Spider-Man vs. Superboy Fight Analysis

Big names, but derivative of more popular heroes. Will that popularity hold for either of them?

For DC: Superboy
At his best? Arguably. Not long after Reign of the Supermen, he has his own series, and for the time, I suppose he was "cool". His power levels seemed higher in the black t-shirt era, but I wouldn't lay my stake on that.
His advantage: That deceptive tactile telekinesis. Superman's genes.

For Marvel: Spider-Man
At his best? No way. We're in the middle of the over-extended Clone Saga, and this is Ben Reilly instead of Peter Parker. In many ways, tomato-tomahto, but it's still not THE Spider-Man.
His advantage: Spidey-sense. Peter Parker's genes.

Why this match? The joke is that they're both CLONES. They're both REPLACEMENTS. They're both teen-ish heroes. It made sense in the context of 1996, though neither would score a spot in this day and age.
Were they Amalgamated? Yes, and very successfully, too. Spider-Boy is a book I'd still read today.
What if they fought their Amalgam Buddy? They did.
Better match-ups: Thematically, they were right on the money. I keep bringing Batman up, but on a popularity and relative power level, he might have been a more interesting match with Spidey - both base their hero identities on creepy animals, both swing on a line - but I think each publisher saw them as easy victories for their side and didn't pit them against each other. Besides, it's Ben, so... Batman Beyond? (Didn't exist yet.) Some DC stars were meant to evoke Spider-Man's "Parker Luck", but Firestorm is so above Spidey's pay grade, it wouldn't have made sense (by '96, they weren't well matched even on that basis anyway). Trying to match Superboy with a Marvel hero of the day is even harder, perhaps, but... hadn't Tony Stark been regressed to a teenager that year? I think Iron Man vs. the Teen of Steel would have been a cool match (and Tony would have had to use his genius to win after Superboy's tactile TK dismantled the armor).
If DC vs. Marvel had been fought today: We'd get the true Spider-Man, for one thing. Connor wouldn't register even as a blip, and if they went down the same road, it would be Jon Kent's Superman in the slot. But he needs someone with more cred. And if not Batman, how about the more acrobatic Nightwing? On any given day, I'd put Dick up against Daredevil, but since DD never got a main fight... Yes, Spider-Man wins, but that was always a given.

Play by Play: It begins with the heroes showing off their abilities. Spider-Man is clearly just toying with Superboy, and tactile TK is invoked.

So far, so good, if not exactly strategic. They're feeling each other out. They get their punches in, nul point. It's hard to gauge Superboy's strength since I think he was faking a lot of it with telekinesis, and it's been pretty variable over time. I think Spidey is the stronger by a long chalk at this point. But that's not where the fight will be decided. No, it will be decided over Superboy forgetting all about his powers.

Result: Well, sure, Superboy is still a rash rookie, which Ben isn't, even if he's arguably less practices than Peter is. But Superboy's tactile telekinesis should have gotten rid of the webbing easily, and it's not like he's Cannonball that he can't change direction. So basically, he electrocutes himself by accident. It's a cliché trick from movies in comics, but worse, it's THE THIRD FIGHT in which someone is electrocuted into submission (Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman). It's really lazy. I don't dispute the outcome, but as is often the case, the methods are cheap.

Next time: Marvel has been dominating in the voting arena, so it's time to throw some of DC's heavy hitters at the problem.