I was talking about comics that are critically acclaimed and praised by almost everybody in the fandom. Comics that you would find in almost anybody’s top 10 list. Morrison’s doom patrol, Hellblazer dangerous habitats, dark knight returns, Superman red son, justice league new frontier, Gotham Central, etc. I hardly ever see any marvel comics mentioned in those top 10 lists. It’s almost always exclusively dominated by DC.
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I’m sorry @raider_dave66 I got way too carried away. This response is more my OCD reaction to your well made points than me arguing with you. I hope you can take all this in stride.
You are correct that those are some of the best of the best. I would argue that they all are creator driven using DC IP and somewhat outside of the main DC Universe.
Morrison’s Doom Patrol started as DC but was moved to Vertigo an imprint aimed at an adult audience.
Hellblazer and Swamp Thing made the same trip from DC to Vertigo as did Sandman.
Dark Knight Returns was a prestige limited four issue event outside of the normal DCU and was a Frank Miller driven project. He was recruited after his fantastic run on Daredevil which revived and reshaped that character to this day.
Superman Red Son was another Morrison project that was a three issue Elseworlds series. Kingdom Come was Mark Waid and Alex Ross. Again, both projects were creator driven, outside the normal DCU, and limited series. Add in All-Star Superman.
Justice League: The New Frontier was a limited series by Darwyn Cooke, so another creator project.
Gotham Central was an actual ongoing DC series by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark. It was set adjacent to the DCU focusing on the cops dealing with Gotham crime away from the Batman focus. It didn’t make the jump to Vertigo, but only lasted 40 issues. The Killing Joke and Batman: Year One were both produced in the main DCU and we’re not miniseries.
Kudos to DC for allowing creators to produce much more personal introspective stories using their IP.
Marvel has taken a different route with their IP. They also have a different trade strategy focusing on Omnibuses of longer running series rather than Absolutes of miniseries.
Captain America by Brubaker, Lark, Perkins, et al was a critical and commercial success that was presented in five omnibuses. The series took place in normal MCU continuity. Creator driven Marvel IP.
Iron Fist by Brubaker and Fraction was a critically acclaimed series that was collected in a single omnibus. Creator driven Marvel IP.
Frank Miller’s Daredevil (2 omnibuses) and Elektra. Creator driven Marvel IP (and he created Elektra).
Brubaker, Lark, Bendis, Maleev, et al Daredevil (4 omnibuses). Creator driven Marvel IP.
Iron Man by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca (2 omnibuses and multiple hardcovers).
Avengers by Kurt Busiak and George Perez (2 omnibuses)
Avengers by Jonathan Hickman(2 omnibuses)
Fantastic Four by Byrne (2 omnibuses). Fantastic Four by Hickman (2 omnibuses). Fantastic Four by Waid & Wieringo (1 omnibus).
X-Men by Morrison (1 omnibus). X-Men by Claremont, Cockrum, Byrne, JR JR, Jim Lee, et al (6-8 omnibuses, heck Claremont wrote X-Men for 20 years).
TL;DR I love all kinds of comics and I follow Creators more than Companies. DC’s greatest stories are creator driven as are Marvel’s.
My Library
Top Shelf
Howard Chaykin, Frank Miller, Matt Fraction, BTAS, Gotham Central, Jim Aparo, Snyder & Capullo Batman, Dave Sim Cerebus
Middle Shelf
George Perez, Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, John Byrne, Neal Adams
Bottom Shelf
All Marvel Omnibuses arranged by Creator and Color. Matching trade dress is so nice!
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Mark Millar*
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I get them confused. 
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I’m 
percent with you. All I was saying was that DC’s comics are constantly mentioned in people’s top 10
Whether they’re within continuity or not is besides the point.
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Thank you. I’m a scathing critic
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Don’t know if this fits here but which Marvel What If world vs DC Elseworld fight would you like to see?
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I haven’t seen enough of the series to know what all they’ve done, but I remember a Marvel What If comic where the Venom symbiote attached itself to Thor.
Give me a comic where Calvin Ellis saves him
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This. This right here is why I will always ultimately favor DC over Marvel. The fact that you can even find 10 characters to make up a list like this pretty much says it all. I don’t like a single one of these characters. (No, not even Th… at one in the middle.) Never have. Never will. And these are some of Marvel’s most popular characters!
I find that too much of Marvel’s publishing output emphasizes its characters’ brutality, rather than their humanity, whereas the opposite tends to be true for DC. Ironic that I find the supposedly “god-like” DC characters to be much more warm, empathetic, and human, than the “world outside your window” crew over at the Marvelous Competition. I’ve long sought a way to put my feelings on this topic into words, but this article that was just published today has finally done a good job of crystalizing them for me.
P.S. Don’t get me wrong. I do read and like a lot of Marvel. But the Marvel that I enjoy tends to be the more obscure and less popular characters and teams.
P.P.S. When I read Marvel comics, I feel like I’m taking a vacation in the Marvel Universe, a stranger in a strange land. But when I go back to DC, I always feel like I’m coming home. 
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DC all day
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I like both. I like street level heros with an edge best and DC probably had more of those but Marvel has some pretty good quality ones. Depends on my mood which one I like more.
(I would like to again deny the accusations that I am involved with a secret Marvel thread that is said to accept any member who expresses interest. To the best of my knowledge, no such thread exists, right @Kelex ?)
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Better not tell you now
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Take your time.
Is it true that I am not involved with such a hypothetical thread?
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There you have it.
Thanks Kelex, your secret crush on H.E.R.B.I.E. remains safe.
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Hello! I am Kelex. I can assist you with matters like community features and more. To find out everything I can do, say @kelex display help.
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