Main Difference Between Marvel and DC?

Beside DC's godly characters, and Marvel being owned by Disney now, what are the main differences you guys notice? DC comics can get pretty confusing with all their multiverse stuff. While Marvel mostly does it in their Fantastic Four titles. I'm sure there's plenty other differences, but I'm just curious to know what you guys think.

@fingernail9 said:

Beside DC's godly characters, and Marvel being owned by Disney now, what are the main differences you guys notice? DC comics can get pretty confusing with all their multiverse stuff. While Marvel mostly does it in their Fantastic Four titles. I'm sure there's plenty other differences, but I'm just curious to know what you guys think.

Well, in most cases, DC characters are heroes first. They got their personalities, flaws and character development later in their publication history. They are demigods among humans, role models and not that relatable.

Marvel characters are the opposite. They were created not as heroes but as relatable normal human beings with flaws and pathetic stories. Their character development is about how they deal with their superpowers.

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

They are the same thing, and fanboys would never see the truth.

wait, so why is a guy in a bat suit fantasy and a guy in a robotic metal suit which can fit into a brief case depending on the model is grounded in reality? I don't see the difference...both could be considered fantasy and both could be considered reality.

Really in my mind, the differences mentioned above depends on who is writing the story...

Right now

DC has lame characters but good writing.

Marvel has great heroes and bad writing.

In general DC has more cosmic stuff and more powerful heroes.

In general Marvel has weaker earth based characters.

DCs locations are not real like Gotham or Metropolis

Marvel has Heroes based in New York, Houston etc although there is fake places too.

DC is older, has Superman Batman Wonder Woman and reboots it's continuity every x number of years

Marvel is younger, has Spider-man, Hulk and Wolverine and does big pointless summer events every year

@Madame_Mist said:

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

Dc has classic characters with really good writers and artists

Marvel has good characters with bad writers and good artists

I personally find a lot more humanity in DC characters than Marvel

but more realistic? neither I think the most realistic universe is the Kick-Ass verse.

Also Marvel is better at making live-action movies than DC except for certain franchise about an orphan ;)

but DC is currently better at everything else like animated universe, comics, and major events

heres what i think is the biggest difference: DC characters are more of a legendary, mythological feel; while Marvel's characters have stricter history and chronological epics.

for instance, you read a story for superman, batman, green latern, or wonder woman and most of the time it could honestly be anywhere in their timeline. not everytime, obviously they have some history, but almost anyone can pick up a batman book and you can expect him to be a single, rich man, working with alfred and going out into the night as batman to fight crime. it's a rare occasion that any of these things are different. and so he has more of a blurry history that can easily be moved or manipulated, but this can be a great thing because it leaves the story telling more open on some levels and gives him a solid, easy understanding for almost anyone to come in. it also provides an easy acceptance of details changing or being used in different ways than expected, like snyder's court of owls story.

on the other hand, if you read a random spider-man story, there will almost always be large clues as to where in his timeline you are. whether he's married or not, who he's dating, where he lives, what costume he's wearing, whether he's in college or high school or working, etc etc all point to where you are in the overall spider-man epic. there's no blurry history because everything is definite and established. it makes it a bit harder for new readers to come in and know everything, but it gives him a rich history that makes it fun to be apart of and invest in. there's more references to past stories, even stories that came out over 30 or 40 years ago, and it feels more like a long running television show or soap opera.

there are certainly exceptions on both sides, but for me it seems like most of the DC characters follow this type of pattern and most of the marvel characters have this strict timeline quality.

@Deadcool said:

They are the same thing, and fanboys would never see the truth.

@Madame_Mist said:

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

Sure... Ghost Rider, Hulk, Deadpool, Thor, Silver Surfer, Spiderman, Sentry, Ant-man, Luke Cage, Fantastic Four, X-men, Loki, Galactus, Thanos, etc. are all highly realistic...

And the Bat-family, Watchmen (except Dr. Manhattan of course), Green Arrow, Arsenal, Connor Hawke, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, etc. are all fantasy...

