WEEKLY DISCUSSION: Are you a Marvel or DC fan? • Page 2

OP SAID IT WAS OKAY TO ENJOY BOTH. WHY ARE WE SHOUTING? CAPS LOCK!

 

Who's trying to get cut in here?!

 

It really comes down to DC has Batman villains so it has to be DC for me.

 

The Nu52 had some successful series, don't get me wrong. Azzarelo writing WW being the most triumphant, IMO. But Snyder on Batman and Swamp Thing was awesome (though I would point out that Snyder was on Batman prior to the relaunch). Jeff Lemiere writing Animal Man was special. As for Johns, his JL is only now reaching the levels I expected from him going in. His first two arcs were really bad, IMO. And I really do not like his Aquaman. I grew up with the Peter David bearded and hooked Aquaman. And Johns was not writing GL at the time of the Nu52. He left just before the relaunch.

And the problem with Morrison on Action Comics was that the issues were super late, and everyone knew his time on that title was going to be brief. Add to that, we had a Supes in Action Comics that in no way resembled the Superman in the main universe. And the moment Morrison left, we got yet another Scott Lobdell book.

But compare that to who was writing at Marvel when the Nu52 launched: Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Brian Wood, Jonathan Hickman, Greg Rucka, and Kieron Gillen. That is a crazy amount of talent.

Also, the Nu52, for fans who were reading prior to the relaunch, was actually super confusing. Because they kept some continuity from their most popular books, but tried to compress it down to fit the five year timeline. And they were really cagey about telling us what remained and what was different. And then, from book to book, there were inconsistencies. For instance, the timelines for the Robins made no sense.

EDIT: The JH Williams III Batwoman was also amazing. But again, he was on that prior to the relaunch.

 

@scottlechowicz I was under the impression Johns finished the story he was telling through the beginning of the New 52.

And yeah, that Batwoman book is one of the first, and probably my favorite DC book I've read.

 

Ah yes, you are correct, my apologies. He did the whole Sinestro as GL thing to kick off the series. I had forgotten about that whole story line. Obviously, I wasn't a fan at the time haha.

So you got into DC at the New 52? That's awesome.

I was very supportive of the idea to reboot. I purchased all 52 #1's haha. I just wish they had ditched the house style of art and hired a few writers that would push the envelope a bit more. There were way too many 90's staples for my liking (see Lobdell, Liefeld, and Brett Booth). And guys like George Perez, Dan Jurgens, Peter Milligan and Paul Levitz haven't done it for me in a long time.

EDIT: I also note the Capullo, a 90s staple, knocked it out of the part on Batman.

EDIT 2: Oh, I also forgot the criminally underrated I, Vampire. That book was genuinely refreshing. Like an old Vertigo book.

 

Always been more of a DC guy. I just like the characters a lot more, simply put. Gotham and the Bat Family are just so perfect to me, I could read those stories forever. Marvel doesn't really have anything like that that really gets me excited. I like my fair share of Marvel books too (Ms. Marvel is one of my favorite books right now).

 

I've been enjoying both a lot lately. I think DC is doing great with shows like The Flash and Supergirl, but I've also lived Marvel's Netflix shows. And agent carter was a fun watch. Marvel is still ahead with their movies for me. They did a great job with casting and the majority of the movies have been strong.

As far as the comics, I've been diving into Marvel's catalog with a Marvel Unlimited sub and I've found I've been enjoying it a lot. I recently bought a ton of DC, more specifically, Batman comics that I'll be reading soon.

So basically I think each company has its strengths and I have no problem with being able to enjoy both hah.

 

I just started reading comics maybe two months ago with Marvel Unlimited. A lot easier to pay the monthly subscription and read whatever I want instead of going to my LCS and picking up a single book for $3. I'm starting to pick up trades from Amazon with characters that I like, but I've spent the most time bouncing around on Unlimited reading a variety of things: the Civil War event, Secret Wars event, new Ms. Marvel (which I love), Ultimate Spiderman. So I'm firmly in the Marvel camp.

But I like Batman a lot and I've enjoyed stuff like Year One, The Dark Knight Rises and I just bought Killing Joke and will probably read it this weekend. Not a lot of other DC heroes interest me.

Superman is the worst.

 

You should read the follow up to Civil War, Secret Invasion.

 

Superman most certainly is not the worst. He's only the worst when mishandled. Read All-Star Superman, which is easily one of my all-time favorite DC comics, maybe my favorite after Batman: Year One.

 

Kingdom Come is another awesome Superman book.

 

Almost included this in my post, lol. So good. Another top 5 DC book for me.

 

It's hard for me to make a list of Superman books I actually liked, but those to are definitive yeses for me. The only other one I'd definitely include is Red Son. I want to get into more of the classics, but I'm so caught up in the Bat family over the Supes family. Supergirl is the only one I consistently love on that end.

