I'd say, in universe, Captain America and Superman stand as the most prominent heroes.(or at least it used to be that way in DC, not certain about now.)

In our reality, as it stands now, definitely Spider-man and Batman.

The characters most associated with their respective histories, and any generalized marketing, are Superman and Spider-Man.
But as far as recognizability among worldwide general populations? I'd go with Superman and … Hulk. It just seems that more people, and kids in general, can identify Hulk as Hulk, whereas Spider-Man, may not be instantly recognizable to some.

For DC, it would have to be Batman. Supes is the grand-daddy of all super heroes, but there have never been big media/merchandising bouts of Super-Mania as there has been with Bat-Mania. I think Spidey does the same for Marvel. Recognizability these days is mostly about marketing, and those two are the most heavily promoted overall.

1st: Batman and Spiderman.
2nd: Superman and Wolverine
3rd: Joker and Hulk

Spider-Man and Superman. Anyone who sees either immediately knows which company they're representing. Batman is insanely close, but having worked in a comic shop, I've seen a lot of <bleeps> who think Batman is a Marvel character.

I worked at a comic ship for five years, and though I'm sure I met people who couldn't identify Batman as a DC character, I fortunately don't ever recall anyone stating that he's a Marvel character. :b

Anyway, Superman and Batman are unarguably miles above any other superheroes in terms of recognizability (thanks to their ages and their multiple movies, televisions shows, merchandise, etc.). I can't state that one's more dominant than the other, though. Superman was (for the most part) definitely the dominant of the two for the first four decades of each characters' existence, but Batman's been (for the most part) the dominant of the two since the late '80s/early 90s. Superman's "S" emblem is one of the most-recognizable emblems in the world, but Batman's emblem's almost on par nowadays, and Batman's supporting cast is probably more well-known that some of Marvel's heaviest hitters (I'd wager that more people could identify Robin or the Joker before they could Iron Man or Doctor Doom).

As for Marvel, overall, Spider-Man and the (green) Hulk are definitely their biggest names. Twenty years from now, I might be saying Spider-Man and Wolverine - but right now, of anyone who's lived even remotely near a newsstand or television, there aren't many who couldn't immediately identify Spider-Man or the (green) Hulk.

The Bat craze of the 60's overtook Superman I'd imagine. At least as far as its reach in the general culture at large.

Well, for the most part, the "average" person doesn't recognize that there are different companies creating comics. If you walked up to an average person on the street and said "Which hero do you think of when I say DC?" they'd look at you like you had 2 heads (besides the fact that you're asking weird questions to people on the street!).

The average person thinks of superheroes as a general group, and doesn't differentiate between companies. In the past someone probably would have listed superheroes like:
1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Spider-Man
4. Hulk
(Perhaps switching 3 and 4)
I don't know how the average person regards superheroes anymore with their prominence in summer movies. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America might get a larger mention than they ever would have in the past due to their high profile movies in the past few years.

Anyone encounter such a person? Most of the people I encounter are influenced by my passion for the genre, so it's hard to judge what someone else might say.

-Tim

Just today, I had to explain to someone that Green Lantern isn't going to be in the Avengers, which led to explaining the difference between Avengers and Super Friends.

A lot of the answer depends on the audience, but for the non-comic reading movie goer, I would sat the most popular DC hero is Batman. It has been Batman since the Burton movie of the late 80s.

For Marvel, today I would say Iron Man is the most popular, with Spider-Man a close second. I think his absense from the box office hurt him slighlty. He is still popular, but I think Iron Man edges out slightly. This could change after the summer depending on how well the new Spider-Man and Avengers (Iron Man) movies are received.

DC: Batman
Marvel: I would go with Iron Man too. At least for now the movies might well have made him the most well known Marvel character outside the hardcore fandom.