Saying Marvel is more grounded in reality is complete BS.

don't say marvel is more realistic, okay DC is confusing but marvel can be confusing too

@zombietag said:

heres what i think is the biggest difference: DC characters are more of a legendary, mythological feel; while Marvel's characters have stricter history and chronological epics.

for instance, you read a story for superman, batman, green latern, or wonder woman and most of the time it could honestly be anywhere in their timeline. not everytime, obviously they have some history, but almost anyone can pick up a batman book and you can expect him to be a single, rich man, working with alfred and going out into the night as batman to fight crime. it's a rare occasion that any of these things are different. and so he has more of a blurry history that can easily be moved or manipulated, but this can be a great thing because it leaves the story telling more open on some levels and gives him a solid, easy understanding for almost anyone to come in. it also provides an easy acceptance of details changing or being used in different ways than expected, like snyder's court of owls story.

on the other hand, if you read a random spider-man story, there will almost always be large clues as to where in his timeline you are. whether he's married or not, who he's dating, where he lives, what costume he's wearing, whether he's in college or high school or working, etc etc all point to where you are in the overall spider-man epic. there's no blurry history because everything is definite and established. it makes it a bit harder for new readers to come in and know everything, but it gives him a rich history that makes it fun to be apart of and invest in. there's more references to past stories, even stories that came out over 30 or 40 years ago, and it feels more like a long running television show or soap opera.

there are certainly exceptions on both sides, but for me it seems like most of the DC characters follow this type of pattern and most of the marvel characters have this strict timeline quality.

This is exactly how I always saw it. Great answer bro

@ImmortalOne said:

@Madame_Mist said:

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

Sure... Ghost Rider, Hulk, Deadpool, Thor, Silver Surfer, Spiderman, Sentry, Ant-man, Luke Cage, Fantastic Four, X-men, Loki, Galactus, Thanos, etc. are all highly realistic...

And the Bat-family, Watchmen (except Dr. Manhattan of course), Green Arrow, Arsenal, Connor Hawke, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, etc. are all fantasy...

Saying Marvel is more grounded in reality is complete BS.

Agreed. I don't get when people say that Marvel characters were realistic and had flaws where DC heroes are perfect. It was true back in the early days but not anymore.

their is no real difference between them other than where the money goes, they both have moments of greatness and horrible low points

Marvel: Major Event Madness.
DC: Minor Event Goodness.

@ImmortalOne said:

@Madame_Mist said:

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

Sure... Ghost Rider, Hulk, Deadpool, Thor, Silver Surfer, Spiderman, Sentry, Ant-man, Luke Cage, Fantastic Four, X-men, Loki, Galactus, Thanos, etc. are all highly realistic...

And the Bat-family, Watchmen (except Dr. Manhattan of course), Green Arrow, Arsenal, Connor Hawke, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, etc. are all fantasy...

Saying Marvel is more grounded in reality is complete BS.

I'm talking generally. Don't take it so literally. I said "more grounded" with "more" being the operative word. I acknowledge the fact that both have fantastical elements, but Marvel brings that extra step such as the racism towards the Mutants for example. Mutants may not exist, but racism does.

@BlueLantern1995: does Timely Comics count? I was couting actual Marvel, not Atlas or Timely

Marvel characters: relatable

DC characters: iconic, role models.

@Jorgevy said:

DC is older, has Superman Batman Wonder Woman and reboots it's continuity every x number of years

Marvel is younger, has Spider-man, Hulk and Wolverine and does big pointless summer events every year

This, too.

@DarthShap said:

@fingernail9 said:

Beside DC's godly characters, and Marvel being owned by Disney now, what are the main differences you guys notice? DC comics can get pretty confusing with all their multiverse stuff. While Marvel mostly does it in their Fantastic Four titles. I'm sure there's plenty other differences, but I'm just curious to know what you guys think.

Well, in most cases, DC characters are heroes first. They got their personalities, flaws and character development later in their publication history. They are demigods among humans, role models and not that relatable.

Marvel characters are the opposite. They were created not as heroes but as relatable normal human beings with flaws and pathetic stories. Their character development is about how they deal with their superpowers.

This

their is no real difference between them other than where the money goes, they both have moments of greatness and horrible low points

Currently there really is no difference. Both companies have great characters, bad characters, awesome writers, terrible writers, etc. At the end of the day, there really is no difference.

Now if you were comparing the two in say, the 1960's-70's, THEN there'd be a whole lot of differences, but currently? There is none.

I prefer DC to marvel. But objectively there is little difference.

None

both fiction both fun

hush up.

I think there are notable differences that less apparent in recent times but still hold influence. This is just my opinion, so please don't just tear into me if you disagree.

1. Characters: I think that DC established it's characters as heroes first and then moved on to flushing them out as people as later. Hence, they became living legends with fantastic adventures that shaped them into the characters we know. Marvel heroes were more about an ordinary person leaving behind typical life and having to grow into fantastic roles while trying to cope with the responsibility of it. DC originally focused on heroes readers could admire and be inspired by. Marvel was about more telling the humanity of its heroes so that the audience could feel for them as they go through their adventures.

2. Histories: DC stories can take place anywhere in a characters' history, making it more fluid but less coherent. The upside is that you can get a lot more stories out it. However, it can make the character's portrayal hard to read at times. Marvel leans towards various character stories to be more stable and concrete; going through various stages of the characters' lives. This allows you to see the evolution of the character clearly but makes it hard to bring a new element into it at times.

