No Right Answer: Best Comic Book Universe Ever

[xPixelatedx]

Wolverine and the X-Men is not a bad show. Avengers:EMH was also not bad.

I couldn't stand the second season of EMH. It had zero continuity so there was little in the sense of scope. The fact that they were able to take down galactus easier then most other baddies was also silly. But I agree about Wolverine and the X-Men; that show seems like a lifetime ago though, same with Spectacular Spider Man which I also enjoyed.

 

[Varya]

Even though I like them pretty ,much equally I'm gonna throw my vote down for DC.
The problem with the Marvel superheroes is that because they are more grounded, realistically flawed and relatable than DC is that when they never grow, they cease to be relatable and just become whiny annoying man-children. Peter Parker is the best example of this. The flawed young teenager he started out as was very relatable but since that was what made him popular he was never allowed to grow out of it and learn from his lessons. So he's just this adult who have been given infinite lessons in adulthood and responsibility yet never learn to grow up. The same thing can pretyy much be said about the DC characters but because they are presented as more archetypes, myths and Gods, we don't really expect them to grow. Their stand-still is acceptable because they are not real-
Also, DC had Sandman.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Best Comics? I would say Manga. Japanese Comics.

Sorry, but when you have to pay 50 bucks for a comic that isn't even 5 years old at this point, just to understand the story or to "collect" them, it is fucking sad.

Thankfully, Manga isn't expensive. I can buy 27 VOLUMES for less than 200 bucks. It costs 30 to 40 bucks to buy a single volume for most Comics, while I can spend 10 to 15 for a single volume. Cheaper if I buy in bulk.

I would love to read comics, if they weren't so fucking expensive for not reason other than people are stupid and putting way to much worth in a couple coloured pages of dudes/gals punching each other.

I think your local comicbookguy is just ripping you off, I've never heard of such prices. Ever. Look on eBay.

OT: There are some great manga out there, Monster is one of the finest works ever made.

 

[Rellik San]

As an aside I can't bring myself to like Marvel too much, sure they occasionally do weird pulp stories; but any company that has in it's catalogue 2 of the greatest super hero teams ever and doesn't use them aside from their single short runs doesn't deserve respect in my opinion;

I'm of course talking about the criminally ignored;

Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E. - I mean... c'mon, in the first issue they fight a purple shorts wearing Fin Fang Foom cloned bioweapon who loves to eat people as they are the and I quote "Elvis of snack foods."

Livewires - A government black ops project designed to take out other government black ops projects gone rogue, whom happens to be made up of distinct LMD's with unique personalities.

 

[LordMonty]

If purely on consistant story telling and avoidence of reboots Marvel has done it better on all account. It's prime universe makes the most sense... that is as a comic can, especially compare to the DC universe. With that said some of my favorite comics come out of DC i'd sit on the fence for the which is better arguement as both are cooland have there ups and downs in quality and so on.

 

[Sergey Sund]

Marvel.
DCs continuity is just too confusing, and its main heroes (especially Superman) are a tad to bland. In mayor storylines it's just no fun to see everyone fall into their pre-determined roles. The short series, and one-shots are very good, too, though.

There's also the point of "how does X treat their workers" and I must say that I'm really dissatisfied with how DC treats their creators. Marvel was one of the first to credit their writers on the covers, and only through that did DC have to do it, too. Before that, the people who made up our stories, our modern myths, were not even getting credit where credit was due.
(This goes back to the Kirby-era, and I could be wrong. I know that Kirby was one of the first writers to get credited, but since he switched between Marvel and DC a bunch of times I'm not 100% sure.)

But yeah: Marvel - more interesting heroes. The Punisher, for example. My fav.

Elfquest is great. But nowadays, what tends to be regarded as "comic" only has to do with American superheroes in capes and tights. I def. recommend it though. I have almost everything of it.

