Marvel vs DC, who kicks arse?!

[Inner-Demon]

Marvel. The company has been at the forefront of amazing story-telling for over 40 years now. Spider-Man is a true testament to their work, bridging amazing storytelling and character driven pieces with intense action and great cliffhangers.

Then there's Captain America, a great and classic standing hero, a hero which all of Marvel aspires to. Marvel just has a great grip of their characters, they know how to work them, and the writers and artists they have on board are all spectacular. Yeah, Marvel has its misses. The Aunt May lookalike, the Clone Saga, Wolverine: Origins, and a few others. But it has so many more wins then it does loses.

DC, on the other hand, has rarely ever had a sense of character with their books beyond being put in tights. The villains have never been as deep, and the heroes are often one-dimensional. Batman is the only good thing to come from DC comics. And that's had more misses than it has wins. DC has no idea of how to handle their characters and often has them all over the place without any real sense of continuity or depth.

By the way, it doesn't take a fanboy to know who created Batman, that would be Bob Kane and Bill Finger, but Kane usually gets all the credit. And Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and the thing is, I HATE Superman. So, it doesn't take a fanboy to know those types of things. These are legends in comics, considering Batman and Superman were created some 30-odd years before Spider-Man ever hit the stands.

That doesn't give DC any weight over this debate, but it is something that should be pointed out.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

...No....That'd be Captain America...and Uncle Sam. Batman is the icon of Gotham City, and Superman is the icon of Metropolis. There's a slight difference. :l

No. You ask anyone who the comic book icons are and they instantly tell you Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. With indifferance to Wonder Woman and Flash. Unless the person has an interest, no one gives a damn about Captain America. Especially when Superman is the All American hero.

...I dunno about the green energy part...but as for power rings...can you say "Wonder Twin Powers Activate"? I'd also mention Captain Planet, but he just should be aloud to count as a super hero.

Wonder Twins first appearance: Super Friends #7 in October 1977.
Captain Planet was created by Ted Turner in 1990.
Green Lantern Hal Jordan was created by John Broome and Gil Kane in October 1959. First appearance - Showcase #22.
Green Lantern Alan Scott was created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell in July 1940. First appearance - All-American Comics #16.

Tell me, how can it be cliche when there was nothing like it before it was created?

Wh....what?! You find a red streak of man zooming past you more believable than a hairy muscular man with a cigar standing in your back yard, asking you a question ending with the phrase "bub"? Imagination's nice, but there are points where you should just draw the line.

Wolverine is a completely over the top character. And is designed to be such. A character like Wolverine wouldn't be able to exist in the real world. I can easily imagine Bart being my best friend. Or Wally as my uncle or Barry as a family friend.

You can't complain about radioactivity or genetic mutation, claiming it's cliche just to turn around and say that coming from a different planet isn't. Even though Superman and Batman are two of the most iconic superheroes out there, who other than a fan boy can name their creators? No one. Everybody know Stan Lee. Most know Jack Kirby. THAT'S where Marvel greatly exceeds over DC.

Evolution and radioactivity is predominant through the Marvel U. It's overuse makes it cliche and Stan Lee himself even said he was just taking the easy way out.
Name me another character who sent from another planet. Before 1938.
Quite alot of people can name the creators of Superman and Batman. Inner just proved that. The only reason people know Stan Lee is because of the over-exposure of Marvel in today's media. And he's still alive. Hardly any of the original creators from the 1940's are.

There's a saying "The student has surpassed the master." This is a case where it fits best. Marvel does have many characters based off of DC's, but these characters have more prowess. Not to mention, as I said before, The Phoenix and Dr. Strange could take on ANYONE from the DC universe (sticking to the subject of this thread). Grounded characters they are not. Sure, Phoenix is dead now, but so is Captain Marvel. If you can use him, then I can use The Phoenix.

Let's put Phoenix up against the Spectre then. The Spririt of Vengeance would have a field day. And uh, Captain Marvel isn't dead. The Wizard Shazam is, and so Captain Marvel has become the wizard Marvel, but that's it. Strange may be a master of magic. But Marvel is now the guy who regulates it.

DC, on the other hand, has rarely ever had a sense of character with their books beyond being put in tights. The villains have never been as deep, and the heroes are often one-dimensional. Batman is the only good thing to come from DC comics. And that's had more misses than it has wins. DC has no idea of how to handle their characters and often has them all over the place without any real sense of continuity or depth.

Go read Justice. Identity Crisis. Superman: Birthright. Superman: For Tomorrow. Then tell me they don't know what to do with their characters.
And honestly, I find Marvel's continuity confusing. Civil War has been a prime example of that with the main book and tie-ins being all over the place. DC manages to keep things clean.