3. Earth vs Space: DC's major conflicts tend to always come back to Earth. Blackest Night is a good example. Despite the fact that the horror that was the Black Lanterns were going on throughout the DCU, the major conflict was happening on Earth. Marvel's space affairs however can involve Earth but can stay completely separate as well. Examples of this are Annihilation Wave and the Cancerverse. Despite the fact those were both major threats to Earth, they never reached it. Marvel also has highly expanded galactic community with three major alien races that we see and get the feel for: the Skrulls, the Kree, and the Shi'ar.

4. Alternate Realities: DC tends to use their alternate universes to tell stories with their main universe like in Crisis of Infinite Earths. Marvel tends to allow their alternate universes to stand on their own to tell stories different from the main universe like Exiles and Age of Apocalypse. Also, DC uses the several major realities: New-Earth, Earth-1, 2, and 3. Marvel uses a lot more alternate realities that aren't always notable.

I could go on and on but I think those are the big differences that are still relevant today for the most apart. Neither one's better than the other. Personally I prefer Marvel just because I do. It just appeals to me. That doesn't mean that DC is crap. Point is that while similar, they are different.

@Joesoef95 said:

@zombietag said:

heres what i think is the biggest difference: DC characters are more of a legendary, mythological feel; while Marvel's characters have stricter history and chronological epics.

for instance, you read a story for superman, batman, green latern, or wonder woman and most of the time it could honestly be anywhere in their timeline. not everytime, obviously they have some history, but almost anyone can pick up a batman book and you can expect him to be a single, rich man, working with alfred and going out into the night as batman to fight crime. it's a rare occasion that any of these things are different. and so he has more of a blurry history that can easily be moved or manipulated, but this can be a great thing because it leaves the story telling more open on some levels and gives him a solid, easy understanding for almost anyone to come in. it also provides an easy acceptance of details changing or being used in different ways than expected, like snyder's court of owls story.

on the other hand, if you read a random spider-man story, there will almost always be large clues as to where in his timeline you are. whether he's married or not, who he's dating, where he lives, what costume he's wearing, whether he's in college or high school or working, etc etc all point to where you are in the overall spider-man epic. there's no blurry history because everything is definite and established. it makes it a bit harder for new readers to come in and know everything, but it gives him a rich history that makes it fun to be apart of and invest in. there's more references to past stories, even stories that came out over 30 or 40 years ago, and it feels more like a long running television show or soap opera.

there are certainly exceptions on both sides, but for me it seems like most of the DC characters follow this type of pattern and most of the marvel characters have this strict timeline quality.

This is exactly how I always saw it. Great answer bro

@ImmortalOne said:

@Madame_Mist said:

DC is more fantasy and Marvel is more grounded in reality.

Sure... Ghost Rider, Hulk, Deadpool, Thor, Silver Surfer, Spiderman, Sentry, Ant-man, Luke Cage, Fantastic Four, X-men, Loki, Galactus, Thanos, etc. are all highly realistic...

And the Bat-family, Watchmen (except Dr. Manhattan of course), Green Arrow, Arsenal, Connor Hawke, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, etc. are all fantasy...

Saying Marvel is more grounded in reality is complete BS.

Agreed. I don't get when people say that Marvel characters were realistic and had flaws where DC heroes are perfect. It was true back in the early days but not anymore.

You hit it on the head, It used to be true back in the days but not really anymore. The perception of the corny Silver Age days still permeates the image of DC in a lot of peoples minds.

In JLA vs Avengers, there's a scene where the DC Heroes are in the Marvel Universe, they stop some bad guys, and expecting praise, an angry mob greets them, fearing the heroes may be mutants, or worse. The Marvel heroes are in the DC universe, and likewise, stop some bad guys. They see a crowd approaching and fear it's an angry mob. Instead the people want to take their pictures, get their autographs and thank them. The Marvel heroes realize, that in this universe, the heroes are praised more than they are in their own. 
 
That's one of those things I think that historically tells the different approach the two companies had in their infancy. I wouldn't say it's necessarily true they way they do stories now, but DC created folks like Superman to heroes to look up to, even emulate. Marvel created people like Spider-man as reflections of how people really are, baggage and all, (except for the powers part) Marvel Heroes, save for the powers had a lot of everyday problems, take away the powers and they're you and me, as we ARE. DC heroes were created to show us  what we CAN be (again, except for the powers part) 
 
Again, this is more of how I see both companies during their infacies. Right now, I think they have kinda met each other half way. Makes sense , as so many creators have worked for both companies.

@BlueLantern1995: No its not! DC has been around since the 40's! Marvel arrived in the 60's

The only difference I can really see if Marvel have more memorable C-listers (occasionally the first villains that were replaced by better ones). In DC, if you're not a heavy hitter (or loosely based with them), you're pretty much non-existent, whereas Marvel has more fan-fave C-listed characters.

I'm sure DC has their own memorable C-listers; I'm just goin by what I see. Other than that, most other differences are too minor to get into without coming off as a blindly loyal Marvelite or DCer.

In JLA vs Avengers, there's a scene where the DC Heroes are in the Marvel Universe, they stop some bad guys, and expecting praise, an angry mob greets them, fearing the heroes may be mutants, or worse. The Marvel heroes are in the DC universe, and likewise, stop some bad guys. They see a crowd approaching and fear it's an angry mob. Instead the people want to take their pictures, get their autographs and thank them. The Marvel heroes realize, that in this universe, the heroes are praised more than they are in their own

They are exactly the same. The only difference, is that Marvel does event style comics on a continuous basis with the majority of their universe, while DC focuses more on character-based events.

That's really about it. People who say that Marvel is more realistic or relatable, have probably never picked up a DC book after 1970.

In most cases, the answer is $1 an issue.

compare this to this

I feel that there is a difference but I can't exactly describe it.

@The Poet said:

wait, so why is a guy in a bat suit fantasy and a guy in a robotic metal suit which can fit into a brief case depending on the model is grounded in reality? I don't see the difference...both could be considered fantasy and both could be considered reality.

Really in my mind, the differences mentioned above depends on who is writing the story...

DC is more fantasy simply because they have vertigo. Marvel ain't got no sandman or fables.

DC Characters are ones you can look up to, The reader can aspire to have an awesome life like Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent.

Marvel characters you can relate to, They have issues and problems that odds are the everday reader has, Like Peter Parker who has to deal with Women, A Job, School etc.

However there is many loopholes on both sides.

"DC Comics was founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications. which debuted with the tabloid-sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 in February 1935.

The comic-book arm of Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_is_older_dc_or_marvel#ixzz20nGtXfRW"

DC is older by a few months nothing noteworthy.

@DarthShap said:

@fingernail9 said:

Beside DC's godly characters, and Marvel being owned by Disney now, what are the main differences you guys notice? DC comics can get pretty confusing with all their multiverse stuff. While Marvel mostly does it in their Fantastic Four titles. I'm sure there's plenty other differences, but I'm just curious to know what you guys think.

Well, in most cases, DC characters are heroes first. They got their personalities, flaws and character development later in their publication history. They are demigods among humans, role models and not that relatable.

Marvel characters are the opposite. They were created not as heroes but as relatable normal human beings with flaws and pathetic stories. Their character development is about how they deal with their superpowers.

This

But please stop talking about DC. vs. Marvel, I like them both,

Ya'll be trippin

As far as I'm concerned DC has better artists

One thing ive noticed is that the two probably biggest, well-known heroes(period, as far as non-comic fans) are DC; Superman and Batman. Sure, Spiderman, Captain America, et al are well known, but the two most well known characters are Superman and Batman. Most well-known female character? Wonder Woman, I dont think that most people(meaning non-comic fans) know many, if any, female Marvel heroes.

Just an observation, not really a difference between the two companies.

@NyxEquitis said:

One thing ive noticed is that the two probably biggest, well-known heroes(period, as far as non-comic fans) are DC; Superman and Batman. Sure, Spiderman, Captain America, et al are well known, but the two most well known characters are Superman and Batman. Most well-known female character? Wonder Woman, I dont think that most people(meaning non-comic fans) know many, if any, female Marvel heroes.

Just an observation, not really a difference between the two companies.

the difference is DC is good in comics video games and animtion where Marvel sucks in all these categories

@nerveshu: Watch what you are writing please.

For me, DC has classic superheroes whereas Marvel has metahumans that aren't so formulaic.

They're pretty much the same, both with great writers, artists and story-arcs. Personally I'm more of a DC girl, but then I'm a sucker for a man in a cape and small knickers ;)

@DarthShap: You sir are my Hero!!!

@clemj: But DC is more confusing than Marvel.

@NerdsFTW said:

Thor, Silver Surfer,etc. may be powerful, but they all have flaws, and are not perfect in any way whatsoever.

Neither are DC characters, and I know the common character to bring up for a rebuttal to this would be Superman, but he isn't perfect either, so don't bother.

their is no real difference between them other than where the money goes, they both have moments of greatness and horrible low points

I have said it once, and I'll say it again...

...DC comics are mostly $2.99 while Marvel comics are mainly $3.99.