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Thomas Moudry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5060
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 7:51am | IP Logged | 1
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Lately I've been reading and re-reading some Marvel stuff from the '60s,
and I'm curious: When did Marvel overtake DC in sales? It's clear that
there was something different in the Marvel titles, or perhaps it was clear
that something was missing from the DC titles.
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Don Zomberg
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 23 November 2005
Posts: 2355
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 9:01am | IP Logged | 2
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...something different in the Marvel titles. No kidding. I'm working my way thru the Essentials and Masterworks, and comparing them to my dad's Superman Showcases. Yeesh. DC's stories were like an old Jalopy on a Sunday drive--Marvel's were a Porche blowing thru a red light.
Edited by Don Zomberg on 15 June 2011 at 9:01am
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Joe Alexander
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 November 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 572
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:14am | IP Logged | 3
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As a kid (and even today) I could never nail down whether I was a DC guy or a Marvel guy. But I remember the moment I consciously understood the difference. It was a tale where Spidey and The Human Torch are fighting and a single panel by Ditko where Spidey is saying "Flying through the air with the greatest of ease..." and I literally laughed out loud. I thought "wow, that's never happened before..." As much as I loved all of my Sekowsky and Dillin JLA, Aparo Batman, etc. I knew that Marvel had a different spirit to it.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 30963
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:16am | IP Logged | 4
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Yeah, I'm going thru the ESSENTIALS pretty quick. It's taking me forever to get thru the SHOWCASE volumes.
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Thomas Moudry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5060
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:19am | IP Logged | 5
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I've always described myself as a DC guy when it comes to comics, and I
truly am: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are my favorite super-
heroes and likely always will be, but it's hard to deny the "different spirit"
of the Marvel books. When Steve Englehart was brought in to "Marvelize" the Justice League
of America, that book took on a new life for me. I was blown away.
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Paulo Pereira
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Joined: 24 April 2006
Posts: 15539
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:32am | IP Logged | 6
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I prefer Marvel and just don't seem to have any real affinity for DC characters. Strangely, I dig the heck out of DCAU and have no interest in any Marvel cartoons.
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Brian Miller
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Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 30963
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:43am | IP Logged | 7
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Even tho my favorite superhero has always been Batman, I've always been a Marvel guy.
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Brian Miller
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 10:46am | IP Logged | 8
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Seems like I've read Marvel started beating DC when DC stopped distributing the Marvel books and Marvel was free to publish as many books as they wanted. So, late 60's/ early 70's?
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Gene Best
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4598
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 11:04am | IP Logged | 9
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Batman was my first favorite superhero back in the 60's thanks to Adam West. However, once I got into Marvel, DC heroes seemed stiff and boring. As I became a better reader, in addition to the heroes, I started to enjoy Stan's "voice" ... and again, DC seemed so ... serious. I stopped buying the latter altogether. Didn't pick up any DC books until Crisis ... and then again when Miller and JB started working there.
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Paul Simpson Simpson
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Joined: 07 April 2009
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 1:29pm | IP Logged | 10
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To me DC was like being forced to go to church. While Marvel was like being in a super cool club.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 1:37pm | IP Logged | 11
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There wasn't a whole lot of "brand loyalty" in comics when I started reading. Basically, there was National Periodicals ("DC Superman" as we called 'em, since that was the most prominent part of their cover bullet) and then there was Everybody Else. Everybody Else was mostly Dell, who published Mickey Mouse and the like, and Archie Comics. EC was gone by the time I came along. Marvel was a little company tucked away in one corner, publishing "monster" comics my mother would never have let me buy anyway. (Tho I did read 'em at the barber!)Then came 1962. That was when I met, officially, the Fantastic Four. (I had read the second issue at the barber, but it was coverless and pretty mashed up, and I had not really connected it with any particular company -- not even the one that published the forbidden monster books.) But then FANTASTIC FOUR 5 came along, and I convinced Mom to buy it for me, my whole world turned upside down. These were comics like I'd never seen before. They were rough and gritty and definitely crude, artistically, by DC standards. But they had energy that jumped off the page and smacked you in the face. Mom severely restricted my comic buying, in those days, so in order to buy more comics from Marvel's expanding line, I had to drop DC books. It speaks volumes, I suppose, that I had no trouble doing so.
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Peter Martin
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Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15875
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| Posted: 15 June 2011 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | 12
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As a kid in the mid 80s, Marvel was like magic for me and DC was dull, stuffy and the continuity and multiple realities were nigh-on impenetrable.
But then Byrne went to DC and gave me a way in.
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Topic Closed)