 

[Inner-Demon]

You sound like a dumbass fanboy, DC has rarely kept anything clean, they use major events to either mostly remove events from ever happening in continuity, or just major clean up. Look at 52, it's a slow moving arc with events all over the place, it had so much build up and has become a huge let down with only some shining moments.

I followed every event in Civil War and found the continuity to be well established and very defined, and this is coming from someone who hated the House Of M event. Civil War was a break out hit with a very defined plan, and the final book was fantastic, I won't give any spoilers, but Marvel outdid themselves with Civil War, it was an amazing experience, the only problem was with delays, but DC suffers from that aswell.

I've read IC, Justice, Birthright and For Tomorrow. You don't need to tell me what to go read, and they don't know what to do with their characters. Like I've said before, DC has had many low moments, but it has had some shining ones. Justice League is a great read, for now anyway, Detective Comics has been great, the ones by Paul Dini anyway. And Batman has had an amazing run with Grant Morrison, but that fill in arc was one of the worst in recent memory.

As for Superman, I just don't find him an interesting character, but that's because he isn't interesting. It has nothing to do with the power, just the sense that he has nothing to offer, and the stupidity with the fact that he just takes off his glasses and suddenly no one recognizes him.

Just think if Superman was in the position Spidey was in Civil War 3, how would he reveal his identity, put ON a pair of glasses, it's absurd how all of Metropolis is full of morons. I don't care how much justice you serve, if he doesn't wear a mask then he just shouldn't have a secret identity.

As for Wolverine, he's not an over the top character, it just depends on who's writing him. There are good writers and bad writers, Whedon for example, who's currently writing Astonishing, has done a brilliant job with characterizing a REAL Wolverine, he's actually a great character in the book, and I usually hate Wolverine because of how bland he is.

 

[quiteMAD]

No. You ask anyone who the comic book icons are and they instantly tell you Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. With indifferance to Wonder Woman and Flash. Unless the person has an interest, no one gives a damn about Captain America. Especially when Superman is the All American hero.

The subject I was covering wasn't the icons of the comic book world. It was AMERICA. Seeing as it's in his name, most (assuming every one's at least heard of the Cap.) would think of him. And of course, Uncle Sam. He wants you.

Name me another character who sent from another planet. Before 1938.

These date limitations seem to be your trump card. I could easily respond by asking you to name another mutant character before 1939. :l

And uh, Captain Marvel isn't dead.

My bad, my bad. I was thinking of this.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

You sound like a dumbass fanboy, DC has rarely kept anything clean, they use major events to either mostly remove events from ever happening in continuity, or just major clean up. Look at 52, it's a slow moving arc with events all over the place, it had so much build up and has become a huge let down with only some shining moments.

I came into DC midway through Infinite Crisis. An event bigger than Civil War. I understood everything that was going on and I didn't need to use the Wikipedia to help out.

I followed every event in Civil War and found the continuity to be well established and very defined, and this is coming from someone who hated the House Of M event. Civil War was a break out hit with a very defined plan, and the final book was fantastic, I won't give any spoilers, but Marvel outdid themselves with Civil War, it was an amazing experience, the only problem was with delays, but DC suffers from that aswell.

My experiance with Civil War was that I felt like Marvel was pressuring me to buy every book that tied in with Civil War. I may have wanted to know what was going on, but I didn't want to buy everything. And then with the tie-ins, there were problems. When reading Civil War and Amazing Spider-Man, I had no idea what part I was reading because it seemed to skip around. Civil War #5 leaves you with the impression that Spidey escaped when the guards shot out the bulletproof glass, leaving Iron Man in his wake. And yet in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man, it shows Iron Man and Spider-Man plowing into the middle of a hot dog stand. It just didn't seem very fluid to me. And there weren't any editor's note to help, either.

've read IC, Justice, Birthright and For Tomorrow. You don't need to tell me what to go read, and they don't know what to do with their characters. Like I've said before, DC has had many low moments, but it has had some shining ones. Justice League is a great read, for now anyway, Detective Comics has been great, the ones by Paul Dini anyway. And Batman has had an amazing run with Grant Morrison, but that fill in arc was one of the worst in recent memory.

Yes, I'm reading those books too and I'm enjoying them. Grotesk was crap, but it obviously wans't meant to be anything great. My experiance with the DC ongoings is only OYL, and most of the stuff have been enjoyable. Preferance and opinion has a lot to do with it, not because DC don't know what they're doing.

As for Superman, I just don't find him an interesting character, but that's because he isn't interesting.

Opinion.

It has nothing to do with the power, just the sense that he has nothing to offer, and the stupidity with the fact that he just takes off his glasses and suddenly no one recognizes him.

