The Washington Post talks to Stan Lee, Paul Levitz and Joe Quesada, among others, about the Big Question … Marvel or DC?
Back when it mattered, you used to be certain. You would ally yourself and endlessly argue the merits in comic-book stores or at a convention at the airport Ramada. DC Comics, led by Superman, was for people who adored the fantasy, the Ubermensch triumphant. These readers loved skyscrapers and archvillains and sidekicks, billowing flags, unerring ethical strength.
Marvel, led by Spider-Man, was a place for the smart but troubled reader, the deeply weird. They loved the night, the underground, accidents in the lab. All that dialogue, so many thought balloons! The heroes always on some emotional ledge, and the hubris of it all — a grittiness that came with saving the world.
DC was about younger kids in back yards, wearing bath towel capes, leaping from treehouses.
Marvel was about older kids in basements, possibly stoned, deconstructing Thor.
Fueled by Superman Returns, X-Men:The Last Stand and Civil War, the article has a bit of a Marvel bias … although retailer Peter Casazza provides the final word:
Around 100 regular Big Planet customers get weekly “pulls,” in which the store sets aside a copy of each title a customer regularly buys and reads, in a nice, ready-to-go stack. Casazza says that when a comic book costs three or four bucks, as they now do, it’s hard for a reader to stick with a title or brand if it’s not working the same old magic. Some years they read more Marvel; some years they read DC; and for a long time, they have read a lot of both.
Imagine two churches across the street from each another, only the congregants keep running back and forth on the rumors of better Scripture.
“It’s DC right now,” Casazza says unequivocally. “Just the stories they’re doing right now are so good. It’s the writers.”
The final word for the article, anyway … what say you?
July 1st, 2006 at 1:21 am
Marvel. Marvel delivers on it’s hype. DC pissed me off with the lackluster Infinite Crisis.
July 1st, 2006 at 3:41 am
Exactly. Hawkeye’s triumphant return truly broke my internet in half, not to mention the amazing Avengers stories by Bendis.
July 1st, 2006 at 4:28 am
As opposed to what, two years of build up to…no change whatsoever. The DCU is still the same muddled mess it was before, in fact it’s EVEN MORE MUDDLED. As the dimwitted History Of The DCU feature is showing off every week in 52.
Infinite Crisis was a complete clusterfuck. Period. Anyone who says different works for DC or might as well work for DC.
DC dropped the ball, they had a chance to clean the slate, but they didn’t have the balls. Just like the last time, they couldn’t cut the cord from the fanboys and do something revolutionary.
Instead, they pissed off the real hardcore freakazoid fanboys and left everyone else annoyed at the fact that they were promised something major and got JACK SHIT.
Marvel’s made it clear: they don’t need a Crisis, if DC had been honest instead of just trading on the Crisis name, and admitted this was NOT a Crisis just another lackluster crossover in their history of lackluster crossvers, I wouldn’t bitch.
But anyone who claims DC is coming out on top in this is a foolish fanboy. Because in the end, as much as I don’t like Mark Millar, Marvel’s Civil War could actually CHANGE THE WAY THEIR TITLES WORK.
It, y’know, could actually MEAN SOMETHING.
As opposed to Infinite Crisis which meant…nothing, except for killing off some characters Dan DiDio didn’t like.
July 1st, 2006 at 5:09 am
DC is the tallest midget at the moment. Most of Marvel is unreadable. Unless you mean ruining several characters, I don’t see Civil War, being any more memorable than the already forgotten House of M.
July 1st, 2006 at 9:01 am
“It’s the writers” is an interesting response, because there are still enough freelancers out there who aren’t exclusive to either Marvel or DC that the levels tend to be the same because it’s often the same people.
On the other hand, Marvel doesn’t seem to hire any female creators other than editors, so to me that gives DC the edge.
July 1st, 2006 at 9:38 am
Elayne, at present, how many female creators do you count at DC? I can think of Gail Simone, of course, and maybe a few inkers, then I run out of steam.
July 1st, 2006 at 11:08 pm
DC is putting out much better stories by far.
July 2nd, 2006 at 2:31 am
I don’t mean to pick at scabs, but unfortunately that’s what I’m doing. The statement, “no change whatsoever,” has occurred in the DCU is rather misinformed.
Wonder Woman isn’t Diana Prince, Batman’s a little more cheerful, the Flash isn’t Wally West, and an incredible amount of characters are getting dusted off in 52. While these changes are in no way permanent (Wonder Woman not being Diana Prince the biggest) DC has experienced a creative rennaisance of sorts with Infinite Crisis with the addition of Grant Morrison to their exclusive arsenal, not to mention how successful and compelling their OYL titles are proving to be.
DC even bested Marvel sales wise last month, and with the inclusion of a new WOnder Woman and Flash #1, the trend doesn’t seem to be stopping. A little book by the name of Justice League is coming in very soon as well.
DCU even has the non superheroic market beat with Vertigo and Wildstorm titles. Besides Corben’s admittedly awesome Poe series, the only non capes book is the just announced Brubaker written criminal. DC is even reprinting the best mainstream stories of the golden age with Plastic Man and Spirit Archives, but their showcase editions only pump out one a month and Marvel’s is twice that, so they do have a gaping trade gap, as well as with their monthly releases.
Infinite Crisis even had an underlying conflict of the Golden Age’s Superman’s objectivist mentality complete with the last issue’s repudiation. Marvel’s crossover is about an invented political debate asking you to choose the side with Captain America, the moral voice of America, or without him. It doesn’t seem to actually BE about anything, but I digress.
But why argue?
Like the article said, this argument is like runnign around two different churches. The reason you go to church is to learn ethical lessons (well, besides social and habitual reasons, but that debate shouldn’t be brought up here.) and the reason to read comics is to enjoy stories. DC and Marvel are both putting out more and better stories than in 5 years past. So let’s enjoy our better stories without getting caught up in quantitative measures of a bunch of stories, which can almost never be rated a number.
July 2nd, 2006 at 1:20 pm
When we were kids my younger brother would buy the DC titles and I would buy Marvel and I guess we’ve just never stopped. I’ve tried DC over the years, but beyond Y The Last Man and an issue here and there… I just can’t do it. It’s too goofy and they just don’t know what to do with their main characters half the time.
I know, I know: sometimes Marvel isn’t much better, but… I don’t know, the ‘realism’ (to whatever degree it exists) of Marvel strikes a cord with me. Spider-Man strikes that cord in me… so many other characters do.
+ right now Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimates, Daredevil, Astonishing X-Men and Civil War are the best things going.
No, Civil War isn’t running as smoothly as it should and for all their supposed ‘planning’ it is maddeningly inconsistent and they’re blowing all their lightsaber moments (Peter’s press conference was 2 pages long?????) and the art can be frighteningly bad (see same press conference). Where is the editorial control? Where is the big great art these issues deserve?
Still, make mine Marvel…