EDITORIAL: 3 Reasons Why I’m a Marvel Fanboy and Proud Of It

Relax.

Take a deep breath. Set aside your keyboard warrior persona for five minutes and actually listen to what I have to say. You might just learn something. Probably not. After all this is just the insane ramblings of some random douche on the Internet who practically worships in the church of Marvel and bows down at the altar of Stan Lee.

I kid.

Before going on to explain why I prefer Marvel over DC, let me make one thing clear.

I. don’t. hate. DC.

Not even a little bit. In fact, I’m a huge Superman and Batman fan. I have Superman tatted on my arm, yo. Been down with the last of son of Krypton since 1985. I think DC has an incredibly rich history in the comic book community and they deserve respect.

That being said, I’m not much of a fan of their work with the New 52. In fact, aside from Scott Snyder’s work, I don’t really keep up with a lot of the titles they put out. I tried to like Superman and the whole Superman and Wonderman stuff, but it just didn’t click with me. This is simply my personal preference and taste. To each their own, right?

Now back to the main topic of this here conversation.

I’ve been a huge fan of Marvel since I was five or six years old. I’ve read the comics faithfully, with a few extended breaks here and there, ever since cracking my first X-Men issue. What is it about Marvel that’s kept me almost exclusively monogamous to Stan Lee’s comic creations?

Relatable Characters

I can’t become a fan of something unless I find some way to connect to the characters and thus to the story. I need to be able to relate to the hero or villain. Without this relatability, the character will not be able to hold my interest for very long.

Marvel definitely, in my opinion, surpasses DC when it comes to characters I can relate to. Guys like Captain America, Spider-Man, and Tony Stark may have superpowers (having an almost unlimited supply of money should be considered a superpower), but they are still only human.

Take Spider-Man for example. The dude’s a total nerd, loser, and outcast. He can’t keep a job, he’s usually late paying the rent, he’s always catching crap from his boss, and he’s constantly having girl trouble. Hell, up until recently that was pretty much my life story!

Most of Marvel’s characters are comprised of regular people who can be killed, yet still boldly face incredible dangers that would make an average joe like me poop his pants in a heartbeat.

DC characters are primarily made up of larger-than-life personas or mythical “gods” like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. They’re practically immortal (some of them). Supes is practically unstoppable, which is why they have to make up some seriously outlandish bulljunk to create a challenge for him.

Superman is also supposed to be a character with a higher sense of morality than the rest of humanity, a symbol of hope for all to aspire to. Hardly seems like the kind of guy I could go down to the bar and have a beer with.

DC stories always struck me as being more mythological in nature than Marvel, and for some people that’s what the big attraction to the characters is all about. For me, I need to be able to put myself in a character’s shoes, to understand their dilemma. Otherwise, I just get bored and feel like I’m being preached at.

Cultural Relevance

One of the things I love about Marvel is their willingness to take on hot-button social issues and use superhero tales as an exploration of human nature.

I recently wrote a piece about how the X-Men comics really opened my eyes and taught me a thing or two about the issue of race relations. This is a prime example of what I’m talking about. When the X-Men characters were created back in the day, it was Stan Lee’s commentary on the Civil Rights movement. He took an important social issue of the day and used comics to expose that issue to the masses.

Marvel has never shied away from tough subjects, and even though I don’t agree with every stance their writers take on issues, I respect their ability to craft deep stories that make you think about your values and beliefs.

I’m not saying DC doesn’t do this, but again, it’s hard for me to take the cultural relevance issue seriously when the characters are difficult for me to relate to.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Let’s face it. Marvel broke the mold with the creation of the MCU. The interconnectedness of the films and television shows is groundbreaking, and for the most part, brilliantly executed. Not perfect, but pretty freaking close.

Marvel Studios has done an excellent job of bringing many of their characters to life, and weaving a narrative through multiple films that could technically be stand alone franchises. They’ve taken everything I love about the comics and transferred that to two completely different entertainment mediums.

The MCU is so powerful it actually won my wife over to superhero films, something she hated in the early years of our marriage, and it’s served as a great introduction to comics for my kids who are crazy Marvel fans now.

They also have the balls to make a movie featuring a tree and a talking raccoon as main characters and back it 100 percent. Mad respect, Marvel. Mad respect.

In closing this beautiful work of literary genius (here’s a barf bag in case the self-aggrandizing is a bit much), I again want to mention that I’m not hating on DC. This is simply my opinion and my preference. It’s all subjective folks.

I love Marvel, and I ain’t ashamed to admit it.