Metaphor-O-Rama!

From "The Sharpened Quill," a review of several recent books on Thomas Paine, in The New Yorker's October 16, 2006 issue, by Jill Lepore:

Thomas Paine is, at best, a lesser Founder. In the comic-book version of history that serves as our national heritage, where the Founding Fathers are like the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends, Paine is Aquaman to Washington's Superman and Jefferson's Batman; we never find out how he got his superpowers, and he only shows up when they need someone who can swim.