By Scott Tipton
March 12, 2003
PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS NOW
This week’s topic comes to us from Jackson Graham, who has a nice, easy question for me:
I’m 14 years old and I've been trying to get into comics, but I have no idea where to start. I kinda know the basics. I think the major companies are Marvel and DC. I’m not really sure who writes for who, or which characters are on which, so where do I start?
Hoo boy. Nothing like throwing me a fastball there, eh, Jackson? People have written enormous books about the histories of DC and Marvel, the “Big Boys” of American comic-book publishing, but I’ll try and break it down to the basics for you. Into the breach we go!
So. DC and Marvel. Let’s start with the characters. Who publishes what?
Television has made this one pretty easy to answer. If you ever watched THE SUPERFRIENDS as a kid, then you’re familiar with the bulk of DC’s lineup: Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, the Atom.
If it’s a recognizable superhero and it wasn’t on THE SUPERFRIENDS, then odds are we’re talking about a Marvel character: Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man.
Granted, there are a few comic-book characters who aren’t DC or Marvel who have broken through to the mainstream in the last few years, like Spawn, but for the most part, it’s one or the other. It’s a happy coincidence that the two biggest comic-book icons in existence, Superman and Spider-Man, happen to belong to separate companies; it makes things easier to identify. Just remember: Supes = DC, and Spidey = Marvel.
What about Plastic Man? Who owns him?
Actually, Plastic Man, the creation of the great Jack Cole, was first published in the 1940s by an entirely different outfit called Quality Comics. Quality also boasted their own entire stable of super-heroes, such as Uncle Sam, the Blackhawks, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Doll Man, Firebrand and (my personal favorite) the Human Bomb. After Quality Comics ceased publishing comics in the late 1950s, DC purchased all the characters and incorporated them into their own line of comics, which is why nowadays you can see Plastic Man hanging out with Superman and Batman in the pages of JLA. In fact, DC has made a habit out of buying up stables of super-heroes from defunct publishers; they later did it again with the acquisition of Captain Marvel and the related SHAZAM! characters from Fawcett, and still again with Charlton Comics’ assortment of hero-types, including the Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, the Question, Nightshade and the Peacemaker.
DC or Marvel -- Which one came first?
Well, they’ve both been around in one form or another since the 1930s. Back then, DC was known as National Periodical Publications, or National Comics (although the DC symbol still appeared on all its covers, the imprint taking its name from its longest-running and most popular series, DETECTIVE COMICS, birthplace and home to this day of Batman). In those days, National’s most popular characters were Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, with characters like Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman running a close second. As for Marvel, it operated under the name of Timely Comics back in the day, and they had their own first string of superheroes that sold many a comic book: Captain America and Bucky, the Human Torch and Toro, and Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
Hold up. Bucky? Toro?
Oh, yeah. After the runaway success of the addition of Robin the Boy Wonder to the already popular Batman, kid sidekicks were popping up all over the place. Captain America had Bucky, the Human Torch had Toro, there was the Sandman and Sandy, the Green Arrow and Speedy, Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr., and plenty more. National even tried to reverse the trend with the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, a kid hero with an adult sidekick. The fact that you’re not hearing about STAR-SPANGLED KID: THE MOVIE should tell you how successful that experiment was…
Were DC and Marvel always the biggest companies?
No, not by a long shot. While National was always the 800-pound gorilla with Superman and Batman, Timely was never in the same league. Sure, Captain America, the Torch and Sub-Mariner were popular, but not “Superman” popular. And for a while there, National was living in the shadow of Fawcett Comics, whose Captain Marvel family of books sold at unprecedented numbers. That is, until National sued them so relentlessly that they eventually got out of the comics business altogether. But that’s a story for another column …
National Comics stayed one of the biggest kids on the block through the 1950s and ‘60s (alongside Dell Comics, which had a corner on the humor and funny-animal market, at one time publishing comics simultaneously for both the Disney and Warner Brothers properties, as well as dozens of other cartoon characters), until editor/writer Stan Lee, and artists/storytellers Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko and their revolutionary Marvel Comics came along and slowly began chipping away at National’s decades-long dominance.
Who writes (and draws) for whom?
The very nature of the business is such that talent is always jumping from one publisher to another, seeking the best deal, the most creative freedom, you name it. It was like that at the outset, and today is no exception. However, there are a few names that demand attention.
On the DC side, the company owes its decades of success to six people: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman, Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the creators of Batman, and William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter, the originators of Wonder Woman. While countless writers, artists and editors have contributed greatly to DC’s works over the decades, without these three landmark characters, DC would most likely not still be publishing to this day. In a perfect world, all six of these men and their families would have seen a fair and equitable share of the millions of dollars earned by their creations over the years. Sadly, this was not the case, and the very least we can do is remember them and honor their work.
As for Marvel, I’ve already mentioned the Holy Trinity of Marvel Comics: Lee, Kirby and Ditko. Everybody working at the House that Stan, Jack and Steve Built is treading in their colossal footsteps. With the so-called “Ultimate” books at Marvel currently gaining wide acclaim for merely retelling these gentlemen’s stories from a more modern (or in some cases mean-spirited) point of view, I think it’s important to remember whose stories it is you’re enjoying. The new coat of paint on the house may be flashy, but it’s the structure that makes it stand up.
So which is better, DC or Marvel?
Hey, I can’t answer that for you; no one can. It all depends on your own personal tastes, not to mention the creative outputs of the companies in any given month or year. When I was a kid, it was Marvel all the way. In junior high, DC was getting most of my (then very limited) comic-buying dollar. Marvel got me back in a big way in high school, then lost me again in college. If I can make any sweeping generalizations about the companies nowadays, it’s this: currently, DC seems to have more of a respect for the history and lineage of its characters, which appeals to me greatly, while Marvel has begun to abandon much of its trademark devotion to a single Marvel Universe in which continuity between books and characters is closely tracked and adhered to, and looks to be focusing more on shock tactics, sex, violence and crude language to sell their books. That’s my two cents, anyway.
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Opinions aside, both companies are currently putting out a number of high-quality books well worth your attention. For the comics novice, I recommend ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, INCREDIBLE HULK and AVENGERS at Marvel, and FLASH, JSA and GOTHAM CENTRAL at DC. All of these books offer excellent writing and clear, handsome storytelling, and require minimal backstory to get up to speed. Go check ‘em out.
Comics 101 is in session every Wednesday here at the Poop. Got any questions about comics? Send them to stipton99x@comics101.com. We live to serve.
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