DC Comics VS Marvel

Here’s my favorite: in August of 1968, in Justice League of America, DC introduced The Red Tornado, a red-skinned android that was created by a JLA nemesis (T. O. Morrow) in order to infiltrate the heroes and destroy them from the inside. Instead, the android fought against his programming, betrayed his creator, and became a hero himself.

In October of 1968, in Avengers #57, Marvel introduced The Vision, a red-skinned android that was created by an Avengers nemesis (Ultron) in order to infiltrate the heroes and destroy them from the inside. Instead, the android fought against his programming, betrayed his creator, and became a hero himself.

With only two months between first appearances, it’s hard for me to believe one copied the other (production lead times make this highly unlikely), but the resemblances are uncanny.

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@Super-Squirrel Similar origins for Man-Thing which debuted in May 1971 and Swamp Thing which debuted in July 1971. Very close together in time but developed in parallel.

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@Super-Squirrel & @TravisMorgan, I do love your input. I think that the similarities between the characters mighht have been due to the fact that a lot of comic book writers at the time were freelancers, who probably got lazy.
However, here is an obvious steal: Solomon Grundy= October 1944 The Incredible Hulk= May 1962

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@Maxie_Spitlick @Super-Squirrel Also, most if not all the writers and artists lived in New York and knew each other so I’m sure there was some cross pollination. I thought Solomon Grundy started out as a dead mobster and later became more of a powerful monster. But I’m not sure.

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@TravisMorgan There was definitely cross pollination between Man Thing and Swamp Thing, since Lein Wein and Gerry Conway (or maybe Roy Thomas) lived in the same apartment at the time.

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@TornadoSoup That’s what I thought I had heard, but I couldn’t remember where I heard it. :grinning:

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I’m not one hundred percent sure where I heard it, either, but I think there was an interview with Lein Wein on one of the animated features where he said it. Probably Batman and Harley Quinn.

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Oh, yeah, their stories are different. But their artwork (originally) was almost the same.

image image

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I’ve never put a lot of thought into this because this kinda stuff happens too often to even think about, but…

As a kid in the 80’s (and not understanding the industry cause I was seven and who cares?) I always thought Reed Richards was a rip-off of Ralph Dibny.

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makes since.

Also, if it helps prove the rip-off: DC sued over the Hulk. That is why he is green now.

@AmberButane2814 I wasn’t aware that DC had sued Marvel regarding Hulk. I heard that Hulk was originally gray, but the color didn’t show up well on newsprint so they changed it to green. This is similar to the Phantom who was originally gray but changed to purple for the same printing issue.

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I could be wrong. From what I heard it was a lawsuit, like Deathstroke/Deadpool. Maybe I’m wrong.

For the record, DC never sued Marvel over The Grey (or Green) Hulk. The color change was made by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby when they looked at copies of the first Hulk appearance and realized that the printer was unable to make Hulk a uniform grey from page to page. Green was easier, so they went with that.

It’s highly unlikely that DC and Marvel will ever sue one another - intellectual property rights (copyrights and trademarks) are notoriously difficult to litigate. Not to mention the fact that it’s a small industry, with many shared creators. Such a lawsuit would probably do way more damage in the long run - to both parties. Just a waste of money at that point (unless you’re one of the lawyers :grimacing: ).

Once upon a time (1941), DC did in fact sue Fawcett Comics (the infamous Superman/Captain Marvel case), and it went on for 12 years. It ended up being settled out of court and Fawcett closed its doors.

(And don’t even get me started on the shenanigans with Marvelman :wink: )

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Oh. Yeah, I didn’t know that. I always thought that they changed because DC was like, “Hey, you ripped us off”, and Marvel was like, “Oh, sorry”. Good to know that now.