DC vs Marvel: My Take

It's the great debate of comic kind: Superman or Thor; Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark; Bob Kane or Stan Lee. In short, DC Comics or Marvel. Today, its my turn to talk!

Editorial Opinion
By DannRamm113 - Aug 25, 2012 08:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Comics

Today I will share my opinion on who's better, DC or Marvel, a question that has been plauging nerd kind since the arrival of the first Avengers comic. I will judge this on 7 different types of criteria: Heroes, Villains, Movies, Animated Films, Video Games, Graphic Novels, and Teams. Feel free to comment your opinion as well! (and to make sure that everyone knows, I AM a huge DC fan, but will try to remain unbiased)

HEROES: MARVEL
For this criteria, I found it more rational to choose Marvel, simply because of the fame factor. If I went up to anyone in the world and asked them to name 100 different Marvel heroes, they could, in a heart beat, name off Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, ect. With DC, they would get stuck off after naming Superman and Batman. In coolness of alter ego, however, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent definatly kill Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. I also feel inclined to say most Marvel heros seem like DC rip-offs (Superman/Thor, Batman/Ironman, Kilowag/Hulk, ect)

Villains: DC
Without a doubt, Joker has been one of the most iconic villains since The Killing Joke. But there is also Lex Luthor, Ra's al Ghul, Sinestro, Bane, Brainiac, Black Manta, Merlyn ect. Marvel's villains are kind of sad to be honest; Spider-man has OK villains, Venom is definatly awesome, but seriously, Red Skull is a pussy, and Loki is a god, how does it take a god, plus a thousand other heroes to defeat him him? Talk about over powered.

Movies: Marvel
This was hardest to judge, because of my overwhelming love for The Dark Knight, but I had to judge in favor of Marvel for a few reasons: a) the over whelming number of them, b) how spuradic DC is with films, and c) box office intake/critial reception. Now, with Marvel winning with heroes and fame, it is easy to tell how they have so many movies. With DC, if it isn't Superman or Batman, it's a toss-up. It could be great, like Watchmen, or terrible, Green Lantern. Marvel, there is Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman trilogy, The First Avenger. The other problem with DC is that even if it is Batman or Superman, it could still suck (Batman and Robin, Superman IV?). Not that Marvel hasn't had it's bombs (Hulk, Fanastic Four I/II, Howard the Duck?). In fact, the only thing that truly saved Marvel here was The Avengers.

Animated Films: DC
Please, name a Marvel Animated Film? Please? Green Lanter:First Flight was mindblowing to watch, and Emerald Knights. Mystery of Batwoman, Public Enemies, Crisis on Two Earths? Now, go back to my first question, name a Marvel Animated Film.

Video Games: DC
One series. Two mindblowing, Game of the Year video games. Batman: Arkham Asylum was a groundbreaking game, followed by an equally great, possibly better, Arkham City. Hell, even the Lego Games for DC are fricken sweet. Nothing from Marvel can even compare.

Graphic Novels: DC
We got The Killing Joke, we got Knightfall, we got The Long Halloween. Man of Steel, Sword of Atlantis, and Blackest Night. Now, Extremis and Demon in a Bottle were good, but their all Marvel has, seriously.

and finnally... Teams
Justice League vs The Avengers. Now, before I answer, let me explain how this will go. I am not including Fantastic Four or the X-Men, because their more like sub-teams. The Avengers has brought heroes from all univeres, like the Justice League, unlike FF and the X-Men, which kind of did the opposite. This brings together all the previous criteria, and has to finish strong. That is why, even if they had an awesome movie, The Avengers lose. The Justice League is huge, and includes beings from all universes. But their main 13 kills the Avengers, nine out of ten times. That is why the winner of this catigory, and the list, is and always will be, DC Comics. Feel free to voice your opinions in the comments, and as always, i hope you've enjoyed reading my take on who is better:)

CAPTAIN PLANET Returns In New Dynamite Comic Book Series - And He Has A Badass New Look!
Related:

CAPTAIN PLANET Returns In New Dynamite Comic Book Series - And He Has A Badass New Look!