I love Image Comics. But I love even more one of their off-shot universes: Wildstorm.
It's pretty great.
Because Image Comics was founded by people previously working for Marvel. (DC was just as bad for the creators back then, they had no choice but to go rogue.)
The Wildstorm Universe has a Superman- and a Batman-pastiche. You could call it analogies or copies. Only they are more awesome, because they have the Marvel-flaws. Oh, and they're gay and a couple.
I recommend the early issues of The Authority. It is awesome.
It contains other characters, even more powerful than solar-powered, laser-eyed, flying strengthmen. Imagine an ex-junky with the power to bend reality.

 

[go-10]

damn that's difficult since I'm a fan of both universes, I mean one has Spider Man and the other has Nightwing so choosing one or the other would contradict with who I am and how I grew up I know they're fictional characters in fictional universes but
and sure I LOVE Superman, Power Girl, and Black Bat to death but at the same time I'll buy anything with X-23, Shadowcat, or Scarlet Spider because I care so much for them as characters and I want to see them grow and interact with the world around them, I could say Green Lantern offers a lot of space adventures that I love in comics but at the same time I get Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy which from time to time are way better than Green Lantern, and I could go on saying why I'm such a big fan of both universes but for the sake of conversation and since I have to choose one universe only I'm going to go with DC because of diversity in its stories. Marvel tends to follow one story per book that culminates in a yearly event that immediately starts the next one, so while all books are allowed to tell their own story in the end they have to answer to whatever event Marvel has planned, DC on the other hand gives freedom of story telling to each book and events are planned for when they feel right rather to a yearly hero battle; of course they have yet to give us the return of Cassandra Cain which is really annoying but I guess I can overlook that... for now!

 

[XavierPrice]

ERMAGERD! MY OPINION IS THE RIGHT ONE! And that is... Actually, I have no idea. Both have a lot of greatness too them, both have a lot of... awkwardness to them... To quote Movie Bob: COMIC... ARE... WEIRD! And that's kind of the best part. Each one has its own flavor, each universe has its own stuff to it.

I think Marvel's is easier to dive into, personally. DC's is a little too confusing right now for a new reader to just get in and learn. Marvel went through that, too, and DC has tried to clear it up and condense it, but it doesn't... seem to be working... Give them time.

 

[minimacker]

There is no real city in America that is like Gotham

The one thing that springs to mind is Detroit.

This video is sounding almost like Marvel vs Batman so far. The subject keeps slipping back to Batman!

 

[Hutzpah Chicken]

I'm gonna have to go with Marvel, mainly for the reason that Chris pointed out about how the story arcs and events tend to flow into one another which gives the universe its own sense of history

Infinite Crisis flowed into Death of the New Gods, which flowed into Final Crisis, which flowed into Blackest Night, which flowed into Brightest Day, which flowed into Flashpoint. That's about 7 years of continuous Geoff Johns story flow through DC.

The real fun with the DC universe(s) is figuring out how things all are supposed to fit together. Otherwise, it is really convoluted, but I still prefer the larger than life characters. Some heroes believe they are cut and dry righteous gods but, like in Infinite Crisis, they see the flaws in there own ways. The villains are the ones that can either be to corky for any interest, or they have many flaws that gives them more character.

 

[Tono Makt]

If you look at it... DC only has 2 archetypes; Superman & Batman.
Where as Marvel has 4; Thor, Captain America, Iron man & HULK.

Going to have to disagree somewhat - Spider-man needs to be the 5th archetype for Marvel, and Green Lantern needs to be a 3rd for DC. Spider-man is the kid who suddenly has superpowers, new responsibilities and has to deal with the world of adults (fighting crime) while also being a kid. (This somewhat applies to the X-Men as well; many of the X-Men started off as teenagers as their entire back story revolves around a private school.) Green Lantern is human being who is given extreme power to wield for justice, which may apply to other DC characters. (Captain Marvel?)

