The comic book world is divided into two main publishing companies, Marvel and DC. About 90% of all the comic books you've ever heard of come from these two companies and currently they are about even in terms of sales per month. Naturally, these two publishers have different styles of storytelling. DC is more fantastical and hokie. Marvel is more grounded, while still being about superheroes, and gritty. They're a lot like the differences between Star Wars and Star Trek. I prefer Star Trek, by the way. A few people have accused me of having a Marvel bias. I'm not an irrational person. I can see why some might think that. My blog background consists of only Marvel characters. Ninety percent of my comic book collection, of over 1,000, consists of Marvel comic books. Even my Halloween costumes have only been Marvel-related. My preference does not equal bias though. Marvel's characters are just cooler than DC's. That's a fact. To help prove this I will be presenting you with DC's most recognizable heroes and then comparing them to, not Marvel's most popular, but characters similar to those DC heroes. This will leave some of Marvel's greatests, like Spider-Man, Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Wolverine, out of the competition, seeing as how they have no immediately recognizable similarities with a popular DC hero. By giving DC this upper hand, hopefully I can hammer home the fact that Marvel's characters are better and get some people off my incredibly muscular back.Captain America vs. Superman
Superman is easily the most popular person in all of comic books. Everyone in every country has heard of him. It's no wonder why he's DC's flagship hero. Marvel's flagship: Captain America. Both are not only icons in the real world, but also in the comic book universes they belong in. They are a source of inspiration to all super heroes. Enough about their similarities though. You people came for a battle.I want to start off by saying that perhaps "battle" is the wrong word. This comparison isn't about who would win in a fight. That's Superman. He's got every power ever imagined. Of course he'd win. This "battle" is decided by which one is the better character.
Superman may be an inspiration in the DC universe, but in the real world - he's a dork. The boy scouts haven't been cool in 20 years, and Superman is no different. Also, no one likes a person with no flaws. In fact, people despise those guys. Superman is boring to read or watch because he has no real challenge. Every "conflict" of his seems manufactured. "I'm super awesome but that girl still doesn't like me." Yeah right. Lois Lane's everywhere would have no problem hooking up with big beefy Clark Kents.
Captain America is a real hero. Like Superman, Cap was created in a different era and flourished under its sensibilities. Back then, boy scouts and inspirational speeches were cool. They aren't anymore, and thankfully Marvel recognized that. In the cleverest of ways, Marvel brought Captain America into the modern era and gave him this "Man out of Time" dilemma (like Austin Powers except more serious). He still fights for morality, but must also learn to live in a world that's become mostly immoral. He also deals with espionage, terrorists, ghosts from his past, and has a hot blonde girlfriend. Oh. I forgot to mention. HE ONCE PUNCHED HITLER....IN THE FACE.
This one's easy.
Winner: Captain America
Daredevil vs. Batman
Batman might be the most popular comic book character in the world right now (thanks to Chris Nolan's amazing movie adaptations of him). I wish Daredevil got the same treatment, but Ben Affleck had a little something to say about that. Regardless, both heroes are the tortured souls of DC and Marvel. They're also the kings of what's known as "street-level" crime fighting, meaning they deal mostly with robberies and gangs as opposed to worldly threats. Which hero is cooler though?Batman is certainly more popular. He's been around decades longer, has six more live-action movies, and starred in tons of cartoons (including one really good one). He also has more interesting bad guys (don't sleep on Bullseye and Kingpin though) and, even though he doesn't have any powers, would probably beat Daredevil in a fight because he's such a great strategist and has a gadget for every possible scenario. I love Batman. I don't love Bruce Wayne though. He's just not an interesting character and I hate every attempt to make him interesting, especially Damian, his ultra annoying, ill-begotten son.
Matt Murdock, Daredevil's alter-ego (you probably didn't know that), is incredibly interesting. He's probably more fun to read about than Daredevil himself. Bruce Wayne may have witnessed his parent's death but Matt Murdock is infinitely more tortured. Not only did his father also die, but two of his girlfriends were murdered in front of him, one of which was told she was HIV positive just so a bad guy could mess with Matt's head. His blind wife was put into a mental institution. And his secret identity was outed to the press, leading to his arrest. He's a ninja too. Matt Murdock, along with Daredevil, is a great character to read about.
This is a tough one for me. A problem with Batman is that the Nolan movies are better than any Batman comic book I've read. They're good books, but Daredevil's are just so much better. My decision is sure to upset some, but if you've payed any attention, you're sure to agree.