SCREAM 7 Will See The Return Of David Arquette As The Very Dead Dewey Riley
Recommended For You:

SCREAM 7 Will See The Return Of David Arquette As The Very Dead Dewey Riley

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

comiccow6
comiccow6 - 8/25/2012, 9:39 AM
This was a mistake. Prepare for the Nolanites.
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 8/25/2012, 9:42 AM
Im a nolanite, i just had to be fair
golden123
golden123 - 8/25/2012, 10:10 AM
What?
Kilowog wasn't created until after "Crisis on Infinite Earths". Hulk first appeared in 1962. Batman and Iron Man really aren't that similar. They both are billionaires with no super powers that use technology in their crime fighting, but the similarites basically stop there. Calling Thor a rip-off of Superman is preposterous. Thor is a Norse God turned into a comic book superhero, by Stan Lee. Superman is an original creation tht is only slightly inspired by religous deities suh as Samson and Hercules.

DC and Marvel, both, have very overpowered villains. If you are a DC fan, then you should know this.

I do agree that DC has the better animated movies, but I can name Invincible Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Ultimate Avengers I & II, and Planet Hulk.

Also, Marvel's "The Dark Phoenix Saga" was proclaimed by comicbookresources.com as the second best Graphic Novel of all time, following Watchmen, on their list of the 100 best Graphic Novels of All Time which was voted on by their members.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/25/2012, 10:21 AM
You are on crack if you think Demon in a Bottle and Extremis are the only big graphic novels that Marvel has.

Dark Phoenix Saga, Earth X, Disassembled, House of M, The friggin Infinity Gauntlet, Civil War...

Do some research before you start comparing companies.

Supes17
Supes17 - 8/25/2012, 10:35 AM
I do agree that Marvel is kicking DC's ass in films..
All DC/WB has is The Dark Knight trilogy. Watchmen was good but not successful at all.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Man of Steel
MarcusStrong85
MarcusStrong85 - 8/25/2012, 11:01 AM
There have been Marvel animated films such as Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2. Then there's the Anime versions of Iron Man, X-Men and Wolverine, but I rule Batman: Gotham Knight over those three.
MarcusStrong85
MarcusStrong85 - 8/25/2012, 11:04 AM
I do agree that Marvel has the real Heroes and DC has the real villains. That's why I love Marvel more. I do love Batman, but he doesn't consider himself a hero. The Joker is still my favorite supervillain of them all, eventhough he doesn't have any superpowers, he is superpsychotic.
HxCorbett
HxCorbett - 8/25/2012, 12:34 PM
name a Marvel Animated film?
Ultimate Avengers
Ultimate Avengers 2
Invincible Iron Man
Hulk vs
World War Hulk
Doctor Strange.

graphic novels?
Civil War
Siege
Secret Invasion
Fear Itself

come on, man.
HxCorbett
HxCorbett - 8/25/2012, 12:35 PM
*Planet Hulk
sorry lol
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/25/2012, 12:47 PM
Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2. Planet Hulk. Hulk vs. Invincible Iron Man. Doctor Strange. All animated films.

You really dont seem to know what you are talking about.

Especially with that asinine comment about Marvel only having two good graphic novels.
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 8/25/2012, 1:48 PM
here ill revise that then: two COMPARABLE TO THE SHITTY CLASSIC GRAPHIC NOVELS BY DC grapic novels
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/25/2012, 2:04 PM
HEROES: ask the random person off the street to name a superhero, they'll probably say superman. he's the first, and is arguably the most ingrained into the american psyche. plus the rip-off statement is superficial and @golden123 covered that beatifully.

VILLAINS: everyone has overpowered villains. if the hero is stronger than the villain physically or mentally, then there is no threat, no drama, no need to read the book. if you're going off the criteria from the HEROES category, then yes, DC villains are more recognizable. and that is mainly lex and joker for the average person.

ANIMATED FILMS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_Marvel_Comics#Animated_films

GRAPHIC NOVELS: daredevil: guardian devil, banner, cage, new x-men: e is for extinction, spider-man: down among the dead, the ultimates: super human, fantastic four: imaginauts, and a lot more. each camp has great stories that have been collected into graphic novels.

