HOW MARVEL STOLE THE SPOTLIGHT FROM DC

D.C. and Marvel Comics are synonymous with the word superhero, ever since DC’s Action Comics #1 the world has become obsessed with them. Not DC’s first comic mind you, but it was the introduction of a little known superhero by the name of Superman (a character from which the word Superhero derives) Then in another DC publication, Detective Comics (now you can see where the DC comes from) #27 to be exact, we meet Batman. These two characters have become the Crown Jewel of the DC Empire and have netted the company into the billions over their 70 or so year span. Not bad for two guys who don’t even receive a paycheck.  Not to mention DC Comic’s many other popular characters that have found their way into our hearts and minds over the years, many of which have also found their way into our neighborhood toy stores, clothing shops, movie theaters, and television sets.

                Then there’s Marvel Comics, starting in the 30’s as Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. They didn’t really come into their own until the early 60’s with titles like The Fantastic Four, Spiderman and The Incredible Hulk, all the brain children of their creator Stan Lee. although Captain America had been there for about 20 years by this time. The fact of the matter is Marvel Comics has so many more characters to work with than DC.  So why for so many years were DC’s characters dominating the big screen.

                Well it helps to be owned by a major motion picture company for one. And DC had been purchased by Warner Bros. in 1967. Which means the first time somebody comes up with a great idea for a movie or a show about  one of these characters they have the strength of Warner Brothers behind it, though DC had previously licensed Superman and Batman to other companies to produce their respective television shows. Now that a major movie studio was in the comic book business sky was the limit. In 1978 Superman The Movie opens. A film that was produced for an un heard of 55 million dollars generates over 300 million before its closing and this is the 1970’s! Warner Brothers had acquired a golden goose and after the success of the Superman franchise they begin planning a retooling of the Batman character for the big screen, another franchise that will net Warner Brothers another kajillion or so.

                Marvel on the other hand had remained an independent company until the late 80s and has a very complicated history of changing hands. They had planned a long awaited big screen debut for one of their key characters Spiderman with a now defunct movie studio Cannon Films and director James Cameron. And once said movie studio had gone “defunct” the intellectual property that is Spiderman had gotten tied up in litigation for over 20 years until a movie was finally produced in 2002. But this wasn’t Marvel’s first blockbuster. Before their “sleeping  giant” had  awakened, the public was growing tired of how ridiculous the Batman movies were becoming and we hadn’t seen Superman in over a decade, not to mention the advancements in CGI and other motion picture technology. It was these advancements that made it possible for the first X-Men movie. The film which was produced by 20^th Century Fox goes on to gross 300 million at the box office. Other studios such as Columbia Pictures, Artisan, Relativity Media and others decide to cash in on the Marvel action with movies like Daredevil, Ghost Rider and The Punisher. Fox banks again with two Fantastic Four films and two more X-Men sequels the Marvel snowball keeps on rolling and Disney takes notice, which brings us to the Avengers era. Shortly after a reboot of the Hulk in 2008, Paramount Pictures steps in to produce the first two Iron Man films then Marvel Studio’s is purchased by Disney. It’s under the Disney flag we see Thor and Captain America hit the big screen not to mention The Avengers, a film that ties four other films together. It seems that the first two decades of the 21^st century belong to Marvel. Yes, the 3 new Batman movies were well done. Superman Returns a film made to be a sequel to the previous Christopher Reeve flicks fell short. The Man of Steel however was an incredibly produced movie. But still the winner here has to be Marvel right? We’ll Just have to see if Warner Brothers has the balls to put The Justice League up against the Avengers in a box office battle royale. Then and only then will we see where the true power lies.