Which do you prefer? DC or Marvel Comics?

@JGoldman10,

It's been year's (the early 1990's was my peak) since I was seriously into collecting comics. By default since my favorite comic books were in the Batman realm (Detective, Dark Knight series, and Batman), I will vote for DC.

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@tsarstepan,

I don't read or collect them-I read about them through Previews or Wizard Magazine or through websites. I got a few books from Free Comic Book day.

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@JGoldman10,

for the most part i'm a big DC fan (especially the Vertigo imprint The Sandman, Hellblazer and standalone stories like V for Vendetta and The Watchmen)

i do like the Ultimates imprint that Marvel started, a grittier retelling of the original stories

here's something i wrote about my revelations on DC and Marvels modern Story Arcs and how they are collected

Quote:

I Have A Comic Book Confession

30 some years ago i was a comic book junkie, and DC was my drug of choice, i read Marvel (X-Men, Spiderman, Daredevil) but the scale tipped heavily in DC's favour

around 1990 i pretty much stopped buying single issues and started buying graphic novels, in the last few years i've come to a shocking conclusion, DC mini series suck, the story are good, but the actual presentation of them is horrible

since the 90's DC has had an ongoing series based on a crisis in the comic book universe, it was discovered that the universe was actually a multiverse, the writers were trying to clean up the history of the characters, and this multiverse and its influence on the one true timeline spanned about 7 major story lines and about 17 years

now in each of these story lines, there would be a central story arc, usually consisting of 7 - 12 comic books that told the main story, with other DC titles bulking up the story

Marvel has done similar story arcs recently Civil War, Secret Invasion and Siege, again a main story arc supported by characters monthly titles

now, here's what i've noticed, the DC main story arcs rely heavily on the supporting monthly books, so much so that if you only read the main books collected in graphic novel form (as i mostly do), a lot of the time a major plot point will have taken place in one of the supporting titles, making it harder to follow a storyline some times, this doesn't happen in the Marvel books (at least not the ones i've read), the monthly titles might flesh out the main story but i never felt that i was missing something if i only read the main marvel story arcs, and if i read any of the supporting titles they only added to the enjoyment

so is this one time DC fanboy now a Marvel fanboy, i still love my DC characters but, Marvel demands less buck for my bang (pow, zap) these days

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Marvel tries to distance themselves from DC by trying to be gritty and hard-edged. That doesn't necessarily make for better comics.
DC and Marvel copy each other, but Marvel is more heavily drawn to ripping off DC.

That's why I prefer DC.

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@JGoldman10,

not sure i agree with you on those points

marvel was far more socially relevant long before DC, The X-men were basically a disguised look at the race debate taking place in the 60's, Spiderman was a teenager dealing with teenage problems long before any of the teen characters in DC, Marvel also led the way in making the some of the biggest changes to the Comics Code

Later in 1971, the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story, portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. While the Code did not specifically forbid depictions of drugs, a general clause prohibited "All elements or techniques not specifically mentioned herein, but which are contrary to the spirit and intent of the code, and are considered violations of good taste or decency". The CCA had approved at least one previous story involving drugs, the premiere of Deadman in Strange Adventures #205 (Oct. 1967), which clearly depicted the title character fighting an opium dealer.[12] But Code administrator Leonard Darvin "was ill" at the time of the Spider-Man story, and acting administrator John L. Goldwater, publisher of Archie Comics, refused to grant Code approval based on the depiction of narcotics being used, regardless of the context, whereas the Deadman story had depicted only a wholesale business transaction.

Confident that the original government request would give him credibility, and with the approval of his publisher Martin Goodman, Lee ran the story in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without CCA approval. The storyline was well-received and the CCA's argument for denying approval was deemed counterproductive. "That was the only big issue that we had" with the Code, Lee recalled in a 1998 interview: I could understand them; they were like lawyers, people who take things literally and technically. The Code mentioned that you mustn't mention drugs and, according to their rules, they were right. So I didn't even get mad at them then. I said, 'Screw it' and just took the Code seal off for those three issues. Then we went back to the Code again. I never thought about the Code when I was writing a story, because basically I never wanted to do anything that was to my mind too violent or too sexy. I was aware that young people were reading these books, and had there not been a Code, I don't think that I would have done the stories any differently.

Lee and Marvel drew criticism from DC head Carmine Infantino "for defying the code", stating that DC will not "do any drug stories unless the code is changed". As a result of publicity surrounding the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's sanctioning of the storyline, however, the CCA revised the Code to permit the depiction of "narcotics or drug addiction" if presented "as a vicious habit". DC itself broached the topic in the Code-approved Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85* (Sept. 1971), with writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams beginning a story arc involving Green Arrow's teen sidekick Speedy as a heroin addict. A cover line read, "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... Drugs!"

by the late 70's early 80's both companies had gritted up their image

interestingly enough, Batman and Robin were often mocked as a closeted representation of a gay couple, and DC was the first of the major labels to introduce openly gay characters (Extraño in the Millenium series in 1987, Marvel wouldn't out Alpha Flights Northstar until 1992)

* great issue by the way

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@djjd62,

as for Marvel ripping off DC, again, i don't see it, Batman was one of the few non alien or magical characters for quite a while* (Green Arrow, the Atom and the Flash were later exceptions), where as the X-men were humans with genetic mutations (the theory is they'd always existed, but the use of the first Atomic bombs had accelerated the the profusion of mutants), Spiderman was a kid who was enhanced by science (radioactive spider), Daredevil was a kid blinded by a radioactive substance which enhanced his other senses, the Fantastic Four were humans who were changed by cosmic rays, Captain America was an enhanced human, not to mention The Avengers, most were scientists or inventors (Hank Pym, Iron Man, Bruce Banner/The Hulk)

not that the Marvel stories or characters are any more realistic or believable, but i don't see much ripping off

