There’s no greater superhero in American society. I’d say #2 is Batman. Wonder Woman is wayyyyy up there too. It takes skill to take everything that is good about Superman and throw it out the window. I mean they barely had to try with Batman and they made him look good because of everything all us already know about him: we’re invested in Batman. Even if you fail with Superman (The Quest for Peace, Man of Steel), it’s a culturally interesting failure. Marvel’s non-mutants have historically been a strong second tier in terms of characters. I think Marvel just has had better stories: flawed characters give you more room to work with.
I heard an interesting rumor that the reason the Watchmen’s Dr Manhattan is behind the fuck-ups of New 52 is as a fuck you to Snyder.
@Preppy
plus the fact that Dr. Manhattan is one of the few spb’s that have powers linked to time control or access to it. batman finding the comedian’s smiley badge was great, DC rebirth looking good already.