Winner: Daredevil
Ms. Marvel vs. Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is pretty much a Lady-Superman. All the guy heroes look up to Superman in the DC universe and all the gals admire Wonder Woman. Ms. Marvel is, of course, the preeminent heroine in the Marvel universe. As far as powers go, both are remarkably similar. They can fly, are super strong, and prefer to fight in absurdly uncomfortable-looking costumes.The similarities between Wonder Woman and Superman continue past their icon statuses unfortunately. Like Superman, Wonder Woman is a prude. In the 50s, she was probably this really cool chick who could do all the things men could do. All women can do that now. Wonder Woman's characterization is stuck in the past and her super coolness faded accordingly. She's more of a stuck up old fuddy duddy now. Recent Wonder Woman writer John Michael Straczynski even said a fan wrote and complained about him livening up the character by making her flirt a little. The fan said it was like "reading about his grandma hitting on dudes." Wonder Woman a grandma?!? Say it ain't so!!!
Ms. Marvel is just as strong as Wonder Woman, but she's sassy too. She's a modern girl. She goes on dates, whines about her life, listens to Lady Gaga, and jokes around with the girls. Her heroic problems are far more interesting than Wonder Woman's also. Ms. Marvel is trying to fulfill her legacy as Captain Marvel's successor and become the most popular super hero while doing it. Every girl wants to be popular. That's what makes Ms. Marvel feel natural.
Wonder Woman has gone the way of invisible jets. Who needs her? This one isn't even that close if you think about it. Ms. Marvel, you're hot stuff. Wonder Woman, you're a hot mess.
Winner: Ms. Marvel
Iron Man vs. Green Lantern
Continuing on with the theme of judging women, here come the womanizers of comic books. Iron Man and Green Lantern are known as the fly boys of their respective publishers. Both are constantly hooking up with random women and are known to be extremely arrogant, sometimes not even in the good way. Both also led to a sort of destruction of their superhero communities. Why would anyone like them then?Surprisingly, I'm not that big a fan of the Green Lantern himself. He's not an extremely interesting character. He's just a guy who is confident in himself, so others are too. Green Lantern's appeal is the overarching story and supporting characters. No other place in comic books will you read a story more epic and fascinating then in the pages of Green Lantern. Emotional Spectrum of powers? COOL! Awesome enemies becoming allies in the face of greater evil? SWEET! Outer space? I THINK MY HEART JUST STOPPED!!! I wrote a feature story on this very blog about a single element of the greater Green Lantern mythos. That's how cool it is.
Iron Man. That's a character I'm a huge fan of. He's the kind of cocky jerk I can relate to. He's never ashamed to admit he's the best at every thing he does, and people get angry about it. I know how you feel, Tony Stark. People are mad jealous of me too. Iron Man and I are so much alike. It's too bad he has the opposite problem of Green Lantern. Iron Man's stories just aren't as interesting as the character. He fights a bunch of Iron Man wannabes and terrorists. I could watch that boring stuff on the news. It also seems like he's fighting the same Iron Man wannabes over and over again: a Stane, or Hammer, or Dynamo. His comic book series is good. Don't get me wrong. It's only good because Iron Man is such a great character though.
This one is sure to raise a few eyebrows but I just can't turn my back on awesomeness when I see it.
Winner: Green Lantern
Quicksilver vs. Flash
Here come the speedsters of DC and Marvel. They run fast. That's it.I'm not a fan of Flash. All he can do is run fast. Usain Bolt can do that. Show me something I haven't seen. Also, the source of Flash's power, the Speed Force, is a lame attempt at replicating the mythology behind the Green Lantern universe. ICK!!! He's insanely popular though. I just don't get why.
Probably none of you have even heard of Quicksilver. And for good reason. I really hate Quicksilver. At least his speed is easily explainable, however. He's a mutant. Other than that, he's got nothing going for him. Quicksilver is a crybaby and a wuss, constantly getting beat up. In fact, I want to give a quick high five to my boys, Black Bolt and Magneto, for giving him some of the most passionate beatings ever seen in print. Quicksilver's costume sucks too.
Both of these guys are losers. One just slightly less than the other.
Winner: Flash
Namor vs. Aquaman
Both of these guys are the King of Atlantis in their respective universes. When it comes to the ocean blue, these guys are unbeatable...I think. Namor is at least.This match-up really doesn't require any explanation, but I'll humor you anyway. Aquaman is the butt of every comic book joke. Family Guy makes fun of him for being useless on land. The guys on Big Bang Theory get upset when they are forced to dress up as him. Aquaman is a joke of a character and deserves zero respect.
