Why prefer marvel over DC?

[AHRNIHAL]

Honestly:
MCU is my first real exposure to DC/Marvel Universe.
Then i got into the universe stuff.Then became X-men fan.

[Prof. Warren]

Honestly, I don't see how anyone reading modern-day superhero comics can even really have a genuine preference for one over the other. All of the classic "reasons" people have thrown out for preferring one over the other have been defunct since at least the 80s. The whole "Marvel characters are more human because they have problems, while DC characters are more godlike because they don't" dichotomy hasn't been true for a very long time. Spider-Man's famous "Parker luck" was unique in the 1960s when he debuted, but you know, for a long time now, Batman, Superman, the Flash, etc. have been presented with personal problems in their own careers and romantic lives as well.

The difference being that the personal problems of, say, Batman and Superman never ring as true as they do for the Marvel heroes. DC tries to humanize their characters but it never feels like a natural fit. They just weren't built for it. There isn't as much emphasis on the personality of the characters as there is at Marvel. At DC it's more about the powers and the costumed identity. You could go for several issues of Batman without any time spent on Bruce Wayne's life but you couldn't do the same with, say, Spider-Man or Iron Man. And there's a distinct lack of true "lovable losers" in the DC universe as opposed to what you see in the MU. You'd never have a character like Scott Lang at DC, for example.

At this point, all that separates the Marvel and DC universes are superficial aesthetics and which characters happen to be the big guns. Marvel and DC comics (and superhero comics in general) are so similar in tone, employ the same exact tropes, follow the same exact plot beats, have almost identical character struggles, and so on that reading a comic from one is essentially no different from reading a comic from the other.

Well, no. That's not true at all. It's not assigning greater worth to one company or the other to note that a Marvel comic and a DC comic are just two noticeably different things. They're not similar in tone at all. While both companies publish stories in a shared superhero universe, they way they choose to tell those stories is not the same.

And of course that makes sense, since the two companies have traded off creatives so much that there's essentially a talent pipeline running between them.

Even when Marvel and DC trade talent, the books don't come out the same. If you look at Bendis' Marvel work and his DC work, they're not the same. His creator owned work at DC might be the same as before (haven't read it yet, so I can't say) but his superhero stuff is different than what he did at Marvel. Difference being that DC stories are largely plot driven while Marvel stories are usually character driven. His Superman doesn't feel like his Jessica Jones or Iron Man. The big question when he went to DC was whether he'd bring his style to DC and change the way they do their books or whether DC would change him and it's the latter that's true. DC has a certain house style and a tone to their books and Bendis now writes to conform to that. That's not to say his writing is any better or worse but to note that he's coming at his books differently now and has said as much in interviews that creating comics at DC is a very different process than creating comics at Marvel.

[Agent Z]

I don't have a preference. Both put out good and bad books.

The difference being that the personal problems of, say, Batman and Superman never ring as true as they do for the Marvel heroes. DC tries to humanize their characters but it never feels like a natural fit. They just weren't built for it. There isn't as much emphasis on the personality of the characters as there is at Marvel. At DC it's more about the powers and the costumed identity. You could go for several issues of Batman without any time spent on Bruce Wayne's life but you couldn't do the same with, say, Spider-Man or Iron Man. And there's a distinct lack of true "lovable losers" in the DC universe as opposed to what you see in the MU. You'd never have a character like Scott Lang at DC, for example.



Well, no. That's not true at all. It's not assigning greater worth to one company or the other to note that a Marvel comic and a DC comic are just two noticeably different things. They're not similar in tone at all. While both companies publish stories in a shared superhero universe, they way they choose to tell those stories is not the same.



Even when Marvel and DC trade talent, the books don't come out the same. If you look at Bendis' Marvel work and his DC work, they're not the same. His creator owned work at DC might be the same as before (haven't read it yet, so I can't say) but his superhero stuff is different than what he did at Marvel. Difference being that DC stories are largely plot driven while Marvel stories are usually character driven. His Superman doesn't feel like his Jessica Jones or Iron Man. The big question when he went to DC was whether he'd bring his style to DC and change the way they do their books or whether DC would change him and it's the latter that's true. DC has a certain house style and a tone to their books and Bendis now writes to conform to that. That's not to say his writing is any better or worse but to note that he's coming at his books differently now and has said as much in interviews that creating comics at DC is a very different process than creating comics at Marvel.

Maybe you can't do that for Superman and Batman (which I don't agree with) but you can definitely do it for Kyle Rayner, Wally West, Kate Kane, Oliver Queen, Tim Drake, Roy Harper, John Henry Irons just about any teen or young adult DC character. King's Mr Miracle series has been very character driven. Jaime Reyes was basically Kamala Khan before Kamala existed.

