What makes you like Marvel more than DC?

[froinlaven]

DC's characters are fantastical and not really realistic with the exception of Batman. Many of them can do anything and everything. And now that I think about it, even Batman has betrayed his oringinal roots. He is like a walking Deux Ex Machina now. It would be great that you can argue that Batman is a great character because he is more human than the other DC characters, but Batman can do anything and everything now. He is a master 200 some odd martial arts, he can escape from any situation, he has and infinite amount of money, he has cars, planes, spaceships, teleporters, and so on. He just isn't as human and flawed as DC wants you to think.

The Marvel characters seem more realistic and flawed. DC cant get anything done without running it by the WB. It also seems to me like the characters don't really grow or progress really at all. They may do a few good story lines here and there, but everything always comes full circle. Just look at Batman, DC had to kill him off for people to start buying his books again, not to mention the fact that no one outside of the comics industry even noticed. I had friends that wanted to read Batman again after "The Dark Knight" came out, but the Batman book was so confusing (The Batman R.I.P. storyline) and off the walls that they thought it wasn't even worth it. And it wasn't

The stories are entirely inaccessible to normal readers. Parallel earths, and alternate universes, etc... Then they release these marketing ploys to sell toys they call story lines in the form of "crises" to fix everything and we are supposed believe that you can read everything in one sitting and enjoy or even understand the 50 years of continuity that is compressed into 7 issues. Also, nothing is never finished in a timely fashion. I can't remember the last time a DC "event" was drawn by 1 artist and 1 artist only.

DC has some great characters, don't get me wrong, but they don't utilize them properly. Aside from Superman, Batman, and Catwoman, they can't even get a half-decent film of the ground to expose the characters to a new market. Marvel uses their characters. Some of the movies might suck but at least the characters are out there...

'Nuff Said


Well said...

But just so you know, the Green Lantern movie is finally off the ground and its gonna be awesome! (I hope)

[olympichero62]

Marvel has better video games based on their characters than DC does
Compare MVC to "Justice League" battle games

I'll agree with you on that. The only great game DC has put out in the last few years is Batman: Arkham Asylum.

[froinlaven]

I'll agree with you on that. The only great game DC has put out in the last few years is Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Don't forget LEGO Batman, that was pretty fun.

[Arksy]

Yesyes, that theory has just been shot to hell as Arkham Asylum has come out to universal acclaim, many reviewers citing it as the best comic book video game released.

P.S: The Iron Man and Hulk video games were amazing.......*cough*

[Jacob B]

Why I like Marvel more is because there are more of favorite heroes/villians in Marvel, but don't get me wrong I like Batman and Superman too, particulary Batman. Just to name a select few that I like from Marvel are The Blob, Spiderman, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Black Panther, Captain America, Thor, Venom, and there are many many more.

[olympichero62]

Why I like Marvel more is because there are more of favorite heroes/villians in Marvel, but don't get me wrong I like Batman and Superman too, particulary Batman. Just to name a select few that I like from Marvel are The Blob, Spiderman, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Black Panther, Captain America, Thor, Venom, and there are many many more.

Can I ask quickly, why is The Blob one of your favorite characters. You always hear people saying that Superman, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Iron Man, etc. is their favorite character but you never hear The Blob too often. I'm intrigued.

[Arksy]

I used to be a hardcore marvel fan, until earlier this year when i started reading some D.C stuff, ever since the Dark Reign stuff started happening i've felt marvel go really downhill. I did enjoy war of kings, and i think that Iron Man by Fraction and Cap by Brubaker are amazing, i'm finding i've become really enchanting by John's Green Lantern and Morrisons Batman and Robin. I mean, i LOVED marvel, but at the moment i've lost interest as most of their books seem to be garbage. (at current)

[froinlaven]

Yesyes, that theory has just been shot to hell as Arkham Asylum has come out to universal acclaim, many reviewers citing it as the best comic book video game released.

P.S: The Iron Man and Hulk video games were amazing.......*cough*

That may be jumping the gun a little bit. It's a great game and I know they need to generate buzz so people will buy it, but there are plenty of classic comic book games out there, many of which are as good or better.