Namor, on the other hand, is amazing. He's arrogant like the Green Lantern and Iron Man, but only in the bad way. I love that. Namor knows he's hardcore and acts so. He doesn't ask America for permission to do things that are beneficial for his country. He doesn't care if that woman is married to you. He doesn't listen to you, because he is better. Namor is also one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe, in or out of the water. I'm ashamed that my idol, King Namor, even has to be compared to that peasant, Aquaman.
Don't make me laugh.
Winner: Namor
Thor vs. Martian Manhunter
Every story needs the strong, silent type. A misunderstood tough guy. One brooding hero. Thor and Martian Manhunter fill those roles for Marvel and DC respectively. Both of these guys provide a nice contrast to the in-crowd of superhero teams because they just aren't like the other heroes. Martian Manhunter is from Mars. Thor, the God of Thunder, is from a completely different realm, Asgard. No one understands these beasts. Except me of course.If you thought Superman had every power imaginable, then Martian Manhunter will blow your mind. He actually could do that. Martian Manhunter has all of Superman's abitities along with telepathy, telekinesis, and shape shifting. He's not a dork though, so that's OK. He doesn't preach to everyone on the right way to lead their lives or rescue cats from trees. Martian Manhunter feels legitimate sadness about being trapped on Earth and having no lady martians to hook up with. All in all, he's a pretty cool dude.
Thor is the man. He may not have every power in the universe, but he has a lot of the power that he actually can wield. Practically no one is a match for the Mighty Thor. His storms of lightning, torrents of wind, and earthquakes have stopped Ice Giants, Hulks, and demons in their tracks. Even heroes have been known to fear the wrath of Thor when he's in a bad mood. I'm looking at you Iron Man. Also, the Thunder God is well known for his arrogance. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of that.
Martian Manhunter is cool, but this one isn't even fair.
Winner: Thor
Dr. Strange vs. Zatanna
Magic exists in comic books too. DC's resident mage is Zatanna Zatara. Marvel has Stephen Strange, or Dr. Strange if you know him well enough. Which one is truly magical though?Zatanna is a girl. She's got that going for her. Her costume is pretty cute too. Other than that, she's pretty lame. Zatanna usually has to say what she wants to do, except backwards, in order to cast a spell. So to defeat her, her enemies shut her up. I guess that's some sort of symbolism that a woman's power is "running her mouth." Shame on you comic book creators. What's next? Making her secret headquarters a kitchen? That is so anti-feminist.
Dr. Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme. I could stop right there and you'd be willing to agree with my final decision, but I'll continue anyway. The Sorcerer Supreme is the person responsible for keeping tabs of all the magic in the world. Suffice to say that Doctor Strange is an important guy. He's also capable of incredibly powerful feats, such as altering the memories of every human on the planet or time travel. Additionally he protects us from monsters wanting to control our dreams and demons wanting to steal our souls. Thanks for that Doc.
Zatanna has some potential of becoming cool, but Dr. Strange is already there, girlfriend.
Winner: Dr. Strange
Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow
Not every hero on a superhero team has to have super powers. These two guys are just Average Joes. Unless you consider archery a super power. I sure do.Green Arrow is pretty much just a Robin Hood ripoff. He's a guy who brings street smarts to the fancy superheroes. Other than that, he's an ancillary character at best. Oh. And he's a complete Robin Hood ripoff.
Hawkeye represents the value of hard work in the Marvel Universe. He's always been the world's greatest marksman, but never quit trying to prove himself. Idolizing Captain America, Hawkeye would eventually become a world-class fighter, battle-tested strategist, and all-important leader. In fact, Hawkeye has been on as many Avenger rosters throughout the years as Iron Man has.
Green Arrow is a bologna. Hawkeye is fillet mignon.
Winner: Hawkeye
What? The competition's over already? Let's see who won. Dang that was a butt-whooping. By my count, Marvel wins 7 to 2. And only one of those is a legitimate victory. Flash only won because he sucked less than Quicksilver. Even with home court advantage, DC wasn't able to put up a fight. So get off my back, all you haters. I have proved that Marvel's characters are just better than DC's. Simple as that. Like what I said? Please comment. Disagreed? Comment then too so I can see exactly what's wrong with you. Also, leave a comment about some of your favorite heroes that I failed to mention. We can shoot the breeze. Follow me on Twitter while you're at it, @SoKoJohn.
