Superman Was DEMOCRAT, Batman Was REPUBLICAN

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

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.

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.

While Superman was able to fend off the most vicious villains with his natural powers, Batman battled with a tone body and with an expensive arsenal of grappling hooks, vehicles, guns and other devices.

He was human, and as demonstrated by the 1960s television series, he most often used wit to escape the toils of his enemies. In fighting crime he aimed to subdue the radical criminals that corrupted Gotham City with their new-age terrorist tactics and left-wing views toward public policy and capital punishment.

While Batman used intelligence, Superman often resorted to violence, the political equivalent to war. Superman would sooner melt an opponent with his heat vision than he would extend a negotiation or use intellect. He was a supporter of the use of force. This use of force is clearly a parallel to the Democratic Party ideal of a large, mobilized army.

While the heroes differed far beyond their powers, their creators at DC Comics cleverly crafted their polar political alignments.

The parent company of both heroes was DC Comics, a company founded in 1935. During this period of American history, the economy was at its all-time worst. It was an outright poor and foolish time to found a business.

The creative heads at DC were clever, however. In order to garner mass appeal, they created two generally likable characters with starkly different political alignments. Selling their stories at 10 cents a pop, they made their source of entertainment affordable to the Roosevelt supporters suffering from the pain of the Great Depression.

The eager Democrats enjoyed Superman's All American spirit, his courage in the face of danger and his sheer invincibility.

While the comics were cheap entertainment, they served as quality entertainment to Republicans of the time, nonetheless. Bruce Wayne was a savvy businessman--surely not a victim of the Crash of '29. He was a charming man with a sleek and ambitious attitude.

Both characters had mass appeal but catered to more specific tastes when observed more closely.

Each of these wildly successful superheroes has had a dramatic impact on American popular culture. While they appear at first as incredible, outstanding citizens with wills to do good, when one looks deeper it is clear that these heroes do so in their own, politically specific ways.

Although they can be taken for the face value of entertainment, what fun is there in that?

An oldie from SNL....

Joan Face: Good evening, I'm Joan Face. Welcome again to "What If?" Each week on the show, we ask a hypothetical question about a specific historical event. Tonight's question, like all our questions, comes from a Mr. Kevin O'Donnell, age 10, a paperboy from Alton, Illinois. Kevin asks, "What If Superman grew up in Germany, instead of America?" With us to help answer this question is our panel of experts: Brigadier General Kevin Temple, and Eileen Houton, Professor of Modern Histroy at Wellesly College, and owner of one of the largest comic book collections in the United States. Professor Houton, what if Superman grew up in Germany instead of America?

Eileen Houton: Well, Joan, as you know, Superman's father, Jor-El, sent the infant Superman from Krypton toward the planet Earth, where he landed in Kansas, sometime around 1930. Superman adopted the philospohies of his new parents, the Kents: truth, justice, and the American way. Now, if he had landed in, say, Prussia, he would have adopted entirely different values.

Joan Face: So, what you're saying is that the young Superman may well have become a Nazi?

Eileen Houton: Exactly!

Joan Face: Well, of course, we should remember that at the time Superman was reaching manhood, Germany was at war with the United States. General, what would have happened if the Man of Steel had fought for the Third Reich?

Kevin Temple: Wait a minute, why didn't Superman fight for us?

Joan Face: This is a hypothetical question, General.

Kevin Temple: Oh.. oh, yes.. I'm sorry.. Um..

Joan Face: Well, here's tonight's dramatization of: What if Superman had grown up in Germany instead of America?

[ dissolve into presentation ]

[ SUPER: Berlin, 1943 - The Chancellory Headquarters of the Third Reich ]

[ open on Hitler giving a speech ]

Hitler: The Russians are swine! Just one step above the Poles! Two steps above the Gypsies! Four steps above the Homosexuals! Five steps above the Negros! Nine steps above the Dwarves! Fifteen steps above the Gypsy Homosexuals! Twenty-seven steps above the Negro Gypsy Homosexual Dwarves! And forty-three steps above the Jews! Did I mention the Homosexual Jews? [ is assured he has ] Right! The meeting is over!

Generals: Heil, Hitler!

[ the Generals rise from their chairs and exit the Chancellory Headquarters.. except for one General who pauses to leave a ticking briefcase on the counter ]

Hitler: [ presses intercom ] Frau Guston, who is waiting to see me?

Voice on Intercom: Colonel Klink, and those three reporters from the Daily Planet.

Hitler: Send in the reporters!

[ the reporters are shown in ]

Reporters: Heil, Hitler!

Hitler: Well, I wish to praise your propaganda work in the newspaper! [ points to Lois ] Your must be..?

Lois Laneoff: Lois Laneoff, Mein Fuhrer. Und this is Jimmy Olstein.

Hitler: Olstein?!

Jimmy Olstein: E-Y-N, Mein Fuhrer! Dutch ancestors on my father's side!

Lois Laneoff: Und this is Klaus Kent.

Hitler: Klaus Kent! Aren't you the man who beat Jesse Owens in '36?

Klaus Kent: Ya.

Lois Laneoff: You, Klaus? You're such a clumsy bumbler.

Klaus Kent: Yes, Lois. But I was younger then.. now, I'm just a mild-mannered clerk for the Ministry of Propaganda. [ Klaus turns and notices the ticking briefcase sitting on the counter - he uses his X-ray vision to discover a bomb inside ] Excuse me, Mein Fuhrer? Is that a janitor's closet?

Hitler: Ya.