[olympichero62]

I used to be a hardcore marvel fan, until earlier this year when i started reading some D.C stuff, ever since the Dark Reign stuff started happening i've felt marvel go really downhill. I did enjoy war of kings, and i think that Iron Man by Fraction and Cap by Brubaker are amazing, i'm finding i've become really enchanting by John's Green Lantern and Morrisons Batman and Robin. I mean, i LOVED marvel, but at the moment i've lost interest as most of their books seem to be garbage. (at current)

See, that's how I feel about DC. While I agree that Dark Reign has gotten out of hand, the DC universe has been completely boring after the garbage that was Final Crisis. The new Batman is much better than it used to be, Flash: Rebirth is kinda cool, and so is GL, but it seems the Blackest Night series is just a big smoke and mirror show to bring back a bunch of dead characters...I guess only time will tell.

[froinlaven]

See, that's how I feel about DC. While I agree that Dark Reign has gotten out of hand, the DC universe has been completely boring after the garbage that was Final Crisis. The new Batman is much better than it used to be, Flash: Rebirth is kinda cool, and so is GL, but it seems the Blackest Night series is just a big smoke and mirror show to bring back a bunch of dead characters...I guess only time will tell.

Keep reading Blackest Night. I think It will end up being more meaningful than you think. Especially if you hated Final Crisis.

[Van Custo]

As much as a mess the MU can be its nowhere near the mess the DCU is.

[lion]

Must be Hercules!!

[Raharu]

Rose-Colored Glasses fella....

Only if you're referencing yourself, fella...

Have a good one:redface:

[Scott Taylor]

As much as a mess the MU can be its nowhere near the mess the DCU is.

The MU used to be a much more nice, tidy place to go, though.

[Jacob B]

Can I ask quickly, why is The Blob one of your favorite characters. You always hear people saying that Superman, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Iron Man, etc. is their favorite character but you never hear The Blob too often. I'm intrigued.

I agree The Blob isn't on the list of favorite characters very much, but why I like him so much is because I personally think that he is one of the funniest characters in the Marvel Universe, for some reason I like that he's so fat, he's a decent street type fighter, has humiliating moves, I think it's hialarious when people attempt to punch and or kick him in the belly then their fist or leg get stuck in it, I love it when he eats a lot of things, oh and did you know that his ultimate version when The Brotherhood had to rescrue the X-Men from the Weapon X facility that The Blob actually ate their computers in moments?

[Arksy]

I'm going to propose an argument, to really drive home what i mean.

1. Comics are mediums for storytelling
2. Stories are a manifestation of storytellers.

My conclusion: The company that produces a comic is irrelevant, the only thing that's relevant is the comic book itself being a good quality story or not. The consequence? I have no company loyalty and am more likely to read a comic based solely on creative team or reliable recommendation rather then company. Personally i'd read Peter David regardless of what title he's working on, be it Hulk, Halo or Squirrel Girl. At the moment, i feel like Marvels creative teams are not producing up to par. I'm REALLY bored with Bendis at the moment. However that's just an oppinion of a noticing trend. I still love Brubaker and Fractions work.

Bottom line, quality of read is independent of the company, both companies produce really really good stuff and absolute rubbish.

[monkeypool]

I agree The Blob isn't on the list of favorite characters very much, but why I like him so much is because I personally think that he is one of the funniest characters in the Marvel Universe, for some reason I like that he's so fat, he's a decent street type fighter, has humiliating moves, I think it's hialarious when people attempt to punch and or kick him in the belly then their fist or leg get stuck in it, I love it when he eats a lot of things, oh and did you know that his ultimate version when The Brotherhood had to rescrue the X-Men from the Weapon X facility that The Blob actually ate their computers in moments?

I was glad to see that someone asked you about this, I too was just overwhelmed with curiosity when I saw that your fave was the Blob.
Very cool!
I've always liked people who don't just follow the crowd, who like what they like, just becausae it amuses them to do so. Right on man!

Now you may hate this idea, but it's one I've postulated many many times.
My own personal fave, Deadpool really isn't a team player so to speak, and as such shouldn't really be on a team.
Agency X, however, works for Deadpool just fine, because the premise and the members are a bit silly to begin with.

