Over at Ecocomics John Perich has finally answered the question of why Superman hangs around with a bunch of heroes that are blatantly less powerful that he is…
Superman’s slower than Flash (only just), but his super-strength and invulnerability make him better at dispatching minions. He’s more capable of dealing with aliens than Green Lantern. And with his X-ray vision and super-hearing, you could make the case that he’s a better detective than Batman.
So why does Superman need the rest of the Justice League?
For that, we turn the pages back to 1817 and the principle of comparative advantage, as publicized (though not first documented) by economist David Ricardo. Comparative advantage dictates that, even if one agent can produce two types of goods more efficiently than another agent, it benefits both parties for the efficient agent to specialize and trade for the other.
Basically, Superman acts as the super all-rounder who fills in where he’s needed most, thus giving the others space to do what each of them does best.
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