City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

The perennial debate: DC vs. Marvel

Agent White

By Agent White,
Posted on: 2012-06-01 22:51 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture

 

Posted

I've traditionally been a DC person in the DC vs. Marvel rivalry.

Traditionally, Marvel was the superhero heir to the monster and horror books. It had characters that were on the verge of losing their humanity to uncontrollable forces. It had heroes that were gripped by angst over the fact that they had powers. This angstiness gave rise to long term, soap opera plots (I quit the Fantastic Four!) and "real world" issues melodrama. Its greatest heroes were viewed with suspicion by ordinary people.

DC was based instead on classic 50s science fiction, with square jawed space explorers zapping bug eyed monsters. It had places Metropolis, the shining City of Tomorrow, and Themyscira, the earthly paradise. The virtues of the heroes engendered trust with the ordinary people, who admired and liked the heroes. The heroes shared similar goals and got along well with each other.

(I never was a heavy reader of the Batman family books, which skews my perceptions.)

The bottom line was that I perceived DC as bright and optimistic, Marvel as dark and pessimistic, and I choose bright and optimistic for my escapist entertainments.

This is partially why I feel the nu52 and the whole permacrisis period at DC have been a letdown, and especially since the nu52 I've been falling out of fandom with DC. The Xtreeem! violence was already ramping up before the reboot. The importation of Wildstorm and Vertigo elements has not helped; the gratuitous weirdness, grim moods, and decompressed writing styles from former Vertigo writers have made several books unpleasant to read.

Over yonder at AvX, Marvel is showing that it can still do huge slugfests between essentially random teams of characters the way they've always done it, and make it reasonably entertaining. DC apparently .... plans to do the same thing. What they lack is the years of practice they have over yonder. And DC takes itself too seriously. I don't see DC's version as having even half of the potential.


<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

 

Posted

I say, read what you like and the rest be damned....

You only fail if you give up. - Dana Scully

Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum - Nick Cave

We're not just destroyers, at the same time we can be saviors. - Allen Walker

 

Posted

Current continuities are ever-changing. If I were to choose a side between Marvel/DC it would have to be based on which company has had more characters that I really like. I think DC still has the edge for me on that battlefront.

Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound

 

Posted

What Tenzhi said. I haven't read comics in many years. Other than hitting a comic shop for a particular series that caught my attention like Civil War. But, back in the day (early '90s), I read almost exclusively Marvel and Image titles. Sure, I'd pick up the occasional Batman or Superman book, or if I saw a DC cover that looked really interesting I'd grab it.

Today I find that I like most of the DC characters when they show up in various cartoons (serials or movies), but still have no interest in reading the books. I still relate better to Marvel characters and if I were to take out a comic subscription or hit a shop every month for a specific title it would most likely be Marvel.

It has nothing to do with who is publishing what story and everything to do with which characters I find a connection to. DC just doesn't have very many characters that interest me.

your = Belonging to you.
you're = Contraction meaning "You are."
Ur = The name of an ancient Mesopotamian city.
ur = This is not a word.

 

Posted

Have to agree with Frosty.

DC does have afew characters that interrest/interrested me, but a lot of the times the stories just seemed...:/ Also DC has a tendency to have such powerful characters that sometimes it feels the writers can't write for that and make it interresting.

BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection

 

Posted

I always liked DCs characters, but Marvels writing in general. This has caused me a great deal of conflict. The biggest problem I had, and the reason I usually ended up buying more DC books was that Marvel had a very annoying tendency to kill off the few characters of theirs I did like. Granted, they would usually just bring them back to life three issues later, but the fact that they killed them so frequently and callously showed, in my mind, a lack of respect for the readers and eventually turned me off Marvel for good.

The garbage that DC has been doing this last year turned me off their books for good as well. If/when they retcon the new 52, I might go back to DC as I still love the characters, but I'm pretty fed up with comics completely right now.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sevenpenny View Post
I say, read what you like and the rest be damned....
That's why I still read Sonic the Hedgehog.

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/facepalm - Apply Directly to the Forehead!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shubbie View Post
Im very good at taking a problem and making it worse.

 

Posted

I've always read and liked Marvel books. It may be the more realistic approach to story telling as opposed to the fantastic approach DC takes. Some DC books I've really enjoyed as well, but most of those were in the Vertigo line, which blew away Marvel in terms of quality. I also think DC handles the cosmic/sci-fi side of story telling better.

But for the tights and tussles books I'd have to say I enjoy Marvel a lot more.

@Sylver Bayne

Pinnacle Server

 

Posted

They both stink.

Endless reboots & retcons driven by corporate policy rather than story render following either "universe" pointless. Whatever happens will be wiped clean and ignored by the next regime to come along.


Back in the day I read both, but preferred Marvel.
In retrospect, mostly due to the protean creative talent of Jack Kirby.

The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.

My City Was Gone

 

Posted

I only like the themes that you describe DC as having, so I generally just stick to those kinds of Trade Paperbacks I can find from both Marvel and DC. I don't care for real world political issues or religion to creep into comics, either, so that's another reason why I'm a bit particular about any titles I will pick up. I stick mostly to media and not comic books, though.

My brother and I have had a conversation going along lately that, at least when it comes to the animated offerings of DC and Marvel, it seems like they've done something of a swap. DC's Young Justice takes place mostly at night with grim, stiff characters who don't enjoy themselves besides offering a one-liner here and there. Contrast that with Marvel's Avengers (the first season - I haven't seen any of the second) and things are always during the day, with brighter heroes and colors, positivity and.. heroes. Young Justice just has angsty guys with superpowers.

The Paladin
Steel Canyon, Virtue
Exalted

@Paladin

 

Posted

Back when I had brand loyalty to specific characters/titles, I was a Marvel reader. I would read my favorite titles no matter what talentless hack was writing them, because I was a fan of <insert character here>. I did eventually snap out of it and recognize that good stories tend to come from good writers, and the good writers don't stay with the same title forever. So, I now follow creators that I like and I don't care who's corporate logo is on the cover.

 

Posted

shonen jump