Just think if Superman was in the position Spidey was in Civil War 3, how would he reveal his identity, put ON a pair of glasses, it's absurd how all of Metropolis is full of morons. I don't care how much justice you serve, if he doesn't wear a mask then he just shouldn't have a secret identity.

Superman would never put himself in the position of Spider-Man, because Superman's not stupid enough to reveal his identity.
The disguise isn't just the glasses, you should know this. It's Clark's personality, his stature, the way he talks and the way he walks. Clark is an everyday man, no one see's anything out of the ordinary about him apart from teh fact that he's away alot, which adds to the characters fraility and helps the disguise. Clark Kent and Superman may resemble each other, but just because two people look the same, doesn't mean they are.

The subject I was covering wasn't the icons of the comic book world. It was AMERICA. Seeing as it's in his name, most (assuming every one's at least heard of the Cap.) would think of him. And of course, Uncle Sam. He wants you.

Maybe you do, but when you mention Truth, Justice and the American Way, people think Superman.

These date limitations seem to be your trump card. I could easily respond by asking you to name another mutant character before 1939. :l

Then you're not getting the point. Superman was created in 1938. I'm not pulling a random year out of my ass. Something becomes cliche after it's been done several times over and become old. You can't respond that way, because Marvel wasn't around in 1939.

My bad, my bad. I was thinking of this.

Your bad indeed. There are two Captain Marvel's and DC/Fawcett's was the original one.

 

[Faith Crest]

I'd have to go with Marvel on this one. I grew up watching Marvel. As much respect as I have for Batman and Captain America, I do like great superheroes such as the X-Men and The Fantastic Four. Marvel appealed to me more than DC.

 

[Davy Jones]

MARVEL! The character are easy to connect with- I can't feel bad for a guy who can't get shot but gets hurt by magic rocks.

 

[quiteMAD]

Then you're not getting the point. Superman was created in 1938. I'm not pulling a random year out of my ass. Something becomes cliche after it's been done several times over and become old. You can't respond that way, because Marvel wasn't around in 1939.

1939 was the year The Submariner was created :O. And he is considered to be the first of the genetically abnormal characters...or rather, a mutant. And he also happens to belong to Marvel. My date's just as random as yours.

Maybe you do, but when you mention Truth, Justice and the American Way, people think Superman.

That wasn't the question. DX He said

AMERICA!

. Not truth. Not justice. Not the American way. Though the American way has changed from what it used to be. Now it pretty much just consists of doing anything you can to remain the last Super Power. Which, coincidentally, is why Captain America is around (post WWII).

 

[Covered in Bees]

Even though I love some of DC's heroes, I have to go with Marvel. I love how Marvel's heroes and stories are based around real locations, whereas DC consists of made-up locations like Metropolis and Gotham City.

btw, my #1 fav hero = Ms. Marvel. thank god she looks like she's gonna have a much bigger role in Initiative than she did in Civil War.

(p.s. this thread needs more Dark Horse and Image.)

 

[Square Ninja]

Yeah...the only decent DC hero was and still is Batman. Meanwhile, Marvel has Spider-Man.

Thread over.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

1939 was the year The Submariner was created :O. And he is considered to be the first of the genetically abnormal characters...or rather, a mutant. And he also happens to belong to Marvel. My date's just as random as yours.

Then you have to mention that.
But I'm not arguing that Namor's origin is cliched. That was a comment made against DC. I accused Marvel of re-hashing and over-using, which is entirely true. So many of their heroes are radioactive by-products or genetic abnormalities. Which is true.

That wasn't the question. DX He said . Not truth. Not justice. Not the American way. Though the American way has changed from what it used to be. Now it pretty much just consists of doing anything you can to remain the last Super Power. Which, coincidentally, is why Captain America is around (post WWII).

Superman fought Doomsday to his death.
Captain America surrendered to Iron Man.
Who's more "American" now?

Even though I love some of DC's heroes, I have to go with Marvel. I love how Marvel's heroes and stories are based around real locations, whereas DC consists of made-up locations like Metropolis and Gotham City.

For me, personally, that's a plus. You don't see all that many Australian superheroes in comics books, so having them in a fictional city where there's nothing to recognise is nice.

Yeah...the only decent DC hero was and still is Batman. Meanwhile, Marvel has Spider-Man.

Thread over.

And just how many DC heroes are you aware of?
I'd have though someone like you would be interested in Green Arrow.

 

[Square Ninja]

And just how many DC heroes are you aware of?
I'd have though someone like you would be interested in Green Arrow.

Eh...he's okay, I guess.

Honestly, I stopped reading into superheroes after I realized how predictable they get. The closest thing to a superhero comic I've read over the past couple of years is The Darkness.