There are many comic book publishing houses. Some of them are little known but with great titles under their belt (Dark Horse Comics with Sin City or Image Comics with The Walking Dead). However, the most famous, and those that will always be on the lips of all geeks, are Marvel Comics and DC Comics; and perhaps the most asked question after who shot Kennedy? Or why the hell did so many people watch every season of LOST? So, which of these two editorials is the best?
Answering this is not an easy task, for something remains a topic of conversation in thousands of communities around the world. At first glance, the answer may seem obvious to you, but I assure you there are many variables to consider beyond how useless Aquaman can be.
Marvel and DC Comics history
Both publishers were created in the same decade, at a time when the United States needed heroes and fantastic stories to escape the reality of the great economic depression and a World War.
DC Comics (1934) was born under the Name National Allied Publications and began his publishing career with, nothing less than, Superman; possibly the most famous and well-known hero in the world.
On the other hand, five years later, Marvel (1939) emerged under the name of Timely Publications. Under the mantle of World War II and two years after its foundation appears Marvel’s first still recognizable character: Captain America.
Both houses went through their hard times and their golden ages. Getting to knead the many famous characters we know today, which brings us to the second point.
Characters
Calculating the number of characters for each of these houses is practically impossible. In trying to do so, questions arise like, do the same characters in different parallel universes count twice? Do we count only main characters or any name registered by the publisher? Do fantastic twins deserve to be considered serious characters?
Marvel is said to have a database of more than 7,000 characters, while DC would count more than 20,000. But as they say, is not the size but how you use them.
Which of these characters are really famous? And more importantly, which of the two editorials has more characters like this?
We could discuss how DC characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Aquaman have a more classic feeling, or as Marvel heroes like Hulk, Wolverine and Spiderman feel more modern and risky, but the point is that both houses have impressive names.
Perhaps we could argue that the DC Comics heroes were much better known for a long time because of cartoons like Super Friends and that Marvel has hardly gained any real strength after the film proposals of recent years.
Expansions
We consider expansion to the way these characters and stories came out of the comic book pages to fall into television or cinema. Here’s a sure thing. For many years the spearhead was DC, appearing on television with Batman (we will never forget you, Adam West) and the Super Friends, then jumping to the big screen in the late 1970s with the Superman trilogy, and just ten years later with the first Batman trilogy.
During this same time, Marvel only had a television series of Hulk (we also love you, Lou Ferigno) and some very low-budget movies.
The baton was delivered almost 20 years later when X Men jumped on the big screen followed by Spider-Man’s success, and finally by what we now know as the Marvel film universe.
Obviously, both houses have had box office disasters, such as DC Green Lantern and Marvel Daredevil (both fueling the hatred of millions of geeks towards Ryan Reynolds and Ben Affleck).