It all depends on the era! I was a teenager at a time when Spiderman was the most popular Marvel hero and Iron Man got little. Love, and when Batman was just a guy in tights serving funny punchlines to ridiculous villains.
Let's face it, it works through media exposition. When I was a kid, CR was the bomb and GR was plain ridiculous. To the generation that came after mine, what did they have as a Superman? A guy in tights with outdated effects (CR) and SIII, IV, V which were awful movies. Then, a tv series more appealing to the fans of Moonlighting than to the fans of superheroes. Follow by a few cartoons and a TV series were the hero, Superman, is never seen wearing the suit. Then a movie made for the fans of the old guy and wich misses what the modem audience is looking for.
Despite it's faults, MOS is probably the only movie showcasing Superman in a new light for a new audience!
Meanwhile, on the Bat front, what did we get? Two good movies by Burton, two bad movies by Schumacher, great animated series, an awesome trilogy by Nolan... Clearly, with the type of media exposure he had, Superman hadn't the slightest chance to win!
If you'd asked who was the most popular in the 60/70s, Superman would have been a clear winner.
Like I daid, it's the result of media exposure, capable of turning a hero that didn't even have its own comics at the beginning (iron Man) into the most popular of them. Fads, all of them! Until the next one!
Yeah, he's a good choice! I never thought about him for GL.
