Heroic Origins: DC vs. Marvel

I have been writing about superhero movie topics for several weeks now, but this week I am going to address the two major companies that created not only these heroic figures, but their evil adversaries as well. DC Comics has some of the largest superhero titles under its belt such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman; not to mention the literally thousands of other heroes it possesses. According to Donald Markstein (2009), "DC started out as three separate companies- National Allied Publications, Detective Comics, Inc., and All-American Publications." Markstein (2009) went on to explain that after a series of buying each other out, “the resulting company was officially named National Comics, but used DC, in its logo." After releasing their big named heroes in the early 1940's, like Superman and others; the company went on to be one of the largest successes in the comic book industry. Marvel Comics is also a powerhouse in the superhero industry. This company holds some well known characters as well; such as the Hulk, the X-men, and my personal favorite, Spiderman. According to linkedin.com (2009), Marvel was originally founded as Timely Comics group in 1939 by Martin Goodman, eventually changing its name to Atlas and later Marvel Comics. You may be wondering what the big difference is anyway. There are some noticeable differences between these two giants. According to comic book and strip service.com (2008), "Marvel comics wanted characters that the general public of the comic book audience could relate to." When one envisions a superhero they may think of the most super of them all Superman, which to many Marvel fans, like myself, seems just a little too fictional and unfair. The differences not only lay within the characters strengths, but their weaknesses as well. " The weaknesses of Marvel characters are found in internal forces, through mental battles and the weaknesses of DC comic characters are usually found in external forces." as stated by comic book and strip service.com (2009). There are too many differences to list between these companies' heroes, these were just two of the best examples I could find.
Both of these companies, even though they were founded more than 60 years ago, have transcended the comic book industry and entered the mainstream media of today. Whether it is via film, videogames, or television these two companies will surely captivate future superhero fans. These companies show that with a little creativity and ingenuity even something as cliché as the battle of good versus evil can be changed and molded to entertain fans throughout the changes in popular culture and different time spans, without changing the basic concepts of what these heroes fundamentally stand for. Even though these heroes have some of the same concepts, they go about saving the world in their own unique ways. This week try to be a little unorthodox when approaching a task, you may surprise yourself as to how you complete it.