The Dark Knight Rises finally ascends into theaters Friday amidst of din of nearly unrivaled buzz and anticipation. Some fans are so juiced for the arrival of Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to 2008’s monumentally successful The Dark Knight that they made death threats against the few critics who dared to pan the film. Luckily, the majority of critics have been ecstatic about the Batman blockbuster; Time calls it “a film of grand ambitions and epic achievement.” But is it—as the most ardent Caped Crusader supporters venture—the best superhero movie ever? To find out how it stacked up against past spandex smashes, we ranked its critic score on movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes against past comic-book classics. Where it places may surprise you.