Uhhh no, not really. There is so much cross-pollination of talent between the two companies that it really can't be true. Soule writes 3 books for DC and 3 for Marvel. Bunn writes Magneto and Sinestro. Lemire and Azzarello are as good as anyone who writes for Marvel. Bendis is no better than Johns. Hickman is no better than Snyder. There are good books, mediocre books and bad books from all companies, including Image. And with regards to art - DC has a better stable of artists now as anytime I remember back to the 70's - Capullo, Manupal, Sorrentino, Nicola Scott, Ivan Reis, Jim Lee (when he actually puts out a book), Cliff Chiang, Jason Fabok, Mikel Janin and on and on. DC has had a bit of an artistic renaissance since the reboot. Just look at how good the weeklies have looked so far, and that's supposed to be their B talent. DC has had some bumps in the road to be sure - but as I said in another thread imho the quality is going up every month recently
Last edited by AlexanderLuthor; 05-11-2014 at 01:28 PM.
Meh, DC seems to have found its footing in recent months. And I myself have found that the quality books at DC are just as good as anything put out by Marvel right now. The only thing is...Marvel seems to have more of them right now. The majority of DC's books at the moment follow more of a house-style, which is fine for some, but hampers others in that it leads to editorial micromanagement. When we look at it, its really the books that are able to be left alone that are the best. And that, you know, is just where Marvel was a few years ago. DC just needs to get its editorial under control.
Last edited by Green Goblin of Sector 2814; 05-11-2014 at 02:30 PM.
In my opinion, DC has at least twice as many good books as Marvel, and a far more varied and talented pool of creators.
In other news, I'm no longer buying store brand canned tuna. Spread the word.
Soule...and? Like, maybe Kindt and Filakov? I'm not remembering other names, they're certainly not the A-list talent from either company (other than arguably Soule). Even if true, that hardly prevents anything.
Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction and Warren Ellis might all have something to say about that. Then again, I don't think Azzarello is actually good, so I'm biased there.
Other than Fabok (who's fine himself), those are all indeed quality names. But Marvel's got Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, Oliver Coipel, Jerome Opena, Alex Ross and John Cassady on covers recently, Daniel Acuna, Stuart Immonen, Steve McNiven, David Marquez, Sara Pichelli, Declan Shalvey, Lenil Yu, Chris Samnee, Javier Pulido, Esad Ribic, Adam Kubert, David Aja, Lee Garbett, Adrian Alphona, Annie Wu, Mike Allred...I'd say it balances out. And DC's got plenty of fair titles, a sample platter of good stuff (Batman, Action Comics, Superman Unchained) and a beating heart of unfiltered crap it's trying to get to as many customers as possible (Future's End, JL). Marvel's got some so-so and bad titles too, but it's got Daredevil, Loki, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, Hickman's Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Thor...
Agree. Marvel has a greater variety of creator and books. I'm reading more Marvel than this period last year, it was exactly 0 books. now it's 4 or 5 IDK lost the count
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/28597.html hummm
I think he has the same quality of these writers, and I love the work from these writersJason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction and Warren Ellis might all have something to say about that. Then again, I don't think Azzarello is actually good, so I'm biased there.
Last edited by Blacksun; 05-11-2014 at 04:46 PM.
Pak and now Tynion and Higgins are starting to do stuff with Marvel, as well. I will agree that DC doesn't have anyone to match up with Warren Ellis and Mark Waid - and as we know those two are largely DCs fault. As for Hickman, based on popularity and critical acclaim on their indie stuff - Snyder matches up quite well. I see Johns as better than Bendis, but that's personal preference. I'm simply not a fan of Jason Aaron and think there is a reason Marvel hasn't made him exclusive. Gillen's YA had a great start, but really flattened after that. Fraction is not long for Marvel and will wrap Hawkeye soon.
I like all of the books you mentioned from Marvel, but think DC has a lot of underrated books to match them like Green Arrow, Swamp Thing, Red Lanterns, Earth 2, GL: New Guardians, GLC, potentially JLU and they have tried Dial H, Demon Knights, Infinity Man, and others.
To be fair Marvel might have a little better writing right now, but I get all of these books and DCs art is just superior now
An interesting aside is that with classic Silver and Bronze age comics becoming relatively cheaper to come by digitally, the new (higher priced) DC and Marvel comics have some stiff competition. From themselves, even.
For me, it all comes down to the characters.
I gave the nuCoke DCU a shot--twice. The characters didn't feel like characters--more like copyright placeholders. In the past 18 months, I've purchased a grand total of two new 52 titles. I did try to get into the whatchamacallit DCU, but it seems utterly lacking in humor and heart. And that's sad.
For me, it all comes down to the characters as well. In a less corrupt political system, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash would have long since entered the public domain. I consider the DC heroes with their 70+ years of history to be a part of the cultural heritage of the United States. But the bleak and depressing world that DC has chosen to set them in shows mostly that they have been poor custodians of that cultural heritage.
As far as I can tell, DC's editorial, and most of the writers, don't seem to grasp what makes these heroes compelling, or what kept people interested in them all that time. The problem extends beyond the comic books, and goes as far as whoever greenlit the script for Man of Steel, to say nothing of Flashpoint Paradox and JL: War. This lack of humor and heart is indeed sad.
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison