Superhero Top Ten. Who's More Popular? Superman...Batman?

Back in the old days, all we had to determine comic book superhero popularity was sales.
Now we have the Interweb!
And I tell you, doing some research on who is the most popular comic book character is a little strange.

1. Batman
Of course with the awesome movie and dying (what..twice recently?) I figured this would happen.
2. Robin
Robin? The Boy Hostage? He hasn't even been in a good movie. Unless you count the amazing "Grayson" fan film.
3. Spiderman
Even Obama couldnt help Spidey get up over Bats.
4. Superman
Superman Returns....meh
5. Iron Man
The movie rocked, no question.
6. X-Men
Through ups and downs, bad and good, I've always considered The X-Men to be Marvel's flagship.
7. The Incredible Hulk
Second movie was decent. And the Hulk stirs that "Forget logic, I just wanna pound something" feeling we all get from time to time.
8. Wolverine
He goes anywhere from maniac with razor sharp blades to Byronic hero. And he has a movie coming out.
9. Watchmen
I really expected them to be higher.
10. Wonder Woman
One of DC comics Trinity. And if they EVER finally make a movie.......

Notice that with the exception of Robin, and maybe Wonder Woman, all of these have movie tie ins?

Obama, Spiderman and Batman

With the sales of the Obama/Spiderman book doing so well and "The Dark Knight" raking in awards, 2009 looks like it's off to a good start for the comic book industry.

Amazing Spider-Man #583 with President Obama and Spiderman sold out, so another run is scheduled to hit comic book stores on Wednesday.
The Jan. 21 issue will have a variant cover.

The Dark Knight has already garnered tons of awards and nominations. Now everyone is looking at the Oscars and waiting.
On January 23rd, The Dark Knight will be re-released to stir up even more Oscar buzz.
Could the late Heath Ledger get an Oscar nomination? He's already won a posthumous Golden Globe award for his portrayal of the Joker.
A comic book movie getting an Oscar?
Even if that doesn't pan out, there's Iron Man in the special effects catagory.
Comic book movies (plural this time) getting Oscars?
And let's not forget Wolverine is hosting the show.

I checked out Grant Morrison's website (I like Grant. He is one person I would really LOVE to sit down and talk to) and Grant not only raved about The Dark Knight, but he said he thinks the movie screen is the future of Super Heroes.

I have to agree with him, but I'm biased because I can't actually say there has been a comic book based movie I have hated.
Okay, not counting the Superman movies after 2, and the dread Joel Schumacher Batman Forever.
And the Dolph Lundgren Punisher.
Okay. I've liked MOST of the Comic Book Movies.
What scares me is that if The Dark Knight does well in the Oscars, the movie studios will just start tossing out Super Hero movies left and right.

But here is my question.
Who is going to create the first all original superhero, make a movie and turn that character into an icon?
A non comic book based superhero that captures the imagination and reaches the Spiderman, Batman, Superman level?