I would LOVE to see the roster expanded a bit, and the team given a book, (not necessarily a long running, just a one shot, something like a four issue series or whatever will do nicely.

One of the MUST ADDS in my mind, to Agency X would be the Blob.
Now that Agent X has gotten himself so overwieght, I can think of many reasons the two of them would meet and decide to work together.

I dunno I just always thought that some form of Blob Deadpool team up would be awesome.

At any rate, thanks for responding to him I was really curious myself.

[Wolverine12]

One thing for me, Wolverine.

[thecrimson]

Marvel has some pretty hot girls. :wink:

[Sunspot9224]

i'm a Marvel freak, but I'm enjoying DC more these days, particularly Green Lantern and Blackest Night.

[Iron Theurge]

Reasons I like Marvel over DC:

- Whereas Marvel does have some dumbness (i.e. Spider Man OMD/BND) I can usually ignore big chunks of it and enjoy that parts I like. For instance when I read that 'Superboy punching through the walls of reality' was was of the key elements of all of DC's RECENT huge continuity-altering mini-series I further confirmed my decision not to waste my money on DC.

- I like Dark Reign and the Civil War. Marvel takes chances with big stories I can relate to and the status quo moves along. I even like how they've changed Tony Stark in recent years. Seeing a smart asshat slide towards fascism for a while was interesting and made him a very controversial and interesting character.

- Ultimate Marvel (minus Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum).

- Marvel's sliding timescale. I know it irks a lot of people, but as a way to keep their characters' young or whatever age Marvel wants them to be ... I think it works.

- I like the way Marvel's allowed its writers to elevate minor characters into prominence, even over icons. Prime examples -- Luke Cage and Spider Woman.

Iron Theurge

[thecrimson]

The lack of girls who look more like strippers...wait a minute.

[NickFury90]

I'm not a Marvel of DC guy, I'm a Good Comics guy. And those Good Comics just happen to lean more towards Marvel than DC. Captain America, Daredevil, Amazing Spider-man, Wolverine Weapon X, X-Factor, SHIELD, Secret Warriors, Secret Avengers, Steve Rogers: Super Soldier, Incredible Herc/Prince of Power, Pak's Incredible Hulk, etc.

The only thing I care for at DC is anything and everything Grant Morrison touches, and Secret Six. I'm gonna give JMS a chance with his new Superman/WW books, too. Oh, and Geoff Johns Flash is pretty good.

[carabas]

Reasons I like Marvel over DC:

- Whereas Marvel does have some dumbness (i.e. Spider Man OMD/BND) I can usually ignore big chunks of it and enjoy that parts I like. For instance when I read that 'Superboy punching through the walls of reality' was was of the key elements of all of DC's RECENT huge continuity-altering mini-series I further confirmed my decision not to waste my money on DC.The Superboy Prime reality-punch was not really a key element of anything at all, and instead was nothing more than a lame explanation for lapses in continuity. What happened to John Byrne's Doom Patrol reboot? Superboy Prime punch. That sort of thing.


- Marvel's sliding timescale. I know it irks a lot of people, but as a way to keep their characters' young or whatever age Marvel wants them to be ... I think it works. DC has one of those too.

[Zagreus]

re: Power

Here's the thing about power. It doesn't matter how powerful the hero is...what matters is how powerful his OPPOSITION is.

Thor for example is one of the most powerful heroes in either DC or Marvel. His villains by and large are at least the same powerlevel.

Sure, Superman has Mxy (and now other kryptonians) but compared historically to Thor? Celestials, Kurse, the Destroyer, Heralds etc.

To put it bluntly, DC writers tend to write their heroes somewhat braindead (wait, Diana is sublight fast in reaction speed and she's getting tagged by arrows? ) whereas marvel seemed better able to give an underdog vibe to their character.

It's the difference between having Flash have trouble with the rogues and Surfer getting manhandled by Thanos.

re: History
For me, its partly history...when I was younger, I loved the fact that black heroes were present in the marvel universe from the beginning (you can't get more cred than being a Stan Lee-Kirby creation see Black Panther or the father of the mutants - Claremont and Storm).

Vanthlo and Tyroc were slaps in the face.

