Marvel v. DC Debate Synopsis

Over the years, people around the world have been going back and forth about which comic companies are the best. Many of companies produce and are known for many of their comics, yet two have really stood out to the public. Marvel and DC comics have been the leading companies for the comic book movement and actually made it a trend to be a comic book fan. Marvel was created in 1939 with the prior name of Timely Comics, while DC was created in 1934 under the prior name of National Allied Publications. In this project, my group members will be discussing the newly vamped debate between the now powerhouse companies. The both offer great qualities and both have many supporters backing them up. We will be looking at the cinematic aspect for both because we feel like this is what really pushed them forward and opened the door for comics around the world.

As stated previously, Marvel was created in 1939 under the name Timely Publications. In the early 1950s, they changed their name from Timely Publications to Atlas Comics and later became known as Marvel Comics in 1961 when they released The Fantastic Four. Now for its rival, National Allied Publications later became DC comics. The initials “DC” later became their new name because of their very popular series called Detective comics, which debuted one of the most loved superheroes in history, Batman.

Both companies were much loved for their work on paper, hard copies were still collectables back then, but weren’t what they are today. Both comic companies were already releasing their versions of their superhero movies like Christopher Reeves’ Superman, Michael Keaton/Val Kilmer/George Clooney’s Batman, Nicholas Hammonds’ Spiderman made for TV film, etc. but most of them were misses. Marvel and DC studios really felt the downfall in the cinematic department and actions needed to be taken in order to save the company. Marvel ended up filing for bankruptcy in late 1996 because of their failures to produce any content that was making any money. In this project, we will be going back and forth on which is the greater side of the comic scale. We will be discussing the history of each studios movie franchises and which brought in the majority of the fans.