TEAMS: you don't add legit teams like x-men or ff but the avengers loss due to firepower? phoenix from the x-men would put up a healthy fight by herself. but if it is JL v Avengers, it'll be closer than you think. Supes and Thor would go the distance due to Thor mystic nature and god strength. Bat and Cap would go all out due to cap's military training and fighting skills. then you still have the hulk tearing ass through the battle field. long story short, i don't think it's 9 out of 10 times.

i like the idea behind this article, just not a fan of the execution.
jTiso
jTiso - 8/25/2012, 2:31 PM
"In fact, the only thing that truly saved Marvel here was The Avengers." . . . Ummm, no. Not at all. That isn't remotely true. Did the Avengers sky rocket the Marvel Brand? Of course. Marvel was never in need of saving. Yes, they had money problems before Ironman but they worked it out. If any movie that truly saved Marvel, it would be Iron Man with the help of RDJ, Jon Fav and Kevin Feige for taking that risk.
StormLoganSummers
StormLoganSummers - 8/25/2012, 2:36 PM
"Marvel's villains are kind of sad to be honest"

You threw away all your credibility with this statement.
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 8/25/2012, 2:49 PM
I meant here in this catigory, not in general
Sabconth
Sabconth - 8/25/2012, 7:00 PM
DC vs Marvel?

More like Batman vs Marvel.

It's his games, his comics, his movies and his animated show that are currently the only things standing up to Marvel.



RSDhillon
RSDhillon - 8/25/2012, 7:07 PM
I came to the comments to rant, but I'm happy to see that others did it for me. :)
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/25/2012, 10:09 PM
Oh man....
I actually agree with Sabconth, can you imagine?
My trades, if you care to read....
The Dark Phoenix Saga
Uncanny X-Men v6 #141-150 (Days of Future Past)
God Loves, Man Kills
Uncanny X-Men "From the Ashes" #168-176
the Mighty Thor Omnibus
Mutant Massacre
Daredevil: Born Again
Spider-man: Kraven's Last Hunt
Civil War
Secret Invasion
Loeb/Sale's Wolverine vs Gambit
.....
DC
Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!
Batman: Haunted Knight
Batman: The Long Halloween
Catwoman: When In Rome
Batman: Dark Victory
Superman For All Seasons
Superman: Kryptonite
Cosmic Odyssey
Superman: Panic in the Sky
Zero Hour
Identity Crisis
Green Lantern: Secret Origin
The Stories of Alan Moore
Watchmen
V for Vendetta

Marvel offers an extreme amount of diversity.
GoILL
GoILL - 8/26/2012, 12:27 AM
@Sabconth that's very very accurate.
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 8/26/2012, 2:54 AM
This article is asking for a war. I knew as soon as it said Marvel vs. DC that you were asking for a huge blow out argument. Now to be honest, Movies and heroes, Marvel has it. Animated movies, from what I have heard DC has it better as well as there are more villains to like in DC. But I prefer Dr.Doom in comparison to The Joker but that's just me. Graphic novels, I think it's a tie. As far as videogames go, have you ever played Marvel Ultimate Alliance? I know that the second one was ok, but the first one is in the top superhero videogames. Also, did you forget that Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions even exsists? Now as far as Teams go, I am siding with The Avengers. I understand you wanted to state your opinion, but in no way what so ever were you trying to be unbiased. You gave Marvel credit for the heroes only because they have more well known heroes compared to DC. But when it comes to movies, they've had more success cause their trying to put characters out there who aren't as well known. But they have had their bombs (Ghost Rider 2, Punisher: War Zone, The Punisher, Elektra, DarDevil, ect.) Do your research man. I haven't done an article like this for awhile cause I knew I'd be biased and it's also a pointless way to start an argument. Just say you are DC over Marvel and then name your reasons. It don't mean that their facts, their just opinions.
T600
T600 - 8/27/2012, 5:21 PM
yoo.....@Acid dont take it wrong but the whole list of villans you put up is a great line up

But in Dc just batman has a similar list of villans you wpould be familiar of

Harley Quinn
Catwoman
Killer croc
Penguin
Joker
Clayface
Man-bat
Ra’s al gul
Bane
Hush
Poison Ivy
Mr. Freeze
Riddler
Two face

and some more
Darkseid
Doomsday
Zod
Lex luthor
Granny Goodness
Sinestro
Black Adam
Black manta
Bizarro
Metallo
Lobo
Brainiac
Solomon grundy
Mongul
Hank Henshaw
Parallax
Vandal savage
Silver Banshee
Cheetah
Deathstroke
deadshot.....and the list goes on

ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/28/2012, 11:00 AM
@UniBeam11
partially agree, JL and Avengers would have a great epic battle. no land slide on either side, but Avengers would have to work for it a bit harder than JL. Batman and Iron Man would be closer than you think. It would be a better match with the war torn and military badass that is Cap going toe to toe with Batman. Iron Man can be simply dismantled or 'turned off' with enough know how and planning from Batman. Iron Man and GL would work better and that would come very close as well. Superman would have a fight on his hands with the mystically powered viking thor. And the hulk tearing up the battle field would have to deal with martian manhunter with his strength and telepathy.

also it's not just a green rock that superman is brought down by. the green rock is radioactive and from krypton. heavy radiation poisoning from a rock from his world makes perfect sense. when superman is written well, he is one of the best there is (over powered or not). Check out azzerello's superman: for tomorrow, morrison's all star superman, or loeb's superman for all seasons. fantastic books with fantastic character development.

also graphic novels=comic books, just because it's a collected set of issues or a special extended one shot story doesn't change what the medium is. i don't see why collected issues don't fall into graphic novels. it's still a complete story with sequential art.
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/28/2012, 1:17 PM
@UniBeam11
right on, i know we can all be nitpicky with our comics and comic related sh!t hahaha. but i guess i always cringe a bit when i hear graphic novels. it always felt like giving a better name to a medium people don't really respect. 'comic books' are what they are, regardless of the material that is being bound together.

i know everyone goes to superman being overpowered and therefor not entertaining, but definitely read those books i brought up and you'll get a dose of superman as a great character. i would also said mark waid's birthright as a great must read for a superman fan.
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/28/2012, 2:26 PM
@dawolfe11
hahahaha damn dude! you are very amped about this. i love these kinds of debates/arguements/rants so...

a) it's comic book superheroes we're talking about, so numbers rarely matter. i'm sure taking on 7 guys by yourself wouldn't be an issue if you were bullet proof and could throw cars around

b) hulk has had a long history of being nearly indestructible and drawing strength from getting angrier. they always write stories where he fights something bigger and badder, but his rage generally wins out.

c) if you're counting a superhero on the big screen, it would be Cap back in 1944

d) i've got nothing, aquaman is a badass.

if you are going off of founding members the same way you were for the avengers, the JL will have to rely on martian manhunter, green lantern, wonder woman, aquaman, and the flash. if we want look at the JL's "ideal" roster, then the same should be done for the Avengers. So don't forget to add scarlet witch, quicksilver, hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel (not going to worry about making an arguement for black panther, wonder man, or making ant-man giantman). with that in mind, you still have a very close fight on your hands. each character matches up pretty well with someone else on the opposing team. it's anybody's game.
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/28/2012, 2:27 PM
@UniBeam11
you will not be sorry brotha, they are fantastic Superman stories
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/29/2012, 12:11 PM
a) the point was that as a comic book, characters rarley have an issue with being out numbered but opponents. if a single characters can take on a series opponents, then being outgunned by one or two isn't the biggest deal in the world.

b) superman and the hulk are not carbon copies of each other, so the idea that if one dies the other can is flawed. superman is fueled by the sun, he can run out of energy and fall. the hulk is a gamma radiation generator who increases in badassness the angrier he gets. the guy has been described as having no limit to his strength when he gets angrier, only the subconscious safety valve that is bruce banner.

c) agreed, superman started the superhero film craze, but the original statement was "DC created the FIRST superhero film.." and simply isn't true.

d) did you see the teaser for the justice league series...atlantis invades! aquaman is a beast...now atleast.

ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/29/2012, 4:54 PM
@dawolfe11
a) nice
b) hulk has been exploited with mystic trickery and telepathy and turned against his team or has ben incapacitated for a time. More times than not, hulk is exploit vs defeated. every character has an achilles heel.
c) well played, adventures of captain marvel came out in 1941, but that was a fawcett publication character at the time, not dc.
d) yes, we both agree aquaman is effing awesome
ellispart3
ellispart3 - 8/30/2012, 6:11 AM
@dawolfe11
well played
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 8/30/2012, 8:08 AM
@ellispart3, @dawolfe11, great arguement guys, that is what i like to see
ricko8687
ricko8687 - 9/1/2012, 6:18 PM
Do your research before you write I thought article would be insightful but turned into a fanboy rave
View Recorder