3. Fights Batman Just Because the Government Says So - The Dark Knight Returns
What's incredibly annoying about the entire Superman Vs. Batman mantra is that no one in the DC universe (or our universe for that matter) ever calls the Man of Steel a vigilante, while often harping on at Batman for being "the dark one." Why? Superman is an alien who crash-landed on our planet, put on a uniform, and flies around fighting crime, following no sort of accountable due process. Just because he resembles a sun god and wears American flag colors as opposed to the Dark Knight's ash gray and charcoal black doesn't make him any less of a vigilante who is breaking the law by what he is doing. Neither one of them is willing to kill their foes even if ending their lives would greatly serve humanity as in the case of The Joker. Superman and Batman are exactly the same except that Batman is willing to get his hands dirty if the situation calls for it... which is why, if you haven't already deduced as much from the rest of this article, I ran around as a five-year-old with a black cape and bat ears instead of a giant "S" on my chest. Superman bugs the crap out of me more often than not because of his little Boy Scout attitude that often compels him to do something wrong even though it may be lawfully right. I am referring the climatic Batman vs. Superman showdown in Frank Miller's classic, The Dark Knight Returns. In the midst of a nuclear winter a much older Batman has led a group of wannabes against Gotham city's criminal gangs and has cleaned up the streets. The result of his vigilante efforts is that Gotham is turned into the nicest place to live in America. This burns the backside of the American Government so much that they hire Superman to stop him... and the kryptonian punk agrees to do it because Batman is being a vigilante. What a complete hypocrite.