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On a side note, DC does have one thing going for it. Conan O'Brien's comic book character, the Flaming C, was created at DC and is probably one of the coolest I've seen in almost forever. He's the first superhero to ever wear loafers, has an oven mitt that stays warm forever, and sports the Star of David. The next big thing I tell you!!!
Good read. I agree with a lot of what you say but I think you left out some good points.
ReplyDeleteSuperman - One of his biggest issues is that he has so much power but is afraid to use it in fear of hurting others. His boy scout mentality almost serves as an inhibitor to his power. Between trying to avoid friendly fire and not do too much harm to villians he can arguably be the weakest guy in the fight. I think that restraint makes him more interesting than people give him credit for.
Batman - I think you kind of downplayed Bruce anit, especially in regards to personal tragedy. While his parent's death made him, he has been molded by much more. The death of a sidekick which he is responsible for, falling for not one but two villans, his own "death," decades of intense mental and physical trainig (which includes subjecting himself to numerous poisons and toxins), the paralyzing of Barbara Gordon, etc... I also think the fact that most other heroes dislike him yet time and again turn to him for help solidifies his spot as one of the strongest heroes out there. Damian does suck, though.
Green Arrow - While I will agree that Hawkeye us better, I do not believe Arrow is as bad as you say. I think he fits well as a modern Robin Hood
(rich boy liberal). He had also had some
interesting story arcs involving side kicks (one
speedy was a heroin addict and another one HIV
positive.
Green Lantern - I think one of his most interesting characteristics is his "fall from grace giant screw up" story.
Now that is a good comment. You make some really good points about Bruce Wayne. Thank you for putting them in the comments because I couldn't put everything in so as not to slow down the pace of the read. I knew picking Matt Murdock over Bruce would cause the uproar, but I stick by my guns. Matt Murdock is more messed up than Bruce Wayne. HIV positive? Daaaaaang.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple points to make.
ReplyDelete1. I'm so not rude. Know why?? Because I left a comment.
2. You're right. I've never heard of Quicksilver and didn't know DareDevil's real name.
3. Who best compares to Squirrel Girl??
I have so many problems with why, in your opinion, Ms. Marvel is the winner. Not knowing anything about her heroic issues, you more or less crowned her the victor because she is a stereo typical girl. To be honest, all GIRLS may want to be popular, whine about their life, listen to Lady GaGa, chat with the girls and go on dates, but WOMEN have a different set of priorities. You case for Ms. Marvel is weak to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a close call, but I'm a bigger Ryan Reynolds fan than Robert Downy Jr., so let's say I agree on your Iron Man vs. Green Lantern assessment..
I have an issue with Thor being straight up ripped off from Norse mythology. They don't even try to change his name or anything about him, it's like they got lazy and went "Eff it man, that mythological story sounded good, we'll just do that." And then you call Green Arrow a Robin Hood ripoff? For shame!
I'm pretty sure I'm going to smack you just for reading into the whole Zatanna thing the way you did. Oh John, you really belonged in the fifties...
I will give you the fact that you seem to married to Marvel for the reason that Marvel characters seem more realistic, flawed, and well rounded. I can appreciate and understand that. Had I enough experience reading comics from either publisher, I would also base my decisions of loyalty on the characters and how complex they were.
But you're still a Marvel snob...
P.S. I totally knew who Quicksilver was, I had a Quicksilver action figure when I was little... Yea that's right, I had action figures!
Squirrel Girl is too hot for comparison. If I had to though, maybe she'd be most like Batwoman. Only because they're both lesbians though. Batwoman would own her thanks to some all-time great art by J.H. Williams III. It's Kanye great.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Batman maybe better than Daredevil because he's a billionaire who uses his mad cash flow for primarily altruistic reasons. He has a pretty dope Bat cave and wise butler. This is purely biased opinion seeing as though I dont know to much about Daredevil. I've seen the movie (evanesence montage was tight) and know that Brubraker (sp?) wrote his stuff recently so it should by default be awesome. I guess i can see that comparing them as their alter egos would be the most appropriate way to come to a decision, but alas the Nolan films and the arkham asylum game makes it tough for me to vote for DD..eez nutz.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing first, I'm dissapointed in the lack of Thanos v. Darkseid. You should never pass up a chance to talk up my boy and yours, the consort of Death herself, Sir Thanos.
