DC vs. Marvel--I Am Such a Geek!

“We can be heroes, just for one day…”
--David Bowie, Heroes, 1979.

Growing up in the wild and wooly 1960s and 1970s led me to read comics—particularly because the Batman show was popular when I was very young, the Superman movie when I was a slight bit older, and the Incredible Hulk TV show when I was older still. Along in the mix, cartoon shows like Batman, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Marvel Superheroes, Superman, a more modern version of Batman, a more Modern version of the Fantastic Four, Superfriends, and soon you get the idea.

I was always A DC guy—probably because of Batman. My brother Mark was always a Marvel guy—probably because of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man cartoons of the 1960s. Mark is so devoted to Spider-Man (I think it was issue 90—the Death of Captain Stacey that he bought that snagged him or maybe it was Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #2 from 1968 where Spider-Man fights the Green Goblin that held his interest—although I admit that issue is just about the best comic I ever read), so much so, he made a webpage for the new film: http://spidermanishere.blogspot.com.

So I have decided to settle the score as to which heroes are the best—since they copy each other. Both companies tried this in the mid 1990s, and nothing really was settled.

Whereas DC has Batman—the smartest guy in the word, Marvel has Spiderman—the most heroic. Whereas DC has Superman—the strongest guy in the world, Marvel has an incredible madman in Hulk. DC has Green Arrow, Marvel Hawkeye. Marvel has Sub-Mariner—DC has Aquaman. Marvel has Thor, DC has Captain Marvel. DC has Green Lantern, Marvel has Iron-Man. DC has the Legion—Marvel has the Fantasic Four. The list is endless.

If I look at the top hitters: DC wins—hands down any fight.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern vs. Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Quicksilver, and Iron-Man is pretty interesting. I like the spunk of Marvel, but DC speedsters are better. Marvel has better “magic” characters as Dr. Strange clobbers Dr. Fate or anyone else in DC. Sub-Mariner vs. Aquaman is not a fight—Aquaman easily dies. X-Men vs. Legion—X-Men kill ‘em. No FF equivalent, so they take out any DC “mini-team.”

The current Avengers would cave before the JLA.

Superman is unstoppable and Thor is dead—well…as is Cap.

I like the characterization in Marvel, but DC has the stronger cast.

I like the current writing in Marvel, but DC is just going through a downward trend for the moment—still the 52 Series has been great. Among my favorite cast of characters is The Inhumans from Marvel, but they hardly garner any press.

Green Arrow vs. Hawkeye??? Come on, be real.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel wipeout anyone in Marvel’s Universe.

I read them both, but you can decide for yourself.

Say what you will about DC, they at least did not have the Spider-Man Clone Saga, Captain America as a Werewolf, the convoluted X-Men books, House of M, Secret Wars, or Galactic Bore (uh…sorry..I meant War).