IS AGAIN:

The last round of voting begins now!

Simply choose your favorite (whether it be that you think they’re more interesting, more appealing, whatever criteria you want to use) in the following match-up. The voting concludes exactly 24 hours from right now!

FIGURE IT OUT!!!! READ THE TOP OF THE DAMN POST FIRST!!!

Yikes, they let Overreacting Man out of the pen. Only Whatever Dude can save us now!

My son just voted for Spider-Man which effectively cancelled out my Batman vote. It's a dead tie in this house.

Sacred Mantle is a fool.

Why don't YOU read what the description says. It says that the voter can use ANY criteria they want. Therefore, if they want the criteria to be "who would win in a fight?", that's up to them! And they don't need to explain in their post that they realize they had other options, because we can understand what they intend from the context of their post because we're not stupid, which is what you seem to believe. Lighten' up, dude- WAY up.

It didn't really matter to me because Batman would win under any set of criteria I tried to devise- although I remain very fond of everyone's favorite neighborhood web-slinger.

-Citizen Scribbler

Batman wins.

lets see they both swing around the city but batman has the COOL car.
they both have great enemies who help define them but nobody (except hush) beats the joker.
they have both been members of great teams but bats scares the hell out of every teammate he has ever had!
My vote is for the BAT!

Plus bats sets around thinking about how he would kill and maim his closest friends!

First of all, excuse my english, I'm not from US, I'm from a little country called Uruguay and It's my first post ever. So hello. Now..., considering that we are talking about fictional characters in fictional worlds, and taking those rules into consideration...

No one can really expect batman to win in a physical fight against spidey, no matter how smart he is (Spidey isn´t exactly dumb you know), or how many gadgets he has. It`s not the same beating the penguin, or the joker, than beating Venom, carnage, dr. octopus or the green goblin. Plus you think just because the other guy is smart and wears some sort of armor he would win? (Parker should be dead if that it's the case); Peter it's way faster (at least twenty times, faster because of his spìder-sense), way stronger, and agile than batman, and has a lot of experience, it is a fact, not things to ignore just because of favouritism (I know spidey against superman wouldn't last 1 sec, same with green lantern). Not to mention spidey's resistance and stamina (well documented in many comics in his 47 years of existence, check amz 31 to 33 for example, great story btw). It would be a good, interesting fight, the DK would make sure of that, but spidey would win for sure. Now if Spidey were a normal human, yeah sure, no contest, it would be over like that. But he is not. Besides they downplay spidey's powers and experience (new avengers, why they forget he has been a hero longer than anyone on that team, for god's sake, and he isn't the new kid on the block) in comics since a few years back. The guy went up against, wolverine (wolvie vs sman oneshot, a tie), most of the x-men (secret wars 3, for example), iron man (amz 535, 544, civil war, etc), firelord (amz 269, 270), juggernaut (amz 229-230), the examples go on and on. He practically fought 75% of the marvel universe, good and bad guys alike.

Back to the choice at hand... Respect to their personalities, I find Spidey's more interesting and more real than batman's (a millonaire who is a superhero in his spare time doesn't ring much true to me, same with iron man). Spidey's problems are more personal to me, I relate to them. I love everything about the character, the powers, his enemies (which I love and hate at the same time) and he's the one who got me in to comics. The tragedies he had to overcome, (uncle ben, george stacy, GWEN, jean dewolff, ben reilly -character who should make a comeback now-, et alt) makes him more the hero in my eyes. I do like batman's motivation though (the death of his parents), and that is something they have in common. They are both trying to prove themselves, to redeem themselves, to people who aren't there anymore. The two are in a never ending battlle respect to that, and that explains how obssesed they are in their own way, about what they do, about saving people, and you can see them pushing themselves over the edge even to save one life. Their diferences (in personalities and modus operandi) begins in the way they were raised. Spidey without may wouldn`t be the same we know. Or bruce with with may, etc. But of the good guys, taking that into consideration they are two faces of the same coin, one dark, and one more heart lighted (I think that is the expression, feel free to correct me please).

