DC versus Marvel: different styles

[FenrisUlf]

Someone commented in another thread about the differing styles of Marvel and DC comics. Just what are they? The biggest difference I can think of between Marvel and DC is that the 'mundanes' are basically decent and grateful to the heroes in the DC-verse (well, usually), while in the Marvel-verse the best you dare hope for is that they merely want to use you to make some quick money. More often 'mundane' in Marvel seems to be just a synonym for 'ungrateful fascist rat-@@@@ard'.

 

Those are the main differences I can think of off the top of my head. Any others?

 

PS -- By 'mundane' I mean 'a normal person who isn't a criminal.'

[bigdamnhero]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

In general, I tend to think of DC as being more bronzeish with silver highlights, while Marvel tends more towards Bronze-Iron. Of course, there are numerous exceptions to that rule. Back in the day, Marvel was much more interested in dealing with who the person under the mask was (ie - we saw as much of Peter Parker as we did of Spider Man). But DC has long since caught up in that area IMO.

 

[Edit: another way of saying the same thing is that Marvel tends to prefer more well-rounded characters, while many of DC's characters always seemed rather two-dimensional to me. IMHO, of course.]

[Duke]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I read an article in Wizard ages ago concerning this as well. I think the main point driven was the fact that alter ego in each company was handled differently.

 

Marvel would strive for that alter ego to become real where DC didn't really go to far into their characters.

 

That was the main point of the argument, though in the article it bantered back and forth stating that it was or wasn't true and provided rich examples.

 

Of course now I'm thinking of the ending of Kill Bill II where the conversation was that Supermans essay on what he thought sumerized the people of earth was Clark Kent. Weak and pathetic. Or something like that.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

It really depends, but you are more likely to get negative reactions in Marvel.

 

Couple of factors:

 

1) anti-mutant sentiment does not equal anti-super sentiment. Only an issue with mutant heroes, so largely confined to the X-books and sometimes causes problems for mutant Avengers and the like.

 

2) Spider-Man. Gets widely differing reactions largely depending on if people read the Bugle or not, and if they believe Jameson or not. For all the "get him he's a menace!" times, there've also been plenty of instances of normal folks thanking Spidey or even helping him, including attacking villains to help him out.

 

3) Thing. Marvel generally has more unusual-looking heroes, which leads to some of the issues.

 

4) More crossover. Some of the distrust is earned and deserved. Lots of heroes that used to be villains, and guys like Hulk and Sub-Mariner that seem to switch sides at the drop of a hat. More likely to be suspicious of a "hero" if his buddy just tried to invade Maryland last week.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

My view on it, in general, and I'm biased towards DC.

 

In DC you read about heroes, and sometimes we don't spend as much time on the human side of the equation. Most of the struggles you see are hero vs Villian.

 

In Marvel you read about people with superpowers. Not always (or even mostly) heroes. The happen to do superpowered good deeds, but we don't spend time on thier heroic side, we see thier personal struggles instead.

 

I have enough personal struggles, so I prefer to read about heroes.

[Blue]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

They're closer together than they've ever been previously.

 

Me thinks...

 

DC does have the grateful populace.

MARVEL has the fearful mutant-haters.

 

DC at least pays lip service to ideals (or did).

MARVEL tries to be grittier, with heroes doing things heroes shouldn't do.

 

DC has a wealth of characters whose names end in "boy", "girl", "man", "woman", "lass", "lad", etc.

MARVEL has some too, but not to the degree (and definitely not the lasses and lads).

 

DC seems to run on a higher power scale as an average. JLA are god like.

MARVEL is still strong, but generally speaking the average character is below that in ability. Avengers aren't gods.

 

Sounds like I'm a Marvel Hater, but truth be told, I'm more of a Marvel fan.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

DC seems to run on a higher power scale as an average. JLA are god like.

MARVEL is still strong, but generally speaking the average character is below that in ability. Avengers aren't gods.

 

Actually at the high end they are much closer to each other.

 

And the last line you quoted I find amusing, not in a mocking way mind you, because Thor is/was an Avenger, and the closest to Gods that the JLA got were the few times the New Genesisians were on the team.

 

And while I tend DC, I'm not a Marvel hater. I usually run about half as many Marvel Comics as DC in my pull list.

[CandidGamera]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I definitely have a DC bias. I like my heroes larger than life.

 

I've collected a lot of Marvel over the years, too - but with Marvel I find the characters interest me less, in general. I think most of them are too whiny and introspective. DC's just got a better sense of fun, in general, though the recent dark times have begun to tarnish that a little.

 

Still, unless they kill him in his reported cameo in 52, DC has Ambush Bug.

[Kelcyron]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

We had a discussion about this over the weekend. DC's flagship characters (Superman, Wonder Woman, etc) are almost entirely larger than life and "True Heros" (I won't get into what's going on with Infinite Crisis). Marvel's flagship characters (Captain America, Iron Man, etc) are generally more "human".