ReplyDeleteI can't say much for a lot of these matchups, seeing as I'm not much of a DC reader. If anything, as you know, I'm probably an Image guy.
Let's start with DD v. Batman. I agree with your analysis on this one, but I want to throw this in there: Devil in Cell Block D. That arc really put him on the map for me, and as Murdock no less. This is when Foggy "dies," and Matt That was all about the crap that he goes through as part of his normal life, and just how close he comes to the edge. You know you're screwin up when the Punisher tells you not to go too far. Hmm...Punisher v. Somebody could've been good...not entirely sure who a good opponent would be.
Iron Man v. GL...gotta go with Iron Man here. The man has his issues (loves him some whiskey) but you have to admit he stands behind his decisions (WWH, Civil War, Clor to name a few recent ones). Also, I don't think setting and related characters counts for "character", so I'm gonna side with the money on this one.
Quicksilver v. Flash...First of all, the Speed Force isn't remotely Green Lantern-esque, excepting that it is the source of power for the speedsters. But seeing as every hero has some source or other, that similarity is moot. And do people really not know of Quicksilver? He was always my favorite Brotherhood member. Apparently I have a thing for speedsters. But I digress. One of my favorite things about Flash has always been his connection to his city (Keystone City I believe). This is awesomely presented in Kingdom Come, where his city is one of the safest places on Earth due to his constant intervention. Also, he outruns Death on a regular basis. Ballin'.
And though it contributes nothing to the argument, Fuck Yeah Namor.
As for the rest, I'm not familiar enough with the DC characters to argue the case in either direction. Although Cap probably does beat out Supes. The whole most powerful being ever thing really hurts his character development. I think you may have something going there about Zatanna though.
These are the best comments I have ever gotten. This post might even rival my Lanterns one. Julianna, when girls buy toys, they're dolls. Not action figures :-P. Scot, you are a total DC guy. You're my DC expert. And thank you for some Daredevil love. I've been getting way too much flack for that. Alfredo, Daredevil is cooler because his comic book stories are cooler. Of course Batman has the better movies and games. I can't believe you didn't give Namor some love either after what he did for you at Universal.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this battle between Marvel and D.C. I would have to say each company has its own interests and limits in mind when they're choosing to deviate from a set character model that they've stood by. I can say that D.C. may have a harder time to provide more mature and involving characters and storyline because they're target market now seems to be mainly child to teenage market IMO. And when you market to kids you have to worry about values and other crap because the parents have to approve of it (or should) before they buy it for their kids. While Marvel's target market apparently is John. So they need to keep a more progressive and mature portfolio to keep his interest.
ReplyDeleteBut what was with this straight up trashing of Flash? Quicksilver may suck, but Flash has a some redeeming qualities at least. His character is pretty witty and cocky providing comic relief. I personally felt his powers progress compared to other heroes since the power of speed depends more on the creativity of the author more than anything IMO (some of the stuff Flash does in later Ultimate Justice League is pretty sick). And to me his character always seemed the most down to earth hero around outside of spiderman.
And of course Universal had the right idea for image placing of Namor in their park...right above some obscure restroom area.
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You haven't proven that Marvel is better than DC. All you have proven is that they are most likely equal with nothing but personal bias tipping the scale.
ReplyDeleteDC is better because on a whole, more characters are better. Sure you don't like the Flash, but which one? There has been four. Do you like all the Green Lanterns, including Guy Gardner? Aquaman is awesome, no matter what people say. And Zatanna and Doctor Strange don't really compete. If you are basing this off of which two characters are the most similar and then which of those is better, then you should be comparing Doctor Fate and Doctor Strange.
You most definitely are a Marvel fan.
Also, Batman is a driving force behind the Justice League. Other members of the Bat clan are all leaders in whatever team they are on. He is the person who can take down anyone. Ironman couldn't do that.
ReplyDeleteActually, most of the heroes on this list, well the DC ones anyways, all have sidekicks. None of the Marvel heroes have sidekicks. Which means that the DC universe is better off, overall, with an actual hero community. Batman has trained four Robins and two Batgirls, as well as Batman Incorporated and Spoiler and Huntress.
Green Arrow has trained Red Arrow, Arrowete, and Artemis.
Superman has Supergirl, Powergirl, and Superboy.
And the Flashes are all practically family.
I could really go on, I guess, but I think my point is made. In Marvel, the superheroes can barely put their ego aside to avert one disaster, and it seems are always on the edge of going to war with each other. In DC, most of the superheroes figure out how to survive several different apocalypses by working together.