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<title> Batman vs. Superman Why Batman is cooler the Superman </title>
For a long time there has been a dispute about who of our biggest superheroes is the coolest. In this essay I will argue that Batman is the coolest. I will also give some definitions of both 'superhero' and 'cool'.
What qualities make a good superhero? Firstly, a well elaborated sense of justice and a will to help and protect the ordinary citizens are essential qualities of a hero. The main objective of the "job" is to make sure the public is protected against all sort of organized crime and also more unprovoked acts of violence. A feeling of guilt when not being able to help is also something that helps the hero and a clear cut determination, an attitude of I-won't-be-stopped is crucial for the motivation to carry out the mission.
The physical ability, the ability to win a man to man encounter with an evil villain, is of course very important if the hero wants to survive and do a good job. This is the first area were Batman and Superman are different. It will be discussed later in the essay.
Next on the list of obligatory superhero accessories is the outfit. It should be clearly distinguishable from contemporary fashion and it is good to make it as dramatic as possible. Of course the superhero's emblem is placed on the chest. It is also vitally important for the outfit to have cape with which the hero can make impressive and grand entries and exits from a crime scene. 
Last, but not least, there are the gadgets, which in many cases make or break the superhero. These should be very exclusive things designed uniquely for very specific uses, such as climbing walls extremely quick or freeze a lake in a moment. Here is another thing that clearly separates the two subjects of this text. While Superman has his gadgets so to speak built in, in that he has x-ray vision, is able to fly, can use his eyes to burn through virtually anything, Batman carries around real objects like small explosives, ropes with which to climb walls or to tie up crooks and small pistols.
Superheroes have an alter ego who leads their normal lives when they are not fighting crime. The respective alter egos of Superman and Batman are fundamentally different. This will be further discussed later. 
Outlined above are the general qualities that make a superhero. The purpose of this essay, however, is to argue why Batman is 'cooler' than Superman. Thus, we need yet another definition, namely that of the notion cool. 'Cool' is an ambiguous concept. Regretfully I have to use other more or less ambiguous terms to define it. To be cool is generally to act with brutal and uncompromising decisiveness while at the same time upholding integrity and discretion.
Having stated what makes a superhero and what it takes for this man (since both of the discussed characters are male) to do the job of a number-one-crime-fighter in a 'cool' and stylish way the comparison of Batman and Superman can start. They both qualify as superheroes according to the criteria above. They both serve the public and fight organized crime in their respective cities and they both have alter egos to preserve their images as ordinary men. That is about as far as the similarities go.
The main reason Batman is cooler than Superman is that, underneath the superhero personality, he is an ordinary man who can get hurt. He can die. Superman, who is by nature strong and almost indestructible, can't be said to take the same risk as Batman when confronting his opponents. This makes Batman's doings so much more admirable. Add to this the reasons why they came into this business. For Superman it was, more or less, because he could beat anyone and therefore used his strengths for the common good. Batman, on the other hand is doing it both as a kind of revenge for his parents death, murdered in street by robbers and to protect others from being victims of the same kind of meaningless crime. Hence, they both have clear ideological reasons for fighting evil villains but Batman has a more personal motivation which makes him more likely to do a good job.
When it comes to confronting the criminals Batman has the advantage of operating mostly at night making it more mysterious, he has to be, in lacking natural superpowers, extremely skilled and athletic. To Superman it is really no big effort put in his actions. This is why Batman has more things to help him, such as guns shooting ropes and big clouds of smoke hiding his disappearing. 
The things that most clearly separates the two are Batman's outfit, a black latex suit, a mask and a bat-shaped cape, Superman having a red and blue suit that doesn't really intimidate anyone, Batman's 'Batmobile' is also black and, by necessity indestructible, his big mansion with its cave where Batman monitors the criminal activities of Gotham City and their alter egos. Batman's Bruce Wayne being an affluent playboy in his grand gothic mansion, Superman's Clark Kent, a not very tough reporter.
If you take into account all these factors you see that Batman is the coolest of the two. The two main reasons for this is, then, that Batman is merely a mortal earthling while Superman is an alien being as close to immortality as one gets and Batman's alter ego who leads a far more stylish life being a secretive playboy than Superman's reporter who is all but a playboy.
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