When people claim DC's characters aren't relatable they're typically talking about their flagship characters. And even with those guys, it isn't entirely accurate.

Similarly, their have been Marvel characters whose personal lives has played little to no role in the stories like Captain America and Blade.

[Prof. Warren]

Maybe you can't do that for Superman and Batman (which I don't agree with) but you can definitely do it for Kyle Rayner, Wally West, Kate Kane, Oliver Queen, Tim Drake, Roy Harper, John Henry Irons just about any teen or young adult DC character. King's Mr Miracle series has been very character driven. Jaime Reyes was basically Kamala Khan before Kamala existed.

Probably my favorite era as a regular DC reader was when Kyle was GL, Wally was Flash and Connor was GA.

Those were definitely more "Marvel style" heroes in that they were more grounded characters. But, of course, it didn't last and in every case, DC eventually defaulted back to the more iconic versions of those characters - Hal, Barry, and Ollie. I think that's just where DC's heart really lies - with the familiar old guard. I don't think "down to earth" characters is their natural fit.

And whether or not Jamie Reyes was Kamala Khan before Kamala existed, look at where both characters are now. Kamala definitely has a higher profile and Marvel is clearly invested in building her popularity in a way that DC isn't with Jamie.

[tliscord]

I don’t feel I can really speak to this ... Marvel owned me early on . Still, I’ve come to realize looking back that the two companies had an awful lot of cross pollination starting in the late 70’s and beyond. Migrating writers and artists both. We’re there more similarities than differences or were the intrinsic characters that much different?

[Triniking1234]

Comics aren't popular here but I got into the media through the cartoons like most fans. To be honest Marvel was easier to get into unlike DC also Marvel had Power Pack and New Mutants who were around my age.

[Rincewind]

DC reboots its continuity way too often for my tastes. I started post Crisis and enjoyed the streamlined history all taking place on one Earth. But they lost me at Flashpoint, where the entire history was rewritten. DC never really clarified what was still canon and what wasn't.

I also prefer the second tier characters like Wally West and Ted Kord. So I really dislike DC's history of killing off characters for shock value. I dipped my toe back into the DC waters when Rebirth came out. But the new Heroes in Crisis story is driving me away again.

[Infinite-Bit]

Same here.
They're sitting on a series that could rival Star Trek and Dr. Who in both fandom and mythology.
If they had just kept Legion running and treated it the same as they do Batman in regards to DC's reboots.
It baffles me that they're so blind to it.

I concur DC is sitting on so much potential with their cosmic properties. You'd figure after GOTG took off DC would be compelled to try and push the L.O.S.H. again.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

The difference being that the personal problems of, say, Batman and Superman never ring as true as they do for the Marvel heroes. DC tries to humanize their characters but it never feels like a natural fit. They just weren't built for it. There isn't as much emphasis on the personality of the characters as there is at Marvel. At DC it's more about the powers and the costumed identity. You could go for several issues of Batman without any time spent on Bruce Wayne's life but you couldn't do the same with, say, Spider-Man or Iron Man. And there's a distinct lack of true "lovable losers" in the DC universe as opposed to what you see in the MU. You'd never have a character like Scott Lang at DC, for example.

According to whom? I mean, as someone who has read a lot of Marvel and DC comics, I can say myself that the personal conflict for DC characters has never really felt forced or less natural than it does on Marvel characters. If we're talking personality traits, well then Bruce Wayne himself is pretty much a poster boy for personal issues, including his trauma over his parents' deaths, his reticence to trust even his closest friends, and his slew of failed romantic relationships from Silver St. Cloud to Julie Madison to Vicki Vale and, of course, Selina Kyle. Just because he's rich doesn't mean he doesn't have problems. Similarly, Superman comics have at times been just as focused on Clark's relationships with his friends and coworkers and his romance with Lois and the issues in their marriage as they have been on his super heroics.

And, at the same time, I've seen several Marvel runs that spent almost no time on the hero's personal life. I mean, again, look at Thor and how the Donald Blake identity hasn't even been seen for quite some time. Even Captain America comics have, at times, dealt very little with what it means to be Steve Rogers. Black Panther is also a very similar character in that regard. And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Also, barring Superman and Batman, there are so many characters that have battled personal demons and tribulations. Look at just the list that Agent Z composed: Roy Harper battled a heroin addiction, Oliver Queen has had, like, two kids, Renee Montoya had to battle a homophobic atmosphere at the GCPD and was outed as a lesbian, Kyle Rayner was so similar to Spider-Man in terms of his career and personal troubles that for a long while, fans just took to calling him "DC's Spider-Man" etc. And if we're looking for a Scott Lang type character who has a complicated relationship with his ex, well then look no further than Ray Palmer whose wife cheated on him and then had to go through a bitter divorce.