 

So while Marvel's characters are somewhat easier to relate to, DC's are more what we should aspire to.

 

Kelcyron

[Enforcer84]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I used to be a marvellite because...I dont' know. Now they both suck like hoovers imo so I don't read them.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

So while Marvel's characters are somewhat easier to relate to, DC's are more what we should aspire to.

Kelcyron

 

I like that. I may quote you at the comic shop.

[Manchine]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

When I think of DC I think of Greater Power in general. When I think of Marvel I think of the Average Person becoming so much more.

 

On an Average DC seems to have a Higher Power Scale. I know Marvel FAR more then I know DC. It just seems like you can relate to Marvel Characters better. Which is the reason why I like Marvel more then DC.

 

I am a big Villain Fan. One BIG thing is Marvel Villains seem to be so much more powerful then Marvels Heroes. The DC side its the opposite, the heroes are so much more powerful then the villains.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

One BIG thing is Marvel Villains seem to be so much more powerful then Marvels Heroes. The DC side its the opposite' date=' the heroes are so much more powerful then the villains.[/quote']

That's a good observation. A few obvious exceptions like Darkseid, but on the average I think you're right.

[Blue]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I agree. That's actually a good point regarding villain strength.

[megaplayboy]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

Mutant stuff in Marvel tends to be "walled off" in a manner similar to the way Gotham stuff is walled off in DC(that is, it seems to be segregated from the rest of the universe most of the time).

[Duke]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

Last year I started collecting comics again, and I've managed to nail down a few titles that I liked with Marvel, but I've been bouncing all over with DC trying to find a few titles that are worth collecting.

 

Anyone have any suggestions of titles worth reading at DC?

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

Last year I started collecting comics again, and I've managed to nail down a few titles that I liked with Marvel, but I've been bouncing all over with DC trying to find a few titles that are worth collecting.

 

Anyone have any suggestions of titles worth reading at DC?

 

I've been pretty pleased with JSA (Justice Society of America), and have enjoyed the new LSH (Legion of Super Heroes), but I don't think it's fully hit its stride yet. I don't know how the various titles will look with the "One Year Later" changes yet, so can't really comment on much else.

[OddHat]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I used to be more of a DC fan, and used to read both. Now I only read TPBs, and prefer America's Best Comics and Astro City.

 

DC used to be the place to go for vastly overpowered heroes who engaged in fairly silly adventures.

 

Marvel was the place to go for immature people with powers who spent most of their time whinging, being smacked around and getting mind raped.

 

Now both companies are mostly Marvel.

 

On the good side, DC presented Iconic characters who strove to embody the Heroic Ideal. Adventures could be epic or absurd.

 

Marvel presented real people with real problems who also happened to have Super Powers. Adventures could be epic or entirely human in scale.

 

Now, the lines are much less pronounced.

[Duke]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I've been pretty pleased with JSA (Justice Society of America)' date=' and have enjoyed the new LSH (Legion of Super Heroes), but I don't think it's fully hit its stride yet. I don't know how the various titles will look with the "One Year Later" changes yet, so can't really comment on much else.[/quote']

 

I have not tried those titles as of yet and I was thinking of it. I'll give them a shot. I was collecting Detective and Action for awhile, and I thought they would for sure be great books since they are the staples but I didn't like them as much as I was hoping I would.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[David Johnston]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I came up with a series of splinter universes in which some of the semi-segregated realities of Marvel were fully segregated. As I recall my universes included:

 

Xverse: Powers come from being a mutant, alien, robot or cyborg.

Widespread fear and loathing from normal humans toward anyone or anything with powers.

 

Strangeverse: Powers come from magic. Normal humans are oblivious

to the paranormal and sorcerers erase evidence that would convince them

otherwise, including people's memories, en masse if necessary.

 

Ironverse: Powers come from costumes with circuitry in them and high tech weapons (including robots), created by corporations and governments to deniably duel with each other for power and profit. The distinction between a corporation and a criminal organisation is iffy.

Normal humans are perfectly aware of the existence of the costumed warriours but largely unconcerned about them and ignorant of the secret agendas they represent.

 

Ameriverse: Powers come from deliberate human enhancement experimentation and weapons development carried out by major governments and a plethora of loosely related secret societies dedicated to taking over the world. Since the subjects are chosen for loyalty the conflicts are intensely ideological. Normal people judge heroes depending how their own personal ideological stance conforms with the apparent stance of the hero, with adoration or great hostility.

 

Thorverse: Powers come from being an alien (some of whom were once worshipped as gods by primitive humans) or being a human altered by an alien's powers or in possession of an alien artifact. What humans think or don't think about the alien warriours who sometimes battle among them doesn't really matter and isn't gone into.

