Real Name: Clark Kent (Kal-El)
Powers: Extraordinary strength and speed ("faster than a
speeding bullet"), flight, x-ray vision
World: DC Comics
Associations: Justice League America
Kal-El was found in a crashed spaceship by his human parents in Smallville. When he would grow up, he found that he possessed superhuman powers. He would travel to Metropolis and get a job as a journalist in the Daily Planet newspaper and would don the mantle of Superman to fight evil in the city.
Real Name: Bruce Wayne (the only one that matters)
Powers: Natural athletic abilities and genius
World: DC Comics
Associations: Robin, JLA
Batman's story is probably one of the most recognizable ones in modern pop culture. As a youngster, Bruce Wayne saw his parents gunned down in cold blood. He was raised mostly isolated and when he grew up, he inherited his parents' fortune. But it was the desire for justice that drove Bruce Wayne and he took on the identity of Batman, the Dark Knight protector of Gotham. Bruce Wayne saved a young Dick Grayson after his parents were killed and took him under his tutelage, turning him into the most famous sidekick of all time - Robin. Unlike other superheroes, Batman possesses no "super-powers" - he is just an ordinary guy who relies on his superior intellect and ingenious gadgets (the Batarang, the Batmobile, etc). While other comic book characters have followed suit, Batman was probably the first such hero.