So, there is no specific set of qualifications about what it takes to be a DC character versus a Marvel character in terms of how much focus there is on their personal life. Though, even if we were to assign such monikers as "Marvel-like" or "DC-like", then I'd say that characters like Thor, Captain America, and Black Panther are very "DC-like" characters, but hey, they are at home in the Marvel universe, even if they could conceivably fit into the DC Universe too. And on that note, I could definitely see characters like Dick Grayson or Wally West or Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner or Jaime Reyes fitting into the Marvel Universe.

Well, no. That's not true at all. It's not assigning greater worth to one company or the other to note that a Marvel comic and a DC comic are just two noticeably different things. They're not similar in tone at all. While both companies publish stories in a shared superhero universe, they way they choose to tell those stories is not the same.

Again, not really. There is no set tone for the stories that either DC or Marvel publish. You can tell any type of story you want at either company and they have both published stories of all types. They have both published stories about giant, world-ending cataclysms that the heroes have to push back and they have both told stories about smaller, self-contained adventures and introspective looks at the characters' lives/relationships. I mean, can you really point to a concrete example of a type of story that one has done that the other hasn't or of a way in which one tells stories that the other doesn't?

Even when Marvel and DC trade talent, the books don't come out the same. If you look at Bendis' Marvel work and his DC work, they're not the same. His creator owned work at DC might be the same as before (haven't read it yet, so I can't say) but his superhero stuff is different than what he did at Marvel. Difference being that DC stories are largely plot driven while Marvel stories are usually character driven. His Superman doesn't feel like his Jessica Jones or Iron Man...

Uh...Bendis's Superman is very character driven. A good part of his run so far has been dealing with Clark's marriage, his grappling how to best raise his son, and him trying to assuage peoples' concerns at work about the state of his family life. How is that not character driven? Also, I read his Iron Man. The writing for his Iron Man as opposed to his Superman is really not different. Like at all.

And that illuminates another point: whichever company a creative works at doesn't really impact how they create comics. That may have been true once but the distinction has been largely abandoned. Both of them switch back and forth between different methods of producing comics, and have at many times, had processes that were remarkably similar. There are actually documented cases of creatives creating a story for one that then ended up just being published by the other. Take, for example, the Norm Brefoygle Batman story that ended up a Captain America story. So, again, any perceived difference here is illusory.

[Prof. Warren]

According to whom? I mean, as someone who has read a lot of Marvel and DC comics, I can say myself that the personal conflict for DC characters has never really felt forced or less natural than it does on Marvel characters. If we're talking personality traits, well then Bruce Wayne himself is pretty much a poster boy for personal issues, including his trauma over his parents' deaths, his reticence to trust even his closest friends, and his slew of failed romantic relationships from Silver St. Cloud to Julie Madison to Vicki Vale and, of course, Selina Kyle. Just because he's rich doesn't mean he doesn't have problems. Similarly, Superman comics have at times been just as focused on Clark's relationships with his friends and coworkers and his romance with Lois and the issues in their marriage as they have been on his super heroics.

And, at the same time, I've seen several Marvel runs that spent almost no time on the hero's personal life. I mean, again, look at Thor and how the Donald Blake identity hasn't even been seen for quite some time. Even Captain America comics have, at times, dealt very little with what it means to be Steve Rogers. Black Panther is also a very similar character in that regard. And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Also, barring Superman and Batman, there are so many characters that have battled personal demons and tribulations. Look at just the list that Agent Z composed: Roy Harper battled a heroin addiction, Oliver Queen has had, like, two kids, Renee Montoya had to battle a homophobic atmosphere at the GCPD and was outed as a lesbian, Kyle Rayner was so similar to Spider-Man in terms of his career and personal troubles that for a long while, fans just took to calling him "DC's Spider-Man" etc. And if we're looking for a Scott Lang type character who has a complicated relationship with his ex, well then look no further than Ray Palmer whose wife cheated on him and then had to go through a bitter divorce.

So, there is no specific set of qualifications about what it takes to be a DC character versus a Marvel character in terms of how much focus there is on their personal life. Though, even if we were to assign such monikers as "Marvel-like" or "DC-like", then I'd say that characters like Thor, Captain America, and Black Panther are very "DC-like" characters, but hey, they are at home in the Marvel universe, even if they could conceivably fit into the DC Universe too. And on that note, I could definitely see characters like Dick Grayson or Wally West or Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner or Jaime Reyes fitting into the Marvel Universe.