*Superman is an alien, Shazam is a magical being, Wonder Woman is a god (or progeny of gods), Green lantern gets his ring from an alien, Martian Manhunter is an alien, Hawkman is a reincarnation of a egyptian prince

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@djjd62,

Marvel has at least a dozen Superman knockoffs- Sentry, Drax, Gladiator, Hyperion, Captain Ultra, etc.
Deadpool is a Deathstroke knockoff.
Ultragirl is a Supergirl knockoff.
Nova is a Green Lantern knockoff.
Hawkeye is a Green Arrow knockoff.
Fantastic Four, I think, was inspired in part by Doom Patrol.
Namor was inspired in part by Aquaman, or vice versa.
Night Thrasher, Nighthawk and Moon Knight could be considered Batman knockoffs.

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@djjd62,

DC was first.

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@djjd62,

How many nonpowered heros does Marvel have besides Nick Fury, Silver Sable, Black Widow and the Punisher?

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@JGoldman10,

let's face it, there are only so many stories and so many characters, there are going to be similarities, what i was trying to say was, the two companies approached the stories and characters from different directions for the most part

in my opinion, Marvel was more human enhanced by science, DC was more Alien and magic oriented

i am generally speaking a DC fan, the Crisis Series (despite the failings i stated in an early post) is a great story line, as is the new Blackest Night/Brightest Day Story

the various incarnations of the Justice League are perhaps my most favourite comic books ever (especially the Giffen/DeMatteis retooling from the 80's)

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@djjd62,

Marvel has aliens also, DC has mutants (like Captain Comet) and metahumans.

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the publication dates of six of the main characters you listed

Namor the Sub-Mariner - Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939)
Aquaman - More Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941)

Green Arrow - More Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941)
Hawkeye - Tales of Suspense #57 (Sept. 1964)

Fantastic Four - The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 61)
Doom Patrol - My Greatest Adventure #80 (June. 63)

Some similarities exist between the original Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics' original X-Men. Both include misfit superheroes shunned by society and both are led by men of preternatural intelligence confined to wheelchairs. These similarities ultimately led series writer Arnold Drake to argue that the concept of the X-Men must have been based on the Doom Patrol.

Drake stated:
“ ...I’ve become more and more convinced that [Stan Lee] knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol. Over the years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between [Marvel and DC]. Therefore from when I first brought the idea into [DC editor] Murray Boltinoff’s office, it would’ve been easy for someone to walk over and hear that [I was] working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair. So over the years I began to feel that Stan had more lead time than I realized. He may well have had four, five or even six months.”

(X-Men #1 debuted three months after MGA #80; due to publication lag times, Lee could not have known of the Doom Patrol when he scripted the first X-Men story unless he had been told about it in advance of its publication.)

However, others have noted that the Doom Patrol shares fundamental similarities with Stan Lee's earlier title, Fantastic Four. The original lineup of both teams included four members, who did not have secret/double identities; each had a headquarters that was a public building in the middle of a major city; each team had one member with stretching powers (Rita Farr of the Doom Patrol, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four), one member with flame or flame-like powers (Larry Trainor of the DP and Johnny Storm of the FF), a member with brute strength and a freakish body, with bitterness at being trapped in it (Cliff Steele and Ben Grimm) and a member who was invisible or stayed out of the public view (Niles Caulder and Sue Storm). Both teams quarreled amongst themselves, unlike most other teams published by DC/National. This has led to assertions that the Doom Patrol were created with the Fantastic Four in mind.One commentator has stated that “it is considered common knowledge that the Doom Patrol was inspired by The Fantastic Four”.

similarities are going to exist, as i've stated, there are only so many stories and heroic figures to draw from, imitation means the original idea must have been a good one

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@djjd62,

The point I'm mkaing is they both copy each other. One comes up with an archetypical character, the other imitates it to follow suit.

FF came about as a response to the Justice League, but people compare the FF to Challengers of the Unknown.

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@djjd62,

DC has some characters rooted in science.

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@JGoldman10,

i'd say the Avengers came about as result of the Justice League (JL 1961, Avengers 1963)

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@djjd62,

Yes-case in point.

I prefer the way DC approaches comics. The Marvel stuff comes across as being very cheesy.

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@djjd62,

Who came first? Solomon Grundy or the Hulk? One's basically a knock-off of the other.

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I would go with DC-most of the stuff Marvel does seems like cheap knockoffs or cheap imitations of DC stuff.

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going through my collections i own more DC than Marvel, but all the stuff i have i like, in fact one of my favourite collections comes from America's Best Comics*, a series by Alan Moore and gene ha called Top Ten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_10_(comics)

the art is amazing and filled with tons of references to other comic books and even comic strips

The series is noted for its comic-book references and visual "sight gags" relating to the genre. For example, a caped street-corner watch-vendor uses a cardboard sign advertising "signal watches", and a hot-dog vendor cooks his wares with heat vision. One plotline involves a boy-band called Sidekix whose hit single was called "Holy Broken Hearts". Likewise, most advertising, signage and graffiti in the Top 10 universe contains references to the world of comic books and super powers (e.g. a clothing store called "The Phonebooth") and crowd scenes usually feature many characters from sci-fi and comic books.

* interestingly enough, ABC is an imprint of Wildstorm, which is an imprint of DC

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Which do you prefer? DC or Marvel Comics?

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