of all time since the beginning of comics up till today ( or at least the year 2000 )

The Best ?------ the comic book hero who has exemplified literary quality , story consistency , originality , character growth and a high level of creators shared prestige historically?

and now.....

Who is the Greatest -- comic hero of all time? The most influential , most important to the Medium, the most mythic , myth transcended , recognizable most popular of all time?

Can one be both? great and best? or are their 2 separate heroes for the two labels? who are they???

Superman is the greatest. He is the most influential comic book superhero and what generated the success of comics in the Golden Age. But his stories, plots and comics are below average and usually forced to introduce " power creep ".[comicvine.gamespot.com]

The Best is: Batman.

maybe a tie with Spiderman

I agree with you, I think l. Superman is the iconic superhero archetype for a reason. I think Spider-Man or Batman have had consistently the best work, though Spider-Man is in a bit of a quagmire for a long time now like 15 or so years. Batman has been good in recent memory.

Oddly enough, during the heyday of Superman, he was outshone and out sold by Captain Marvel (the original one) who was more influential by far. That's why DC bought the rights in the first place, lol. Captain Marvel became a family man, and that resonated with the general public much more than the lone pillar of morality and justice that was Superman.

Most of the people of modern times have forgotten who was the top dog in the comic book world, especially since due to various issues, Supes outlasted Marvel leading to the modern day misconception of who was the most influential overall.

Now that Captain Marvel, oh excuse me, "Shazam" is back give it a few more years, and we'll see.

Captain Marvel did outsell Superman for a time as many other heroes did later.

But as far as Iconic status and fame ? Batman , Captain America , and Wonder Woman would place higher than -- Shazam - i mean Captain Marvel.

One thing is for sure - Based on the stories and how well they aged Both characters were Not the best in the story department.

Relics of their time, if one will. =P

I only hope that something... closer... to the original conceptions of both characters wins out in the end.

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G.A.W.
Captain Marvel did outsell Superman for a time as many other heroes did later.

But as far as Iconic status and fame ? Batman , Captain America , and Wonder Woman would place higher than -- Shazam - i mean Captain Marvel.

One thing is for sure - Based on the stories and how well they aged Both characters were Not the best in the story department.

Captain America did not sell well after World War II, it's why he was "put on ice"

Wonder Woman was a skin mag and not quality writing by any means until the modern era.

Captain Marvel does indeed place above Cap and Wonder Woman.

I'd hazard to say Wolverine is much mightier contender than Batman or Superman. His presence on the silver screen helped propel him far past the other two, and the craptasticilly awful DC/Snyderverse (and even the Christian Bales run) have done more harm than good for the DC-diehards.

best as you define it (the comic book hero who has exemplified literary quality , story consistency , originality , character growth and a high level of creators shared prestige historically?): Spiderman, (Batman runner up)
greatest as u define it ( The most influential , most important to the Medium, the most mythic , myth transcended , recognizable most popular of all time?): Superman