2008 Woodie Awards
Read Your Comics!
Michael Fitzgerald
Issue date: 1/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Greetings loyal RYC fans! In this edition we're going into part two in our look at the two big comic book publishers, DC and Marvel.
While DC is more about iconic superheroes we all know and admire with a mere mention-Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and so on-Marvel seems to focus on protagonists that are a bit more complex and a more urban-American bent such as Spider-Man, Wolverine and rest of the X-Men.
DC has had a popular and storied history since the dawn of American comic book publishing with Superman and Batman appearing in the late 1930's, Marvel seemed to be a blip on the radar until the sixties.
Originally Timely Comics in the era of World War II, the company's biggest hits featured a Nazi-fighting Captain America, the Atlantean hero Sub-Mariner, and the pyrotechnic android Human Torch.
When the war ended, superhero books dwindled in popularity. The company formerly known as Timely became known for its numerous monster-themed comics.
In 1968 during the Space Race, creators Stan Lee and Joe Kirby debuted the Fantastic Four. Originally a group of monster hunters, the group would go on to put Marvel Comics as a company on the map. Even Spider-Man's first issue in his own comic features the group on the cover so as to boost sales!
This time featured a revival of superhero fiction in comics that Marvel especially enjoyed with the creation of not only the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, but: The Avengers, Daredevil, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, and the X-Men (who would later be dramatically changed).
Over the years Marvel's heroes have reflected the urban life of the publisher's headquarters, New York City, with most of their stories taking place there.
Unlike DC, who frequently reboots and makes changes to their characters through massive company crossover events, Marvel instead makes changes where needed at various points in time. For instance, in the case of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Ben Grimm (The Thing), their original history portrayed them as serving in World War II. Later, when this dated the heroes too much, it was changed to Viet Nam, and later still to Desert Storm.
While DC is more about iconic superheroes we all know and admire with a mere mention-Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and so on-Marvel seems to focus on protagonists that are a bit more complex and a more urban-American bent such as Spider-Man, Wolverine and rest of the X-Men.
DC has had a popular and storied history since the dawn of American comic book publishing with Superman and Batman appearing in the late 1930's, Marvel seemed to be a blip on the radar until the sixties.
Originally Timely Comics in the era of World War II, the company's biggest hits featured a Nazi-fighting Captain America, the Atlantean hero Sub-Mariner, and the pyrotechnic android Human Torch.
When the war ended, superhero books dwindled in popularity. The company formerly known as Timely became known for its numerous monster-themed comics.
In 1968 during the Space Race, creators Stan Lee and Joe Kirby debuted the Fantastic Four. Originally a group of monster hunters, the group would go on to put Marvel Comics as a company on the map. Even Spider-Man's first issue in his own comic features the group on the cover so as to boost sales!
This time featured a revival of superhero fiction in comics that Marvel especially enjoyed with the creation of not only the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, but: The Avengers, Daredevil, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, and the X-Men (who would later be dramatically changed).
Over the years Marvel's heroes have reflected the urban life of the publisher's headquarters, New York City, with most of their stories taking place there.
Unlike DC, who frequently reboots and makes changes to their characters through massive company crossover events, Marvel instead makes changes where needed at various points in time. For instance, in the case of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Ben Grimm (The Thing), their original history portrayed them as serving in World War II. Later, when this dated the heroes too much, it was changed to Viet Nam, and later still to Desert Storm.
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