This is why I like Marvel more. Also it's not really Power LEVEL... lots of marvel characters are damn powerful, but power PROFUSION over at DC. TOO many powers. Superman I get, he's got his suite of powers and it's pretty much established cannon that he's faster than a speeding bullet, has heat vision, etc... but where's the freeze breath coming from? There's no sense to it and they don't even try. (Heat vision I can see, his body absorbs solar energy and this could be a discharge... but freeze breath..c'mon) And DC gives out super-speed like it's candy: Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, Super Girl, not to mention all the speedsters have it. Too much super-speed. Yet it's rarely used effectively. So there's a logical disconnect for me. The DC enemies rarely compare to the heroes in terms of power level or power profusion. How could they? It would be impossible and lame to write... it would distract from the story. And yet DC will not scale down their icons. Martian Manhunter NEEDS all those powers to perform his tasks as a hero and iconic character? Not likely, they actually get in the way. Yet, there they are. Almost no Marvel hero has super speed in their reaction time. Thor might be able to move at FTL speeds when he throws Mjolnir, but he can't build a house in the blink of an eye.

Okay...geeky power rant over. :) Enjoy DC fans! I actually like some DC titles, and was a huge fan of Sandman (vertigo), but in general, I like the Marvel philosophy when it comes to crafting superheroes.

[dupersuper]

The Superboy Prime reality-punch was not really a key element of anything at all, and instead was nothing more than a lame explanation for lapses in continuity. What happened to John Byrne's Doom Patrol reboot? Superboy Prime punch. That sort of thing.


AKA "a wizard did it".

[Jack J Napier]

I love both DC and Marvel, but I do not have money to purchase both universes. Marvel has my favorite characters, but I do still enjoy characters like the Spirit, Question, Batman, Joker, and many more. I just have to choose and at the moment Marvel has the better quality, at least thats how I feel. I still purchase all Batman books though.

[carabas]

AKA "a wizard did it".I se it more as "We don't really want to explain it, and would rather just move on, but if you anal fanboys really need an in-continuity explanation for every single writer error and misfired and dropped creatrive direction, here it is. Enjoy."

[mikekerr3]

AKA "a wizard did it".

Or the Marvel version "it's magic":wink:

[QuickDevilRed]

really its mainly because of the humanization of the characters.
In DC none of their characters seem like people the average comic reader could relate to.
If they are a normal person, like Clark Kent, then they have an alternate identity and an unlimited power supply depending on the plot of the current story.
If they don't have a lot of powers, like Batman, or Green Arrow, then they are incredibly wealthy and can spend money on whatever it is they need to make to solve certain plot problems.

It sort of takes away from the comics that it isn't a person solving the problems. In Marvel the characters are usually a lot more everyday, like Peter Parker and Matt Murdock and even Tony Stark although he's rich, has had his everyday guys problems with drinking.

Basically DC characters all have an additional power I like to call plot paintbrush... they all have someway to solve any problem and it takes a lot of the suspense out of stories

[matt levin]

you know what's happened? for the first time in over 30 years of comics reading, I didn't order a single Marvel comic book from the shipping-September previews.... not one. (Well, okay, I preordered two Icon titles, but they're not Marvel universe titles in any way.) Sad, sad, sad.

Marvel's priced me out of their fold; Marvel's "Big-Evented" me out of several 'Marvel-family' titles; Marvel's bored me with secondary writing from other titles (notably DD and Hulk). I'm told to try Deadpool, and X-Factor, which I will, in trades, next week. But for now....

amazingly...

it's indy titles, and, of all things, DC, for more engaging writing, compact storylines (not that DC -doesn't- have these fool all-company cross-overs; don't get those either), and, to be crass about it, cheaper cover prices.

hope you Marvel fans are getting what you like. But they've lost me for all of September.... sigh.

[B. Kuwanger]

Happens. There was a time last year after Moon Knight was cancelled and I think Cap was on a break, the only book I got from either of the big two was Batman and Robin.

Money issues and slow months aside:

1. Marvel has a stronger street level. Moon Knight, Daredevil, Punisher, and every once in a while you get good stories with characters like Iron Fist and even villains like Bullseye and the Hood. The street level I've seen from DC is mainly just made up of not-Batmen and Green Arrow. As I don't really care for aliens in my books outside of REBELS, this is the deal breaker for me.

