Spider-Man has a habit of taking down more powerful opponents, but when he came face-to-face with Superboy, it appeared Peter Parker was in trouble. The two heroes fought and a decisive winner was named - and it might not be who you thought it was.
The DC vs Marvel (1996) crossover featured the webslinger taking on the 90s version of Superboy and his leather jacket. The matchup seemed like one of the more unfair fights among the DC/Marvel crossover. In the series, fans voted to decide the winners of fights between Storm and Wonder Woman, Batman and Captain America, Quicksilver and the Flash, and more. The Kryptonian seemingly severely overpowered Spidey, but surprisingly, Peter held his own against Kon-El.
The fight begins with Spider-Man toying with Superman, as Kon-El's eyes are closed shut by Peter's webbing. As Superboy finally tracks his opponent down, Spider-Man asks him about his backstory. "You Superman's kid brother? Second cousin? What?" Spidey asks. "I'm a clone. Try to grasp the concept," Superboy responds, not realizing Spider-Man's deep history with clones. Shockingly, Spider-Man counters Superboys punches and as the Superman clone powers towards him, he's tied up in "impact webbing," and electrocuted by a conveniently placed electric generator. Spidey earns the victory as Superboy falls to the ground, covered in webbing.
This is one of the cases where fan voting propelled one of the characters featured in the DC vs. Marvel crossover into a victory they probably wouldn't have earned otherwise. Superboy is extremely powerful and would have no issue disposing of Spider-Man, webbing be damned. Kon-El's abilities include superhuman strength, durability, speed, and agility. He's also got heat vision, freeze breath, can fly, and is practically invulnerable. Even with Spider-Man's impact webbing, Superboy should have been able to break free of them relatively easily with his strength, or at the very least, with his heat vision.
Spider-Man is by far the more popular character and it led to fans giving him the win against Superboy. It was an entertaining bout, but completely unrealistic when factoring in the superheroes powers. Ultimately, the fight should have been over before it even started as Superboy would easily dismantle of Spider-Man. But, in the spirit of fun (and the votes of fans), Spider-Man ended up with the win. He should pray the two never have a rematch because the chances he would win against are slim to none - unless fans have a say.