Amph Comics: DC vs. Marvel General Opinion

I've always been a fan on Marvel, but I was wondering what the general opinion was. Do the majority of people like Marvel? Or do many prefer DC? Marvel is clearly more extensive, but DC sometimes seems less real, more of an escape when reading it. Please tell me what you think.

 

I enjoy both companies as well as comics from Image. I never quite understood the mindset of Marvel vs. DC amongst fans. It seems silly and not unlike the console wars. Each company brings its own identity to the table. When I want to read about Booster Gold being awesome through time, I'll go to DC. When I want to see Hal Jordan fight the rainbow, I'll go to DC, when I want to see X-23 be a lot more fun as a character than Wolverine, I'll go read Marvel, and when I want to see Hercules hang out with one of the world's smartest people, I'll go read Marvel.

I don't understand why it has to be vs. Sales wise, sure, but both deserve my business*, since I enjoy stuff from both.




*My anger towards their treatment of Batgirl and Spider-Man aside.

 

Saying one is better than the other is like saying chocolate is better than vanilla. I can understand issues with the editorial staffs, but generally speaking the writers and artists float back and forth between the two companies. As for the characters, there are "DC style" characters at Marvel and "Marvel style" characters at DC.

 

Well, I'll give you a straight answer... kinda...

Currently DC. Basically anything Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison touch turns to golden awesomeness. It's hard to choose a favorite, it's almost like it depends on the time period. Ask me 2 years ago, I probably would have said Marvel.

But yeah, DC.

 

Ever since childhood I have been a bigger fan of Marvel, it has to do with enjoying their characters I think. Nothing against DC, but I just like the universe that Marvel has more.

DC has it's up sides as well, but for me personally Marvel is where it's at.

 

I follow the writers, really. I mean I read everything Morrison and Johns are writing, but that hasn't stopped me from reading Brubakers Captain America and Daredevil.

 

I do agree with that. And concerning marvel vs. dc I don't disagree that such an argument isn't entirely relevant. However irrationallly though, I think that a lot of us have such an argument in our perspective anyway. And I was curious. I know that as a whole, I prefer the Marvel Universe. However, Batman Begins was way better than any of the Spider-man movies, and Iron Man was way better than Superman Returns. I don't think anyone sees it as a clear-cut argument which invites a rather interesting discussion.

 

Back in the late 70's and the 80's, Marvel produced, on average, a far superior comic-book to D.C. Comics. Even the Marvel letters pages were better, as D.C. always printed the most sycophantic letters they could find, unlike Marvel, which printed a good selection of opinions.

I think for "average" day to day adventures, the Marvel heroes were much more compelling, as they had real lives you cared about. DC did big cosmic stories better, they just seemed to work well with the type of heroes they had.

I don't know how the two companies stack up against each other now.

 

Marvel is more popular from a sales point of view, that's for sure. I don't have any real numbers in front of me right now, but if memory serves Marvel usually has just under 50% of the market share in any given month. DC comes in at #2 with closer to 40% usually with smaller companies like Image and Dark Horse filling out the rest.

As for me, I've always been a Marvel fan. I first got into comics in the 90's during the height of the X-Men's popularity so it was really no question.

 

Found an article detailing comic sales estimates for March 2009. Interesting that Marvel led with individual single issues but DC led when it came to trades.

 

This. I became a Marvel fan essentially because the month to month stories drew me in a lot more than DC. I was always compelled to try to find the next issue to see what happened next. With DC I never felt that compulsion, but always found their "events" to be far more engaging, many of which are now classic "must read" stories.

This is, of course, purely anecdotal and based entirely on my own experience but to me I've always felt that Marvel did the personal stuff better, DC did the big event/cross-over stuff better...which is why Marvel's annual events drive me crazy.

 

It's interesting really- for me I prefer Marvel characters to DC ones generally, but some of my favorites are from DC. So split

Probably due to the Watchmen movie release and corresponding high sales of the TBP.

 

Rather an enlightening article. Pretty neat.

 

I prefer Marvel. I like more of the characters, and the character story's are a lot more interesting.

 

I think the movies may have an influence on the sales too. A big movie raises the interest for whichever of Dc's or Marvel's properties in the casual customer rather than us intense fanboys.

As illustration of my point: at my Borders after the opening weekend of Ironman the entire section of Ironman TPB's sold out and the Incredible Hulk had alot go too (some were left but most were gone) after Watchman and the Dark Knight the entire section of Batman TPB's and the large number of Watchman TPB's was gone before the weekend was out.

 

Civil War was pretty much when I got "ok **** this ****" with Marvel.

 

I was a total marvelite when I was young. Total Avengers nut. Got into DC because marvel got lame with the concentration on mutant titles. It was right around Death of Superman and Knightfall, so it was good, the characters were mostly rebooted. I liked that they were the iconics.

Now that Superman is juggling planets again and Batman is unbeatable I find them hard to care about. Final Crisis was the final turn off.

Back into Marvel. I liked CW, WWH, its just the endings that suck. I'm liking Dark Reign. X-men is still unreadable though

 

Agreed. X-Factor is the only current X-title that I can enjoy on a consistent basis. And that's half because it's so far removed from the rest of them. The other half is the utter genius that is Peter David.

 

yeah X-factor is cool, I chalk it up to being lucky enough to catch onto the new direction/storyline.

Cable too. I love those artists (I don't do names). And the whole Messiah War arc has me wanting more. But its Marvel, the end will suck. Oh well, its the journey that counts...or something

 

I love reading Batman and Green Lantern but aside from that I sometimes find it a little confusing what's happening in there. Marvel if I go away for awhile I can get back in and know what's going on.

 

I think Marvel turns in quality work, but I strongly prefer the DC Universe.

But it just seems when a writer gets a DC story right, it really flies ... but the trick is finding a great writer.

I've enjoyed Marvel over the years, but a great DC story REALLY resonates with me. I just reread some All Star Batman -- I mean, it was written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee! How could than NOT be good?

To me, stories like The Dark Knight Returns, The Death of Superman, The Green Lantern Corps, The Killing Joke, and others are moments in the art form. I tend to forget most Marvel stuff I read. I don't care for the emo, hand-wringing that goes on in the Marvel Universe. The DC characters are much more decisive, but still confront incredible challenges.

 

I like the DC lines better. In fact wasn't Jan and artisit for one of the old Outsiders comics? Dc has better storylines and coloring for me. Marvel had its day, but DC is the favorite. Man whats up with Dark Horse? Don't they sell stuff or what?

 

I was a hard core marvel fan for a few years. Now i"m 50/50. I think will soon be reading more dc. Marvel is just starting to irritate me. Enough will all of the events, crossovers, and let down story lines. Unfortunitely dc is starting to adopt the marvel tactics in order to keep up in the market.