Marvel or DC?

[Word]

The most important question in the universe, yet there was no thread about it here.
Since they are slowly conquering our entire culture, or what is left of it....I pick DC.

[compguygene]

Now this is quite possibly the most important topic of the age. Marvel, of course. Before I even argue this, consider that I am from Cleveland, Ohio, where Superman was born, and I still think that Marvel is better. Marvel has made more good quality movies. In fact, one could argue that many of the innovative things happened at Marvel first and later at DC.

[Word]

No.

Compare:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M ... ero_debuts

and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superhero_debuts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... ain_debuts

Marvel basically needed 20 years to copy half the DC characters of the early 40s! Personally, I like Batman and his rogues gallery more than all these colorful Marvel characters combined. While DC characters evolved and had a long history before they were gradually put in the same world as DC became bigger (and made some awful decisions here and there), the 50s and 60s Marvel characters all look like some people spent just a few days thinking of the best possible rip-offs of DC-characters, updated to the social norms of that time, of course. With the exception of Spider-Man. Who doesn't like Spider-Man?

What I don't like about *any* of the recent superhero movies is how the heroes in it just save the day without ever questioning the current world order/economic system etc., they're so apolitical and bloodless that one wonders why someone like Bane is actually the bad guy, or why HYDRA is so much worse than SHIELD.

[aP|Nelg]

Personally, I personally, don't personally have a favorite comic thing personally...

[S0lutai]

DC has the two heroes in which everything else is based: Superman/Batman. In addition, the Justice League is more powerful than any marvel group which in an imaginary confrontation I think DC would win, I think overall its heroes are stronger (Kingdom Come would be a good argument for what I mean) .Now well, I think the Marvel universe is far superior. There
are much richer characters psychologically, it's much easier to distinguish between themmuch more interesting to see what kind of human relations they build between each other and how they live (and to illustrate this, I think it is good to take the Ultimates 1 and 2 from Mark Millar, or the Civil War by the same author) .I think overall Marvel universe is better.
Marvel had many more ideas and was more risky than dedicated. DC was dedicated to honor, and multiply its most iconic heroes, than anything else. I also believe that what justifies why Marvel Universe is richer is that
We can imagine a map with all its regions and the enormous cohesion that exists including: Wilderness, wakanda, the arctic or the inhuman part of the mun, Genosha and the asteroid M, Utopia, the Stark tower and avengers headquarters, the Baxter building, the Xavier School , tabula rasa, mutant neighborhood, hell's kitchen .... and I am missing many to name! Besides other diversity
I think it makes Marvel win as universe.
In short: What is most powerful universe? I think DC. What universe is
better: Marvel for its internal cohesion and its fine division of roles.

[aP|Nelg]

When a science teacher has a "I love DC" magnet on his board, does that mean Washington DC, DC comics, or DC electricity?

[Phytotron]

I don't read comics, but I have come to follow some of the stuff going on with and surrounding them. And on that point, I would have to go with Marvel simply for a lot of the initiatives and whatnot they've been taking in recent times, regarding women and diversity. Not to suggest they're there yet; they continue to take missteps, and there's still a long way to go before comics are brought out of the regressive boys' cave in which they've long dwelt—both in the pages and among those who create them. But I have to give credit for their trying and where they've succeeded.

Also, I really dislike Batman, at least and especially this current "Dark Knight" incarnation. I'm incredibly tired of dark, gritty, brooding, edgy, morally ambiguous, cynical, macho bullshit that has been the fashion over the last 15 years. Not to mention he's a super wealthy white playboy gadgeteer who's just so fed up with all the namby-pamby bleeding hearts who can't seem to get anything done and just get in the way of his punching crime in the face. Also, I despise anyone who thinks the Joker is cool.

But I do like Superman. But again, not a "dark" Superman.


That said, in terms of actual reading, I'm not all that interested in superheros. I am somewhat interested in reading some Image stuff—Bitch Planet and Saga, in particular. I'm also interested in Y: The Last Man. A few other things. Dunno if I'll ever get around to reading any of it, though.

[sinewav]

I'm going with Marvel even though "Don't Care" would probably be more appropriate.

