There Is A Difference

There Is a Difference

 

            I am sure that most of you are familiar with a few comic books characters. Even those of you whom aren’t the “comic book type”, you’ve most likely seen at least a few superhero movies: Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Thor, etc. I would hope that you could, at the very least, name a few (If you can’t.. shame on you). Now, what many people seemingly fail to realize is the fact that the more popular comics are split between two major comics; DC and Marvel. Sadly, I doubt that most people would be able to categorize the more commonly franchised heroes. To those people, I am scowling at you admonishingly.

            Now, under the assumption that most of you might not know which characters belong to which respective comic, I’ll give you a few examples:

            DC: Batman, Batgirl, Beast Boy, Catwoman, Cyborg, Deathstroke, Harley Quinn, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Damien Wayne, Lex Luthor, Joker, Hawkgirl, Nightwing, Penguin, Raven, Riddler, Robin, Superman, Wonderwoman, Swamp Thing, The Flash, and Zatanna. (There are countless others, but I’m sure that gives you a good idea of who corresponds with whom.) - http://www.dccomics.com/characters

 

            Marvel: Beast, Black Widow, Blade, Bruce Banner, Deadpool, Callisto, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Charles Xavier, Daredevil, Doctor Doom, Electro, Falcon, Green Goblin, Cyclops, Ghost Rider, Gwen Stacy, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Johnny Storm, Mystique, Nick Fury, Thing, and Thor.

http://marvel.com/characters/browse

 

            Now, as you can see from the list above, the DC characters are, in my opinion, a bit more commonly known. Marvel tends to have too many obscure characters that come in countless versions. The characters are usually quite a bit different.

First of all, Marvel heroes tend to have pretty normal lives before becoming a superhero. The most common reason for this is probably because the characters undergo some weird change later on in their lives and develop super powers. Peter Parker was a completely regular boy until his uncle died and he was bitten by a radioactive spider; Spiderman. Steve Rogers was an undersized boy who wanted to be a soldier, so, he did experimental testing for the government that turned him into a super soldier; Captain America. Though there are a few different background stories, Bruce Banner was a normal man until he was blasted by Gamma Rays during an experimental bombing; he then became the Hulk.

            On the counter side, the DC characters tend to be a bit more extraordinary. Bruce Wayne was a boy who saw his parents murdered before his eyes and swore then and there to exact revenge on criminals like the one that took his parents. For years, he trained physically and intellectually, and creates a mass amount of weapons and technology that allow him to operate as well or even better than other heroes with actual superpowers. Clark Kent (Born: Kal-El) is an extra-terrestrial from the planet Krypton. His father, a scientist name Jor-El, sent Kal-El away on a rocket as an infant before his home planet was completely destroyed. He was found in Kansas and adopted by a farmer and his wife, starting to develop powers at a young age. He always had a strong sense of protectiveness and morals, resulting in his becoming Superman. Diana Prince is an Amazonian Demigod princess from island Themyscira. Clearly, that is not an ordinary background. Diana is a fighter of Justice who protects the world as Wonder woman.

            I believe another reason it’s easier to identify specific heroes of DC comics is because they are much more… epic and powerful. Marvel characters usually have just one power; Cyclops has his laser beam eye, Wolverine has his claws. DC characters have countless powers; Superman has flying, laser vision, ice breath, super strength, x-ray vision, and many more. Marvel characters seem to stick in packs more often; X-men, Fantastic Four, The Avengers. Though there is the Justice League for DC characters, they tend to stick to their own individual storylines so that you are able to spend more time focusing on that individual superhero.

            DC likes to factor mythology into their stories. Princess Diana is a demigod, Zatanna is a magician, Thor is an Asgardian God, Superman is an alien. Let me put this into perspective for you. Let’s start back with the first season of Justice League. That season alone had an alien invasion, a war with Atlantis, a sorcerer blackmailing the Amazons to release the God of the Underworld, Hades, from Tartarus, people trading extraterrestrials as slaves, Gorilla Grodd attacking Gorilla City (which...sounds funny-), a demon helping the Justice League to defeat a sorceress, the League transported to a parallel comic book universe (There are so many different universes, it’s hard to keep stories straight), and an immortal ex-caveman going back in time to help the Nazis win WWII… Let’s all just take a minute to breathe. While DC is dealing with their battles with heaven, hell, and everything in-between, Marvel is usually sticking to their sci-fi world and battling evil scientists and the like.

            It is for these reasons above that I clearly find it difficult to pick which comic I love most. Of course, I would most likely pick DC characters and storyline, but I think Marvel has more realistic types of heroes as they are usually centered on typical humans that undergo a transformation.