2. Easier to follow. There was a storyline about a year and a half ago that McDuffie did for JLA, and I thought it was great. And then it seemed as if the title did everything it could to lose me. I have no idea where the book is now, who's in it, or what's going down. Meanwhile, I'm not crazy about Bendis writing the Avengers, but I can pick up pretty much any issue and if I find myself amused, work my way backwards or forwards for more of the story. And you have events like Civil War, which can get pretty much anyone on board or invested, versus events like Infinite Crisis or Final Crisis. Really all I should even say here is "Legion of Super Heroes."

3. The characters. Superman and Batman are the biggest in comics and they deserve to be, but after that....what is there? Green Lantern and who else? Marvel has Spider-Man and Wolverine, but after that you get Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four (Thing can almost stand on his own), Iron Man, and the X-franchise in general. They even managed to squeeze three movies out of Blade. And the villains are just about as classic.

[Aziz Abbasi]

I like Marvel's events more, not so many events with the word 'Crisis' in common

No "Grant Morrison"

Using the term "They make better video games" & "They make better movies" is wrong, cause we talk about the comics, such universes from other medias shouldn't be inserted to compare comics, and it was very wrong of me to do so earlier

[B. Kuwanger]

I never did think Grant Morrison could be a good fit for Marvel. Or events in general.


Using the term "They make better video games" & "They make better movies" is wrong, cause we talk about the comics, such universes from other medias shouldn't be inserted to compare comics, and it was very wrong of me to do so earlier
I mostly agree, but in a lot of cases it's the scope that changes things. It's almost impossible to make a good Superman game because of all the things he could do, and that goes the same way for a million other DC characters with similar power sets. It also gets tough to sell a movie because if people go see a Superman movie in the summer, they want colossal fight scenes and it doesn't work out because that's not Superman.

[XPac]

I never did think Grant Morrison could be a good fit for Marvel. Or events in general.




I think Morrison did a great job with the X-Men.

But I do think Morrison is one of those writers that needs to do completely his own thing. I could see him kicking butt in Ultimates or something like that. But if he were to do mainstream stuff, it might cause issues. Sort of like Millars FF run.

[zeitgeist07]

I don't like DC heroes because of Mainline. :tongue:

All the other reason have been stated already.

PS: Marvel Rocks!!!

[AJBopp]

When Marvel was Marvel I preferred them because the characters were complex and interesting but never failed to understand right from wrong, at least in the end. Sometimes learning that lesson was a fascinating character study. DC comics were concerned with minutiae like what is the latest interesting way the hero changes to his costume, and there were no characters, let alone character development. Just cardboard power sets that had little motivation for their actions.

Nowadays, Marvel's heroes have become increasingly unable to distinguish right from wrong, and often do wrong and fail to learn a lesson from it. Anti-heroes are lifted up as good guys instead of, as the term implies, bad guys. Good guys behave increasingly like anti-heroes for little or no motivation. DC on the other hand still often fails to capture the complex personal lives of it's heroes well, but they are making great strides. The heroes, more often, understand right from wrong and live according to a code that holds true to those principles.

In short, Marvel has become increasingly like DC of the 60s and 70s, just with a "gritty" overlay that generally doesn't work for the characters' histories. Cardboard creatures behaving in a way that fits the story rather than the characters they are. DC has gone the other direction.

So I find myself drifting to where the good stories are. For most of my life that was Marvel. Now it's DC.

[bd2999]

Honestly I just like the characters more. I am not sure what it is. I like the stories better. It might have to do with the fact that I just find Superman dull for whatever reason but I like alot of the Marvel characters. It might have to do with the fact that those were the books I read most often growing up, but I always liked the Avengers stories more than JLA stories for instance.

Some of my favorite characters have just been Marvel's (Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Thor, Nova and so on). Not sure that I have a good reason as both mirror each other fairly well. At one point I can see DC maybe being more kiddie but not sure that is true anymore. There are alot of folks with a very similar power set in DC. So I can see that get annoying but that is not my reason.

