But while Batman went up against Captain America, while Superman traded blows with the Hulk, an even larger battle was taking place, and still rages on today. Two massive entities fight for world dominance. No it’s not Lex Luthor versus Dr. Doom, I’m speaking of Marvel Enterprises versus DC Comics (a Time-Warner company). The two are bitter rivals willing to stop at nothing to win. After, all millions of dollars and thousands of jobs are at stake.
A War Is Joined.
The battle started as not much of a fight at all. Marvel, in its inception in the late 40’s, had it’s share of hits, like Captain America, and later the original Human Torch, but the newsstands belonged to DC. A dozen Superman and Batman titles lined the shelves, not too mention many other DC titles. Supes and Bats were institutions for crying out loud—kids even watched Superman on television every week! In addition to marketing savvy, DC management was ruthless on the corporate battleground as well. DC would regularly sue the pants off anyone who got too big (like the guys who published Captain Marvel—nearly sued out of existence, until forced to give in and sell the character to DC!). Or another example: when congress began to investigate comic books as a scapegoat for teen violence, DC lobbied to write the Comics Code so that rival EC Comics, publishers of best selling horror comics, were practically illegal (the code even forbade words like ‘horror’ or ‘crime’ in the titles!).
The Tide Turns.
In the 60’s however, Marvel emerged with stories and characters too good to resist, appealing to teens and young adults, and eventually Marvel would gain dominance as the best seller over DC. DC was sluggish to move from the approach they’d adapted in the 50’s, making their characters cutesy and silly for little kids (those who wish to disagree will have to justify Bat-Mite and Beppo the SuperMonkey). Marvel, using quality stories and art, would sky-rocket to industry dominance in the 60’s and 70’s and early 80’s, while DC’s titles would nearly vanish. At one point, they even canceled Superman! The difference? Again, quality. DC’s art was stagnant, uniform, and the stories went nowhere, fraught with years of sensational empty storylines.
In The Nick Of Time.
At a time when DC had nowhere left to go, they got desperate and took chances. That’s what saved ‘em. The sales lift enjoyed briefly by the Superman movie was gone, as sequel after bad sequel emerged. Many titles were either canceled or on the way out… DC took the cue from the emerging independents, like Dark Horse Comics (Dark Horse and many others suddenly became players by offering originality and quality to comic buyers). They let Frank Miller create the legendary Return of the Dark Knight series. They produced the Mature Audiences series that brought so many of us back to comics: The Watchmen. The had a huge crossover that attempted to reorganize the entire DC universe into one history…Crisis on Infinite Earths. They would profit immensely from these attempts at quality, and would continue to do things right, like letting fan favorite John Byrne recreate the Superman mythos.
Clobberin’ time.
For Marvel that is. DC’s owner, Time Warner, takes the same lead that DC had taken, and releases a big budget quality movie known to many as Batman. DC sales reach a fever pitch. DC doesn’t let up. They eventually recreate their entire universe again, insuring that each flagship title has a quality storyline. As a result, when the comics market crashed, due to outrageous prices and a glut of crappy titles, DC and its sister company Vertigo have taken the least damage.
Meanwhile in the enemy camp, Marvel’s stock plummets. They routinely fire the best writers in the industry. They produce sensational, empty crossovers and events. They can’t even let Terminator and Aliens filmmaker John Cameron make a SpiderMan movie, because they sold the rights to Spidey and their other characters to a schlock B-Movie company. DC is clearly kicking bootie.
Who will win?
Well I wouldn’t be surprised if this war outlives either of us. As management changes hands, both will probably have their turns at being victorious. I can however tell you what will be the determining factor—quality. That’s what let Marvel emerge as the victor for decades, that’s what gave DC their comeback. Fads, trends and gimmicks come and go, but quality art and stories is what keeps us coming back for more. So long as one of the other company knows this, it’s we the comic book buyers who win.