Spider-man is obviously a Captain America type, Green Lantern is a Superman type and many of the X-men fall between Thor, Captain America or HULK.

At one time Wonder Woman was her own type BUT as of the last 20 years she`s been labeled a Superman type.

Spiderman a Captain America type? Can't agree there. Cap and Spidey are just too different. If you were to say Reed Richards/Fantastic Four and Cap, I'd agree. But Spidey is young (at best a Graduate student), living the life of a teenager or university student, and keeping his identity a secret. Cap is quite open with himself. Spidey had to be taught to be responsible - responsibility is the core of Steve Rogers. Etc.

Same with GL and Superman - you take away the ring from GL and he's just a dude. You can't do that with Superman in any way; the best you can do is have kryptonite take away his power, but once the kryptonite is gone he's Superman again.

Wonder Woman I'll agree with; what little I know of her backstory does make her seem to be a "goddess" type coming to save the World from itself, like Superman.

 

[Chris Pranger]

No, I wont do your job for you.

You two are the ones who tell us what you somehow find better, then we tell you you're wrong.

Fine, fine. Which between the two would you pick? Because we just decided the opposite.

I guess I'll say DC, so that my actual favorite will be confirmed.


I didn't tell you that.

We've actually discussed it and decided that the Ducktales universe is superior to all other choices, especially your favorite.

Gizmoduck > Iron Man

 

[zlesna]

So this is difficult. As a whole Marvel has more interesting characters with depth. Stark with his ego, the fan four with their family issues, spider-man with his struggle to be a normal young man AND a super hero, Bruce Banner with his fear of himself, the mutants with their struggle to integrate and be accepted into society, and much more. What does DC have? Few but the ones with character have in some cases more character then any one Marvel character. Batman is our shining (or dark whatever) example. He literally HATES crime. He sacrificed his human identity completely in order to become a masked hero. Bruce Wayne is a lie. But then you have characters like Superman or Wonder Woman... I refer to them as 'boy scout' characters. Marvel also leads with story. They have some amazing plot that arch through the entire universe. The Civil War was a powerful story that oddly enough is in some small way relatable. The story also affects every single character in the Marvel universe in very personal ways. What about DC? Well before the New 52 franchise I found the stories to almost always be either meaningless or in a bubble that never permanently affected the universe as a whole. The New 52 is a start in a right direction with characterization of villains that I've never seen before in even Marvel. Is superman a more relatable character now? No, but maybe Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Cyborg, and many others are substantially more interesting. And maybe thats the draw to DC. These characters are meant to be works of pure fiction and we will see the New Superman movie not for who Superman is as a character but for the crazy action! We like Iron Man because Tony is a dick. We liked Thor because he's a megalomaniac jerk that needs to be put in his place. But With Superman, or Wonder Woman, or Even Batman we like to see the action. We like to see the heroes hurt and brutalized as much as possible. We like to see the impossible. We like to see the Villains!!! I think that DC really does support the most interesting Villain base out of any universe. Superman (a God) versus Lex Luthor(a man). Batman(a crazy person that truly believes he is Justice) versus the Joker (a crazy person that believes the worlds atrocities are funny). Hal Jordan(A douche with a power ring that can do anything) versus Sinestro (an alien douche that also has a power ring that is equally as amazing but he knows how to use his imagination). John Constantine(a guy that sees that world underneath the world) versus demons(pure evil and all very different). The villians are sooo cool in the DC universe!! So Marvel is better then DC because of Story and its heroes. But we still read DC becuase its just fun and the villains are waaay better!

 

[Seracen]

The way I end up seeing it: I prefer Marvel's one shots, but I prefer DC's graphic novels.

In general, I find the Marvel characters more engaging, their interactions more compelling. However, DC consistently wows me with the more amazing long running story arcs.

For instance, the last time my jaw truly dropped at Marvel was Age of Apocalypse, and before that, X-Cutioner's Song.