Again, not really. There is no set tone for the stories that either DC or Marvel publish. You can tell any type of story you want at either company and they have both published stories of all types. They have both published stories about giant, world-ending cataclysms that the heroes have to push back and they have both told stories about smaller, self-contained adventures and introspective looks at the characters' lives/relationships. I mean, can you really point to a concrete example of a type of story that one has done that the other hasn't or of a way in which one tells stories that the other doesn't?

Uh...Bendis's Superman is very character driven. A good part of his run so far has been dealing with Clark's marriage, his grappling how to best raise his son, and him trying to assuage peoples' concerns at work about the state of his family life. How is that not character driven? Also, I read his Iron Man. The writing for his Iron Man as opposed to his Superman is really not different. Like at all.

And that illuminates another point: whichever company a creative works at doesn't really impact how they create comics. That may have been true once but the distinction has been largely abandoned. Both of them switch back and forth between different methods of producing comics, and have at many times, had processes that were remarkably similar. There are actually documented cases of creatives creating a story for one that then ended up just being published by the other. Take, for example, the Norm Brefoygle Batman story that ended up a Captain America story. So, again, any perceived difference here is illusory.

Marvel and DC are very different universes. Period.

I'm sure some people also can't tell the difference between Marvel and DC movies or Sony or Fox Marvel movies because they all feature superheroes and they fight villains and everyone has powers and there's a lot of CGI but yet they're substantially different. And it's not illusory.

[autbey]

I've never cared for the DC characters. Marvel has the X-Men. Other than FF, the X-titles are all that I read.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

While Marvel certainly be confusing, I like the feeling of the continued storyline. DC seemingly to reset itself so often really made it hard for me to want to jump in when I first got into comics. I also like Marvel focus on team books. Their lack of a house style also means that you get some really different artists.

I guess there's just this feeling that DC only really has Batman. I like Batman as an idea, but I never really got into "detective" comics.

The comment that DC has a house style and Marvel doesn't is kind of funny to me because Marvel was BUILT on the house style of Stan Lee's writing and Jack Kirby's art. With the exception of Ditko, the Lee-Kirby style was duplicated by their successors as a deliberate house style, while DC's books were very different. A Superman comic was, and is, very different from a Batman or Green Lantern comic in both story and art styles.

[Rosebunse]

The comment that DC has a house style and Marvel doesn't is kind of funny to me because Marvel was BUILT on the house style of Stan Lee's writing and Jack Kirby's art. With the exception of Ditko, the Lee-Kirby style was duplicated by their successors as a deliberate house style, while DC's books were very different. A Superman comic was, and is, very different from a Batman or Green Lantern comic in both story and art styles.

To some extent, you're right. Marvel was built on the Marvel Method and Kirby's artwork. But starting in the 00s, Marvel didn't really have a collective style the way DC did. There was an effort to bring in more interest snd variety by bringing on independent artists while enforcing the importance of the writer in the creative process.

And as a Marvel fan, I would argue that I was never really able to see the difference between Batman and Superman. Each of them are so brilliant and perfect that even with the different styles, they felt so similar to each other. This became especially true as Batman is Invincible basically became a meme.

I guess one thing I like is, well, Marvel allows their characters to look small. Superman and Batman, even when they are vulnerable, don't seem small. Same with GL and WW. Marvel characters can look very small.

[Mike]

Back in the 70s when I started reading comics I was just drawn to the characters and the art at Marvel more so than DC.
As time went on and many Marvel writers and artist left and went to DC I found myself reading more DC books, but I still liked the Marvel characters.
Now these days I have lost interest in both companies. I just don't recognize either companies' characters.
My buying habits have gone in the direction of DC back issues since I missed many of those books the first time around.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Marvel and DC are very different universes. Period.

I'm sure some people also can't tell the difference between Marvel and DC movies or Sony or Fox Marvel movies because they all feature superheroes and they fight villains and everyone has powers and there's a lot of CGI but yet they're substantially different. And it's not illusory.

But, again, you're not providing actual evidence to make the case that the Marvel and DC Universe are these polar opposites. I'm not positing that Spider-Man and Batman are identical as characters or anything of the sort. However, more often than not, the stories that Marvel/DC tell tend to mine similar territory. Take, for example, the current Heroes in Crisis event that DC is publishing. Couldn't you see something like Sanctuary, a mental health and rehabilitation center for superheroes, existing in the Marvel universe? I definitely could. In fact, I think I have seen a similar concept at some point in the MU. And couldn't you see the DC heroes going through a giant cosmic event like Secret Wars where, say, Lex Luthor seized godhood and used it to piece together a world in which he is god-king?

The only real differences between DC and Marvel are the aesthetics and which characters end up being major players, which can absolutely shape the events of stories, but doesn't necessarily impact the themes or sides of a character that a writer feels they can explore.