Those are the two more powerful motivations to become a vigilante, a hero. The more beliable. The violent death of your parents, and the guilt of being responsible for the death of the only father figure you knew. In my opinion they are both crazy and obssesed in their own ways because of that. And they will be like that to day they die, figthing for what they believe, with all their hearts.

Bruce is good, but Spidey it's just great. But for the reasons I wrote above I don't thimk they would fight, they are both smarter and more responsible than that. It's a very interesting team up, that I would love to see again, not only as spidey and batman but I would like to see more interaction of their alter egos.

Well again excuse my english and have a good night all of you.

Bye..

Bat vs. Spider. Well, we all saw that coming. Didn't we?

It's a matter of opinion, BenJS. The fact that a character doesn't have superpowers doesn't mean he's not dangerous. I've been reading comics quite a while, and if Batman has an ability, is that he'll eventually defeat any kind of enemy he's pitted against (even Didio or Grant Morrison). Batman's a strategist, he's a master strategist actually, he's got contingency plans that has contingency plans. Spider-Man's is good at science, and good at thinking on his feet, that's all. Batman's a polymath with a keen and sharp analytical mind, and a deadly imagination. And he also has the means (wealth) to develop his plans.

Hell, if they had a previous encounter, He has probably deduced the source of Peter's powers, and maybe he has found a way to neutralize his spider-powers.

And about the villains... We'll have to agree in disagree. The Joker and many rogues in Batman's gallery is what villains want to be when they grow up. As a matter of fact, in In the first Bat-Spider Crossover, Carnage approached the Joker to learn from him. The Joker even said to him that he saw himself at the Orson Welles of Crime, while Carnage only aspired to be the "David Hasselhoff" of it.

Batman, all the way. Batman defeats Spidey in any scenario. And not just in the comics world. He's had the best animation, the best movies, the WORST movie (and he turned the tide. Come on, Spiderman 3 was bad, but it was not Batman and Robin), and a more memorable bad live-action tv series.

Mike, I agree with you that "Batman’s a polymath with a keen and sharp analytical mind, and a deadly imagination" and yes he certainly is dangerous, no doubt about it. But that Batman can defeat any kind of enemy, and beat Spidey in any scenario, I seriously don't buy. I`m not saying that Spidey could beat him every time either. Remember spidey is very sneaky when he wants and his spider-sense would give him an advantage. All that spidey needs is one shot, or swing from up high and kick him at that speed, to oversimplify it. Batman isn't unbeatable, and everyone, everyone can fall. And Spidey had two encounters with him and also knows how bats thinks, how he works, and what are his strenghts too. It's not like he is unprepared. On that basis you can't say that batman can win 100% of the time.

Respect to carnage I put him as an example because of raw power, he could be written better, I mean he is also like a counterpart of spidey, in the way of all that power, but none of the responsability. In term of spidey villains I prefer the goblin. He is the guy who has plans within plans within plans, and is prepared for every contingency and certainly has the means to destroy spider-man, yet he hasn't. I know that they have a different history and a more personal relationship, but the most the guy could do was take out his spider-sense. And he had access to genetic material of Spidey (see revelations the end of the clone saga), and he got into every aspect of his life. But that is a different story.

I agree with you with the movies, but it is difficult for me to compare the new batman movies with the superhero movie genre, it`s done a very different way than the usual comic movies are done, but that is because of the director's choice, to stablish it in a more real world setting. For example I personally can't compare Spider-Man 2 (love that train scene, when you see him at his greatest) with the dark knight, and I love them both, they are my favorite movies. It is easier for me to compare the spiderman movies with the first two batman's (which to me also rocked, especially returns). And they both have some of the worst (comics) movies, Batman and Robin and it pains me too say Spidey 3, I had a lot of hopes for that one, they should remake it. All I want is a great fourth movie (after the third i'm sure they can't get anyway but up). At least they weren't Catwoman. But it's a matter of opinion, for example I don't like much the animated series of batman, some of them even bore me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. In animated series I prefer The spectacular Spider-man, the villains are awesome, it's one big story and the characters grow as the series progress. By the way I saw season two here and it is very good. Too bad they don't repeat many episodes here on tv. But I'll wait to the dvd's.