 

Would also suggest checking out instocktrades.com if you want them slightly cheaper than Amazon. You have to buy a bunch to get free shipping, but saves you money ultimately.

 

I am a die-hard Marvel fan for many reasons. One being that I've loved Spider-Man since I was a kid- I remember watching those Fox Kids cartoons every Saturday morning, loving how they Incorporated heroes from all over Marvel into episodes. I think as a geeky kid who did well in school, I identified as him and always wanted those powers. Since, I've seen every Spidey film within the first week of it's release, and I love the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series. His cheesy one-liners, combined with his intelligence and responsibility toward those he loves are great.

Plus, those X-Men cartoons were also great as a kid. And I just love how relatable Marvel characters tend to be and their use of locations that really exist in the world. Their cinematic universe is also admirable and far better than DC's, and have some of the best Netflix series around.

I do still enjoy DC, and will always have a soft spot for Superman, Batman and even Static Shock from the old cartoons (including Batman Beyond), and loved Smallville as a kid.

 

I'm trying to figure out exactly what would make a good Superman book, and I can't think of anything. But I'm more than happy to be proven wrong, I haven't been a part of the comic book world for long at all. I'll try to pick up All-Star Superman soon and give it a read! I'll add Kingdom Come to my list too.

 

A lot of it is showing his human side. I really do not like Max Landis, but he makes some great points here.

 

One of the most interesting things about Superman is that he's trying to be a symbol of hope. People make a big deal out of him being "too powerful," but there's more to conflict than fists.

For example, in All-Star Superman, at the beginning he is overexposed to sunlight and has his power amplified but is also dying. Throughout the story, he's doing everything he can to make the world better before he's gone. That's not something his power automatically solves.

 

I'm a huge fan of both but in different ways.

DC comics have been stronger lately (don't get me started on how they have messed up Xmen so bad). They also have been making great animated films and series.

Grew up with the great Marvel 90s cartoons though and they are killing it in the live action films.

Agents of Shield isn't very good, but Arrow and Flash are miles away from how good they used to be so I'm not a fan of either on TV anymore.

Lets not forget Image, IDW and BOOM all have awesome comic series currently too!

 

I would have included them if they were giants over all media. Image still has a ton of growing. We've gotten adaptations of a few of their titles, but there is so much more to come.

 

Superman is my favorite superhero. Unfortunately, a lot of writers really struggle with him. But when it is done well, the books are really something special.

Here are some of my favorite Superman stories:

All-Star Superman
Superman Secret Identity (an Elseworld-ish by Busiek and Immonen)
Superman and the Legion of Super-heroes (a Geoff Johns jam)
The two Alan Moore books (For the Man Who Has Everything & Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow)
Kingdom Come
Superman For All Seasons
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel

Additionally, Greg Pak was writing Action Comics until very recently and he had a pretty good grasp on Supes. But I also am a huge Supergirl fan. Sterling Gates had a mini-run a few years back that was pretty awesome. I was disappointed in what they decided to do with her in the Nu52. I hope Rebirth does it right!

 

Have you kept up with it since Winter Soldier? I'll admit that the first season wasn't great, but since SHIELD went underground, I think the storylines were really interesting. Seeing the Inhumans storyline slowly roll out, had a few twists this past season (including one big one), so if you like Marvel and haven't watched Season 3, I highly recommend going back through it!

 

I read four volumes of both New 52 books. Wasn't all that into either of them. They had moments that I appreciated, but overall wasn't thrilled. I've enjoyed most of the Bat/Supe and Supe/WW books.

I'm not a fan of the idea of Legion of Superheros at all. I'm not sure why, I just don't like it.

I do want to check out some of those other books though. All Seasons and the Moore books in particular.

I thought I'd love Unchained, but it did nothing for me.

 

Unchained wasn't my jam, either.

That's too bad about the Legion. They are among my favorite concepts in the DCU. Along with the New Gods. But it has been a while since the Legion had any sort of relevance. Which is crazy since at one point they were DC's best-selling title. Although I am one of the few who thinks the Mark Waid Legion stuff from the early 2000's was really good.

I don't think you can go wrong with For All Seasons or The Moore Books. For the Man Who Has Everything is an often copied / adapted story. It showed up on the JLU animated series. Supergirl TV show recently did an episode like it. Even the show ANGEL had an episode that pretty clearly ripped it off. As for Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, it was written as a send off to that era's Superman. Crisis on Infinite Earths was coming and they were going to usher Superman into a new age by streamlining some of his origin. So Moore wrote this two-parter that was a love letter to the Golden Age Superman. If you can get beyond the 1980's art, it is a really touching story.

If Valiant sees through their plans, they will be the closest thing to a rival that DC or Marvel might have when it comes to exposure in other media. Mainly because they have a shared superhero universe, whereas Image and Boom! and Dark Horse just have independent titles.