I was probably, unintentionally, indoctrinated at an early age. While I was very fond of my Batman Underoos™ and the 1960s Batman show starring Adam West, it was my babysitter who first inspired me to draw superheroes. I wanted to be like him, and he liked Marvel Comics. But even as I got older and had a healthy exposure to the DC universe, I still liked Marvel Heroes better. TV shows were more entertaining. The comics were more interesting.

Of course, neither Marvel or DC could compete with alternative comics and Japanese imports, so I could just as easily say "don't care" about the comparison between these two pioneering publishers. Let's also not forget Pulp Comics from EC (especially Weird Science/Fantasy), which I still buy. But if we are talking about popular IPs of today, I'm a huge fan of IDW's Transformers. The writing is unbelievable.

These days the only thing DC beats Marvel at has to do with a weird DC Heroine fetish I've developed over the last few years. There, I said it. I have a fetish.

[Word]

white playboy gadgeteer who's just so fed up with all the namby-pamby bleeding hearts who can't seem to get anything done and just get in the way of his punching crime in the face

Even if you're exaggerating I'd say you're wrong there. Sure he is ridiculously rich, but his city is so hellishly corrupt that becoming a vigilante seems the only right thing to do in his position. And the "macho"-comment misses the part that psychologically he's always the boy-who-saw-his-parents-killed-in-front-of-him, regardless how much money he has or how many criminals he can put in jail. I think most Batman-fans would agree that he's a supposed to be a very sad, tragic Sisyphus-like character. At the end of the day, he knows he doesn't really get anything done either, and the Joker is always there to remind him of that.

Not to suggest they're there yet; they continue to take missteps, and there's still a long way to go before comics are brought out of the regressive boys' cave in which they've long dwelt—both in the pages and among those who create them. But I have to give credit for their trying and where they've succeeded.

I'd argue that DC already took these steps long before Marvel did (Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Barbara Gordon, Cyborg, John Stewart and gay Hal Jordan being the best examples. In more recent times even Lois Lane or Vicki Vale got more self-conscious. And the current CW shows are so diverse that it seems a little too forced - it's like each minority/sex/race is represented by one half of the characters). Marvel can now claim to revolutionize comics because DC (home of MAD, after all) did a lot of these things right from the start.

Also, I really dislike Batman, at least and especially this current "Dark Knight" incarnation. I'm incredibly tired of dark, gritty, brooding, edgy, morally ambiguous, cynical, macho bullshit that has been the fashion over the last 15 years.

I really like "The Long Halloween" (almost every notable supervillain from the rogue's gallery makes an appearance in that plot), because it puts Batman in a classic detective role. I wish the films would explore that direction some more. Arkham City was very close to that. I don't really care about Batman himself, he's a stand-in; but the city and the rogues gallery make the stories interesting (granted, the Joker is overused).

DC beats Marvel at has to do with a weird DC Heroine fetish I've developed over the last few years

Catwoman?

[Pre]

DC beats Marvel at has to do with a weird DC Heroine fetish I've developed over the last few years

Catwoman?

Harley Quinn, silly. Who doesn't like Harley Quinn.

[Word]

Me. Her voice ruined half of TAS for me when I was a kid (in the German version at least, which I assume is the same you watched at that time).

[sinewav]

DC beats Marvel at has to do with a weird DC Heroine fetish I've developed over the last few years

Catwoman?

Harley Quinn, silly. Who doesn't like Harley Quinn.

Catwoman, no. Harley, yes. But mostly Power Girl, Wonder Woman, and sometimes Batgirl.

[Phytotron]

Just because women or people of color exist in a comic or other media, doesn't mean it's a positive representation. And that definitely goes for "heroines" in comics. Existing isn't trailblazing. They can still be sexist or compromised representations.

What Taking My Daughter to a Comic Book Store Taught Me
It’s Time to Get Real About Racial Diversity in Comics


But, as I alluded to, I'm no expert, just an outside observer (which should nonetheless matter to you if you care at all how comic book culture is perceived). You're right, DC has dome some good stuff. But either way, they're still both shitty in a lot of ways. There are good points and bad points. I probably gave the impression of giving Marvel too much credit—not on the matter of who "did it first," because that doesn't necessarily mean much, but in the substance of it.

And admittedly it was also an answer for the sake of an answer, mainly just to get in the angle that matters most to me when it comes to comics, and the culture and attitudes, mainly among guys, that it engenders.