[B. Kuwanger]

Nowadays, Marvel's heroes have become increasingly unable to distinguish right from wrong, and often do wrong and fail to learn a lesson from it. Anti-heroes are lifted up as good guys instead of, as the term implies, bad guys. Good guys behave increasingly like anti-heroes for little or no motivation. DC on the other hand still often fails to capture the complex personal lives of it's heroes well, but they are making great strides. The heroes, more often, understand right from wrong and live according to a code that holds true to those principles.

In short, Marvel has become increasingly like DC of the 60s and 70s, just with a "gritty" overlay that generally doesn't work for the characters' histories. Cardboard creatures behaving in a way that fits the story rather than the characters they are. DC has gone the other direction.

So I find myself drifting to where the good stories are. For most of my life that was Marvel. Now it's DC.
For the most part I'd just consider it keeping up with the "feet of clay" concept. The characters with the dual identities are as complex and flawed as ever while guys like Steve Rogers and Thor are still pillars of virtue. I get the sense that pretty much all of these guys are still trying to do what's right, but that past experience and changing times affect their approach.

Morrison over at DC is having a great run at Batman in part because he's making use of his characters' past experience, where the rest of DC technically reset 3 or 4 times since the mid 80s. Superman's origin isn't even finished being retconned for like the fourth time.

[arsenix]

I guess I like Marvel more for its history and my own history with the company.

I did a research on Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men in sixth grade and got to learn a lot about their origins and the initial concepts behind the characters, and the differences between the DC heroes and the Marvel heroes created an idea of what the two companies were about in my impressionable twelve-year-old head. Superman and Batman seemed to just be these ideas that weren't particularly relatable to me: "Rich guy fights crime with questionably-attired youth! Ridiculously-powered alien thinks he can get away with a pair of glasses as a secret identity!" (Yes, I know this is the biggest bastardization of Superman and Batman EVER, but I was a sixth grader, that's pretty much how my brain worked.) Spider-Man and the X-Men, however, seemed much more engaging. They weren't loved by millions or supercool or anything; Peter Parker was a poor nerd and Spider-Man was accused of being a menace, while the X-Men were subject to as much bigotry as you can imagine. (Obviously everyone here knows all about these differences, but I feel like I needed to explain it in my own terms to fully communicate how I felt.)

It's pretty easy to see that there's not this dichotomy between Marvel and DC nowadays and that similar stories are told by both companies, but it still served to create this image of what a Marvel hero is versus what a DC hero is that persists in my brain to this day. I also still feel way more attached to Marvel characters than I do to DC ones and the vast majority of my comic money goes to Marvel (though I've started to dip into the trades of DC storylines my library system has to offer and I've enjoyed them). All in all, I've identified with Marvel the most in my limited comic experience, and that leads me to be a pretty vocal defender of Marvel in any comic debates.

Plus, DC has never had anyone like Stan "The Man" Lee behind the scenes, and darn it, I love Stan!

[MR. USFL]

I have been reading comics for 22 years. I grew up with marvel. The books are better imo. I have read a lot of DC love batman and still read the bat-family of titles to this day. But DC is crap imo. I do not like their crossovers. they reboot every couple of years and the main reason i dislike DC, one word SUPERMAN.. I do not post here often but i must say this Mainlineguy is a jackass.Get a life bro it is just comic books.

[Hulk_Is]

If I like Marvel more than DC, it's simply because Marvel comics has filled my life with many more treasures, starting since my childhood. DC products for some reason didn't extend as far as Marvel's did. I grew up in a small town in Maryland and maybe we were anti-DC importing. Dunno. :biggrin:

[Electric i]

Superman and many others seemed to have no limit. An the power sets make no since. Superman and Wonder Woman should literally speed stomp nearly everyone they fight...Plus characters like Thing and Wolverine had this air of "Cool Tough Guy" that as I kid i wanted to be like...Marvel had guys like the Thing who was a hero but HATED being the Thing.


Yeah, all of that and a bit more.

I started with DC Comics, and I enjoyed Batman, Green Lantern, Atari Force, Teen Titans (mostly), Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew, a few other titles.

Then I discovered Marvel, and it was all over.

The majority of Marvel's characters weren't paragons of virtue, a few of them should have been on probation at the very least. I could (and still can) relate to people like that more readily than with someone like Superman.

