What is it about the big three that makes them so popular? Why do they endure?

>>149168700 (OP)
Was Spider-man ever this broad-shouldered?

>>149168700 (OP)
They, in various ways, each represent one of the most basic heroic ideals. The savior who makes himself and the savior from afar. They're built on the highest nobility and thus inspire others to be the same.

>>149168955
Romita Sr drew him pretty buff.

>>149168700 (OP)
>that makes them so popular?
They don't sell comics like they used to do though.

>>149168996
Comics don't sell comics like they used to.

>>149168700 (OP)
You're asking the wrong questions. The question is why don't the others have enduring appeal?
>Hulk
Not humanized enough, anger is a negative emotion.
>Fantastic Four
Group dynamic sucks.
>Wolverine
Too rough and antisocial. He's my personal fav though.
>Green Arrow
Archers suck.
>Green Lantern
Ring powers are gay. The ring is doing all the work.
>Spectre
His alter ego is dead.
>Why?
All in all, you need a hero who feels human, empathetic, has an alter ego people can relate to, embodies strength and might, has virtue, a motto (with great power comes great responsibility, truth justice and the American way) and Batman in particular kept getting kickass movies that kept him in the public consciousness and has a color scheme of black and yellow that people like putting on cars.

>>149169342
That and a memorable rogues gallery

>>149168700 (OP)
Spider-Man is basically a super ninja that does cool ninja shit while being funny and entertaining as a smartass that rags on his enemies.

Batman is a walking merch machine that rolls out Bat vehicles, Bat weapons, Bat gadgets, Bat armors, and Bat robots. While also being a ninja.

Superman is really really pushed hard by DC and Warner Bros as the king of all superheroes and makes him be the top guy in front of all splash pages and in charge of every event. Anyone too similar to him is attacked by editorial and removed, downplayed, or forcibly turned into a joke to make readers like them less.

>>149168700 (OP)
>spidey
The quintessential relatable superhero.
>supes
The first superhero, the quintessential overman.
>bats
The quintessential vigilante.

>>149168700 (OP)
> supercuck
has never made a billie in the box office, despite being the first to get a movie. Only people I ever met that cared where third worlders, who are like 40 years behind culturally

>>149168700 (OP)
Secret identities.

Maybe not, but I think there has to be some significance to the fact that the really old-school superhero stuff like having a secret identity (and being a whiny bitch about the no-kill rule) has remained central to all three.

Maybe it’s a way of saying that they live in something like the “real” world, they have jobs and lives and hang out with a lot of people who aren’t superheroes.

>Superman
lol, replace him with Wolverine

>>149168700 (OP)
Spidey looks buffer than usual.

>>149171470
>Wolverine

>>149171470
Yeah, nah. Superman may not be anywhere near the peak he had back in the day, but he's still more iconic and far more influential with character design on a wider scale than Wolverine.

>>149168700 (OP)
Don't care. Spider-Man will never be in the same league as Batman and Superman.

>>149168700 (OP)
>Spiderman
Teenager that has social and economic problems left and right while trying to balance his hero lifestyle and his powers are really fun and playful
>Superman
Godlike powers and great personality, the OG unstoppable hero that has the aura to make you always feel like everything is gonna be ok no matter how big or small the crisis is
>Batman
The ultimate where there’s a will there’s a way character that in the early days writers had a lot of creativity on how he’d defeat opponents with tactics and skills rather than powers.

These days though all three have had major character assassinations and butchered storylines because millennials want every character to be a drug addict with depression and shitty politics.

>>149169733
It all comes back to ninja. Also pirates.

>>149168700 (OP)
Along with what a lot of people are saying, I don't think you can underestimate the power of good costume design. Particularly when it comes to Spider-Man. He just looks cool. There's something about Spider-Man's costume that does something to little kids when they see it for the first time and stays with them forever.

>>149168700 (OP)
good cartoons

>>149172258
Yeah, Spider-man's costume is great. Anyone could imagine themselves in his suit.

Spiderman is popular with kids, superman is the mario of comics and batman is cool as hell

>>149168700 (OP)
Universal accessibility: the more toyetic or object-embodying a superhero is in appearance and design, the more that people can emotionally identify with and project onto them as vessels.

Superman wears a cape and plenty of kids grew up conflating wearing a cape with having superpowers. Batman wears a mask and a cape and has a utility belt and batarangs. Spider-Man wears a mask and outfit that not only covers his whole body, but he also has web shooters and a belt for cartridges.

It's why Wonder Woman remains THE female superhero: she's got a tiara and bracelets and a rope. This is also why Japanese heroes (and American localizations like Power Rangers) hit it big: the superpowers are accessed via a literal tool...and it's why Ben 10 made billions for Warner Bros because it was a tool that could turn Ben into any type of monster or animal with superpowers. It's also why Captain Marvel/Shazam briefly beat out Superman in popularity: any kid could say "Shazam" and pretend they were Captain Marvel.

>>149168700 (OP)
There is no big 3 anymore. Just big 2. Look how high up Spidey and Batman are on this list, you have to scroll down a lot to get to Superman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises
Kids don't care about Superman.

>>149172258
I think the big eyes are really important as well. There's something cute yet implacably foreboding about them. Its genuinely a genius piece of design on Ditko's part. Superman and Batman's costumes are great but you can see how their original artists got there. Ditko seemingly conjured Spidey's suit from thin air and it's literally perfect.

>>149169342
The big three are popular because they're also big hits with women

>Spider-Man can be sensitive and emotionally vulnerable, which is like crack for young women, especially if he's youthful
>Batman can also be sensitive but he's crazy rich and a genius and physically in his prime and devoted
>Superman is classically handsome and makes all the housewives and older women (or girls with daddy issues) wet because he's big and strong and emotionally stable: like a 50's sitcom dad

Hulk is less popular with women because not only is Bruce a fucking emotional mess, but he's neither rich or accepted by society. Fantastic Four isn't popular because being Sue Storm isn't "fun" to insert yourself into unless you're a mom. Any of the Green Lanterns are boring to women because they're basically space cops.

>>149169342
Wolverine is popular with women because although he and Hulk overlap in terms of being pop fiction Frankensteins/wild men (Tarzan) and urban barbarians, Wolverine is:

>hairy and muscular (but not TOO muscular like the Hulk)
>manly: he likes bikes, he smokes and drinks and gets into fights
>has a dark past, but a heartfelt emotional connection turns him from brooding loner to family man
>good with kids

>>149172295
superman is the DOOM of comics. everyone knows him, but saying you love him is a sign of refined taste.

>Superman
Started it all, first big superhero hit, was a cultural phenomenon, rooted in American nostalgia, an ideal that some people hold with contempt but that just adds to how much staying power he has had
>Batman
First(probably not) attempt at a ""darker edgier"" superhero, easy to understand but still iconic backstory, really the most obvious extension of older pulp edition, managed to always change with the times and stay relevant for decades. Really the start of the "street level" superhero
>Spider-man
The actual everyman that most readers could relate to, usually the same age as them too, same issues at first, has some snark and attitude. More of a normie than people paint Batman as. Also his costume his just groundbreaking

Rape my ass for everything I got wrong

Superman being some kind of alien savior is pretty appealing desu
Not even in a godlike way, he's a farmboy who just loves his new home

That fact that every superhero parody has a Superman expy even though he's not that often replicated honestly says enough

>>149169733
>>149172222
The more superpowered heroes are more like xianxia mc's

>>149173618
Superman is the purest representation of superheros as a concept. no gimmicks, no twists, he has powers and he uses them to help people.
i'd even go so far as to say that to hate Superman is to hate the very idea of superheroes.