Klaus Kent: Excuse me for a moment. [ Klaus ducks inot to janitor's closet, where he removes a piece of kryptonite and summons Jor-El ]

Jor-El: [ appearing ] My Son. My Son. I am your father, Jor-El. Your mother and I have sent you to Earth the only survivor of Krypton. As you hear this, I will have been dead many centuries, but I will reborn as Charlie Rich. On the planet Earth you have special powers and knowledge, which will separate you from mankind. Use these powers only for good, and above all you must never tamper with the destiny of man. And don't eat junk food. [ disappears ]

[ Klaus uses the kryptonite to summon his Earth father, Mr. Kent ]

Mr. Kent: My Son. When your Vearth mother und I found you in the Black Forest, we raised you as our own. We taught you how to battle at Versailles. How Jews are parasites. And how Germany vill one day bring order to the vorld. Und don't, Son, ever lift those Volkswagens by the bumper - come right off in your hand. [ disappears ]

Klaus Kent: Ya! He's right! I will use my powers for the fatherland. For I am.. [ strips off his Earth clothes to reveal his supercostume ] ..Uberman!

[ "Superman Theme" plays, as Uber-Man crashes through the janitor's closet ]

Hitler: Wha..?

Uberman: Excuse me, Mein Fuhrer! Stand back! There's a bomb in this briefcase! [ thorws bomb to the floor, then dives on top of it. The bomb explodes, smoke rises, and Uberman stands up unharmed. ]

Hitler: You smothered the bomb with your body, and you're not even bleeding! Who are you?

Uberman: I am.. Uberman! I have superhuman powers, and I fight for untruth, injustice, and the Nazi way! And I have X-ray vision!

Lois Laneoff: X-ray vision? Can you see through my clothes?

Uberman: Ya! And through his, too. [ points at Jimmy Olstein ] He's a Jew!

Jimmy Olstein: No! No, it's not true! My parents were just very advanced in hygeine, that's all..!

Hitler: Silence! Guard, take this Jew away!

Uberman: No need! I'll drop him off at the camp on my vay to the Eastern front!

[ Uberman grabs Jimmy Olstein and flies out the window ]

Hitler: What an amazing stroke of luck. We might win this whole war!

[ cut to footage of troops marching - newspaper headline reads: "Uberman Takes Stalingrad in 5 Minutes"; second headline reads: "Uberman Rounds Up 2 Million Jews"; third headline reads: "Uberman Kills Every Person in England, U.S. Next" ]

[ dissolve back to the "What If?" studio ]

Joan Face: Well, that looked pretty grim. I guess we would have lost the war.

Kevin Temple: Not necessarliy, Joan. As you know, Joan.. Superman, or Uberman, is vulnerable to one thing: kryptonite. The U.S. would have put all its energy into creating a kryptonite bomb in time to stop Uberman.

Eileen Houton: And after the war, with the entire British isles wiped out, it may well have become the Jewish homeland, and Israel would be in England today.

Joan Face: Ah. Well, thank you very much, General Temple, Professor Houton. Join us next week when we pose the question: "What if all women had snouzer faces?"

A few comments and corrections.

Superman's powers are a result of his being on the planet earth. His powers come from our yellow sun and the much lighter gravity of a much smaller earth. Kryptonians have no special powers on Krypton.

This is clearly wrong. Fly-over country votes Republican.

Lex Luthor was Clark Kent's boyhood friend who became rich through his criminal activities. Kind of like Bill Clinton.

When did Supers ever give Jimmy Olsen anything but orders to go out and shoot pictures at the football game?

First appearance of Jimmy's Signal-Watch: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1, 1954.

"Several years ago, Superman gave his pal, Jimmy Olsen, a signal-watch with which to call him in emergencies. Though it looks like an ordinary time-piece, it is actually quite unique; for, by pressing a hidden signal-button, Jimmy can send a 'zee-zee' sound which is inaudible to the human ear, but which is easily picked up by the Man of Steel's super-hearing. By altering the frequency, Jimmy can also send signals attuned to the ears of either Supergirl or Krypto the Superdog.

Silver, platinum and gold were used in its construction, as well as Tulanium from the planet Zumoor, Morabalt from Xenon, and Deronium, an artificial element unknown in our time, but which Superman brought back from the 30th century, where he had been visiting the Legion of Super-Heroes. From the space ship which brought the Kryptonian villain Gra-Mo to Earth, Superman took a rare mineral, Tuhanite, found only on his home planet. He thought all the rest of this substance had perished when Krypton exploded; but later, after rescuing the bottle-city of Kandor from the space-villain Brainiac, he found this tiny Kryptonian metropolis had large supplies of it - though reduced to microsopic size. However, this is one part of the watch which will never have to be replaced, since, like other things from Krypton, it is indestructible under Earth's yellow sun. One might imagine that this device would ensure Jimmy's safety at all times; but this is not true. Its signal cannot reach through space, nor can it operate across the time-barrier. Once, Superman improved the watch so its signal could carry through space, but the first time Jimmy used it, the new part, made of a very rare element, Zenalite, burned and could not be replaced. Another time, when Superman was at the Earth's core on a mission, the signal was stopped by a large deposit of lead; on another occasion, high mountains blocked it. Also, powerful electrical disturbances can jam the signal. Thus, Jimmy cannot always count on Superman to respond to his signal, and so must use his wits to get himself out of difficulties.

Criminals plotting against the Man of Steel often try to steal the watch so they can use it to lure their super-foe into Kryptonite traps. Jimmy's ingenuity has thwarted more than one such villain. In one instance a pickpocket lifted the watch and, not knowing what kind it was, accidently called Superman with it.

On several occasions, the signal-watch has been broken or damaged, and Superman, while reparing it, has sometimes remodeled and improved it. For this reason, the watch looks a bit different in many of the earlier stories.

Oh, yes - in case you're wondering, the watch tells time, too!"

[Source: 80 PAGE GIANT #13, August 1965 via the Superman Encyclopedia]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.