Comic Geek Realization
Apr. 30th, 2004 02:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerAfter talking with a friend about the fundamental differences between DC and Marvel comics, I remembered the story JLA: THE NAIL, an alternate reality story of what the DC Comics Universe would have been like if there were no Superman. What happened was Lex Luthor became president, and the superheroes were generally viewed with distrust, contempt, and hatred, with paranoia sweeping the world that these superheroes are alien invaders, or else alien pawns dead-set on taking over the world. As a result, the super-powered, heroes and villains alike, are arrested and put in camps for experimentation, Batman is mentally broken, and the heroes have to fight to save a world that fears and hates them.
And that's when I realized what the main difference between DC and Marvel comics is. It's Superman. Superman is the ultimate symbol of hope and justice, of right prevailing and the power of ideals. No other super-character before or after him ever represented this like Superman. It's because of him that the DC superheroes are seen more as celebrities than creatures to be feared by the "normal" humans. Unlike, say, the Marvel Universe, where anybody with superpowers is another creature to be feared and distrusted, and while the X-Men get the brunt of the prejudice, all the superheroes feel it. Spider-Man is branded a villain, even.
Superman is the single factor that kept and still keeps DC from becoming Marvel. And I just now realized this. It's a wonder more people haven't touched upon this.
And that's when I realized what the main difference between DC and Marvel comics is. It's Superman. Superman is the ultimate symbol of hope and justice, of right prevailing and the power of ideals. No other super-character before or after him ever represented this like Superman. It's because of him that the DC superheroes are seen more as celebrities than creatures to be feared by the "normal" humans. Unlike, say, the Marvel Universe, where anybody with superpowers is another creature to be feared and distrusted, and while the X-Men get the brunt of the prejudice, all the superheroes feel it. Spider-Man is branded a villain, even.
Superman is the single factor that kept and still keeps DC from becoming Marvel. And I just now realized this. It's a wonder more people haven't touched upon this.
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It's a bit more than Superman.
Date: 2004-04-30 09:01 am (UTC)There were exceptions - Marvel has Captain America, and DC has Green Arrow - but they only prove the rule.
This is all more of a confirmation on how important Superman is, rather than the difference between DC and Marvel. If Simon and Schuster had never come up with Superman, DC Comics would probably be roughly the same type of company. Batman and Wonder Woman would probably have become the dominant characters. Batman would be more lawful, more visible, less vengeful. He wouldn't be the Dark Knight. He'd fill the niche Superman fills today. Or maybe Flash or Green Lantern would. Or maybe the niche would remain open until Captain Marvel came along, and he'd effectively be DC's Superman.