Jim Henley's continuing discussion on cover songs reminded me of another of my many interests in music because of something else that I share with Jim, a love for comics. I've long been keeping a list in my head of favorite songs that reference comic characters, but this being the Internet, you can always find someone who takes a simple idea and makes it into an obsession. A list like that needs some annotations, so here's my favorites:

1. The winner, but not by much, is the Spin Doctors' "Jimmy Olsen's Blues." Not only does it reference comic book characters, it even takes the point of view of one, in this case, Superman's Pal. Of course, I never knew that Jimmy had a hard-on for Lois Lane, but it's not that far of a stretch. A bit of lyrics: "He's faster than a bullet, stronger than a train / He's the one who got lucky got his cape around miss Lois Lane / I can't believe my dilemma is real / I'm competing with the man of steel." Good beat, and best of all, you can dance to it.
2. I'd nearly give the top nod to Crash Test Dummies' "Superman's Song" except that it violates the bugaboo of every fanboy: consistency. You see, it references Superman and Tarzan, and due to legal complications, those two can't exist in the same universe, except in the course of this song. The deep-throated male lead singer lends the song a kind of gravity and pathos needed about the unfortunate life of being a hero: "Superman never made any money / For saving the world from Solomon Grundy / And sometimes I despair the world will never see /Another man like him." I'll admit it--it almost brings a tear to my eyes.
3. XTC's "That's Really Super, Supergirl" shows that Andy Partridge was a fanboy at some time with its reference to the Fortress of Solitude and kryptonite, but you can't escape the fact that Andy's not really singing about the Supergirl character herself, but some girl who simply thinks she's super. Still, there's nothing to beat lyrics like: "That's really super Supergirl / How you stopped the universe from dying / But you're never going to stop me crying / And I feel like you're trying hard / To sweep me like dirt underneath your cape / Well I might be an ape / But I used to feel super / Supergirl." The music is bouncy and happy, too: pure pop for pop art.
4. It's only a small mention in a mouthful of cultural references, but Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" gives good play to Aquaman with this lyric: "You'll think you're looking at Aquaman / I summon fish to the dish, / Although I like the Chalet Swiss / I like the sushi /'Cause it's never touched a frying pan." The song is a lot of fun. Too bad they couldn't have gotten more comic references into it, though.
5. Recently, 3 Doors Down had a hit with "Kryptonite," which also references Superman, but doesn't seem to quite get the connection right (instead, the band seemed to just need something that rhymed with might). I like the song, but the title word could be almost anything, like "Dynamite," except that might reference a bad '70s TV show better left forgotten.
6. Andy Partridge seals his fanboy fate with a song from XTC's Black Sea album, "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)." I'm not as wild about this song, though, as the reference doesn't quite match up with Andy's intent, albeit he does give it an English go. I don't quite remember the commander of the Easy Company being quite so up on how to make women easy, but I'll admit that I didn't care for war comics and did not read that many of them.

The other songs on that list are too obscure for me to have heard, or the reference is even more tenuous than the last three above. I'd be interested in hearing some of them, though.