Batman has vanquished his comic book rivals Spider-Man and Superman to be named the greatest superhero of all time in a new poll.

The Caped Crusader, who has been fighting crime in comics, on TV and in numerous film adaptations since 1939, beat Peter Parker's arachnid alter-ego into second place in the survey by SFX.co.uk.

The Man of Steel flew into third place ahead of X-Men hero Wolverine, who clawed his way to number four. Iron Man rounds out the top five.

Dave Golder, editor of SFX.co.uk, says, "No matter how often Batman is reinvented - a noir detective in the 40s, a camp icon in the 60s, a Gothic Knight in the 80s - he's always the coolest, most iconic and recognizable superhero there is."