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Features:MyLine

By ERIC MARTH
MyLINE

Date published: 11/12/2002

While created by the same company, DC Comics' two most famous superheroes differed in political alignment.

Clark Kent, also known as Superman, was raised by two Kansas farmers.

He was born, however, on the planet Krypton. Superman's race was a group with great powers: incredible strength, X-ray vision, heat vision, ice vision, the ability to fly, super-sensitive hearing and super speed.

When grown, Kent moved to the city, where he landed a job as a writer for the large newspaper, the Daily Planet.

Bruce Wayne--also known as Batman--was an industry-owning millionaire. He inherited much of his wealth from the parents he lost to the hands of savage murderers at an early age.

As Batman, Wayne battled his enemies with the use of wit, human strength and a slew of high-tech gadgets.

Through their actions as both average citizens and superheroes, Superman and Batman exhibited characteristics that pitted them with clear political ideologies.

The location where Superman spent his childhood statistically fosters a Democratic spirit. As a man from a small farming community in a rural state, Superman is a Democrat. His place of employment encourages a Democratic political philosophy.

As Clark Kent, he writes for the Daily Planet, a large paper operating out of the city of Metropolis. Such large papers are typically liberal, with a heavy focus on moving forward with equal rights for racial or sexual minorities.

The villains Superman often combated were rich and powerful. For example, the criminal Lex Luthor was a wealthy businessman, likely utilized by the writers of Superman as a symbol of massive, corporate, unregulated American business practices.

Democrats often combat the Republican approach to an unregulated market.

Some Democrats believe that wealthy citizens comprise the great majority of the Republican Party. Owner of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne surely had the interest of his industry in mind while voting and allocating personal funds to the political campaigns of his choice.

As he inherited much of his wealth from his family, Wayne highly valued the status quo. He expressed his resistance to change at home. He had the same butler, Alfred, for his entire life and lived in the same, early 20th century mansion for just as long.

Unlike Superman, Batman was human. He did, however, possess the most tangible of all superpowers: wealth.

Date published: 11/12/2002