Still for me the winner is Spidey, no matter batman's plans or gadgets, he can overcome those. But each of us has their own personal hero, and that's what matters, so that's the actual winner.

See ya.

Well, yeah. Again, we'll have to agree on disagree. I would say Spidey reacts well when is cornered. He doesn't plan beforehand. Batman does. He thinks like a chess player, he will have a contingency plan. And he will beat spidey (although, considering how important are both to their respective brands, that will never happen), just as he did in the polls .

I think Spider-Man has a great rogues gallery, I really do. But goblin in particular I find it to be a composite of Two-Face, Lex Luthor and The Joker. Of course he's brilliantly mad, he has a little bit of Joker's insanity. Of course he has a split personality in constant turmoil, he's a little like Two-Face. Of course he has plans within plans, he behaves like Luthor. But what he isn't, is original (although I give him points for the Gwen Stacy affair, that was bold and trend-setter). And any character can be interesting given the proper writer, but some of them are so well defined, that many of them can get a grasp on them. Carnage, to me was a product of the hyper violent 90s current, a classical example of flash over sustance.

Finally the heroes in other media. Well, that's my point with Batman, he's such and interesting (and surprisingly flexible) character, that many great creators tend to gravitate to his orbit, expecting to depict Batman as they see it. Case in point, the new Batman movies. With those there, the bar has been raised, and is forcing (I hope so) other superhero movies to up the ante (and I also hope, studios realized it wasn't the dark element that made them good, it was the nolan's meticulous craftmanship and respect for the source).

Batman was in no way a completely new archetype when he was created, but over the years, he has become so well defined and iconic, that most of his depictions (be good or bad) have been trend-setters. I think Spectacular Spidey, and the '90s animated series are both fantastic products, but they took the Batman TAS model. Now you may not like it, but you can't deny how influential still is. Even the new, more light Brave and the Bold, is a great product, and again is a totally different take of the superhero animation studios are making today. I'll bet it'll start a trend of campy superhero series for young kids.

I don't think Spidey, ironically, has that flexibility. I don't know how many series or movies that tell the same story all over again can be. Batman will be read 200 years from now. Spidey can stick to surfaces, but I don't think has the same great staying power that the dark knight detective has.

Wow, Mike W is a scholar. Conclusively correct, sir.

Mike, I'm not so much into futurology, that I would say that certain character will be read 200 years from now and another won't. Don't agree with that, since you don't really know that. And it is to underestimate a character and what can be done with him, or how much he appeals to people, and fans, now and in the future.

And you can't be prepared against every situation, no matter who you are. And to think his plans and contigencies would work the entire time it's false. No one foresees every variable in a figth or in life, sorry. And when you plan so much, you may not be ready for the unexpected, because you always act according to plan, and that's what you know. (I didn't see him prepared in FC2, or avert every single crisis). And I wouldn't imagine a slow enough fight for batman to prepare and carry out every contingency he has as the fight goes on. I know that a person without powers could be as, or more dangerous that someone with powers. But you can't overlook someone who has them and knows how to use them very well.

And Spidey also started a trend when he started remember, a teenage hero, with personal problems and every day situations that any reader can relate. That had influence on other books as well. Respect to villains (I also like batman's rogue gallery, especially two-face), I agree that the goblin is a composite in a certain way of those characters, but I also look at his actions, and how they reflect on the hero. The murder of G. Stacy, spidey's daughter at the end of the clone saga, ben reilly (the only guy in the world peter considered as his brother) the corruption of his own son, when he crippled flash thompson, etc. That is what makes him work for me. Although I don't like what they done with him now.

Respect to the cartoons, yes Batman started a trend there, but to see those trend improve is what I like. That is why I prefer Spectacular. But we will continue to disagree because we look at different characteristics in heroes. So, as you said, let's agree to disagree.

By the way it has been years since I wrote anything in english, it took almost half an hour to write this. A nice exercise though, so I thank you for making me disagree.

go spidey