I am on record as not being a fan of Norman Osborn returning to the MU (along with Gwen Stacy and a bunch of others), but Dark Reign had some really good stories being told. And that is why I read the comics back in the day (and the TPBs now): because I want a good story with some good art.

I've tried to read some of the DC stuff from the past decade, and I don't enjoy most of it.

[Ikonic]

Blue Marvel. Nuff said.

[thecrimson]

When Marvel was Marvel I preferred them because the characters were complex and interesting but never failed to understand right from wrong, at least in the end. Sometimes learning that lesson was a fascinating character study. DC comics were concerned with minutiae like what is the latest interesting way the hero changes to his costume, and there were no characters, let alone character development. Just cardboard power sets that had little motivation for their actions.

Nowadays, Marvel's heroes have become increasingly unable to distinguish right from wrong, and often do wrong and fail to learn a lesson from it. Anti-heroes are lifted up as good guys instead of, as the term implies, bad guys. Good guys behave increasingly like anti-heroes for little or no motivation. DC on the other hand still often fails to capture the complex personal lives of it's heroes well, but they are making great strides. The heroes, more often, understand right from wrong and live according to a code that holds true to those principles.

In short, Marvel has become increasingly like DC of the 60s and 70s, just with a "gritty" overlay that generally doesn't work for the characters' histories. Cardboard creatures behaving in a way that fits the story rather than the characters they are. DC has gone the other direction.

So I find myself drifting to where the good stories are. For most of my life that was Marvel. Now it's DC.

Anti-heroes are not bad guys. They're guys like Deadpool, Punisher, and Wolverine that do the right thing, but their own way. The definition is: somebody who is the central character in a story but who is not brave, noble, or morally good as heroes traditionally are.
But that doesn't mean they are bad guys, just not traditional heroes.

[The Black Guardian]

What it boils down to is that I cannot stand most of DC's top tier characters or that the DCU revolves around them. Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash, and Aquaman are the only exceptions.

[Magneto X]

1) Doubtful, there's MAJOR suspension of disbelief going on in both houses, it seems more to do with what people decide they will tolerate for the sake of their biases rather than a genuine reflection of reality one way or the other.

It's a matter of degree, and we are free to prefer the somewhat greater degree of realism in Marvel. Events are more likely to take place in Stamford, Manhattan and Westchester, instead of Gotham and Metropolis. And fewer people decide a cool nickname would end in "boy" "lad" or "lass."


The power-level thing is almost entirely illusory...

No, it's a fact. In DC, there are dozens of longterm major characters who all have a power set almost equivalent to Superman. Spider-Man and Thing are not in the same ballpark, or even planet as those light-speed moonbusters.

[arsenix]

And fewer people decide a cool nickname would end in "boy" "lad" or "lass."

Yeah, that alone gives Marvel a huge advantage. I was looking at a trade of the Legion of Super-Heroes and I was so confused as to how people in the 30th century think it's cool to go by the names 'Cosmic Boy' or 'Light Lass.' That probably required a bigger suspension of disbelief than anything else in the book!

[Gorgeousaur]

It was just what I read more often as a kid. Now it's just because I like the writers and artists more. Marvel has Hickman, Bendis, Fraction, Brubaker, Aaron, Millar, Gillen, and the guys writint Amazing Spider-Man. The only writers at DC that appeal to me are Morrison and Cornell.

[Iron Theurge]

Anti-heroes are not bad guys. They're guys like Deadpool, Punisher, and Wolverine that do the right thing, but their own way. The definition is: somebody who is the central character in a story but who is not brave, noble, or morally good as heroes traditionally are.
But that doesn't mean they are bad guys, just not traditional heroes.


Yeah the argument could be made that some heroes fell out of grace --- Tony Stark. But even at some of the darkest times, where characters were tempted to embrace darker methods (Clint Barton plotting to kill Norman Osbourne), the heroes who embraced more moral methods were shown to be right in the end (Spider-Man).

I like the fact that a long-term multi-year plot revolved around bringing the world back into the light. It wasn't always perfect, but its more realistic and decentralized than most of what I've read in DC.