 

Note that in reality, though, Avengers spans all of these "realities" from time to time depending on the precise storyline. Thus, although they don't constantly deal with hostility toward mutants and mutant efforts to conquer humanity they have encountered it on many occasions, as well as Iron Man's villainous Roxxon corporation, Thor's godlike aliens, and Captain America's Hydra and Communist opponents.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I have not tried those titles as of yet and I was thinking of it. I'll give them a shot. I was collecting Detective and Action for awhile, and I thought they would for sure be great books since they are the staples but I didn't like them as much as I was hoping I would.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

While some comics talk goes on here on the Champions forum, there's also usually a good bit of it on the NGD forum as well. Two threads are threatening to become regular features, "you really should be reading..." and "general comics discussion of latest issues". Worth browsing through, but there are bound to be some spoilers.

[Lemurion]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I've addressed this on other fora, but I think this is a good place as well.

 

I think a large part of it stems from the fact that the two companies drew their original inspirations from very different sources.

 

In many ways, DC comes out of the pulps of the thirties, titles like Doc Savage, and to a lesser extent from the SF pulps of the same era. Characters in this genre are larger than life, more capable than those around them, able to solve problems that are otherwise impossible. It follows the SF belief that the universe is fundamentally rational, and that problems can be solved. There is a reason why DCs Green Lantern Corps resembles EE "Doc" Smith's Galactic Patrol with its Gray Lensmen.

 

Marvel's genesis, and I'm speaking of Marvel as an entity, not the Timely-era characters that predate Marvel, comes more from Horror than SF. It follows the Horror paradigm that there are things outside our understanding and beyond our power, and places characters in those situations. Just as horror characters are normal human beings, so are Marvel characters, at least in their origins. They also have to contend with things that cannot be resolved. Characters like the Watcher, and Galactus show this aspect of Marvel-- immensely powerful, and largely incomprehensible.

 

The two have moved closer, what with creator crossovers and many years of storytelling, but the difference in their origins remains, and that's one reason why there will always be people who prefer one or the other.

[Manchine]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

Last year I started collecting comics again, and I've managed to nail down a few titles that I liked with Marvel, but I've been bouncing all over with DC trying to find a few titles that are worth collecting.

 

Anyone have any suggestions of titles worth reading at DC?

 

The DC titles I am reading right now are Teen Titans (This is the best DC book IMO), Super Girl, JSA, and Flash.

 

If you don't count the Ultimate universe. I read more DC then I do Marvel

[lapsedgamer]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

I hated DC when I was a kid. I have always liked DC. I didn't even read many DC titles until they came out with Wolfman/Perez Titans and the Giffen Legion. I did like the old school Legion, but that's about it. In the 80s, I liked a lot of the Vertigo stuff, and of course Dark Knight and Watchmen.

 

Marvel books have always been a more worthwhile read for me. Maybe I'm secretly a soap opera fan. I like a little angst with my heroics. With the exception of Batman, most of the DC characters weren't that interesting to me back in the day. I don't even think Batman was that dark when I was coming up until Miller put his stamp on the character. I did like Green Arrow when he was busy being a general social irritant.

 

However, Marvel wins hands down. Think about the classic heroic, yet tortured, souls they came up with: The Thing, Captain America, Spider-Man. Stop to realize that Hollywood is making millions, and entertaining a lot of people, with storylines that Stan Lee wrote forty years ago in a so-called child's medium. It was just good classic stuff.

[Mike W]

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles

 

Here's my perception:

 

Marvel - characters are better developed, more human, but the best are still what we should aspire to be(e.g. Capt. America). But they have human failings so we can't worship them blindly. They are definitely less powerful than DC characters on average. The world is much grittier as well. In Marvel, heroes are treated with guarded suspicion, like a friendly nuclear ally or something. We like you, but we're afraid of you so don't mind if we're working on a plan to wipe you out over here - just in case.

 

DC - characters, until recently often seemed flat and a bit too "perfect". They didn't have moral crisises. They didn't even have to think, they just acted. More than anything, they had(and still have) godlike power that is far beyond Marvel frontline heroes and it tends to weaken the stories. Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern in particular are so powerful that it's almost impossible to challenge them when they are going full power. No one in Flash's regular rogue's gallery outside of Zoom and Grodd are even close to his power level. Maybe Weather Wizard or Abra Cadabra but even then, Flash really has more trouble with them than he should. Outside of Thor, Marvel doesn't really have anyone like that as a mainline hero(sorry, I don't count the Hulk as a hero). Jean Grey and a couple of the X-men seem close, but then Magneto shows up. DC heroes also lived in a nice simple world where everything was black and white and public opinion was almost always in their favor. I think Busiek summed it up very well in the JLA/Avengers crossover he wrote.