Meanwhile, DC has amazed me with Rock of Ages, Kingdom Come, Reign of the Supermen, and many of the Superman/Batman Xovers (and Bats in general).

On the other hand, Civil War was so compelling b/c we wanted to see how the dysfunction of all these characters caused such widespread chaos. Very similar conceits kept me hooked on Exiles.

Honestly, the two universes are too iconic, and can't be excluded. That's why Amalgam was so awesome, while it lasted.

I think the more interesting debate is: lamest universe reboot ever.

I liked the aftermath of Civil War resulting from Tony Stark screwing up so bad. Then the Scrulls show up (as we knew they would), and reset the universe. Additionally, there's the Ultimate universe.

Batman War Games killed half the universe, and then we get Blackest Night/Brightest Day and New 52.

Don't really know which universe reset was handled worse, and why it always seems to go down that way.

Speaking of which, DC's classic reboot is Crisis, what was Marvel's? I imagine it was the whole Onslaught/Heroes Reborn debacle, but that seems too contemporary.

 

[Jayemsal]

No, I wont do your job for you.

You two are the ones who tell us what you somehow find better, then we tell you you're wrong.

Fine, fine. Which between the two would you pick? Because we just decided the opposite.

I guess I'll say DC, so that my actual favorite will be confirmed.


I didn't tell you that.

We've actually discussed it and decided that the Ducktales universe is superior to all other choices, especially your favorite.

Gizmoduck > Iron Man

Damn it, obviously Rescue Rangers is the best universe.

 

[Infernai]

I'm kind of torn between them, primarily because of characters that i like:

Marvel has Deadpool

DC has Nightwing (I like Batman but, well, Dick Grayson is nothing if not the poster boy for "Took a level in Badass" and i think Nightwing's pretty cool).

...Think I'm gonna need to take a third option here.

Best Comics? I would say Manga. Japanese Comics.

Alright, you know what? Fuck it, i realize I'm a broken record about this but i don't give a damn: Berserk.

Great Characters, short but brutal fights, THE dark fantasy series, Brutal beyond belief, and Art evolution so great that one has to wander if Miura made a deal with the devil at some point..Not to say he started off as looking terrible or anything but, well:

The original Style-

Spoiler

Compared to

What it looks like now-

Spoiler

If you like Anime then go check it out. Don't like anime? Then you REALLY have to go check it out. If there was any faults to be said about this series it's that the author takes a LOOOOOONNNNNGGG time to get new chapters out.

 

[keniakittykat]

My vote goes to DC. Because the marvel characters are just stuck in their layers, so to speak.
With DC there's always playroom for new incarnations and how the characters act. It's like Yathzee's 'pea loving demographic' allegory, There's no more room to play around with the hulk, the fantastic four, or even x-men. It's always the same character.

For the sake of comparison, let's take Thor and Aquaman. Have a lot in common, both royals, blonde, both use forged weapons, and both find the human world confusing and feel like they don't belong.

But where Thor has been the same rebel with a 'devil may care' attitude from issue 1, Aquaman has had several incarnations with differing personalities and looks. And that is much more interesting to me!

 

[DrgoFx]

It's a tie for me because I feel like although Marvel comics are fun, I find it very hard to take Marvel Comics seriously because they try to be grounded in reality when they really aren't. A lot of Marvel feels very 90's Extreme to me and it's hard to get into that kind of reading. But their stories are rather fun and well written from time to time. DC on the other hand feels much more grounded in reality to me, because if we were to have superheroes in the real world, they wouldn't be normal people, you wouldn't be able to relate to them. They would be a living God and very little would stop them. Batman seems more grounded in Reality than Iron Man does, Deathstroke feels more grounded in Reality than Deadpool does (Though that's not why you read Deadpool) and Superman feels more grounded in reality than Captain America does at times. That's my take on things. I still like Marvel, the movies are good and I love reading their comics, but I feel if Super Heroes became a reality, DC would be the world we'd live in.