[Blind pugh]

I grew up on handed down silver age comics which had a noticeable difference in tone between companies.
I preferred the Marvel approach & as such ever after the Marvel characters are the ones I cared about more.

[the new sensation]

Always preferred Marvel to DC because the heroes seemed more human and fallible.. one Spidey ish had him washing his costume, would we ever see Bruce Wayne do that? The Marvels appear much more relateable to me than the perfect DC heroes, who all seem to have pots of money, no worries and no discernable enemies who could seriously f--k up their lives the way Marvel villains can[and do]. Also, its seemed to me that most comic-book fans [and ive spoken to quite a few, at conventions and online] that start reading comics start out with DC because its bright and colourful but then go on to Marvel as they get older[teens], whilst keeping a few old DC favourites for old times sake.

[The Man Without Fear]

Daredevil. He's the comic book character I care about most in the medium, so what happens in the world around him is infinitely me more interesting to me as a result.

That said, I like DC a great deal as well, it's just they've never managed to put a character out there that appeals to me as much as Matt Murdock does.

- Manning

[RatFace]

I prefer Marvel because to me the characters are a little more relatable than DC's. Some of that relatability comes from knowing where Queens, New York is, I'm not sure where Metropolis, Gotham City or Central City are.

[paulski]

Oops, already posted here.

Damn these revived threads... :wink:

[Malevolent1]

When I first started reading comics, I was attracted to Marvel comics because the writer's were aiming for a more inclusive audience, an audience that included something not only for kids, but for older readers as well. I always thought that DC comics was...well, corny. I just couldn't sink my teeth into the character who I thought were very two dimensional. Marvel was very cutting edge when I first started reading comics back in the 70s.

Now, I understand that DC has long since caught on to what made Marvel so much more popular than them and they are up to par. I invested in several copies of the Blackest Night story line some time ago and was very impresses with the artwork, the characters, dialog, etc...but because I had not grown up with those characters, it just wasn't like...home.

So I suppose the simple answer, for me, is that I grew up with Marvel and they just are more familiar to me. Too much of the little nuances that I'm missing between characters at DC because of lack of familiarity.

I know that when Namor shows up in an issue of FF, there is some underlying current of attraction on the part of Sue Richards. I know when Logan and Scott are discussing...administrative decisions for the X-men that fall under the category of "hard decision", Logan will probably be in Scott's face about it. I know that when Tony and Steve are having discussions about the direction the Avengers, that there is not only the recent Civil War conflict that pits them against one another but decades of friendship between these guys...they chewed the same dirt for years.

For me, Marvel means home.

[Sue Storm lover]

The answer is a simple one for me. Growing up in the early 60's I was stuck on two blonde heroines - Sue Storm of Marvel's Fantastic Four and Judy Walton of D.C.'s Sea Devils. When D.C. dumped Sea Devils, I dumped D.C. and have only bought a handful of D.C. comics in the past 45 years. I rarely even bother to look at the D.C. section of my local comic shop.

[SpideyCzar]

I grew up with the Marvel Universe, the 90's X-Men Cartoon got me into comics, then I followed suit watching the Spider-Man animated series, and I was lured into comics with Silver Age trades of classic Spider-Man stories and have not stopped following the character since.

Back to the topic on hand though, I enjoy the Marvel library of characters much more than DC for a few different reasons

-Ever since Joe Quesada has become EIC it seems the stories have flowed more organically, and the universe in general seems to have a cohesive direction for the most part. For example Avengers Disassembled led into New Avengers which led into House of M which led into Decimation then came Civil War, the Death of Captain America and so on. And as a reader I believe anything can happen in the Marvel Universe.

-Flawed characters it seems most of the iconic classic Stan Lee creations all have a flaw a normal reader can relate to where I cannot relate to a invulnerable alien, a amazon princess, a psychotic avenging billionaire or a cocky pilot with a powerful wishing ring. While I can read these characters for short periods of time if the writing is good, I can't follow them for any long period of time because, I have no real interest in any of them.

All my favorites are in one universe for the most part, I read my fair share of DC comics also thanks to Geoff Johns, once he leaves a book I leave also.

[Sue Storm lover]

As the old saying goes.... Make Mine Marvel!