Warm Take: DC and Marvel Are Both Good And It's Weird That People Treat Them Like Sworn Enemies

I don’t doubt that both marvel and dark horse have good stories I’m sure they both have many even now regardless of what some critics might say but the heart wants what the heart wants my great grandfather ate the same thing for dinner everyday could have had other things didn’t want them and he was happy that way I think with some people its just their nature to pick something and stay with it

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Oh goodie a thread that’s related to something I’ve been wanting to post the past 24 hours, I’ll be right back!

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Usually when someone does this post, it’s simply to have the fun of stirring up trouble by the way, concerning Marvel and DC.

I enjoy stories, art and characters from both companies: however, I only am involved in the fan groups for DC on here and also on Discord.

A former big contributor to this site, who has since ascended to comic book heaven, namely writing for Comic Book Herald… @Nathan.Payson , referred me to a great book called Slugfest by Reed Tucker that really lays out the business competition between DC and Marvel and I believe it’s still on the Roku Channel as a series too.

Now let me post that graphic I’ve been dying to post the past 24 hours:

Like many here, I don’t just read Marvel and DC but I actually ravenously dive into Comixology Unlimited as well.

Like @TravisMorgan noted above, I also mainly follow writers and also artists far more than a particular character or publisher.

I do find it very unique when people get so attached to a soulless, all about “what will sell today and make big money for their masters” publisher, when the same writers and artist that you love (and who have affection for you by the way) at DC a year ago FYI are currently over at Marvel writing stuff now, like over half I think (Steve Orlando, John Ridley, Gene Luen Yang, Mark Russell and artists that we love like Patrick Gleason). You enjoy Superman lately by Philip Kennedy Johnson with that nice sci-fi mix? You may want to check out his Aliens series over on Marvel.

I do lean heavily into the past, I turned 68 today. So just like everybody here has favorite characters that they enjoyed as a older preteen or teen, I’m in the same boat. I was reading both Marvel and DC (and things like Tower with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. agents, Charlton with Captain Atom) as a fourth grader on.

Sorry this is as usual rambling but I was startled the other day when I realized that somebody at the small company I work for is a huge comic book fan. This is a peer that also does project management like I do. But wow are they ever only Marvel. And their minds, DC doesn’t do character development and down to earth superheroes, they just do huge mythic concept characters (thanks Grant Morrison, it’s your fault you know…).

X-Men is her favorite by the way. I had fun kidding her because her name is Madeline, “were you named after a certain character in the X-Men?” Lol…

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I am… beyond disappointed that my state is a Spider-Man state, I can’t even tell you.

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Yeah I can’t believe I live in the Batman State it’s an honor I tell you.

I guess this explains why my 42 year old son wears so much Batman apparel.

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Try some Marvel and Dark Horse, you would be surprised by how much you like some of the stories.

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I have they just don’t grab me

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one poll I saw said taxas was a batman state

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Well you haven’t read the right ones.

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well maybe someday I will lol

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I’m going to be the guy that questions Wise Voter’s entire premise. Since they don’t seem to provide the raw numbers it’s tough to understand what the “voting” is.

Is it overall sales? Was it a poll? For the top five heroes by state what were the actual numbers? Did Superman edge out Spider-Man for the top spot or was it the opposite case? Did Wolverine out pace all the other four heroes by a huge margin? No way to tell. :man_shrugging:

I’ll leave this here. I can’t remember where I found it but it shows sales by company.

Both Marvel and DC would love to have sales like Scholastic, Inc. who markets books like Bone and Smile which overall sales out pace them by 5x or better.

I’m with you @Don-El, I follow good creators and their stories. Love the JLA? You might love Black Hammer by Jeff Lamire that features JLA analogs and tells a tale that could not be told using the “real” JLA. If you’re an only DC or Marvel person you’re missing a great story.

Do you only watch one TV Network? Do you only watch Movies from on Movie Studio? Do you only listen to one Record Label? I would think you follow series, movies, and albums based on your likes and don’t really care who the company that presents the content. I can’t watch Star Trek because it’s a Paramount product or I can’t watch Star Wars because it’s owned by Disney. I can only watch Babylon 5 because it was produced WB. I’m a Universal guy so it’s only Battlestar Galactica for me! Really? Really?

/s

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I don’t think thats a good poll to show popularity Scholastic, Inc just has a larger sales market because its the only publisher that sales to schools for things like book day
they even sale the school what ever book they want to make the next big thing

also I agree with you it has nothing to do with the brand and everything to do with what a person likes I have read many fan comics of hero’s that I like they just all happen to be from dc

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Also Manga is pretty popular with the youth

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Agreed. And Manga and Scholastic are more widely available versus Superhero Comics which are limited to local comic book stores. Still, I do see DC going after the Young Adult market with books like Beast Boy Loves Raven so they are beginning to make headway into the broader retail market.

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Marvel did one of the best Justice League stories with Squadron Supreme in the 80s.

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This is a good point, and I agree. Trying to apply this to myself though… Right now I’m interested in checking out Bendis’ Phenomena, and his new upcoming series The Ones. There’s also a new Star Trek series about to start at IDW, that seems like a good starting point for someone who’s never read the comics. Scott Snyder has some interesting things going on at Comixology.

The biggest hurdles for me are:

  • Will I buy these and sit on ‘em for eons before reading them? Like you said, I watch shows and movies from a myriad of other companies, so there’s only so much bandwidth when it comes to comics.

  • At $4 or more a pop (for a 15 min read), it becomes an expensive proposition really quick if one is to devote significant amounts of time reading new comics.

Hence prioritizing becomes important. My attachment to DC is more related to the characters than the company itself. I’ll follow Superman wherever the character goes (and Batman and Wonder Woman). It’s a silly fanboyish thing, but here I am on a fan forum talking about this stuff day-in and day-out :joy:.

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@moro You could try ComiXology Unlimited. Looks like his new comic is included, but The Ones isn’t. I don’t know about the new Star Trek. You could also try Hoopla which is an app some libraries offer to borrow ebooks including graphic novels. You might have to wait a while, but that’s a way to read for free.

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/cu/signup

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Thanks for the tips. I have Comixology Unlimited because I end up saving a teensy bit with the 15% discount on new comics. Truth be told, I should check out what they have to offer in the service, at least when it comes to originals.

The author of the new Star Trek was promoting the book on Twitter and it showed up on my feed. First issue in October, I think. Here’s a link to the series on Comixology:

Given my newfound love for the shows, I’ve already subscribed :slightly_smiling_face:.

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I’ve been trying to get into Star Trek comics. This does look like a good place to start!

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Sounds interesting. How much Deep Space Nine knowledge do you have? The series seems to be based around Ben Sisko.

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