About the grainy, hard to see photo in my banner

It is a subject of great debate at our house. Years ago, when I gained a wife, I also gained a stepson. Not a bad kid, but he was dead wrong on one issue. For some reason he felt that Batman was the greatest superhero of all time. I said this to him as I commented on his Batman t-shirt on our first meeting, "Batman is not a superhero, he is a crime fighter." In fact is is the greatest of all the superheros as you will see.

I had a lot of evidence to support my claim. The comic, where Batman is a normal man that dons a cape and lives in this "Cave" with his friend Robin. In his comic, Superman is from another world. He fights alone and is in love with Lois Lane. Even the movies show that Batman is just that, a guy dressed as a bat... no superpowers, just gadgets. But the best arguement came in the Kill Bill 2 movie. Here, Bill talked to Beatrix about what makes Superman... super. (The following speech is from the movie in case you missed it)

"As you know, l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique. Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

That is why on my banner, Superman has Batman in a one hand choke hold as they argue about who is the bad boy of the block, or the BMOC. His next words to the caped crusaider were "Go home...human...."

You see, now the debate is over, and we can get on with our lives.

S